CN114615636B

CN114615636B - Communication method, device and medium

Info

Publication number: CN114615636B
Application number: CN202011433627.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 邢玮俊; 张进; 丁辉; 吴问付
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-12-09
Filing date: 2020-12-09
Publication date: 2023-07-14
Anticipated expiration: 2040-12-09
Also published as: WO2022121388A1; CN114615636A

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can solve the problem that a charging function network element cannot charge the remote terminal device independently after the remote terminal device is accessed, and can be applied to systems such as LTE, NR, 5G and the like. The method comprises the following steps: the policy control network element receives the first identifier of the remote terminal device from the network element and sends a first charging policy of the remote terminal device to the session management network element according to the first identifier.

Description

Communication method, device and medium

Technical Field

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

Background

In order to provide services to terminal devices outside the network coverage area, proximity-based services (ProSe) communication is introduced. For example, in the fifth generation (5th generation,5G) communication system, a terminal device (hereinafter, collectively referred to as a remote terminal device) outside the coverage area of a wireless network can access the wireless network through a relay (relay) device, such as another terminal device within the coverage area of the wireless network, to receive network services. Wherein the relay device may communicate with the remote terminal device through a PC5 interface and with the wireless network through a Uu interface.

However, in the case where the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device, the user plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element reports to the charging function (charging function, CHF) network element charging information for the relay device, which is still not separately charged for the remote terminal device.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and a communication device, so that after a remote terminal device is accessed to a wireless network, a charging function network element can perform independent charging for the remote terminal device.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the present application adopts the following technical scheme:

in a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method may include: the policy control network element receives the first identifier of the remote terminal device from the network element and sends a first charging policy of the remote terminal device to the session management network element according to the first identifier.

The remote terminal equipment and the relay equipment can be mobile phones, computers, virtual reality terminal equipment, augmented reality terminal equipment, vehicle-mounted terminals and the like; alternatively, the remote terminal device may be a terminal device in some application fields, such as medical, unmanned, smart grid smart city, and the like.

In addition, the remote terminal device may access the wireless network through the relay device. For example, the remote terminal device may be located outside the signal coverage area of the network and access the wireless network through a wireless connection with the relay device.

Further, the wireless network may be a cellular network in a mobile communication system, such as a 4 th, 5 th or 6 th generation mobile communication system.

Based on the communication method of the first aspect and the second aspect described below, since the policy control network element can obtain the first identifier of the remote terminal device from the session management network element, the policy control network element may send the first charging policy of the remote terminal device to the session management network element according to the first identifier.

Therefore, the session management network element can configure a first reporting rule of the remote terminal device for the user plane network element according to the first charging policy, so that the user plane network element can report the traffic usage of the remote terminal device to the charging function network element according to the first reporting rule after the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device, thereby realizing independent charging of the remote terminal device according to the traffic usage.

In one possible design, the first charging policy may include one or more of the following: session charging rules, or service charging rules. Because the session charging rule is a charging rule of a session dimension of a session, such as a protocol data unit PDU, and the service charging rule is a charging rule of a service dimension, such as video, audio, web browsing, and the like, the session management network element can select a charging rule of a dimension more suitable for an actual service so as to realize more accurate charging.

Optionally, the first charging policy may further include: status subscription indication. Wherein the status subscription indicates a connection status for subscribing to the remote terminal device and/or a traffic flow status.

Therefore, the policy control network element can grasp the connection state of the remote terminal device in real time, and inform the user plane network element through the session management network element, so that the problem that the session management network element is wrong in charging the remote terminal device due to the fact that the user plane network element fails to timely acquire the connection state of the remote terminal device and reports wrong traffic usage, such as multi-report traffic usage or less-report traffic usage, to the session management network element can be avoided, and the charging accuracy can be improved.

Optionally, the method of the first aspect may further include: and the policy control network element acquires a first charging policy according to the first identifier. It can be understood that, because the identifier and the policy have a corresponding relationship, the first charging policy can be quickly and conveniently acquired through the first identifier.

Further, the policy control network element obtains a first charging policy according to the first identifier, which may include: and the policy control network element acquires the first charging policy from the first device according to the first identifier. Wherein the first device may comprise: policy control network elements, unified data management network elements, unified data storage network elements, charging function network elements, or application function network elements. It can be appreciated that since the first charging policy may be stored to each network element, the reliability of the first charging policy storage may be improved.

In one possible implementation manner, the method of the first aspect may further include: the policy control network element sends first indication information to the second device. Wherein the second device may comprise: a unified data management network element, a unified data storage network element, a billing function network element, or an application function network element. The first indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device.

Thus, the second device can quickly and conveniently determine the first charging policy applicable to relay access according to the first indication information.

In one possible design, the first charging policy may include one or more of the following: the first identification, or port number assigned by the relay device to the remote terminal device.

In this way, the first reporting rule configured by the session management network element for the user plane network element may also include the first identifier and/or the port number, so that the user plane network element may accurately report the traffic usage of the remote terminal device.

In one possible design, the policy control network element receiving the first identification of the remote terminal device from the session management network element may include: the policy control network element receives a first message from the session management network element. The first message carries a first identifier, and the first message can be a session policy association establishment request message or a session policy association change request message.

In this way, by multiplexing the session policy association establishment request message or the session policy association change request message to send the first identifier, signaling overhead can be reduced to improve communication efficiency.

In one possible design, the first identifier may include one or more of the following: the operator distributes signing permanent mark SUPI, general public subscription mark GPSI, user hidden mark SUCI, port number distributed by relay device for remote terminal device, or third party service provider distributes mark for remote terminal device, such as QQ number, micro signal, etc, and the marks of remote terminal device have corresponding relation.

Therefore, no matter what source and what type of first identifier are adopted, the identifier of the remote terminal equipment for charging can be determined based on the corresponding relation, so that independent charging of the remote terminal equipment is realized, and the reliability of charging is further improved.

In one possible implementation manner, the method of the first aspect may further include: and when the PDU session with the charging policy matched with the first charging policy exists in the PDU session established by the relay equipment, the policy control network element sends second indication information to the session management network element. Wherein the second indication information is used for indicating: allowing the remote terminal device to use the matched PDU session.

Thus, by using the matched PDU session, not only can separate charging of the remote terminal device be achieved, but also the resource overhead can be reduced to improve the communication efficiency.

In another possible design, the method of the first aspect may further include: and when the PDU session with the charging policy matched with the first charging policy does not exist in the PDU session established by the relay equipment, the policy control network element sends third indication information to the session management network element.

Wherein, the third indication information can be used for indicating: the remote terminal device is not allowed to use the established PDU session.

In this way, the session management network element can create a PDU session with a charging policy matching the first charging policy for the remote terminal device according to the third indication information, so as to accurately charge the remote terminal device alone when the charging policy of the established PDU session is not matched.

And, the third indication information may also be used to indicate: the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device.

In this way, the session management network element can disconnect the connection between the relay device and the remote terminal device according to the third indication information, stop charging the remote terminal device, and release the communication resource, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

Optionally, the third indication information may include: first sub information and second sub information. Wherein the first sub-information is used for indicating: among the established PDU sessions, there is no matching PDU session. Wherein the second sub-information may be used to indicate: the remote terminal device is not allowed to use the established PDU session; alternatively, the second sub-information may also be used to indicate: the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device.

Thus, after knowing the reason that the remote terminal device is not allowed to use the established PDU session or disconnect according to the first sub-information, the relay device can accurately execute corresponding actions, such as creating the PDU session or disconnecting the connection with the remote terminal device, according to the second sub-information, thereby improving the reliability of control.

In one possible implementation manner, the method of the first aspect may further include: the policy control network element receives a second charging policy from the application function network element.

And if the second charging policy is used for charging equipment accessing the wireless network through the relay equipment, the policy control network element sends the second charging policy to the session management network element.

Thus, the charging policy can be dynamically updated, thereby realizing more accurate charging.

If the second charging policy is not used for charging the equipment accessing the wireless network through the relay equipment, the policy control network element sends a charging policy update failure message or a charging policy creation failure message to the application function network element, so that the application function network element does not send the second charging policy to the policy control network element any more, thereby avoiding charging errors and resource waste and improving communication efficiency.

Optionally, the method of the first aspect may further include: the policy control network element receives fourth indication information from the application function network element. Wherein, fourth indication information is used for indicating: the second charging policy is not used for charging of devices accessing the wireless network through the relay device.

Thus, the policy control network element can not send the second charging policy to the session management network element according to the fourth indication information, thereby avoiding charging errors and resource waste.

Optionally, the second charging policy is used for charging a device accessing the wireless network through the relay device, and the method of the first aspect may further include: and the policy control network element updates the first charging policy according to the second charging policy.

Thus, by dynamically updating the charging policy, more accurate charging may be achieved.

In one possible design, the remote terminal device is connected to the relay device, and the first charging policy is in an active state; or the remote terminal equipment is disconnected with the relay equipment, and the first charging policy is in an inactive state. In this way, the policy control network element can determine which policies are in use and which policies are not in use according to the state of the first charging policy, so as to schedule resources more flexibly, such as configuring or releasing resources, so as to improve communication efficiency.

In a possible design, the method of the first aspect may further include: the policy control network element sends a charging notification message to the application function network element. Wherein the charging notification message is used to notify the remote terminal device of the connection or disconnection of the traffic flow.

Therefore, the application function network element can also acquire the connection state or the service flow state of the remote terminal equipment, and the application function network element is prevented from wasting resources because the application function network element does not acquire the connection state or the service flow state of the remote terminal equipment and continuously transmits data, so that the communication efficiency is improved.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method may include: the session management network element sends a first identifier of the remote terminal device to the policy control network element, and receives a first charging policy of the remote terminal device from the policy control network element, so as to send a first reporting rule to the user plane network element according to the first charging policy. The remote terminal equipment accesses the wireless network through the relay equipment; the first reporting rule is used for reporting the traffic usage of the remote terminal equipment by the user plane network element.

In one possible design, the method of the second aspect may further include: the session management network element sends a charging data request message to the charging function network element, wherein the charging data request message carries a first identifier.

Thus, the charging function network element can charge the remote terminal device independently according to the first identifier.

Optionally, the charging data request message also carries an identifier of the relay device.

Thus, the charging function network element can distinguish charging according to the first identifier of the remote terminal device and the identifier of the relay device so as to ensure the accuracy of charging.

Optionally, the charging data request message carries one or more of the following information for each remote terminal device: multiple unit usage, rate set, or unit container used.

It can be understood that, because the same charging data request message can carry information required for charging each remote terminal device, it can realize that a plurality of remote terminal devices are respectively charged according to the same charging data request message.

In one possible design, the first charging policy may include one or more of the following: session charging rules, or service charging rules.

Optionally, the first charging policy may further include: status subscription indication. Wherein the status subscription indication is used for the policy control network element to subscribe to the connection status of the remote terminal device.

In one possible design, the first charging policy may include one or more of the following: the first identifier, or port number assigned by the relay device to the remote terminal device.

In one possible design, the first charging policy is obtained from the first device by the policy control network element according to the first identifier. Wherein the first device may comprise: policy control network elements, unified data management network elements, unified data storage network elements, charging function network elements, or application function network elements.

In one possible design, the session management network element sends the first identifier of the remote terminal device to the policy control network element, which may include: the session management network element sends a first message to the policy control network element. The first message carries the first identifier, and the first message may be a session policy association establishment request message or a session policy association change request message.

In one possible design, the method of the second aspect may further include: the session management network element receives the second identifier from the remote terminal device and sends the second identifier to the unified data management network element; thereby receiving a first identification from the unified data management network element.

Thus, even if the session management network element does not have the first identifier locally, the first identifier can be acquired from the unified data management network element through the second identifier, so that the reliability of charging is improved.

Optionally, the first identifier may include: the subscription permanently identifies the SUPI. It can be appreciated that since the uniqueness of the SUPI is strong, the remote terminal device can be accurately charged alone through the SUPI.

Optionally, the second identifier may include one or more of the following: the general public subscription identifier GPSI distributed by the operator, the user hidden identifier SUCI, the identifier distributed by the application function network element for the remote terminal equipment, or the identifier distributed by the third party service provider for the remote terminal equipment, such as QQ number, micro signal and the like.

Therefore, no matter what source and what type of second identifier are adopted, the first identifier can be acquired through the second identifier, so that the reliability of charging is improved.

In one possible design, the method of the second aspect may further include: the session management network element receives a second charging policy from the policy control network element and sends a second reporting rule to the user plane network element according to the second charging policy. The second charging policy is a charging policy of the remote terminal device, and the second reporting rule is used for reporting the traffic usage of the remote terminal device by the user plane network element.

Thus, the reporting rule of the user plane network element is synchronously updated, so that the user plane network element can accurately report the traffic consumption of the remote terminal equipment.

In one possible design, the method of the second aspect may further include: the session management network element acquires session management subscription data of the remote terminal equipment from the unified data management network element, and determines a third charging policy of the remote terminal equipment according to the session management subscription data and the first charging policy; and sending a third reporting rule to the user plane network element according to the third charging strategy. The third reporting rule is used for reporting the traffic usage of the remote terminal equipment by the user plane network element.

Thus, by integrating session management subscription data and the first charging policy, a third charging policy with a more perfect policy can be determined to realize more accurate charging.

Optionally, the session management subscription data may include: the protocol data unit PDU session charging characteristic information may include: the first part of information, the session charging rule of the first charging policy may include: the second part of information and the third part of information, and the session charging rule in the third charging policy may include: first partial information and second partial information. The first part information and the third part information are the same in type and different in content, and the first part information and the second part information are different in type and content.

In this way, the determined third charging policy may include information that is not included in the PDU session charging characteristics information, so that the third charging policy is more sophisticated to achieve more accurate charging.

Optionally, the method of the second aspect may further include: the session management network element sends fifth indication information to the unified data management network element. Wherein the fifth indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device.

In this way, the unified data management network element can quickly and conveniently determine session management subscription data applicable to relay access according to the fifth indication information.

