CN115529637A

CN115529637A - Communication method, communication device and communication system

Info

Publication number: CN115529637A
Application number: CN202110702409.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 周凯; 丁辉; 谢春生
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-06-24
Filing date: 2021-06-24
Publication date: 2022-12-27
Also published as: WO2022267652A1

Abstract

The application provides a communication method, a communication device and a communication system. The method comprises the following steps: matching the first data packet with flow description information, wherein the flow description information comprises an offset, a length and a reference value, the offset is used for indicating a starting point of a target field in the data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used for matching a value of the target field; when the first data packet is matched with the flow description information, adding a QFI (quad flat interface) corresponding to the flow description information in the packet header of the first data packet to obtain a second data packet; the second data packet is transmitted. According to the scheme, the target fields of the service data packets are accurately matched through the offset, the length and the reference value, so that the data packets of different service types can be effectively distinguished, and a network side can be facilitated to perform different controls on the data packets of different service types.

Description

Communication method, communication device and communication system

Technical Field

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

Background

The fifth generation (5g) network supports the guarantee of the Service Quality with the Quality of Service (QoS) flow granularity. When a session management network element establishes a QoS Flow or modifies the QoS Flow, a QoS Flow Identifier (QFI) and a QoS configuration (Profile) corresponding to the QFI are sent to an access network device, where the QoS configuration includes parameter information such as a 5G QoS Identifier (5G QoS Identifier, 5qi), an Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), and the like, a QoS Rule is sent to a terminal, the QoS Rule includes QFI, a Packet filter, and matching Priority information, a Packet Detection Rule (PDR) is sent to a user plane network element, and the PDR includes QFI, a Packet filter, and matching Priority information.

When the terminal needs to send the uplink data packet, the uplink data packet is matched according to the packet filter in the QoS rule, when the uplink data packet is matched with a certain packet filter, the QFI corresponding to the packet filter is added to the packet head of the uplink data packet, and then the uplink data packet with the added QFI is sent to the access network equipment.

When the user plane network element receives the downlink data packet, the downlink data packet is matched according to the packet filter in the PDR, and when the downlink data packet is matched with a certain packet filter, the QFI corresponding to the packet filter is added to the packet header of the downlink data packet, and then the downlink data packet with the added QFI is sent to the access network equipment.

After receiving the uplink data packet or the downlink data packet, the access network equipment acquires the QFI in the uplink data packet or the downlink data packet, and then executes corresponding QoS guarantee according to the QoS configuration corresponding to the QFI.

The Protocol currently defines packet filters of Internet Protocol (IP) type and Ethernet (Ethernet) type, and a terminal or a user plane network element can identify or match a packet header of a data packet through the packet filter of the IP type or the Ethernet type, and complete mapping from a service flow to a QoS flow, thereby implementing differentiated processing on the data packet according to packet filter granularity.

However, depending on the existing packet filter, the data packets cannot be distinguished more accurately.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, a communication device and a communication system, which are used for realizing the accurate matching of data packets, thereby effectively distinguishing the data packets of different service types.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which may be performed by a communication device or a module applied in a communication device, where the communication device may be a terminal or a user plane network element. The method comprises the following steps: matching the first data packet with stream description information, wherein the stream description information comprises an offset, a length and a reference value, the offset is used for indicating a starting point of a target field in the data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used for matching a value of the target field; when the first data packet is matched with the flow description information, adding a quality of service flow identifier QFI corresponding to the flow description information to the header of the first data packet to obtain a second data packet; the second data packet is transmitted.

According to the scheme, the target fields of the service data packets are accurately matched through the offset, the length and the reference value, so that the data packets of different service types can be effectively distinguished, and a network side can be facilitated to execute different controls on the data packets of different service types.

In one possible implementation method, a starting point of a target field in the first data packet is determined according to an offset starting point and the offset; determining a target field in the first data packet according to the starting point and the length of the target field in the first data packet; and judging whether the first data packet is matched with the stream description information or not according to the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value.

According to the scheme, the value of the target field can be accurately acquired, so that the first data packet can be accurately matched.

In one possible implementation, the offset start point is pre-configured or protocol predefined.

In a possible implementation method, the stream description information further includes indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate the offset starting point.

In one possible implementation, the offset starting point is a starting point of a payload in the first packet or a starting point of the first packet.