In one possible design, the method of the second aspect may further include: the session management network element receives the second indication information from the policy control network element and sends the second indication information to the relay device. Wherein the second indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device is allowed to use the protocol data unit PDU session established by the relay device.

Thus, by using the matched PDU session, not only can separate charging of the remote terminal device be realized, but also the resource overhead can be reduced, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

Optionally, the second indication information is carried in an N1 message.

Thus, by multiplexing the N1 message to transmit the second indication information, signaling overhead can be reduced, thereby improving communication efficiency.

In another possible design, the method of the second aspect may further include: and the session management network element receives the third indication information from the strategy control network element and sends the third indication information to the relay equipment. Wherein, the third indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device is not allowed to use the protocol data unit PDU session established by the relay device; alternatively, the third indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device.

Optionally, the third indication information is carried in an N1 message.

In this way, by multiplexing the N1 message to transmit the third indication information, signaling overhead can be reduced, thereby improving communication efficiency.

Optionally, the third indication information may include: first sub information and second sub information. Wherein the first sub-information is used for indicating: among the established PDU sessions, there is no matched PDU session; the second sub-information is used to indicate: the remote terminal device is not allowed to use the established PDU session; alternatively, the second sub-information is used to indicate: the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device.

In addition, the technical effects of the communication method described in the second aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method described in the first aspect, and are not described herein.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may include: the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a first identifier of the remote terminal equipment from the session management network element; and the processing module is used for controlling the receiving-transmitting module to send a first charging policy to the session management network element according to the first identifier. The remote terminal equipment accesses the wireless network through the relay equipment.

Optionally, the first charging policy may further include: status subscription indication. Wherein the status subscription indicates a connection status for subscribing to the remote terminal device.

Optionally, the processing module is further configured to control the transceiver module to obtain the first charging policy according to the first identifier.

Further, the processing module is further configured to control the transceiver module to obtain the first charging policy from the first device according to the first identifier. Wherein the first device may comprise: a unified data management network element, a unified data storage network element, a billing function network element, or an application function network element.

In a possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send the first indication information to the second device. Wherein the second device may comprise: a unified data management network element, a unified data storage network element, a billing function network element, or an application function network element. The first indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device.

In a possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a first message from the session management network element. The first message carries a first identifier, and the first message is a session policy association establishment request message or a session policy association change request message.

In one possible design, the first identifier may include one or more of the following: the subscription permanent identifier SUPI, the general public subscription identifier GPSI, the user hidden identifier sui, or a port number allocated by the relay device for the remote terminal device.

In a possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send the second indication information to the session management network element when there is a PDU session with a charging policy matching the first charging policy in the PDU session of the protocol data unit established by the relay device. Wherein the second indication information is used for indicating: allowing the remote terminal device to use the matched PDU session.

In another possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send third indication information to the session management network element when there is no PDU session in which the charging policy and the first charging policy match in the protocol data unit PDU session established by the relay device. Wherein, the third indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device is not allowed to use the established PDU session; alternatively, the third indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device.

Optionally, the third indication information may include: first sub information and second sub information. Wherein the first sub-information is used for indicating: among the established PDU sessions, there is no matching PDU session. Wherein the second sub-information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device is not allowed to use the established PDU session; alternatively, the second sub-information is used to indicate: the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device.

In a possible embodiment, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a second charging policy from the application function network element. If the second charging policy is used for charging the equipment accessing the wireless network through the relay equipment, the transceiver module is further used for sending the second charging policy to the session management network element; or if the second charging policy is not used for charging the equipment accessing the wireless network through the relay equipment, the transceiver module is further used for sending a charging policy update failure message or a charging policy creation failure message to the application function network element.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to receive fourth indication information from the application function network element, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate: the second charging policy is not used for charging of devices accessing the wireless network through the relay device.

Optionally, the second charging policy is used for charging a device accessing the wireless network through the relay device, and the processing module is further used for updating the first charging policy according to the second charging policy.

In one possible design, the remote terminal device is connected to the relay device, and the first charging policy is in an active state; or the remote terminal equipment is disconnected with the relay equipment, and the first charging policy is in an inactive state.

In a possible design, the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device or the service flow, and the transceiver module is further configured to send a charging notification message to the application function network element. Wherein the charging notification message is used to notify the remote terminal device of the connection or disconnection of the traffic flow.

Alternatively, the transceiver module may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. The sending module is used for realizing the sending function of the device according to the third aspect, and the receiving module is used for realizing the receiving function of the device.

Optionally, the apparatus according to the third aspect may further include a storage module, where the storage module stores a program or instructions. The program or instructions, when executed by a processing module, enable the apparatus to perform the method of the first aspect.

It should be noted that, the communication apparatus according to the third aspect may be the policy control network element in the first aspect, or a chip (system) or other parts or components that may be disposed in the policy control network element, or an apparatus including the policy control network element; alternatively, the communication apparatus may also be a network device, or a chip (system) or other part or component that may be provided in the network device, or an apparatus that includes the network device.

In addition, the technical effects of the apparatus described in the third aspect may refer to the technical effects of the method described in the first aspect, which are not described herein.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may include: a transceiver module and a processing module. And the receiving and transmitting module is used for sending the first identification of the remote terminal equipment to the strategy control network element and receiving the first charging strategy of the remote terminal equipment from the strategy control network element. And the processing module is used for controlling the receiving-transmitting module to send a first reporting rule to the user plane network element according to the first charging policy. The remote terminal equipment accesses the wireless network through the relay equipment. The first reporting rule is used for reporting the traffic usage of the remote terminal equipment by the user plane network element.

In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send a charging data request message to the charging function network element, where the charging data request message carries the first identifier.

In a possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send the first message to the policy control network element. The first message carries a first identifier, and the first message can be a session policy association establishment request message or a session policy association change request message.

In a possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to receive the second identifier from the remote terminal device, send the second identifier to the unified data management network element, and receive the first identifier from the unified data management network element.

Optionally, the first identifier may include: the subscription permanently identifies the SUPI.

Optionally, the second identifier may include one or more of the following: the general public subscription identifier GPSI, the subscriber hidden identifier sui, or the identifier allocated by the application function network element to the remote terminal device.

In a possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a second charging policy from the policy control network element. And the processing module is also used for controlling the receiving and transmitting module to send a second reporting rule to the user plane network element according to the second charging policy. Wherein the second charging policy is a charging policy of the remote terminal device. The second reporting rule is used for reporting traffic usage by the user plane network element.

In one possible design, the processing module is further configured to control the transceiver module to obtain session management subscription data of the remote terminal device from the unified data management network element; determining a third charging policy of the remote terminal equipment according to the session management subscription data and the first charging policy; and according to the third charging strategy, controlling the receiving-transmitting module to send a third reporting rule to the user plane network element. The third reporting rule is used for reporting traffic usage by the user plane network element.

Optionally, the session management subscription data may include: protocol data unit PDU session charging characteristics information. The PDU session charging characteristic information may include: first partial information. The session charging rules of the first charging policy may include: the second part information and the third part information. The first part information and the third part information are the same in type and different in content, and the first part information and the second part information are different in type and content. The session charging rules in the third charging policy may include: first partial information and second partial information.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to send fifth indication information to the unified data management network element. Wherein the fifth indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device.

In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to receive second indication information from the policy control network element, and send the second indication information to the relay device. Wherein the second indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device is allowed to use the protocol data unit PDU session established by the relay device.

Optionally, the second indication information is carried in an N1 message.

In another possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to receive third indication information from the policy control network element, and send the third indication information to the relay device. Wherein, the third indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device is not allowed to use the protocol data unit PDU session established by the relay device; alternatively, the third indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device.

Optionally, the third indication information is carried in an N1 message.

Alternatively, the transceiver module may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. The sending module is configured to implement a sending function of the device according to the fourth aspect, and the receiving module is configured to implement a receiving function of the device.

Optionally, the apparatus according to the fourth aspect may further include a storage module, where the storage module stores a program or instructions. The program or instructions, when executed by a processing module, enable the apparatus to perform the method of the second aspect.

The apparatus according to the fourth aspect may be a network device, or may be a chip (system) or other parts or components that may be disposed in the network device, or may be an apparatus including the network device, which is not limited in this application.

In addition, the technical effects of the apparatus according to the fourth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the method according to the second aspect, which are not described herein.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may include: a processor and a memory. The memory is for storing computer instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the communication method as described in the first aspect.

In one possible configuration, the communication device according to the fifth aspect may further comprise a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be for use in a communication device according to the fifth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

In this application, the communication device according to the fifth aspect may be the policy control network element in the first aspect, or a chip (system) or other part or component that may be disposed in the policy control network element, or a device that includes the policy control network element; alternatively, the communication apparatus may also be a network device, or a chip (system) or other part or component that may be provided in the network device, or an apparatus that includes the network device.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the fifth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the first aspect, and will not be described herein.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may include: a processor and a memory. The memory is for storing computer instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the communication method as described in the second aspect.

In one possible configuration, the communication device according to the sixth aspect may further comprise a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be for use in a communication device according to the sixth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

In this application, the communication device according to the sixth aspect may be the session management network element in the second aspect, or a chip (system) or other parts or components that may be disposed in the session management network element, or a device including the policy control network element; alternatively, the communication apparatus may also be a network device, or a chip (system) or other part or component that may be provided in the network device, or an apparatus that includes the network device.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the sixth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the second aspect, and will not be described herein.

In a seventh aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The computer readable storage medium may include: computer program or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the communication method as described in the first or second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product may include: computer program or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the communication method according to the first or second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system may include one or more terminal devices and one or more network devices.

Drawings

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

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a second architecture of the communication system according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack of a PDU session in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a second flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

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

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a second structure of the communication device according to the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution of the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various communication systems, such as ProSe communication systems, wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wiFi) systems, vehicle-to-any object (vehicle to everything, V2X) communication systems, inter-device (D2D) communication systems, internet of vehicles communication systems, 4th generation (4th generation,4G) mobile communication systems, such as long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) systems, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMAX) communication systems, fifth generation (5th generation,5G) mobile communication systems, such as new air interface (NR) systems, and future communication systems, such as sixth generation (6th generation,6G) mobile communication systems, etc.

The present application will present various aspects, embodiments, or features about a system that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It is to be understood and appreciated that the various systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc. and/or may not include all of the devices, components, modules etc. discussed in connection with the figures. Furthermore, combinations of these schemes may also be used.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary," "for example," and the like are used to indicate an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the term use of an example is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.

In the embodiment of the present application, "information", "signal", "message", and "signaling" may be used in a mixed manner, and it should be noted that the meaning to be expressed is the same when the distinction is not emphasized. "of", "corresponding" and "corresponding" are sometimes used in combination, and it should be noted that the meaning to be expressed is the same when the distinction is not emphasized.

In the embodiments of the present application, sometimes subscripts such as W ₁ May be misidentified as a non-subscripted form such as W1, the meaning it is intended to express is the same when de-emphasizing the distinction.

The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly describing the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art can know that, with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of the new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a communication system suitable for the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail, taking the communication system shown in fig. 1 and 2 as an example. It should be noted that the solution in the embodiments of the present application may also be applied to other mobile communication systems, and the corresponding names may also be replaced by names of corresponding functions in other mobile communication systems.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an architecture of a 5G communication system to which the communication method according to the embodiment of the present application is applicable. The 5G communication system may include two parts, AN Access Network (AN) and a Core Network (CN).

The AN is mainly used for implementing radio access related functions, and may include a radio access network (radio access network, RAN) network element. The CN may mainly include the following network elements: an access mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) network element, a session management function (session management function, SMF) network element, a user plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element, a policy control function (policy control function, PCF) network element, a unified data management (unified data management, UDM) network element, a unified data storage (unified data repository, UDR) network element, a charging function (charging function, CHF) network element, a network capability opening function (network exposure function, NEF) network element, an application function (application function, AF) network element.

The AMF network element is mainly responsible for access management in the wireless network, such as user access, user location update, user registration network, cell handover, etc.

The RAN network element is mainly used to provide network access functions for authorized terminal devices in a specific area, such as a network signal coverage area.

The SMF network element is mainly responsible for session management in the wireless network, such as creation, modification, deletion, etc. of protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) sessions, and maintains PDU session context.

The UPF network element is mainly responsible for processing data packets of users, such as data packet forwarding, traffic volume statistics, and the like.

The PCF network element is mainly responsible for providing various policies to the AMF network element and the SMF network element, for example, providing the SMF network element with a charging policy of the user according to subscription information of the user.

The UDM network element is mainly used for storing user data, such as subscription information, authentication/authorization information.

The UDR network element is mainly used for storing policies required by the PCF network element, such as charging policies or storing user data of the UMD network element, and may be co-deployed with the UDM network element.

CHF network elements are mainly responsible for obtaining charging information of a user from network elements of the core network, such as from SMF network elements, charging and generating a ticket for the user.

The NEF network element is mainly used for connecting the network element in the core network with an external application server, and can provide services such as authentication, forwarding and the like for the external application server to initiate a service request to the core network.

The AF network element is mainly used for interaction between PCF network elements to perform policy control, such as sending charging policy to PCF network elements.

Alternatively, the RAN network element in the embodiments of the present application may be a device or a chip (system) or other parts or components of a device having a wireless transceiving function, including but not limited to: an Access Point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wiFi) system, such as a home gateway, a router, a server, a switch, a bridge, etc., an evolved Node B (eNB), a radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), a Node B (Node B, NB), a base station controller (base station controller, BSC), a base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), a home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), a wireless relay Node, a wireless backhaul Node, a transmission point (transmission and reception point, TRP, transmission point, TP), etc., may also be a 5G, such as a gbb in a new air interface (NR) system, or a transmission point (TRP, TP), one or a group of base stations (including multiple antenna panels) antenna panels in a 5G system, or may also be network nodes constituting a gbb or transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU), or a distributed base station unit (base station unit), a distributed unit (rsdu), etc., a base station unit (rsdu), etc.

Optionally, the RAN network element communicates with the AMF network element through an N2 interface (abbreviated as N2), and communicates with the UPF network element through an N3 interface (abbreviated as N3). The UPF network element communicates with the SMF network element through an N4 interface (N4 for short) and communicates with the UPF network element through an N9 interface (N9 for short). The AMF network element communicates with the UDM network element through an N8 interface (N8 for short), communicates with the SMF network element through an N11 interface (N11 for short), communicates with the AMF network element through an N14 interface (N14 for short), and communicates with the PCF network element through an N15 interface (N15 for short). The PCF network element communicates with the AF network element through an N5 interface (abbreviated as N5), and communicates with the SMF network element through an N7 interface (abbreviated as N7). The SMF network element communicates with the UDM network element via an N10 interface (N10 for short). The UDR network element communicates with the PCF network element via an N36 interface (N36 for short). CHF network elements communicate with SMF network elements via an N40 interface (abbreviated as N40) and with PCF network elements via an N28 interface (abbreviated as N28). The NEF network element communicates with the UDR network element through an N37 interface (N37 for short) and communicates with the PCF network element through an N30 interface (N30 for short).

It should be noted that the network elements or functions may be network elements in hardware devices, or software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform). The network elements or functions may be divided into one or more services, and further, services that exist independently of the network functions may also occur. The network elements can also communicate with each other by adopting a service interface. In this application, an instance of the above-described function, or an instance of a service included in the above-described function, or an instance of a service existing independently of a network function may be referred to as a service instance.

Illustratively, fig. 2 shows an architectural diagram of the 5G communication system shown in fig. 1 in a ProSe communication scenario. The terminal device located in the network, such as the network signal coverage area, can communicate with the AMF network element through an N1 interface (N1 for short), and communicate with the RAN network element through a Uu interface to access the network. And terminal devices outside the network, such as outside the network signal coverage area (remote terminal devices for short), can access the network through terminal devices that have access to the network (relay devices for short). For example, the relay device communicates with the remote terminal device via a PC5 interface so that the remote terminal device can access the network via the relay device, such as a PDU session using the relay device.

Illustratively, fig. 3 shows the protocol stacks of a PDU session of a remote terminal device by using a relay device. The remote terminal device sends a data packet to the relay device through the PC5 interface, where the data packet may include: a physical layer (L1 layer), a medium access control (media access control, MAC) layer, a radio link control (radio link control structure, RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) layer. A service data adaptation protocol (service data adaptation protocol, SDAP) layer, an internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) layer, an application (application) layer. Among them, the MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, and SDAP layer may belong to the L2 layer.

Alternatively, the relay device may decode the L1 layer and the L2 layer of the packet in sequence and decode to the IP layer. And then, the relay equipment sequentially encapsulates the L2 layer and the L1 layer based on a protocol stack of the Uu interface, and sends the data packet to the RAN network element through the Uu interface.

The RAN network element may also decode the L1 layer and the L2 layer of the packet in sequence and to the IP layer. The RAN network element may then re-encapsulate the data packets in the format of the PDU session of the relay device. Wherein the repackaged data packet may comprise: l1 layer, L2 layer, user datagram protocol (user datagram protocol, UDP) layer/IP layer, tunneling protocol (GPRS tunnel protocol-U, GTP-U) layer, IP layer. Finally, the RAN network element may send the data packet to the UPF network element via the N3 interface.

Therefore, the UPF network element can send the data packet to the corresponding equipment according to the route indicated by the data packet, thereby realizing the communication after the remote terminal equipment is accessed to the wireless network. In addition, the RAN network element sending the data packet in the PDU session format to the UPF network element can be understood as: and transmitting the data packet of the remote terminal equipment by using the PDU session.

It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application describe a flow of sending a data packet by a remote terminal device, and a flow of receiving a data packet by a remote terminal device may be correspondingly understood with reference to a flow of sending a data packet by a remote terminal device, which is not described herein.

Alternatively, the remote terminal device and the relay device in the embodiments of the present application may be a terminal having a wireless transceiving function or a chip (system) or other parts or components that may be disposed in the terminal. The terminal device may also be referred to as a user equipment, access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user equipment. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), a vehicle-mounted terminal, an RSU with a terminal function, or the like. The terminal device of the present application may also be an in-vehicle module, an in-vehicle component, an in-vehicle chip, or an in-vehicle unit built in a vehicle as one or more components or units.

It should be noted that, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to the communication systems shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, and specific implementation may refer to the following method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

It should be noted that the solution in the embodiments of the present application may also be applied to other communication systems, and the corresponding names may also be replaced by names of corresponding functions in other communication systems. Furthermore, fig. 1 and 2 are simplified schematic diagrams that are merely examples for ease of understanding, and other network devices and/or other terminal devices may be included in the communication system, which are not shown in fig. 1 and 2.

The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application will be specifically described below with reference to fig. 4 to 7.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method can be suitable for communication among the strategy control network element, the session management network element and the user plane network element. The policy control network element may be a PCF network element shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the self-session management network element may be an SMF network element shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the user plane network element may be a UPF network element shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the unified data management network element may be a UDM network element shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, and the unified data storage network element may be a UDR network element shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2.

As shown in fig. 4, the communication method may include the steps of:

s401, the session management network element sends a first identification of the remote terminal device to the policy control network element.

The remote terminal equipment accesses the wireless network through the relay equipment.

Wherein the identification of the remote terminal device may comprise a first identification and a second identification. The first mark and the second mark are different, but may have a correspondence relationship. The second identity may be used for the session management network element to obtain the first identity. The first identifier may be used for the policy control network element to obtain a first charging policy for the remote terminal device to enable separate charging of the remote terminal device.

Wherein the first identity may comprise one or more of the following: the subscription permanent identity of the remote terminal device (subscription permanent identifier, SUPI), the general public subscription identity of the remote terminal device (generic public subscription identifier, GPSI), or the user hidden identity of the remote terminal device (subscription concealed identifier, sui).

Wherein the second identity may comprise one or more of the following: the remote terminal device SUPI, the GPSI of the remote terminal device, the sui of the remote terminal device, the port number allocated to the remote terminal device by the relay device, or the identifier allocated to the remote terminal device by the third party service provider, such as QQ number, micro signal, etc.

For example, after the remote terminal device is connected to the relay device, the remote terminal device may communicate with the wireless network through the PDU session used, such as sending the first identity or the second identity of the remote terminal device to the session management network element. And, the relay device may also send a PDU Session identification (PDU Session ID) of the PDU Session to the Session management network element. In this way, the session management network element may send the first identifier of the remote terminal device to the policy control network element according to the correspondence between the first identifier and the second identifier.

Therefore, no matter what source and what type of identification are adopted, the first identification used for charging the remote terminal equipment can be determined based on the corresponding relation, so that independent charging of the remote terminal equipment is realized, and the reliability of charging is further improved.

Alternatively, in one possible design, if the remote terminal device sends the first identifier to the session management network element, the session management network element may directly obtain the first identifier.

In another possible embodiment, if the remote terminal device sends a second identifier to the session management network element, the session management network element may obtain the first identifier according to the second identifier.

For example, optionally, if the remote terminal device sends the second identity to the session management network element through the PDU session of the relay device, the session management network element may obtain the first identity from the UDR network element/UDM network element (not shown in fig. 4) according to the second identity. For example, the session management network element may send the second identification to the UDR network element/UDM network element. The UDR network element/UDM network element stores a first identifier and a corresponding relation between the first identifier and a second identifier. Thus, the UDR network element/UDM network element can determine the first identifier according to the second identifier and the corresponding relation, and send the first identifier to the session management network element so that the session management network element can obtain the first identifier.

For another example, the relay device may optionally send a remote authentication request to the UDR/UDM network element via an AMF network element (not shown in fig. 4) after the remote terminal device establishes a connection with the relay device. Wherein the verification request carries a second identifier. Accordingly, after the UDR network element/UDM network element verifies the validity of the remote terminal device according to the second identifier, the verification result, the first identifier, and the correspondence between the first identifier and the second identifier may be sent to the AMF network element. In this way, the AMF network element may send the first identifier and the corresponding relationship between the first identifier and the second identifier to the session management network element, so that after the session management network element receives the second identifier from the remote terminal device, the first identifier may be determined according to the second identifier and the corresponding relationship. Or after receiving the second identifier from the remote terminal device, the session management network element may send the second identifier to the AMF network element, so that the AMF network element may return the corresponding first identifier according to the second identifier and the corresponding relationship.

Further, after the session management network element obtains the first identifier, the session management network element may send the first identifier to the policy control network element, for example, send a first message to the policy control network element. Wherein the first message carries a first identification, a SUPI, GPSI or sui of the relay device, and a PDU session identification of a PDU session used by the remote terminal device, and the first message may be a session policy association setup request (SM Policy Association Establishment) message or a session policy association change request (SM Policy Association Modification) message.

It should be appreciated that signaling overhead may be reduced to improve communication efficiency by multiplexing the session policy association establishment request message or the session policy association change request message to send the first identification.

And S402, the policy control network element sends a first charging policy of the remote terminal equipment to the session management network element according to the first identifier.

Accordingly, the session management network element receives the first charging policy from the policy control network element.

Wherein the first charging policy may include one or more of: session charging rules, or service charging rules. The following description will be given respectively.

Alternatively, "session charging rules" may also be referred to as: "PDU session related policy information (PDU Session related policy information)". The session charging rule is a charging rule of a PDU session dimension for charging in PDU session units. The session charging rules may include: a charging manner of the PDU session, a Rate Group (RG) of the PDU session, a usage monitoring control policy, etc. Wherein, the charging mode can be online charging or offline charging; online charging refers to charging by CHF network elements (not shown in fig. 4) according to service quota and tariffs of PDU session, such as limited traffic and limited call duration; offline charging refers to that the CHF network element charges according to the rate of the PDU session, and the service quota is not limited, such as unlimited flow and unlimited call duration.

Alternatively, "service charging rules" may also be referred to as: policy and charging control (PDU Session related policy information, PCC) rules). The service charging rule is a charging rule of a service dimension, and is used for charging in units of services such as video, call, web browsing and the like. Since different services may have different charging modes, the service charging rules may include: five-tuple of each service, identification of each service, charging mode of each service, rate of each service, quota (limit) strategy of each service, etc.; and, when there is a third party service sponsored service, the service charging rules may further include: the sponsor identification (sponsor ID) of the third party facilitator.

The quota policy may be used to indicate whether the traffic volume of the remote terminal device exceeds a quota, and to indicate a rate at which the traffic volume of the service exceeds or does not exceed the quota. For example, the rate corresponding to the traffic usage exceeding the quota is a first rate, the rate corresponding to the traffic usage not exceeding the quota is a second rate, and the first rate is smaller than the second rate.

The sponsored identifier of the third party service provider may be used to indicate that charging of the corresponding service is sponsored by the third party service provider, that is, the user plane network element may no longer report to the CHF network element the traffic usage corresponding to the service sponsored by the third party service provider, and the CHF network element may no longer charge for the service sponsored by the third party service provider.

In one possible design, if the service of the remote terminal device is a unified charging service, the service charging rule of the remote terminal device may be a general service charging rule configurable by each device. The unified charging service refers to a service that most of the devices have the same charging mode, such as a video service and a call service of a mobile phone.

It should be appreciated that since the service charging rules are rules that can be configured by each device, the service charging rules may not include an identification for distinguishing services.

In another possible design, if the service of the remote terminal device is a non-uniform charging service, the service charging rule of the remote terminal device may be a service charging rule configured separately for the non-uniform charging service of the remote terminal device. The non-unified charging service refers to a service with different types and/or different charging modes from the unified charging service, such as a game video service of a VR device, an AR device and a game machine.

As such, the service charging rules may include a first identification of the remote terminal device to distinguish from the generic service charging rules.

Optionally, the first charging policy may further include: status subscription indication.

Wherein "status subscription indication" may also be referred to as: "policy control request trigger information (policy control request trigger information)". The state subscription indication may be used for the policy control network element to subscribe the remote terminal device traffic flow state to the session management network element, and/or the connection state, e.g., to instruct the policy control network element to send a subscription request message to the session management network element.

For example, after subscribing to the traffic state and/or the connection state of the remote terminal device, if the traffic state and/or the connection state of the remote terminal device changes, such as an IP address change, an aggregate maximum bit rate (aggregate maximum bit rate, AMBR) change, a traffic disconnection or a connection disconnection, etc., the session management network element may send a subscription notification message of the remote terminal device to the policy control network element, so that the policy control network element timely grasps the traffic state and/or the connection state of the remote terminal device, thereby timely adjusting the charging rule to ensure the accuracy of charging.

Wherein the disconnection may be a disconnection of a communication of the remote terminal device with the network. The traffic flow disconnection may be a traffic flow disconnection of some traffic of the remote terminal device, whereas the remote terminal device may have traffic flows of other traffic not disconnected. In other words, if the connection of the remote terminal device is disconnected, all the traffic flows of the remote terminal device are disconnected, otherwise, the traffic flow disconnection of the remote terminal device does not affect the communication connection between the remote terminal device and the network.

The policy control network element may refer to a related description in the seventh implementation scenario according to the service flow state of the remote terminal device and/or the specific implementation of the connection state adjustment charging rule, which is not described herein.

Optionally, the policy control network element may further configure a state of the first charging policy correspondingly according to a connection state of the remote terminal device. For example, if the remote terminal device is in a connected state, the policy control network element may configure the first charging policy to be in an active state; if the remote terminal device is in a disconnected state, the policy control network element may configure the first charging policy to be in an inactive state. In this way, the policy control network element can determine whether the first charging policy is used according to the state of the first charging policy, so as to schedule resources more flexibly, such as configuring or releasing resources, so as to improve communication efficiency.