In a possible implementation method, when a value of a target field in the first data packet is the same as the reference value, it is determined that the first data packet matches the stream description information; or, when the value of the target field in the first data packet is different from the reference value, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the flow description information.

In a possible implementation method, the flow description information further includes a matching rule; when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value meet the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is matched with the flow description information; or, when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value do not satisfy the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the flow description information.

According to the scheme, a more flexible matching mode can be realized through the matching rule.

In one possible implementation, the matching rule is greater than, less than, equal to, or a functional relationship.

In a possible implementation method, the communication device is a terminal and receives a quality of service QoS rule from a session management network element, where the QoS rule includes the QFI and the flow description information.

In a possible implementation method, the communication device is a user plane network element, and receives a packet detection rule PDR from a session management network element, where the PDR includes the QFI and the flow description information.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which may be performed by a session management network element or a module applied in the session management network element. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule from a policy control network element, wherein the PCC rule comprises first flow description information; the first flow description information comprises an offset, a length and a reference value, wherein the offset is used for indicating a starting point of a target field in a data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used for matching a value of the target field; generating a packet detection rule PDR according to the PCC rule; and sending the PDR to a user plane network element, where the PDR includes the first flow description information and the qos flow identifier QFI allocated to the PCC rule.

According to the scheme, the first flow description information can be configured for the user plane network element, so that the user plane network element can accurately match the target field of the service data packet according to the over-offset, the length and the reference value in the first flow description information, and can effectively distinguish data packets of different service types, thereby being beneficial to a network side to execute different controls on the data packets of different service types.

In one possible implementation, a QoS rule is generated according to the PCC rule; and sending the QoS rule to a terminal, wherein the QFI and the second flow description information are contained in the QoS rule.

According to the scheme, the second flow description information can be configured for the terminal, so that the terminal can accurately match the target field of the service data packet according to the over-offset, the length and the reference value in the second flow description information, and can effectively distinguish the data packets of different service types, thereby being beneficial to a network side to execute different controls on the data packets of different service types.

In one possible implementation method, the first flow description information includes uplink description information and downlink description information, the uplink description information is used for matching an uplink, and the downlink description information is used for matching a downlink; the second stream description information includes the upstream description information, or the second stream description information is the same as the first stream description information.

In a possible implementation method, the PCC rule further includes a QoS parameter; generating a QoS configuration according to the PCC rule, wherein the QoS configuration comprises the QoS parameter; and sending the QFI and the QoS configuration to an access network device.

In a possible implementation method, a session modification request is received from the terminal, where the session modification request includes the first flow description information; and sending the policy association update request to the policy control network element, where the policy association update request includes the first flow description information.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which may be performed by a policy control network element or a module applied in the policy control network element. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring flow description information, wherein the flow description information comprises an offset, a length and a reference value, the offset is used for indicating a starting point of a target field in a data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used for matching a value of the target field; generating a Policy Charging Control (PCC) rule, wherein the PCC rule comprises the flow description information; and sending the PCC rule to a session management network element.

In a possible implementation method, a policy authorization request from an application function network element is received, where the policy authorization request includes the flow description information.

In a possible implementation method, a policy association update request is received from the session management network element, where the policy association update request includes the flow description information from the terminal.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which may be a communication device, and may also be a chip for a communication device, where the communication device may be a terminal or a user plane network element. The apparatus has the functionality to implement any of the implementation methods of the first aspect described above. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which may be a session management network element, and may also be a chip for a session management network element. The apparatus has a function of implementing any of the implementation methods of the second aspect described above. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, where the apparatus may be a policy control network element, and may also be a chip for policy control. The apparatus has a function of implementing any of the implementation methods of the third aspect described above. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer instructions, and when the apparatus is running, the processor executes the computer instructions stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform any of the implementation methods of the first aspect to the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which includes means or means (means) for performing each step of any implementation method in the first to third aspects.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor and an interface circuit, where the processor is configured to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit, and perform any implementation method in the first to third aspects. The processor includes one or more.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including a processor coupled to a memory, where the processor is configured to call a program stored in the memory to execute any implementation method in the first to third aspects. The memory may be located within the device or external to the device. And the processor may be one or more.