It should be understood that the "policy" described in the embodiments of the present application is a generic expression of the "rule" and "indication" described; accordingly, the "rule" and "indication" are lower expressions of "policy". Of course, the first charging policy is also not limited to: the session charging rules, the service charging rules and the status subscription indication, for example, the first charging policy may include only session charging rules, which are not limited.

S403, the session management network element sends a first reporting rule to the user plane network element according to the first charging policy.

Specifically, the first reporting rule may be a part of rules in the first charging policy, which may be used for identifying, counting and reporting the traffic of the remote terminal device by the user plane network element, and may include: traffic identification rules and traffic reporting rules.

The traffic identification rule may be used for the user plane network element to identify the traffic of the remote terminal device, for example, the traffic identification rule may include five-tuple information of the traffic of the remote terminal device, so that the user plane network element may identify the traffic of the remote terminal device from the traffic forwarded by the user plane network element according to the five-tuple.

The traffic reporting rule may be used for the user plane network element to report the traffic usage of the remote terminal device to the session management network element.

Further, the traffic reporting rule may include: and (5) flow quota and reporting triggering rule.

The traffic quota may represent traffic that the remote terminal device can use in the current stage. In particular, the session management network element may apply for a current phase of flow quota to the CHF network element, such as through an N40 session. Accordingly, the CHF network element may configure the current phase of flow quota for the remote terminal device based on the package flow balance of the remote terminal device. For example, the package traffic balance may be 500 Megabytes (MB), and the traffic quota for the CHF network element configuration may be 50MB. Further, if the flow quota of the current stage of the remote terminal device is used up, the session management network element may apply for the flow quota of the next stage to the CHF network element. In this way, the CHF network element may continue to configure the flow quota of the next stage for the remote terminal device until the flow balance of the package of the remote terminal device is insufficient, or the connection of the remote terminal device is disconnected.

The reporting the trigger rule may include: periodic trigger rules and event trigger rules. For example, the user plane network element may periodically count the traffic of the remote terminal device to obtain the traffic usage of the remote terminal device, and periodically report the traffic usage to the session management network element according to a periodic triggering rule, for example, send an N4 session report message, where the N4 session report message carries the traffic usage. The reporting period may be 1 minute, 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, etc. For another example, if the traffic volume counted by the user plane network element reaches the upper limit value of the traffic quota of the remote terminal device, the traffic volume may be reported to the session management network element according to an event triggering rule. The upper limit value may be determined according to the flow quota, for example, may be 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, 90%, 100% of the flow quota.

Alternatively, the cycle trigger rules and event trigger rules may be implemented in combination. For example, if the period triggering rule is triggered first, the user plane network element reports the traffic volume of the current period; if the event triggering rule is triggered first, the user plane network element reports the traffic volume reaching the upper limit value.

The details of the first charging rules are introduced above, and how the session management network element sends the first charging rules and how charging information is reported is introduced below.

In an exemplary embodiment, after determining the first reporting rule from the first charging rule, the session management network element may send N4 session configuration information to the user plane network element through an N4 session, where the N4 session configuration information includes the first reporting rule, and the N4 session configuration information may be carried in an N4 session establishment request message or an N4 session modification request message.

Further, after the user plane network element reports the traffic volume of the remote terminal device according to the first charging rule, the session management network element may periodically count the traffic volume of the remote terminal device reported by the user plane network element, so as to obtain the traffic volume of each period. In this way, the session management network element may periodically send the charging information of the remote terminal device to the CHF network element according to the first charging rule and the traffic volume of each period.

The reporting period of the session management network element and the reporting period of the user plane network element may be the same or different. For example, the reporting period of the session management network element may be greater than the reporting period of the user plane network element.

The charging information may include a flow usage and a rate of the corresponding period, so that the CHF network element may implement separate charging for the remote terminal device according to the flow usage and the rate.

It should be noted that, the specific implementation of the user plane element to generate and report the traffic volume of the remote terminal device and the CHF element to separately charge the remote terminal device according to the traffic volume may refer to the following description in the ninth implementation scenario.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, since the policy control network element is capable of obtaining the first identifier of the remote terminal device from the session management network element, the policy control network element may send the first charging policy of the remote terminal device to the session management network element according to the first identifier. Therefore, the session management network element can configure the first reporting rule of the remote terminal device for the user plane network element according to the first charging policy, so that the user plane network element can report the traffic consumption of the remote terminal device to the charging function network element according to the first reporting rule after the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device, thereby realizing independent charging of the remote terminal device.

Optionally, in a first implementation scenario of the embodiment illustrated in fig. 4, the method may further include: and the policy control network element acquires a first charging policy of the remote terminal equipment according to the first identifier.

Specifically, the policy control network element may obtain the first charging policy from the first device according to the first identifier.

The first device may be configured to store a first charging policy, and may specifically include one or more of the following: policy control network elements, UDM network elements, UDR network elements, CHF network elements, or AF network elements (not shown in fig. 4).

It can be appreciated that, since the first charging policy may be stored in each network element to be mutually backed up, the reliability of the storage of the first charging policy is improved.

The implementation manner of obtaining the first charging policy by the policy control network element is described below for different first devices, respectively.

Mode 1, acquired locally from the policy control network element.

The policy control network element determines, according to the first identifier, whether session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal device is locally stored in the policy control network element. The session policy control subscription information comprises session policy association information of the remote terminal equipment, and the session policy association information comprises a first charging policy. If the policy control network element locally stores session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal device, the policy control network element acquires a first charging policy from the session policy control subscription information.

Mode 2, acquired from UDM/UDR network element.

The policy control network element determines, according to the first identifier, whether session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal device is locally stored in the policy control network element. If the session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal equipment is not stored locally in the policy control network element, the policy control network element sends a request message to the UDM network element/UDR network element. The request message may be used to request session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal device, and may carry the first identifier. Accordingly, the UDM network element/UDR network element may return session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal device according to the first identifier.

Specifically, the policy control network element may send the first identifier to the UDM network element/UDR network element through a preset service, for example, a nudr_dm_query service or a nudr_dm_subscore service, which is not limited.

Thus, the policy control network element can obtain session policy associated information of the remote terminal device from the received session policy control subscription information, i.e. obtain the first charging policy.

Mode 3 acquisition from CHF network element

The policy control network element determines, according to the first identifier, whether session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal device is locally stored in the policy control network element. If the policy control network element does not store session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal device locally, the policy control network element sends a request message to the CHF network element. The request message may be used to request session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal device, and may carry the first identifier. Accordingly, the CHF network element may return a corresponding first charging policy to the policy control network element according to the first identification.

Specifically, the policy control network element may send the first identifier to the UDM network element/UDR network element through a preset service, for example, nchf_spendinglimit control service, which is not limited.

Mode 4 acquisition from AF network element

If the AF network element belongs to the CN, the AF network element may send the first charging policy to the policy control network element through a preset service, such as an npcf_policy authentication_creation service or an npcf_policy authentication_update service.

If the AF network element belongs to a third party service provider, the AF network element may send a second message to the NEF network element (not shown in fig. 4). The second message may be a related message used by the third party service for the traffic sponsor service, and may carry the first charging policy. Thus, after the NEF network element verifies the authority of the AF network element, the NEF network element forwards the second message to the policy control network element so that the policy control network element obtains the first charging policy from the second message.

Mode 5 acquisition from multiple network elements

The policy control network element may determine, according to the first identifier, whether session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal device is stored locally in the policy control network element.

If the policy control network element does not store session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal device locally, the policy control network element can acquire rules from each network element respectively and synthesize the rules acquired respectively, thereby obtaining the first charging policy.

For example, the policy control network element may obtain a quota policy for each service in the service charging rules from the CHF network element, and obtain the session charging rules, the service charging rules, and the status subscription indication from the UDM network element/UDR network element, and the policy control network element obtains the service charging rules from the UDM network element/UDR network element without including the quota policy.

In this way, the quota policy obtained by the policy control element from the CHF element, the rules and the indications obtained from the UDM element/UDR element constitute the first charging policy.

For another example, the policy control element may obtain service charging rules from the AF element and session charging rules and status subscription indications from the UDM element/UDR element. In this way, the rules and the indications obtained by the policy control element from the AF element, the UDM element/the UDR element constitute the first charging policy.

For another example, the policy control element may obtain the service charging rules from the AF element and the session charging rules, the service charging rules, and the status subscription indication from the UDM element/UDR element. And then, the policy control network element can combine the service charging rules respectively obtained from the AF network element and the UDM network element/UDR network element to obtain the combined service charging rules. For example, the service charging rule 1 may include A1 and B1, the service charging rule 2 may include A2 and C1, the A1 and A2 are information with the same type but different values, and the B1 and C1 are information with different types and different values, so that the policy control network element may delete the A2 and retain the A1, B1 and C1, so that the combined service charging rule may include the A1, B1 and C1. In this way, the combined service charging rules, session charging rules and status subscription indication form the first charging policy.

In one possible design, after the policy control network element obtains the first charging policy, the policy control network element may directly send the first charging policy to the session management network element.

In another possible design, after the policy control network element obtains the first charging policy, the first identifier and/or the port number may be added to the first charging policy. Wherein, the port number is the port number allocated by the relay device for the remote terminal device. And then, the policy control network element sends the first charging policy to the session management network element, so that the session management network element determines that the first charging policy is the charging policy of the remote terminal equipment according to the first identifier and/or the port number, thereby accurately reporting the charging information of the remote terminal equipment.

It should be noted that, in the above modes 2 to 5, the policy control network element may not determine whether the policy control network element locally stores session policy control subscription information of the remote terminal device, but may directly send a request message for requesting the session policy control subscription information to devices such as a UDM network element, a UDR network element, or an AF network element, which is not limited thereto.

Optionally, in a second implementation scenario of the embodiment illustrated in fig. 4, the method may further include: step 1, the session management network element obtains session management subscription data of the remote terminal device from the second device (session management subscription data).

Wherein the second device may be configured to store session management subscription data. The second device may be the same device as the first device or may be a different device. In a second implementation scenario, the second device may in particular be a UDM network element.

The session management subscription data may include: PDU session charging characteristic information of the relay device. The PDU session charging characteristic information may include: the charging rules for the PDU session dimension may be used to charge in PDU session units.

Specifically, the session management network element may obtain session management subscription data of the remote terminal device from the UDM network element according to the obtained first identifier or second identifier.

In one possible design, if the session management network element receives the first identifier from the remote terminal device, the session management network element may send a request message to the UDM network element, where the request message carries the first identifier, so as to be used for requesting session management subscription data of the remote terminal device.

The session management network element may send a request message to the UDM network element through a preset service, for example, through a nudm_sdm_get request service, a nudm_sdm_subscribe service, or the like, which is not limited thereto.

Accordingly, the UDM network element may locally obtain the session management subscription data from the UDM network element according to the first identification. Alternatively, the UDM network element may also send a subscription request message to the UDR network element. Wherein the subscription request message may be used to request the session management subscription data from the UDR network element, and the subscription request message may carry the first identifier. In this way, the UDR network element may send session management subscription data to the UDM network element according to the subscription request message, so that the UDM network element sends session management subscription data to the session management network element.

The UDM network element may send the subscription request message to the UDR network element through a preset service, for example, through a nudr_dm_query subscription service, a nudr_dm_subscore subscription service, or the like, which is not limited.

In another possible design, if the session management network element receives the second identifier from the remote terminal device, the session management network element may first obtain the first identifier from the UDM network element according to the second identifier. The specific implementation of obtaining the first identifier from the UDM network element according to the second identifier may refer to S401, which is not described herein.

And then, the session management network element acquires the session management subscription data from the UDM network element according to the first identifier. The specific implementation manner of obtaining the session management subscription data from the UDM network element according to the first identifier may refer to the related description in the foregoing manners, which is not described herein again.

In yet another possible design, the session management network element may send a request message to the UDM network element if the session management network element receives the second identification from the remote terminal device. The request message is used for requesting session management subscription data of the remote terminal device, and may carry the second identifier.

The session management network element may send the second identifier to the UDM network element through a preset service, for example, through a nudm_sdm_get request service, a nudm_sdm_subscribe service, or the like, which is not limited.

Correspondingly, the UDM network element may locally obtain, from the UDM network element, a first identifier corresponding to the second identifier, and then obtain session management subscription data corresponding to the first identifier. Alternatively, the UDM network element may also send a request message to the UDR network element for requesting session management subscription data of the remote terminal device, the request message carrying the second identity. Thus, the UDR network element may obtain the first identifier according to the second identifier, and obtain session management subscription data corresponding to the first identifier, so as to send the first identifier and the session management subscription data to the UDM network element. In this way, the UDM network element may send the first identifier and the session management subscription data to the session management network element in a package, so that the session management network element obtains the session management subscription data and also obtains the first identifier.

Illustratively, the UDM network element may send the second identifier to the UDR network element through a preset service, for example, through a nudr_dm_query subscription service, a nudr_dm_subscore subscription service, or the like, which is not limited.

Optionally, in a second implementation scenario of the embodiment illustrated in fig. 4, the method may further include: and 2, the session management network element determines a third charging policy of the remote terminal equipment according to the session management subscription data and the first charging policy.

Wherein, the PDU session charging characteristic information may include: the first portion of information, and session charging rules of the first charging policy may include: the second part information and the third part information. Wherein the first part information and the third part information are the same type and different in content, and the first part information and the second part information are different in type and content.

In an exemplary embodiment, after the session management network element obtains the session management subscription data and the first charging policy, the third part of information in the first charging policy may be updated to the first part of information in the session management subscription data, so as to update the first charging policy to the third charging policy, so as to implement separate charging for the remote terminal device. In other words, the session charging rule of the third charging policy is different from the session charging rule of the first charging policy, and the session charging rule of the third charging policy may include: the first part of information and the second part of information, and the session charging rules and the state subscription indication in the third charging policy are still the same as those in the first charging policy.

For example, the first partial information includes: service A, rate is RG1; the second part of information includes: service B, rate RG2, service C, rate RG3; the third part of information includes: service a, rate RG4.

The first part of information and the third part of information are both charging strategies of the service A, and the types of the first part of information and the third part of information are the same. The different rates of service a in the first part information and the third part information indicate different contents of the first part information and the third part information. The first partial information and the second partial information are different in service and rate, and the type and content of the first partial information and the second partial information are different.

As such, the session charging rules of the third charging policy may include: service a, RG4, B, RG2, and C, RG3.

It should be appreciated that the session management network element determines the third charging policy according to the session management subscription data and the first charging policy is only an exemplary manner and is not limiting. For example, if the content of the PDU session charging characteristic information is the same as the content of the session charging rule in the first charging policy, the first charging policy does not need to be updated.

Optionally, in a second implementation scenario of the embodiment illustrated in fig. 4, the method may further include: and step 3, the session management network element sends a third reporting rule to the user plane network element according to a third charging strategy.

The specific implementation manner of the session management network element sending the third reporting rule to the user plane network element according to the determined third charging policy may refer to the related description in step S403, which is not described herein again.

It should be appreciated that the session management network element may also send the third charging policy to the policy control network element, so that the policy control network element updates the locally stored first charging policy to the third charging policy.

Optionally, in combination with the aforementioned second implementation scenario, in a third implementation scenario of the embodiment illustrated in fig. 4, the method may further include: the session management network element sends fifth indication information to the second device.

The fifth indication information may be used to indicate that the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device, or indicate a network access mode of the remote terminal. The fifth indication information may be an indication field, such as 1 bit (bit).

Specifically, the access network manner of the terminal device may include: a relay access mode, namely a mode that terminal equipment accesses a wireless network through relay equipment; or, a direct access mode, that is, a mode that the terminal equipment directly accesses the wireless network through the access network equipment.

Different access modes can correspond to different session management subscription data. For example, if the direct access network mode is adopted, the PDU session charging characteristic information of the session management subscription data may include: a third party flow-free charging rule; if the relay access network mode is adopted, the PDU session charging characteristic information of the session management subscription data may include: rules for charging for paid flows. Thus, the session management network element may also send fifth indication information to the second device, e.g. to the UDM network element.

Accordingly, the UDM network element may send session management subscription data corresponding to the relay access manner to the session management network element according to the fifth indication information.

Optionally, in a fourth implementation scenario of the embodiment illustrated in fig. 4, the method may further include: the policy control network element sends first indication information to the second device.

Wherein the second device may also be configured to store the first charging policy. In a fourth implementation scenario, the second device may specifically be a UDR network element, a UDM network element, a CHF network element, or an AF network element, which is not limited.

The first indication information may be used to indicate an access network mode of the remote terminal, for example, to indicate that the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device, and may be an indication field, for example, a 1-bit cell.

Specifically, since different access modes can correspond to different charging policies, the policy control network element can also send first indication information to the second device, so that the second device determines the first charging policy corresponding to the relay access mode according to the first identifier and the first indication information.

Optionally, in a fifth implementation scenario of the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the method may further include: the policy control network element receives the second charging policy from the second device and sends the second charging policy to the session management network element.

Wherein the second device may be further configured to store a second charging policy. In a fifth implementation scenario, the second device may specifically be an AF network element.

The second charging policy may be different from the first charging policy and the third charging policy. For example, the second charging policy may include: the third party exempts from the rule of flow charging, and the first charging policy and the third charging policy may include: rules for charging for paid flows. For another example, the second charging policy may include: rules for charging video services, and the first charging policy and the third charging policy may include: rules for billing for audio services.

Specifically, the AF network element may configure a charging policy of the remote terminal device for the policy control network element, and the charging policy configured by the AF network element may be referred to as a second charging policy.

Further, the AF network element may send the second charging policy to the policy control network element. For example, the AF network element may send a charging policy creation request message or a charging policy update request message to the policy control network element, where the charging policy creation request message or the charging policy update request message carries the second charging policy.

If the AF network element belongs to the CN, the AF network element can directly send the second charging strategy to the strategy control network element. If the AF network element belongs to the third party service provider, the AF network element may send the second charging policy to a NEF network element (not shown in fig. 4), and the NEF network element may forward the second charging policy to the policy control network element after verifying the authority of the AF network element.

Further, after the policy control network element receives the second charging policy from the AF network element, the second charging policy may be sent to the session management network element, so that the session management network element sends a second reporting rule to the user plane network element according to the second charging policy, so that the user plane network element may report the traffic usage of the remote terminal device according to the second reporting rule, so as to ensure charging accuracy.

The specific implementation manner of the session management network element for sending the second reporting rule to the user plane network element according to the second charging policy may refer to the related description in step S403, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, in combination with the first and fifth implementation scenarios, in a sixth implementation scenario of the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the method may further include: the policy control network element receives fourth indication information from the AF network element.

Wherein the fourth indication information may be used to indicate: the second charging policy is not used for charging of a remote terminal device accessing the wireless network through the relay device, or is not used for charging of a relay access network mode, or is used for charging of a direct access network mode. The fourth indication information may be an indication field, such as a 1-bit cell.

The AF network element sends a charging policy creation request message or a charging policy update request message to the policy control network element, where the charging policy creation request message or the charging policy update request message carries fourth indication information.

Accordingly, the policy control network element may determine whether fourth indication information from the AF network element is received within a preset duration after receiving the second charging policy.

For example, if the policy control network element does not receive the fourth indication information from the AF network element within a preset period after receiving the second charging policy, the policy control network element may send the second charging policy to the session management network element, and update the locally stored charging policy to the second charging policy.

According to the related description in the first implementation scenario, it can be known that if the policy control network element locally stores the first charging policy, the first charging policy is updated to be the second charging policy; if the policy control network element locally stores the updated third charging policy, the third meter Fei Ce is updated to be slightly the second charging policy.

For another example, if the policy control network element receives the fourth indication information from the AF network element within a preset time period after receiving the second charging policy, the second charging policy may not be sent to the session management network element. And the policy control network element can also send a charging policy update failure message or a charging policy creation failure message to the AF network element, so that the AF network element does not send the second charging policy to the policy control network element any more, thus avoiding charging errors and resource waste and further improving communication efficiency.

Accordingly, the AF network element may send a service flow policy cancellation message to the policy control network element according to the received message, such as a charging policy update failure message or a charging policy creation failure message, so that the policy control network element deletes the second charging policy according to the service flow policy cancellation message, to optimize policy configuration and release redundant resources.

Optionally, in combination with the fifth and sixth implementation scenarios, in a seventh implementation scenario of the embodiment illustrated in fig. 4, the method may further include: the policy control network element sends a charging notification message to the second device.

In a seventh implementation scenario, the second device may specifically be an AF network element, and the charging notification message may be used to notify that the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device, or notify that the service flow of the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device.

Specifically, after the policy control network element obtains the first charging policy, the connection state of the remote terminal device and/or the service flow state of the remote terminal device can be subscribed to the session management network element according to the state subscription indication in the first charging policy, so that the session management network element can send a subscription notification message to the policy control network element after determining that the service flow of the remote terminal device is disconnected and/or the connection is disconnected. The subscription notification message may be used to indicate that the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device, or to indicate that the traffic flow of the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device. Thus, the session management network element can send the charging notification message to the AF network element according to the subscription notification message.

Accordingly, the AF network element may determine, according to the content of the charging notification message, whether to send a service flow policy cancellation message to the policy control network element.

In some embodiments, if the charging notification message is used to notify the remote terminal device that the connection is disconnected, the AF network element may send a service flow policy cancellation message to the policy control network element, that is, instruct the policy control network element to stop charging.

Correspondingly, as can be seen from the related descriptions in the fifth and sixth implementation scenarios, if the policy control network element locally stores the first charging policy, the policy control network element may delete the locally stored first charging policy according to the service flow policy cancellation message; similarly, if the policy control network element locally stores the second charging policy obtained by updating the first charging policy, the policy control network element may delete the locally stored second charging policy according to the service flow policy cancellation message to optimize policy configuration and release redundant resources.

In other embodiments, if the charging notification message is used to notify the remote terminal device that the service flow is disconnected, the AF network element may not send the service flow policy cancellation message to the policy control network element, so that the policy control network element may still send the first charging policy or the second charging policy to the session management network element, so as to implement separate charging for other services that are not disconnected by the remote terminal device.

For example, the services of the remote terminal device include: the audio service and the video service are realized by a relay access mode. If the service flow of the audio service is disconnected, the policy control network element may still send the first charging policy or the second charging policy to the session management network element, so as to implement separate charging for the video service.

As another example, the services of the remote terminal device include audio services and video services. Because the network service quality of the remote terminal equipment is relatively poor, the video service with relatively high requirements on the service quality can be realized in a relay access mode, and the audio service with relatively low requirements on the service quality can be realized in a direct access mode. If the service flow of the video service is disconnected, the policy control network element may still send the first charging policy or the second charging policy to the session management network element, so as to implement separate charging for the audio service.

The following describes how the policy control network element determines whether to send the first charging policy or the second charging policy to the session management network element.

In the first case, if the policy control network element does not receive the subscription notification message from the session management network element within a preset time period after the policy control network element obtains the first charging policy, the policy control network element may send the first charging policy to the session management network element, so as to implement separate charging for the remote terminal device. Wherein the failure to receive the subscription notification message from the session management network element indicates that the connection and the service flow of the remote terminal device are not disconnected.

In the second case, if the policy control network element receives the subscription notification message from the session management network element within a preset time period after the policy control network element obtains the first charging policy, and the subscription notification message indicates that the service flow of the remote terminal device is disconnected, the policy control network element may send the first charging policy to the session management network element.

In the third case, if the policy control network element receives the subscription notification message from the session management network element within a preset time period after the policy control network element obtains the first charging policy, and the subscription notification message indicates that the connection of the remote terminal device is disconnected, the policy control network element may not send the first charging policy to the session management network element, so as to save resource overhead.

In the fourth case, if the policy control network element does not receive the fourth indication information from the AF network element and the subscription notification reading information from the session management network element within a preset time period after receiving the second charging policy, the policy control network element may send the second charging policy to the session management network element. Wherein the absence of receipt of the fourth indication information from the AF network element indicates that the second charging policy is available for charging of devices accessing the wireless network through the relay device, i.e. for charging of the remote terminal device.

In a fifth case, if the policy control network element does not receive the fourth indication information from the AF network element within a preset time period after receiving the second charging policy, but receives the subscription notification message from the session management network element, where the subscription notification message indicates that the service flow of the remote terminal device is disconnected, the policy control network element may send the second charging policy to the session management network element.

In the sixth case, if the policy control network element receives the fourth indication information from the AF network element and/or receives the subscription notification message from the session management network element within a preset time period after receiving the second charging policy, and the subscription notification message indicates that the connection of the remote terminal device is disconnected, the policy control network element may not send the second charging policy to the session management network element, so as to save resource overhead.

Optionally, in an eighth implementation scenario of the embodiment illustrated in fig. 4, the method may further include: the policy control network element sends the second indication information or the third indication information to the session management network element.

Wherein the second indication information may be used to indicate: the remote terminal device is allowed to use a PDU session matching the first charging policy among PDU sessions established by the relay device. The third indication information may be used to indicate: the remote terminal device is not allowed to use the PDU session established by the relay device; alternatively, the third indication information may be used to indicate: the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device.

Illustratively, the second indication information may include a PDU session identifier of the matched PDU session for indicating: the remote terminal device is allowed to use the matched PDU session.

Illustratively, the third indication information may include: first sub information and second sub information.

Wherein the first sub-information may be used to indicate: among the PDU sessions established by the relay device, there is no PDU session in which the charging policy matches the first charging policy.

Wherein, if the number of PDU sessions created by the relay device does not reach the upper limit, the second sub-information may be used to indicate: the remote terminal device is not allowed to use the PDU session established by the relay device; alternatively, if the number of PDU sessions that the relay device has created has reached the upper limit, the second sub-information may be used to indicate: the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device.

Accordingly, after receiving the second indication information or the third indication information, the session management network element may send the second indication information or the third indication information to the relay device, for example, send an N1 session establishment request message or an N1 session modification request message to the relay device, where the N1 session establishment request message or the N1 session modification request message carries the second indication information or the third indication information.

In this way, the relay device can create a PDU session from the second indication information. Or the relay device can also know the reason that the remote terminal device is not allowed to use the established PDU session or disconnect the remote terminal device from the relay device according to the first sub-information in the third indication information, and can accurately execute corresponding actions according to the second sub-information, such as disconnecting the connection with the remote terminal device, stopping charging the remote terminal device and releasing communication resources, thereby improving the control reliability and the communication efficiency.

Further, a PDU session matching the first charging policy may refer to a PDU session in which the charging policy matches the first charging policy in a PDU session established by the relay device, which is subsequently referred to as a matched session.

Specifically, after the policy control network element obtains the first charging policy, it may be determined whether there is a matched session in the PDU session established by the relay device.

Wherein, the matching can be understood that all policies in the first charging policy are the same as the charging policy of the PDU session.

Policy matching is introduced below by way of some examples.

Example 1:

it is assumed that the charging policy and the first charging policy of PDU session 1 can be as shown in table 1 below.

TABLE 1

Charging policySlightly omitted	Service type	Charging mode	Fee rate
				Charging policy for PDU session 1	Video service	Online line	X
First charging policy 1	Video service	Online line	Y

As can be appreciated from the illustration in table 1, the charging policy of PDU session 1 may be considered to be different from the first charging policy 1 due to the different tariffs.

Example 2:

it is assumed that the charging policy and the first charging policy of PDU session 2 can be as shown in table 2 below.

TABLE 2

As can be appreciated from the illustration in table 2, the charging policy of PDU session 2 may be considered to be different from the first charging policy 2 due to the different traffic type and tariff.

Example 3:

it is assumed that the charging policy of PDU session 3 and the first charging policy can be as shown in table 3 below.

TABLE 3 Table 3

As can be appreciated from the illustration in table 3, since all policies of the first charging policy 3 are the same as the charging policy of PDU session 3, the charging policy of PDU session 3 can be considered to be the same as the first charging policy 3.