In an eleventh aspect, this embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where instructions are stored, and when the computer-readable storage medium is run on a communication device, the computer-readable storage medium causes the method in any implementation of the first aspect to the third aspect to be performed.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product, where the computer program product includes a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the method in any of the first to third aspects is executed.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, including: a processor configured to perform any of the implementation methods of the first to third aspects.

In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, where the communication system includes a session management network element for performing any implementation method of the second aspect and a policy control network element for performing any implementation method of the third aspect.

In a possible implementation method, the communication system further comprises a user plane network element configured to perform any of the implementation methods of the first aspect.

In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, where the communication system includes a user plane network element configured to perform any implementation method of the first aspect and a session management network element configured to perform any implementation method of the second aspect.

Drawings

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

FIG. 2 (a) is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service-oriented architecture;

FIG. 2 (b) is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a point-to-point interface;

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

fig. 3 (b) is a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more clear, the present application will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The particular methods of operation in the method embodiments may also be applied to apparatus embodiments or system embodiments.

To achieve accurate matching of data packets, as shown in fig. 1, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a user plane network element and a session management network element. Optionally, the system further includes a policy control network element.

A session management network element, configured to receive a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule from a Policy Control network element, where the PCC rule includes first flow description information; the first flow description information includes an offset, a length and a reference value, the offset is used for indicating a starting point of a target field in a data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used for matching a value of the target field; generating a PDR according to the PCC rule; sending the PDR to a user plane network element, wherein the PDR comprises the first flow description information and QFI allocated to the PCC rule; a user plane network element, configured to match the first data packet with the first flow description information; when the first data packet is matched with the first flow description information, adding QFI corresponding to the first flow description information in the packet head of the first data packet to obtain a second data packet; the second packet is transmitted.

In a possible implementation method, the session management network element is further configured to generate a QoS rule according to the PCC rule; and sending the QoS rule to a terminal, wherein the QFI and the second flow description information are contained in the QoS rule.

In a possible implementation method, the PCC rule further includes a QoS parameter; the session management network element is further configured to generate a QoS configuration according to the PCC rule, where the QoS configuration includes the QoS parameter; and sending the QFI and the QoS configuration to an access network device.

In a possible implementation method, the session management network element is further configured to receive a session modification request from the terminal, where the session modification request includes the first flow description information; and sending the policy association update request to a policy control network element, where the policy association update request includes the first flow description information.

In a possible implementation method, a user plane network element is configured to match a first data packet with first flow description information; when the first data packet is matched with the first stream description information, adding a QFI (quad flat interface) corresponding to the first stream description information in the packet header of the first data packet to obtain a second data packet; the second packet is transmitted.

In a possible implementation method, the user plane network element is configured to match the first data packet with the first flow description information, and specifically includes: the starting point of the target field in the first data packet is determined according to the offset starting point and the offset; determining a target field in the first data packet according to the starting point and the length of the target field in the first data packet; and judging whether the first data packet is matched with the first flow description information or not according to the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value.

In a possible implementation method, the first stream description information further includes indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate the offset starting point.

In a possible implementation method, the user plane network element is configured to determine whether the first data packet matches the flow description information according to a value of a target field in the first data packet and the reference value, and specifically includes: when the value of the target field in the first data packet is the same as the reference value, determining that the first data packet is matched with the stream second description information; or, when the value of the target field in the first data packet is different from the reference value, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the first flow description information.

In a possible implementation method, the first flow description information further includes a matching rule; the user plane network element is configured to determine whether the first data packet matches the first flow description information according to the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value, and specifically includes: when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value meet the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is matched with the first flow description information; or when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value do not satisfy the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the first flow description information.

In a possible implementation method, the policy control network element is configured to obtain the first flow description information; generating the PCC rule; and sending the PCC rule to a session management network element.

In a possible implementation method, the policy control network element is configured to acquire the first flow description information, and specifically includes: the flow description information processing device is used for receiving a policy authorization request from an application function network element, wherein the policy authorization request contains the first flow description information.

In a possible implementation method, the policy control network element is configured to acquire the first flow description information, and specifically includes: the session management network element is configured to receive a policy association update request from the session management network element, where the policy association update request includes the first flow description information from the terminal.