Example 4:

it is assumed that the charging policy and the first charging policy of PDU session 4 can be as shown in table 4 below.

TABLE 4 Table 4

As can be appreciated from the table 4, although the charging policy of PDU session 4 includes a policy not included in the first charging policy 4, the charging based on the first charging policy 4 is not affected, and the charging policy of PDU session 4 may be considered to be the same as the first charging policy 4.

Optionally, in a ninth implementation scenario of the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the method may further include: the session management network element sends a charging data request (charging data request) message to the second device.

In a ninth implementation scenario, the second device may specifically be a CHF network element.

The session management network element may periodically send the charging data request message to the CHF network element according to the traffic volume of the remote terminal device periodically reported by the user plane network element. The charging data request message may be used for CHF network element to separately charge the remote terminal device, and the charging data request message may include, without limitation, a charging data update request (charging data request update) message or a charging data initial request (charging data request initial) message. The billing data request message may carry billing information and a first identification of the remote terminal device so that the CHF network element may bill the remote terminal device separately based on the billing information and the first identification.

The specific implementation manner of the first identifier may refer to the related description in step S401, which is not described herein.

It should be noted that if the first identifier is the SUPI of the remote terminal device, the CHF network element may directly charge the remote terminal device separately according to the charging information and the SUPI. If the first identifier is other identifiers of the remote terminal device, such as an identifier allocated by a subscriber identity module (SUCI), a general purpose identifier (GPSI), a third party service provider and the like, the CHF network element can determine the SUPI of the remote terminal device according to the corresponding relation of the first identifier, and then charge the remote terminal device independently according to the charging information and the SUPI.

The following description will take an example in which a session management network element sends a charging data request message at a time.

Illustratively, since the session management network element obtains the PDU session identifier of the PDU session in S401, the session management network element may determine whether the remote terminal device uses the PDU session that the relay device has created or the PDU session that the relay device newly creates for the remote terminal device (hereinafter referred to as the newly created PDU session) according to the PDU session identifier.

Specifically, if the session management network element determines that the PDU session identifier exists in the recorded PDU session identifiers, it may be determined that the remote terminal device uses the PDU session created by the relay device. If the session management network element determines that the PDU session identifier does not exist in the recorded PDU session identifiers, it may be determined that the remote terminal device uses a PDU session newly created by the relay device.

Further, if the remote terminal device uses a PDU session created by the relay device, the charging data request message sent by the session management network element to the CHF network element may be a charging data request update message. If the remote terminal device uses a separately created PDU session, the charging data request message sent by the session management network element to the CHF network element may be a charging data initial request message.

Further, the session management network element may further determine, according to the PDU session identifier and the first identifier, whether the PDU session is used exclusively by the remote terminal device or shared by the remote terminal device with other devices.

Specifically, if the PDU session identifier is not associated with the identifier of the other device except the association of the PDU session identifier with the first identifier, the session management network element determines that the PDU session is used exclusively by the remote terminal device. If the PDU session identifier is associated with the first identifier and other identifiers of other devices, the session management network element determines that the PDU session is shared by the remote terminal device and the other devices.

Charging of CHF network elements in the exclusive use and shared use scenarios, respectively, is described below.

A, exclusive use:

the charging data request message may, for example, carry the first identification of the remote terminal device and charging information of the remote terminal device. In this way, the CHF network element may determine, according to the first identifier, that the charging object is a remote terminal device, so that the remote terminal device is charged separately according to charging information of the remote terminal device.

Optionally, the charging data request message may also carry a session identifier (session identifier), an identifier of the relay device (e.g. SUPI). Wherein the session identifier is an identifier that is assigned to the PDU session in advance by the CHF network element for charging purposes, and the session identifier may be used by the CHF network element to determine which PDU session is used by the charging object, i.e. the remote terminal device. The identity of the relay device may be used by the CHF network element to determine that the PDU session was created by the relay device. Therefore, the CHF network element can ensure the integrity of the charging information and avoid charging errors by recording the session identifier and the identifier of the relay equipment.

Illustratively, the following formula (1) shows a format one of the charging data request message in the exclusive use scenario.

Wherein, "Session ID:11 "represents: the session identifier allocated by the CHF network element to the PDU session is 11; "SUPI: xx "represents: creating SUPI of a relay device of the PDU session as xx; "Remote UE ID: aa "represents: a first identification of a remote terminal device currently using the PDU session is aa; "Multiple Unit Usage:a1", "Rating group:r1" and "Used Unit Containe { yy }" constitute charging information reported by the remote terminal equipment aa in this period; "Multiple Unit Usage: a1" means: the charging category of the remote terminal equipment aa in the period is a1 type service, and the expression of the 'Rating Group: r 1' is as follows: the rate of the a1 type service is r1; "Used Unit Containe { yy }" then means: the traffic usage of the a1 type service is yy.

It will be appreciated that since the Remote UE ID is a separate cell in the charging data request message, the CHF network element may determine that the separate charging object is the Remote terminal device aa based on the Remote UE ID being aa. In this way, the CHF network element may determine, by using the remote terminal aa as an object, a product value of the flow yy of the a1 type service and the rate r1, where the product value r1 x yy is a fee of the a1 type service of the remote terminal aa in the present period, so as to implement separate charging for the remote terminal aa.

Illustratively, the following formula (2) shows a format two of the charging data request message in the exclusive use scenario.

Wherein, "Session ID:11 "represents: the session identifier allocated by the CHF network element to the PDU session is 11; "SUPI: xx "represents: the first identifier of the remote terminal device is xx; "Multiple Unit Usage:a1", "Rating group:r1" and "Used Unit Containe { yy }" constitute charging information reported by the remote terminal equipment aa in this period; "Multiple Unit Usage: a1" means: the charging category of the remote terminal equipment aa in the period is a1 type service, and the expression of the 'Rating Group: r 1' is as follows: the rate of the a1 type service is r1; "Used Unit Containe { yy }" then means: the traffic usage of the a1 type service is yy.

It will be appreciated that the CHF network element may determine that the independently charged object is the remote terminal device aa based on the content aa of the cell SUPI. In this way, the CHF network element may determine, by using the remote terminal aa as an object, a product value of the flow yy of the a1 type service and the rate r1, where the product value r1 x yy is a telephone charge of the a1 type service of the remote terminal aa in the present period, so as to separately charge the remote terminal aa.

B sharing use:

if the remote terminal device shares the same PDU session, for example, multiple devices including the remote terminal device share the same PDU session, the charging data request message may carry the first identifier and charging information of each device.

Wherein the first identification and billing information for each device may be packaged into a container. In this way, the CHF network element may implement separate billing for multiple devices by analyzing the information within each container.

Optionally, the charging data request message may also carry a session identifier, an identifier of the relay device. The specific implementation and effect of the session identifier and the identifier of the relay device may refer to the foregoing first exemplary manner, and will not be described herein.

Illustratively, the following equation (2) shows a format two of the charging data request message.

Wherein, "Session ID:11 "represents: the session identifier allocated by the CHF network element to the PDU session is 11; "SUPI: xx "represents: creating SUPI of a relay device of the PDU session as xx; { Remote UE ID: aa … … Used Unit Container { yy } } is the first container in the message; { Remote UE ID: bb … … Used Unit Container { zz } } }, is the second container in the message.

Further, in the first container, "Remote UE ID: aa "represents: a first identification of one remote terminal device currently sharing a usage PDU session is aa; "Multiple Unit Usage:a1", "Rating group:r1" and "Used Unit Containe { yy }" constitute charging information reported by the remote terminal equipment aa in this period; "Multiple Unit Usage: a1" means: the charging category of the remote terminal equipment aa in the present period is a 1-type service, and the expression of the 'Rating Group: r 1' is as follows: the rate of the a1 type service is r1; "Used Unit Containe { yy }" then means: the traffic usage of the a1 type service is yy.

It will be appreciated that the CHF network element may determine that the charging object is the Remote terminal device aa based on the separate cell Remote UE ID in the first container being aa. In this way, the CHF network element may determine, by using the remote terminal aa as an object, a product value of the flow yy of the a1 type service and the rate r1, where the product value r1 x yy is a telephone charge of the a1 type service of the remote terminal aa in the present period, so as to implement separate charging for one of the remote terminal aa under shared use.

Further, in the second container, "Remote UE ID: bb "denotes: a first identification of another remote terminal device currently sharing the PDU session is bb; "Multiple Unit Usage:b1", "Rating group:r2" and "Used Unit Containe { zz }" constitute charging information reported by the remote terminal equipment bb in this period; "Multiple Unit Usage:b1" means: the charging category of the remote terminal equipment bb in the period is b1 type service, and the expression of the 'Rating Group: r 2' is as follows: the rate of b1 type service is r2; "Used Unit Containe { yy }" then means: the traffic usage of the b1 type service is zz.

It will be appreciated that the CHF network element may determine that the charging object is Remote terminal device bb based on the Remote UE ID of the individual cell in the second container being bb. In this way, the CHF network element may determine, by using the remote terminal device bb as an object, a product value of the flow zz and the rate r2 of the b1 type service, where the product value r2 x zz is a telephone charge of the b1 type service of the remote terminal device bb in the present period, so as to implement separate charging for another remote terminal device bb under shared use.

The overall flow of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described above with reference to fig. 4, and the flow of the communication method in a specific application scenario is described in detail below with reference to fig. 5 to 7.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method can be suitable for communication among PCF network elements, SMF network elements, UPF network elements, UDM network elements, UDR network elements, NEF network elements and AF network elements shown in fig. 1 and 2. As shown in fig. 5, the communication method may include the steps of:

s501, the remote terminal device sends the first identifier or the second identifier to the SMF network element.

Accordingly, the SMF network element receives the first identity or the second identity from the remote terminal device.

In particular, the remote terminal device may send the first identity or the second identity to the SMF network element via the relay device, the RAN network element (not shown in fig. 5), the AMF network element (not shown in fig. 5).

The specific implementation of S501 may refer to the related description in S401, which is not described herein.

S502, the SMF network element acquires session management subscription data of the remote terminal equipment from the UDM network element.

Specifically, the SMF network element may obtain session management subscription data of the remote terminal device from the UDM network element according to the obtained first identifier or second identifier, for use in the charging policy configuration in S509.

The specific implementation of S502 may refer to the related descriptions in the second implementation scenario and the third implementation scenario, which are not described herein.

It should be noted that, S502 is a dotted line in fig. 5, which indicates that S502 is an optional step, in other words, if session management subscription data of the remote terminal device is to be acquired, after S501, the SMF network element may execute S502; otherwise, after S501, the SMF network element may directly send the first identifier of the remote terminal device to the PCF network element, i.e. S503 described below is performed, and then the PCF network element obtains session management subscription data of the remote terminal device according to the first identifier.

S503, the SMF network element sends a first identification to the PCF network element.

S504, the PCF network element sends a first identification to the UDM network element or the UDR network element.

The specific implementation of S503 may refer to the related description in S401, and the specific implementation of S504 may refer to the related description in S402 and the first implementation scenario, which are not described herein.

S505, PCF network element sends first indication information to UDM network element or UDR network element.

The specific implementation of S505 may refer to the related description in the fourth implementation scenario, which is not described herein.

It should be noted that, S504 and S506 are dashed lines in fig. 5, which indicates that S504 and S506 are optional steps, in other words, the PCF network element obtains the first charging policy from the UDM network element or the UDR network element in only one optional manner, for example, the PCF network element may also obtain the first charging policy locally from the PCF network element. S505 is shown in dashed lines in fig. 5, which indicates that S505 is also an optional step, in other words, if the PCF network element is to obtain the first charging policy applicable to the relay access mode, S505 may be executed by the PCF network element; otherwise, the PCF network element may not perform S505. The execution order of S505 and S504 is not limited.

S506, the UDM network element or the UDR network element sends the first charging policy to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the first charging policy from the UDM network element or the UDR network element.

In one possible design, if the PCF network element does not need to obtain the first charging policy applicable to the relay access mode, the UDM network element or the UDR network element may determine session policy control subscription information corresponding to the first identifier according to the first identifier, and send the session policy control subscription information to the PCF network element.

Thus, the PCF network element may receive the session policy control subscription information and obtain session policy association information of the remote terminal device therefrom, thereby obtaining the first charging policy.

In another possible design, if the PCF network element needs to obtain the first charging policy applicable to the relay access mode, the UDM network element or the UDR network element may determine session policy control subscription information corresponding to the first identifier and the first indication information according to the first identifier and the first indication information, and send the session policy control subscription information to the PCF network element.

Thus, the PCF network element can obtain the session policy related information of the remote terminal device from the received session policy control subscription information, i.e. obtain the first charging policy applicable to the relay access mode.

It should be understood that, according to the description related to the first implementation scenario, the PCF network element may acquire the first charging policy from other network elements in addition to the first charging policy from the UDM network element or the UDR network element, and the specific implementation may be combined with the description related to the S402, the second implementation scenario, and the fourth implementation scenario, which are not described herein.

S507, PCF network element sends first charging policy to SMF network element.

And S508, the SMF network element sends a first reporting rule to the UPF network element according to the first charging policy.

S509, the SMF network element determines a third charging policy of the remote terminal equipment according to the session management subscription data and the first charging policy.

And S510, the SMF network element sends a third reporting rule to the UPF network element according to a third charging strategy.

The specific implementation of S507 may refer to S402 and the related description in the first implementation scenario, the specific implementation of S508 may refer to the related description in S403, the specific implementation of S509 may refer to the related description in the second implementation scenario, and the specific implementation of S510 may refer to the related description in S403, which will not be described herein.

It should be noted that S508 to S510 are shown as dotted lines in fig. 5, and S508 to S510 are indicated as optional steps. Wherein, if the SMF network element does not need to redetermine the charging policy of the remote terminal device, S508 may be executed; if the SMF network element needs to re-determine the charging policy of the remote terminal device, S509-S510 may be performed.