The system shown in fig. 1 can be used in the 5G network architecture shown in fig. 2 (a) or fig. 2 (b), and of course, can also be used in a future network architecture, such as a sixth generation (6G) network architecture, etc., which is not limited in this application.

Fig. 2 (a) is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service-oriented architecture. The 5G network architecture shown in fig. 2 (a) may include a Data Network (DN) and a carrier network. The functions of some of the network elements will be briefly described below.

Wherein the operator network may comprise one or more of the following network elements: an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) Network element, a Network open Function (NEF) Network element, a Policy Control Function (PCF) Network element, a Unified Data Management (UDM) Network element, a Unified Data Repository (UDR), a Network storage Function (Network storage Function, NRF) Network element, an Application Function (AF) Network element, an access and mobility management Function (AMF) Network element, a Session Management Function (SMF) Network element, a Radio Access Network (RAN) device, and a user plane Function (user plane, UPF) Network element, a Network Slice Selection Function (Slice) Network element, a sf Network element, and the like. In the operator network, network elements or devices other than the radio access network device may be referred to as core network elements or core network devices.

The radio access network device may be a base station (base station), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), a next generation base station (next generation NodeB, gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a next generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, etc.; the present invention may also be a module or a unit that performs part of the functions of the base station, for example, a Centralized Unit (CU) or a Distributed Unit (DU). The radio access network device may be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, or a relay node or a donor node. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and the specific device forms adopted by the radio access network device.

A terminal in communication with the RAN may also be referred to as a terminal equipment, a User Equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, or the like. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenes, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-equipment (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearing, smart transportation, smart city, and the like. The terminal can be cell-phone, panel computer, take the computer of wireless transceiver function, wearable equipment, vehicle, unmanned aerial vehicle, helicopter, aircraft, steamer, robot, arm, intelligent home equipment etc.. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the terminal.

The base stations and terminals may be fixed or mobile. The base station and the terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface; it may also be deployed on airborne airplanes, balloons and satellite vehicles. The embodiment of the application does not limit the application scenarios of the base station and the terminal.

And the AMF network element executes functions of mobility management, access authentication/authorization and the like. In addition, it is also responsible for transferring user policy between the terminal and the PCF.

The SMF network element performs functions such as session management, control policy execution issued by PCF, selection of UPF, and Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation of the terminal.

The UPF network element is used as an interface UPF with a data network to complete functions of user plane data forwarding, session/flow level-based charging statistics, bandwidth limitation and the like.

And the UDM network element executes functions of managing subscription data, user access authorization and the like.

And the UDR executes the access function of the type data such as the subscription data, the strategy data, the application data and the like.

And the NEF network element is used for supporting the opening of the capability and the event.

And the AF network element is used for transmitting the requirements of the application side on the network side, such as QoS requirements or user state event subscription and the like. The AF may be a third party functional entity or an application service deployed by an operator, such as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) voice call service.

And the PCF network element is responsible for performing policy control functions such as charging, qoS bandwidth guarantee, mobility management, terminal policy decision and the like aiming at the session and service flow levels.

The NRF network element can be used for providing a network element discovery function and providing network element information corresponding to the network element type based on the request of other network elements. NRF also provides network element management services such as network element registration, update, de-registration, and network element status subscription and push.

And the AUSF network element is responsible for authenticating the user so as to determine whether the user or the equipment is allowed to access the network.

And the NSSF network element is used for selecting the network slice, counting the users in the network slice and the like.

The DN is a network outside the operator network, the operator network can access a plurality of DNs, and the DN can deploy a plurality of services and provide services such as data and/or voice for the terminal. For example, the DN is a private network of a certain intelligent factory, a sensor installed in a workshop of the intelligent factory can be a terminal, a control server of the sensor is deployed in the DN, and the control server can provide services for the sensor. The sensor can communicate with the control server, obtain the instruction of the control server, transmit the sensor data gathered to the control server, etc. according to the instruction. For another example, the DN is an internal office network of a company, the mobile phone or computer of the employee of the company may be a terminal, and the mobile phone or computer of the employee may access information, data resources, and the like on the internal office network of the company.

In fig. 2 (a), nausf, nnef, npcf, nudm, naf, namf, and Nsmf are the service interfaces provided by the AUSF, NEF, PCF, UDM, AF, AMF, and SMF, respectively, for invoking the corresponding service operations. N1, N2, N3, N4, and N6 are interface serial numbers. The meaning of these interface serial numbers can be found in the third generation partnership project (3 rd generation partnership project,3 gpp) standard protocol, which is not limited herein.