S511, the AF network element sends the second charging policy to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the second charging policy from the AF network element.

The specific implementation of S511 may refer to the related description in the fifth implementation scenario, which is not described herein.

If the AF network element belongs to the CN, the AF network element can directly send the second charging policy to the PCF network element. If the AF network element belongs to the third-party service provider, the AF network element may send the second charging policy to the NEF network element (not shown in fig. 5), and after verifying the authority of the AF network element by the NEF network element, the NEF network element forwards the second charging policy to the PCF network element.

It should be understood that S511 may be performed at any time after the remote terminal device is accessed through the relay device, and alternatively, the embodiment of the present application is described with the example in which S511 is performed after S506, but is not limited thereto.

S512, the AF network element sends fourth indication information to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the fourth indication information from the AF network element.

The specific implementation of S512 may refer to the related descriptions in the sixth and seventh implementation scenarios, which are not described herein.

It should be noted that, S512 is shown in a dashed line in fig. 5, which indicates that S512 is an optional step, in other words, if the configuration of the second charging policy is to be further controlled, the AF network element may execute S512; otherwise, the AF network element may not perform S512. The execution order of S511 and S512 is not limited.

And S513, the PCF network element sends a second charging policy to the SMF network element.

And S514, the PCF network element updates the first charging policy or the third charging policy according to the second charging policy.

The specific implementation of S513 and S514 may refer to the related descriptions in the sixth and seventh implementation scenarios, which are not described herein.

And S515, the SMF network element sends a second reporting rule to the UPF network element according to the second charging policy.

The SMF network element sends the second reporting rule to the UPF network element, so that the UPF network element can report the charging information of the remote terminal equipment according to the latest second reporting rule so as to ensure the charging accuracy.

The specific implementation of S515 may refer to the related description in S403, which is not described herein.

S516, PCF network element sends charging policy update failure message or charging policy creation failure message to AF network element.

S517, the AF network element sends the traffic flow strategy cancellation message to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the traffic flow strategy cancellation message from the AF network element.

The specific implementation of S516 and S517 may refer to the related descriptions in the sixth and seventh implementation scenarios, which are not described herein.

It should be noted that, S517 is shown by a dashed line in fig. 5, which indicates that S517 is an optional step, in other words, if the configuration is to be optimized, the redundant resources are released, and the AF network element may execute S517; otherwise, the AF network element may not perform S517. In addition, S512-S517 are shown by dotted lines in fig. 5, which indicates that S512-S517 are optional steps, and that the performing of S512-S515 and S516-S517 is an or relationship, if it is determined that the fourth indication information from the AF network element and the subscription notification message from the SMF network element are not received, S512-S515 may be performed; otherwise, S516-S617 are performed.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method can be applied to the communication among PCF network elements, SMF network elements, CHF network elements, UPF network elements, UDM network elements, UDR network elements, NEF network elements and AF network elements shown in fig. 1 and 2. As shown in fig. 6, the communication method may include the steps of:

s601, the remote terminal equipment sends a first identifier or a second identifier to the SMF network element.

In particular, the remote terminal device may send the first identity or the second identity to the SMF network element via the relay device, the RAN network element (not shown in fig. 6), the AMF network element (not shown in fig. 6).

The specific implementation of S601 may refer to the related description in S401, which is not described herein.

S602, the SMF network element acquires session management subscription data of the remote terminal equipment from the UDM network element.

S603, the SMF network element sends a first identification to the PCF network element.

S604, the PCF network element sends a first identification to the UDM network element or the UDR network element.

S605, the PCF network element sends first indication information to the UDM network element or the UDR network element.

The specific implementation of S602 may refer to the related descriptions in the second and third implementation scenarios, the specific implementation of S603 may refer to the related description in S401, the specific implementation of S604 may refer to the related descriptions in S402 and the fourth implementation scenario, and the specific implementation of S605 may refer to the related description in the fourth implementation scenario, which will not be described herein.

It should be noted that, S602 is a dotted line in fig. 6, which indicates that S602 is an optional step, in other words, if session management subscription data of the remote terminal device is to be acquired, after S601, the SMF network element may execute S602; otherwise, after S601, the SMF network element may send the first identification of the remote terminal device directly to the PCF network element, i.e. perform S603.

In addition, S604 and S606 are dashed lines in fig. 6, which indicates that S604 and S606 are optional steps, in other words, the PCF network element obtains the first charging policy from the UDM network element or the UDR network element in only one optional manner, for example, the PCF network element may also obtain the first charging policy locally from the PCF network element. S605 is shown in fig. 6 by a dashed line, which indicates that S605 is also an optional step, in other words, if the PCF network element is to obtain the first charging policy applicable to the relay access mode, S605 may be executed; otherwise, the PCF network element may not perform S605. The execution order of S605 and S604 is not limited.

S606, the UDM network element or the UDR network element sends the first charging policy to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the first charging policy from the UDM network element or the UDR network element.

S607, the PCF network element sends the first charging policy to the SMF network element.

And S608, the SMF network element sends a first reporting rule to the UPF network element according to the first charging policy.

S609, the SMF network element determines a third charging policy of the remote terminal equipment according to the session management subscription data and the first charging policy.

And S610, the SMF network element sends a third reporting rule to the UPF network element according to a third charging strategy.

The specific implementation of S606 may refer to the relevant descriptions in S506, S402, the first implementation scenario and the fourth implementation scenario, the specific implementation of S607 may refer to the relevant descriptions in S402 and the first implementation scenario, the specific implementation of S608 may refer to the relevant description in S403, the specific implementation of S609 may refer to the relevant description in the second implementation scenario, and the specific implementation of S610 may refer to the relevant description in S403, which will not be described herein.

It should be noted that S608 to S610 are shown as dotted lines in fig. 6, and S608 to S610 are shown as optional steps. Wherein, if the SMF network element does not need to redetermine the charging policy of the remote terminal device, S608 may be executed; if the SMF network element needs to re-determine the charging policy of the remote terminal device, S609-S610 may be performed.

S611, the UPF network element reports the charging information of the remote terminal equipment to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the charging information of the remote terminal equipment from the UPF network element.

Specifically, the UPF network element may periodically count charging information of the remote terminal device according to the configured first charging rule or third charging rule, and periodically report the charging information to the SMF network element.

Wherein the charging information of the remote terminal device may include one or more of the following: multiple unit usage (multiple unit usage), rate set, or unit container used (used unit container). Wherein the burst may comprise a burst of PDU sessions that are PDU sessions used by the remote terminal device. The multi-element volume may include management parameters for managing the quota of the PDU session and/or reporting the PDU session volume. The cell container used is used to represent the amount of traffic consumed by the PDU session during the current period.

Optionally, the charging information according to the embodiment of the present application may include: the multiple unit usage, rate set, and unit container used are presented by way of example and not limitation.

S612, the SMF network element sends a charging data request message to the CHF network element.

S613, the AF network element sends the second charging policy to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the second charging policy from the AF network element.

S614, the AF network element sends fourth indication information to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the fourth indication information from the AF network element.

The specific implementation of S612 may refer to the related description of the ninth implementation scenario, the specific implementation of S613 may refer to the related description of the fifth implementation scenario, and the specific implementation of S614 may refer to the related descriptions of the sixth and seventh implementation scenarios, which are not described herein.

It should be noted that, S614 is shown in a dashed line in fig. 6, which indicates that S614 is an optional step, in other words, if the configuration of the second charging policy is to be further controlled, the AF network element may execute S614; otherwise, the AF network element may not perform S614. Further, the execution order of S613 and S614 is not limited.

S615, the PCF network element sends a second charging policy to the SMF network element.

And S616, the PCF network element updates the first charging policy or the third charging policy according to the second charging policy.

S617, the SMF network element sends a second reporting rule to the UPF network element according to the second charging policy.

And S618, the PCF network element sends a charging policy update failure message or a charging policy creation failure message to the AF network element.

S619, the AF network element sends the traffic flow strategy cancellation message to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the traffic flow strategy cancellation message from the AF network element.

Specific implementations of S615 and S616 may refer to the related descriptions in the sixth implementation scenario and the seventh implementation scenario, specific implementations of S617 may refer to the related descriptions in S403, and specific implementations of S618 and S619 may refer to the related descriptions in the sixth implementation scenario and the seventh implementation scenario, which are not described herein.

It should be noted that, S619 is shown in a dashed line in fig. 6, which indicates that S619 is an optional step, in other words, if the configuration is to be optimized, the redundant resources are released, and the AF network element may execute S619; otherwise, the AF network element may not perform S619. In addition, S614-S619 are shown in dashed lines in fig. 6, which indicates that S614-S619 are optional steps as a whole, and that S614-S617 and S618-S619 are performed in an or relationship, and if it is determined that the fourth indication information from the AF network element and the subscription notification message from the SMF network element are not received, S614-S617 may be performed; otherwise, S618-S619 is performed.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method can be applied to the communication among PCF network elements, SMF network elements, CHF network elements, UPF network elements, UDM network elements, UDR network elements, NEF network elements and AF network elements shown in fig. 1 and 2. As shown in fig. 7, the communication method includes the steps of:

s701, the remote terminal device sends the first identifier or the second identifier to the SMF network element.

In this embodiment of the present application, the remote terminal device may send the first identifier or the second identifier to the SMF network element via the relay device, the RAN network element (not shown in fig. 7), and the AMF network element (not shown in fig. 7).

The specific implementation of S701 may refer to the related description in S401, which is not described herein.

S702, the SMF network element acquires session management subscription data of the remote terminal equipment from the UDM network element.

S703, the SMF network element sends the first identifier to the PCF network element.

And S704, the PCF network element sends a first identification to the UDM network element or the UDR network element.

S705, the PCF network element sends the first indication information to the UDM network element or the UDR network element.

The specific implementation of S702 may refer to the related descriptions in the second and third implementation scenarios, the specific implementation of S703 may refer to the related description in S401, the specific implementation of S704 may refer to the related descriptions in S402 and the first implementation scenario, and the specific implementation of S705 may refer to the related description in the fourth implementation scenario, which will not be described herein.

It should be noted that, S702 is a dotted line in fig. 7, which indicates that S702 is an optional step, in other words, if session management subscription data of the remote terminal device is to be acquired, after S701, the SMF network element may execute S702; otherwise, after S701, the SMF network element may send the first identification of the remote terminal device directly to the PCF network element, i.e. perform S703.

In addition, S704 and S706 are dashed lines in fig. 7, which indicates that S704 and S706 are optional steps, in other words, the PCF network element obtains the first charging policy from the UDM network element or the UDR network element in only one alternative manner, for example, the PCF network element may also obtain the first charging policy locally from the PCF network element. S705 is shown in fig. 7 by a dashed line, which indicates that S705 is also an optional step, in other words, if the PCF network element is to obtain the first charging policy applicable to the relay access mode, S705 may be executed; otherwise, the PCF network element may not perform S705. In addition, the execution order of S705 and S704 is not limited.

S706, the UDM network element or the UDR network element sends the first charging policy to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the first charging policy from the UDM network element or the UDR network element.

And S707, the PCF network element sends the first charging policy to the SMF network element.

The specific implementation of S706 may refer to the related descriptions in S506, S402, the first implementation scenario, the second implementation scenario, and the fourth implementation scenario, and the specific implementation of S707 may refer to the related descriptions in S402 and the first implementation scenario, which are not described herein.

S708, the PCF network element sends the second indication information or the third indication information to the SMF network element.

The specific implementation of S708 may refer to the related description in the eighth implementation scenario, which is not described herein.

The order of execution of S708 and S707 is not limited.

S709, the SMF network element sends the second indication information or the third indication information to the relay device.

And S710, the SMF network element sends a first reporting rule to the UPF network element according to the first charging policy.

S711, the SMF network element determines a third charging policy of the remote terminal equipment according to the session management subscription data and the first charging policy.

Wherein, the specific implementation of S709 may refer to the related description in the eighth implementation scenario, the specific implementation of S710 may refer to the related description in S403, and the specific implementation of S711 may refer to the related descriptions in the second and third implementation scenarios, which are not described herein. The execution order of S709, S710, and S711 is not limited.

And S712, the SMF network element sends a third reporting rule to the UPF network element according to a third charging strategy.

The specific implementation of S712 may refer to the related description in S403, which is not described herein.

It should be noted that S710 to S712 are shown as dotted lines in fig. 7, and S710 to S712 are shown as optional steps. If the SMF network element does not need to redetermine the charging policy of the remote terminal device, S710 may be executed; if the SMF network element needs to re-determine the charging policy of the remote terminal device, S711-S712 may be performed.

S713, the UPF network element reports the charging information of the remote terminal equipment to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the charging information of the remote terminal equipment from the UPF network element.

The specific implementation of S713 may refer to S611, and will not be described herein.

S714, the SMF network element sends a charging data request message to the CHF network element.

The specific implementation of S714 may refer to the related description in the ninth implementation scenario, which is not described herein.

S715, the AF network element sends the second charging policy to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the second charging policy from the AF network element.

S716, the AF network element sends fourth indication information to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the fourth indication information from the AF network element.

Wherein, the specific implementation of S715 may refer to the related description in the fifth implementation scenario, and the specific implementation of S716 may refer to the related description in the sixth and seventh implementation scenarios.

It should be noted that, S716 is shown in a dashed line in fig. 7, which indicates that S716 is an optional step, in other words, if the configuration of the second charging policy is to be further controlled, the AF network element may execute S716; otherwise, the AF network element may not perform S716. The execution order of S716 and S715 is not limited.

S717, the PCF network element sends the second charging policy to the SMF network element.

S718, the PCF network element updates the first charging policy according to the second charging policy.

And S719, the SMF network element sends a second reporting rule to the UPF network element according to the second charging policy.

S720, the PCF network element sends a charging policy update failure message or a charging policy creation failure message to the AF network element.

S721, AF network element sends service flow strategy cancel message to PCF network element, PCF network element receives service flow strategy cancel message from AF network element.