Fig. 2 (b) is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a point-to-point interface, where introduction of functions of network elements may refer to introduction of functions of corresponding network elements in fig. 2 (a), and details are not repeated. The main difference between fig. 2 (b) and fig. 2 (a) is that: the interfaces between the control plane network elements in fig. 2 (a) are served interfaces, and the interfaces between the control plane network elements in fig. 2 (b) are point-to-point interfaces.

In the architecture shown in fig. 2 (b), the interface names and functions between the network elements are as follows:

1) N1: the interface between the AMF and the terminal may be used to deliver QoS control rules, etc. to the terminal.

2) N2: the interface between the AMF and the RAN may be used to transfer radio bearer control information from the core network side to the RAN, and the like.

3) And N3: the interface between RAN and UPF is mainly used for transmitting the uplink and downlink user plane data between RAN and UPF.

4) N4: the interface between the SMF and the UPF may be used to transfer information between the control plane and the user plane, including controlling the sending of forwarding rules, qoS control rules, traffic statistics rules, etc. for the user plane and reporting of information for the user plane.

5) N5: the interface between the AF and the PCF may be used for application service request issue and network event report.

6) And N6: and the UPF and DN interface is used for transmitting the uplink and downlink user data stream between the UPF and the DN.

7) N7: the interface between the PCF and the SMF may be used to issue a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session granularity and a service data stream granularity control policy.

8) N8: the interface between the AMF and the UDM may be used for the AMF to obtain subscription data and authentication data related to access and mobility management from the UDM, and for the AMF to register information related to current mobility management of the terminal with the UDM.

9) N9: and the user interface between the UPF and the UPF is used for transmitting the uplink and downlink user data stream between the UPFs.

10 N10, N10: the interface between the SMF and the UDM may be used for the SMF to acquire the subscription data related to session management from the UDM, and for the SMF to register the information related to the current session of the terminal with the UDM.

11 N11), N11: the interface between the SMF and the AMF may be used to transfer PDU session tunnel information between the RAN and the UPF, to transfer control messages to the terminal, to transfer radio resource control information to the RAN, and so on.

12 N12), N12: the interface between the AMF and the AUSF can be used for initiating an authentication process from the AMF to the AUSF, wherein the SUCI can be carried as a subscription identifier;

13 N13): the interface between the UDM and the AUSF may be used for the AUSF to obtain the user authentication vector from the UDM to execute the authentication procedure.

14 N15), N15: the interface between PCF and AMF can be used to send down terminal strategy and access control relative strategy.

15 N35), N35: and the interface between the UDM and the UDR can be used for the UDM to acquire the user subscription data information from the UDR.

16 N36): the interface between the PCF and the UDR may be used for the PCF to obtain policy-related subscription data and application data-related information from the UDR.

It is to be understood that the network element or the function may be a network element in a hardware device, or may be a software function running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualization function instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). Optionally, the network element or the function may be implemented by one device, or may be implemented by multiple devices together, or may be a functional module in one device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The session management network element, the user plane network element, and the policy control network element in this application may be the SMF, UPF, and PCF in fig. 2 (a) or fig. 2 (b), respectively, or may be a network element having the functions of the SMF, UPF, and PCF in future communication, for example, in a 6G network, which is not limited in this application. In the embodiments of the present application, an SMF, a UPF, and a PCF are respectively used as an example of a session management network element, a user plane network element, and a policy control network element.

The access network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a radio access network device, and for convenience of description, in the embodiment of the present application, a base station is described as an example of the access network device.

At present, in an actual scenario, data packets of multiple service flows may have the same IP packet header characteristics or ethernet packet header characteristics, and therefore, only depending on the existing packet filter, the data packets may not be effectively distinguished, which results in that the service requirements of finer granularity of uplink and downlink service flows cannot be met. This is explained below with reference to an example.

Taking an industrial scenario Profinet as an example, a real-time (RT) packet usually requires less than 10 milliseconds (ms) for latency, and a corresponding protocol is an 802.1Q protocol. The structure of the data packet is shown in table 1.

TABLE 1

The data packet may be used for transmission of periodic user data, event driven information, alarm information, and the like. The network side may generally adopt different QoS guarantee requirements for the data packets of different service types. For example, for periodic user data, the base station allocates scheduling resources in advance for the periodic user data based on an uplink pre-scheduling policy configured by a single 5QI, so as to greatly reduce uplink scheduling delay.

Currently, the packet filter of the ethernet type only supports identifying to the ethernet type field, and since some switches do not support the 802.1Q protocol, information of a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) tag field is discarded, so that only RT packets can be identified based on characteristics such as a source address, a destination address, and an ethernet type. However, for the RT data packets of several different service types, that is, the data packet of periodic user data, the data packet carrying event driving information, and the data packet carrying alarm information, packet headers of these data packets have the same source address, destination address, and ethernet type, so that when a terminal or a UPF identifies the packet header of the data packet according to a packet filter, the actual service type corresponding to the data packet cannot be determined, and thus the mapping from the data packet to the QoS stream cannot be accurately completed.

To solve the above problem, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which may be performed by a communication device or a module (e.g., a chip, etc.) for the communication device, where the communication device may be a terminal or a UPF. Referring to fig. 3 (a), the method includes the steps of:

step 301a, matching the first data packet with the stream description information.

The stream description information includes an offset (offset), a length (length), and a reference value (value).

The offset is used to indicate a starting point of a target field in a packet to be matched, specifically, the offset indicates an offset from the offset starting point to the front or back, when the offset is a positive number, the offset indicates an offset from the offset starting point to the back, and when the offset is a negative number, the offset indicates an offset from the offset starting point to the front. By the offset, the starting point of the target field can be obtained. The length indicates the length of the target field. By offset and length, the target field can be obtained. The reference value is used for matching the value of the target field, that is, whether the data packet is matched with the flow description information is judged by judging the relation between the actual value of the target field of the data packet to be matched and the reference value.

As an implementation method, matching the first data packet with the stream description information may specifically be: determining a starting point of a target field in the first data packet according to the offset starting point and the offset, determining a target field in the first data packet according to the starting point and the length of the target field in the first data packet, and judging whether the first data packet is matched with the flow description information according to the value and the reference value of the target field in the first data packet. The offset starting point may be pre-configured or predefined by a protocol, or may also be indicated by indication information, for example, indication information may also be included in the flow description information to indicate the offset starting point. The offset starting point may be a starting point of a payload (payload) in the first packet or a starting point of the first packet.

Wherein, judging whether the first data packet matches with the stream description information according to the value and the reference value of the target field in the first data packet may specifically be: when the value of the target field in the first data packet is the same as the reference value in the flow description information, determining that the first data packet is matched with the flow description information; or when the value of the target field in the first data packet is different from the reference value in the flow description information, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the flow description information.

Or, whether the first data packet is matched with the flow description information is judged according to the value and the reference value of the target field in the first data packet, which may also be: when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value in the flow description information meet the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is matched with the flow description information; or when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value in the flow description information do not satisfy the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the flow description information. The matching rule may be carried in the flow description information. Alternatively, the matching rule may be greater than (>), less than (<), equal to (=), or a functional relationship.

The following is described in connection with the example of the aforementioned profinet scenario.

In one example, the default offset starting point is the starting point of the payload (payload) in the packet to be matched, and referring to table 1, the starting point of the payload is the starting point of the Frame ID. When the offset is 0 and the length is 2 bytes, the reference value is 1, where the reference value is 1 to indicate a periodic transmission (cyclic transmission), i.e. to indicate a periodic traffic packet in the RT stream. Therefore, according to the offset and the length, the value of the Frame ID field in the service data packet (for example, the first data packet) may be obtained. And when the value of the Frame ID field is 1, it indicates that the flow description information is matched with the first data packet, and when the value of the Frame ID field is not 1, it indicates that the flow description information is not matched with the first data packet. Or, when the flow description information further includes a matching rule, for example, the matching rule is greater than (>), when the value of the Frame ID field is greater than 1, it indicates that the flow description information is matched with the first data packet, and when the value of the Frame ID field is less than or equal to 1, it indicates that the flow description information is not matched with the first data packet.