The specific implementation of S717 and S718 may refer to the related descriptions in the sixth and seventh implementation scenarios, the specific implementation of S719 may refer to the related description in S403, and the specific implementation of S720 and S721 may refer to the related descriptions in the sixth and seventh implementation scenarios, which are not described herein.

It should be noted that, S721 is shown in a dashed line in fig. 7, which indicates that S721 is an optional step, in other words, if the configuration is to be optimized, the AF network element may execute S721 to release the redundant resources; otherwise, the AF network element may not perform S721. In addition, S716-S721 are shown in dashed lines in fig. 7, which indicates that S716-S721 are optional steps as a whole, and that the execution of S716-S719 and S720-S721 is an or relationship, if it is determined that the fourth indication information from the AF network element and the subscription notification message from the SMF network element are not received, S716-S719 may be executed; otherwise, S720-S721 are performed.

In the embodiment of the present application, since the policy control network element can obtain the first identifier of the remote terminal device from the session management network element, the policy control network element may send the first charging policy of the remote terminal device to the session management network element according to the first identifier. Therefore, the session management network element can configure the first reporting rule of the remote terminal device for the user plane network element according to the first charging policy, so that after the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device, the user plane network element can report the charging information of the remote terminal device to the charging function network element according to the first reporting rule, thereby realizing independent charging of the remote terminal device.

The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 4 to 7. A communication apparatus for performing the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to fig. 8.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 8, the communication apparatus 800 includes: a processing module 801 and a transceiver module 802. For ease of illustration, fig. 8 shows only the main components of the communication device 800.

In some embodiments, the communication apparatus 800 may be adapted for use in the communication systems shown in fig. 1 and 2, perform the functions of a policy control network element in the communication method shown in fig. 4, or perform the functions of a PCF network element in the communication method shown in fig. 5-7.

The processing module 801 is configured to execute S402, S514, S616, S718.

The transceiver module 802 is used for executing S504-S507, S511-S513, S516-S517, S604-S607, S613-S615, S618-S619, S704-S708, S715-S717, and S720-S721.

It should be noted that, the communication device 800 may be a policy control network element or a PCF network element, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that may be disposed in the policy control network element or the PCF network element, or a device including the policy control network element or the PCF network element; alternatively, the communication apparatus 800 may also be a network device, or a chip (system) or other part or component that may be provided in the network device, or an apparatus that includes the network device.

In other embodiments, the communication apparatus 800 may be adapted to perform the functions of a session management network element in the communication method shown in fig. 4 or perform the functions of an SMF network element in the communication method shown in fig. 5-7 in the communication system shown in fig. 1 and 2.

The processing module 801 is configured to execute S403, S509, S609, S711, and further configured to control the transceiver module 802 to execute S502, S508, S510, S515, S602, S608, S610, S617, S702, S712, S719.

The transceiver module 802 is used for executing S401, S501, S503, S601, S603, S611-S612, S701, S703, S709 and S713-S714.

It should be noted that, the communication apparatus 800 may be a session management network element or an SMF network element, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that may be disposed in the session management network element or the SMF network element, or an apparatus that includes the session management network element or the SMF network element; alternatively, the communication apparatus 800 may also be a network device, or a chip (system) or other part or component that may be provided in the network device, or an apparatus that includes the network device.

Alternatively, the transceiver module 802 may include a receiving module and a transmitting module (not shown in fig. 8). The transceiver module 802 is configured to implement a transmitting function and a receiving function of the communication device 800.

Optionally, the communication device 800 may further comprise a storage module (not shown in fig. 8) storing programs or instructions. When the processing module 801 executes the program or instructions, the communication apparatus 800 may perform the functions of a session management network element in the communication method shown in fig. 4, or perform the functions of an SMF network element in the communication method shown in fig. 5-7.

It is to be appreciated that the processing module 801 involved in the communication apparatus 800 may be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components, which may be a processor or processing unit; transceiver module 802 may be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit component, which may be a transceiver or a transceiver unit.

In addition, the technical effects of the communication apparatus 800 may refer to the technical effects of the communication method shown in any one of fig. 4 to 7, and will not be described herein.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a second configuration of the communication device according to the embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be a terminal device or a network device, or may be a chip (system) or other parts or components that may be provided in the terminal device or the network device. As shown in fig. 9, the communication device 900 may include a processor 901. Optionally, the communication device 900 may also include a memory 902 and/or a transceiver 903. Wherein the processor 901 is coupled to the memory 902 and the transceiver 903, such as may be connected by a communication bus.

The following describes the respective constituent elements of the communication apparatus 900 in detail with reference to fig. 9:

the processor 901 is a control center of the communication device 900, and may be one processor or a collective term of a plurality of processing elements. For example, processor 901 is one or more central processing units (central processing unit, CPU), but may also be an integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement embodiments of the present application, such as: one or more microprocessors (digital signal processor, DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (field programmable gate array, FPGAs).

Alternatively, the processor 901 may perform various functions of the communication device 900 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 902 and invoking data stored in the memory 902.

In a particular implementation, processor 901 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in fig. 9, as one embodiment.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication apparatus 900 may also include a plurality of processors, such as the processor 901 and the processor 904 shown in fig. 2. Each of these processors may be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

The memory 902 is configured to store a computer program for executing the embodiments of the present application, and is executed by the processor 901 to implement a method provided in each method embodiment, for example, a method for executing the policy function network element or the SMF network element in the method embodiment, and specific reference may be made to the method embodiment, which is not described herein.

Alternatively, memory 902 may be, but is not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, random access memory (random access memory, RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (compact disc read-only memory) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory 902 may be integrated with the processor 901, or may exist separately and be coupled to the processor 901 through an interface circuit (not shown in fig. 9) of the communication device 900, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

A transceiver 903 for communication with other communication devices 800. For example, the communication apparatus 900 is a terminal device, and the transceiver 903 may be used to communicate with a network device or another terminal device. As another example, the communication apparatus 900 is a network device, and the transceiver 903 may be used to communicate with a terminal device or another network device.

Optionally, the transceiver 903 includes a receiver and a transmitter (not separately shown in fig. 9). The receiver is used for realizing the receiving function, and the transmitter is used for realizing the transmitting function.

Alternatively, the transceiver 903 and the processor 901 may be integrated together or may exist separately and be coupled to the processor 901 through an interface circuit (not shown in fig. 9) of the communication device 900, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that the configuration of the communication device 900 shown in fig. 9 is not limited to the communication device, and an actual communication device may include more or fewer components than shown, or may combine some components, or may be different in arrangement of components.

In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 900 may refer to the technical effects of the communication method described in the above method embodiments, which are not described herein.

The embodiment of the application also provides a chip system, which comprises: a processor coupled to a memory for storing programs or instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the system-on-a-chip to implement the method of any of the method embodiments described above.

Alternatively, the processor in the system-on-chip may be one or more. The processor may be implemented in hardware or in software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like. When implemented in software, the processor may be a general purpose processor, implemented by reading software code stored in a memory.

Alternatively, the memory in the system-on-chip may be one or more. The memory may be integral with the processor or separate from the processor, and is not limited in this application. For example, the memory may be a non-transitory processor, such as a ROM, which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately provided on different chips, and the type of memory and the manner of providing the memory and the processor are not specifically limited in this application.

The system-on-chip may be, for example, a field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA), an application specific integrated chip (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processing unit (central processor unit, CPU), a network processor (network processor, NP), a digital signal processing circuit (digital signal processor, DSP), a microcontroller (micro controller unit, MCU), a programmable controller (programmable logic device, PLD) or other integrated chip.

The embodiment of the application provides a communication system. The communication system includes one or more network devices; further, the communication system may further comprise one or more of the above-mentioned terminal devices, e.g. a remote terminal device, a relay device.

It should be appreciated that the processor in embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), which may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), off-the-shelf programmable gate arrays (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It should also be appreciated that the memory in embodiments of the present application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM) which acts as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of random access memory (random access memory, RAM) are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (ESDRAM), synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM).

The above embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware (e.g., circuitry), firmware, or any other combination. When implemented in software, the above-described embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product comprises one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer program are loaded or executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are all or partially produced. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wired (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains one or more sets of available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium may be a solid state disk.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" is merely an association relationship describing the associated object, and means that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may mean: there are three cases, a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the associated object is an "or" relationship, but may also indicate an "and/or" relationship, and may be understood by referring to the context.

In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

It should be understood that, in various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the foregoing processes do not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of the processes should be determined by the functions and internal logic thereof, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

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 solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

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

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown 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 may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in 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 may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (random access memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

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

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a policy control network element receives a first identification of a remote terminal device from a session management network element, wherein the remote terminal device accesses a wireless network through a relay device;

the policy control network element sends a first charging policy of the remote terminal device to the session management network element according to the first identifier; the first charging policy is used for the session management network element to send a first reporting rule to the user plane network element, and the first reporting rule is used for the user plane network element to report the traffic usage of the remote terminal device.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the first charging policy comprises one or more of: session charging rules, or service charging rules.

3. The communication method according to claim 2, wherein the first charging policy further comprises: status subscription indication;

wherein the status subscription indication is used for subscribing to the connection status of the remote terminal device and/or the service flow status.

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

and the policy control network element acquires the first charging policy according to the first identifier.

5. The communication method according to claim 4, wherein the policy control network element obtains the first charging policy according to the first identifier, including:

the policy control network element obtains the first charging policy from first equipment according to the first identifier;

wherein the first device comprises: the policy control network element, the unified data management network element, the unified data storage network element, the charging function network element, or the application function network element.

6. A method of communication according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the strategy control network element sends first indication information to the second equipment;

wherein the second device comprises: a unified data management network element, a unified data storage network element, a billing function network element, or an application function network element;

Wherein, the first indication information is used for indicating: the remote terminal equipment accesses to a wireless network through the relay equipment.

7. The communication method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the first charging policy comprises one or more of the following: the first identifier or the port number allocated by the relay device to the remote terminal device.

8. The communication method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the policy control network element receives the first identification of the remote terminal device from the session management network element, comprising:

the policy control network element receives a first message from the session management network element;

the first message carries the first identifier, and the first message is a session policy association establishment request message or a session policy association change request message.

9. The communication method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the first identification comprises one or more of the following: a subscription permanent identity SUPI, a general public subscription identity GPSI, a subscriber hidden identity sui, or a port number allocated by the relay device for the remote terminal device.

10. A method of communication according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the policy control network element receives a second charging policy from the application function network element;

if the second charging policy is used for charging equipment accessing the wireless network through the relay equipment, the policy control network element sends the second charging policy to the session management network element; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

and if the second charging policy is not used for charging equipment accessing the wireless network through the relay equipment, the policy control network element sends a charging policy update failure message or a charging policy creation failure message to the application function network element.

11. The communication method according to claim 10, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the policy control network element receives fourth indication information from the application function network element, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating: the second charging policy is not used for charging of devices accessing the wireless network through the relay device.

12. The communication method according to claim 10, wherein the second charging policy is for charging of devices accessing the wireless network through the relay device, the method further comprising:

And the policy control network element updates the first charging policy according to the second charging policy.

13. A communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that,

the remote terminal equipment is connected with the relay equipment, and the first charging strategy is in an activated state; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

and the remote terminal equipment is disconnected with the relay equipment, and the first charging strategy is in an inactive state.

14. The communication method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device or traffic flow, the method further comprising:

the policy control network element sends a charging notification message to an application function network element, where the charging notification message is used to notify the remote terminal device that the connection or the service flow is disconnected.

15. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a session management network element sends a first identification of remote terminal equipment to a strategy control network element, wherein the remote terminal equipment is accessed to a wireless network through relay equipment;

the session management network element receives a first charging policy from the remote terminal device of the policy control network element;

And the session management network element sends a first reporting rule to a user plane network element according to the first charging policy, wherein the first reporting rule is used for reporting the traffic usage of the remote terminal device by the user plane network element.

16. The communication method according to claim 15, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the session management network element sends a charging data request message to a charging function network element, wherein the charging data request message carries the first identifier.

17. The communication method according to claim 16, wherein the charging data request message further carries an identification of the relay device.

18. A communication method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the charging data request message carries one or more of the following information for each of the remote terminal devices: multiple unit usage, rate set, or unit container used.

19. The communication method according to any of claims 15-17, wherein the first charging policy comprises one or more of the following: session charging rules, or service charging rules.

20. The communication method of claim 19, wherein the first charging policy further comprises: status subscription indication;

Wherein the state subscription indication is used for subscribing the connection state of the remote terminal equipment and/or the service flow state of the strategy control network element.

21. The communication method according to any of claims 15-17, wherein the first charging policy comprises one or more of the following: the first identifier or the port number allocated by the relay device to the remote terminal device.

22. A communication method according to any one of claims 15-17, characterized in that,

the first charging policy is obtained from first equipment by the policy control network element according to the first identifier;

23. A communication method according to any of claims 15-17, wherein the session management network element sending the first identity of the remote terminal device to the policy control network element comprises:

the session management network element sends a first message to the policy control network element;

24. A method of communicating according to any of claims 15-17, wherein the method further comprises:

the session management network element receives a second identification from the remote terminal device;

the session management network element sends the second identifier to a unified data management network element;

the session management network element receives the first identification from the unified data management network element.

25. The communication method of claim 24, wherein,

the first identifier comprises: the subscription permanently identifies the SUPI.

26. The communication method of claim 24, wherein,

the second identity comprises one or more of the following: the general public subscription identifier GPSI, the subscriber hidden identifier sui, or the identifier allocated by the application function network element to the remote terminal device.

27. A communication device, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the communication method of any of claims 1-14.

28. A communication device, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the communication method of any of claims 15-26.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising: computer program or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 1-14 or to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 15-26.

30. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising: computer program or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 1-14 or to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 15-26.

31. A communication system, comprising:

a policy control network element for performing the communication method according to any of claims 1-14;

session management network element for performing the communication method according to any of claims 15-26.