In another example, the default offset starting point in the above example is modified to be the starting point of the data packet to be matched, that is, the header starting point of the data packet, where the offset value is a, where a represents the number of bytes from the header starting point of the data packet to the starting point of the Frame ID field, and the value of the Frame ID field may also be obtained according to the offset and the length.

In another example, the stream description information may also carry indication information, for example, the indication information indicates that the offset starting point is a starting point of a load (payload), and according to the indication information, the offset and the length, the value of the Frame ID field may also be obtained.

Step 302a, when the first data packet matches with the flow description information, adding a QFI corresponding to the flow description information to a packet header of the first data packet to obtain a second data packet.

Step 303a, the second data packet is sent.

If the communication device performing the above method is a terminal, the second packet is an uplink packet, and if the communication device performing the above method is a UPF, the second packet is a downlink packet.

Optionally, when the target field is used to indicate a service type corresponding to a data packet to be matched, if the service type is a periodic service or an aperiodic service, the service types corresponding to different data packets are distinguished through the flow description information.

According to the steps 301a to 303a, the target fields of the service data packets are accurately matched through the offset, the length and the reference value, so that the data packets of different service types can be effectively distinguished, and a network side can be facilitated to perform different controls on the data packets of different service types.

A method for implementing the configuration of the flow description information to the UPF and/or the terminal is described below. Referring to fig. 3 (b), a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown, where the method includes the following steps:

in step 301b, the pcf obtains the first flow description information.

The first stream description information contains an offset, a length, and a reference value, and the offset, the length, and the reference value may refer to the foregoing description.

The first stream description information may include uplink description information and/or downlink description information, where the uplink description information is used for matching an uplink and the downlink description information is used for matching a downlink. The uplink description information includes a first offset, a first length and a first reference value, and the downlink description information includes a second offset, a second length and a second reference value. The first offset and the second offset may be the same or different, the first length and the second length may be the same or different, and the first reference value and the second reference value may be the same or different.

As an implementation method, the PCF may obtain the first flow description information from an Application Function (AF) network element. For example, the PCF receives a policy authorization request from an application function network element, where the policy authorization request includes the first flow description information.

As another implementation, the PCF may obtain the first flow description information from the SMF. For example, the PCF receives a policy association update request from the SMF, where the policy association update request includes a session modification request from the terminal, and the session modification request includes the first flow description information. That is, the terminal sends a session modification request carrying the first flow description information to the SMF, and then the SMF carries the first flow description information in the policy association update request and sends the policy association update request to the PCF.

Step 302b, the pcf generates a PCC rule including the first flow description information.

In step 303b, the PCF sends the PCC rules to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF receives the PCC rule.

In step 304b, the smf generates a PDR according to the PCC rule, where the PDR includes the first flow description information and QFI allocated to the PCC rule.

The SMF sends the PDR to the UPF, step 305b. Accordingly, the UPF receives the PDR.

Optionally, the following steps 306b to 307b are also performed.

Step 306b, the SMF generates a QoS rule according to the PCC rule, wherein the QoS rule comprises the second flow description information and the QFI allocated to the PCC rule.

The second stream description information includes uplink description information, or the second stream description information is the same as the first stream description information, that is, the second stream description information is the uplink description information and the downlink description information.

Step 307b, SMF sends the QoS rules to the terminal. Accordingly, the terminal receives the QoS rule.

Optionally, the following steps 308b to 309b are also performed.

And step 308b, the SMF generates a QoS configuration (QoS profile) according to the PCC rule, and the QoS configuration comprises QoS parameters.

The QoS parameters include 5QI, ARP, GBR, etc. parameter information.

Step 309b, the SMF sends the QoS configuration and the QFI allocated for the PCC rule to the base station. Accordingly, the base station receives the QoS configuration and the QFI.

According to the scheme, the flow description information can be configured for the terminal and/or the UPF, so that the terminal and/or the UPF can match the data packet according to the flow description information.

The schemes of fig. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are described below with reference to a specific example.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, and the method is described by taking an RT type packet feature description in the Profinet scenario as an example. In order to meet the requirement of differential scheduling of periodic RT data packets, the method adopts a packet filter configured with fixed offset to realize the identification or matching of periodic data packets and non-periodic data packets in RT service flow.

The method comprises the following steps:

step 401, the terminal accesses the core network via the base station and establishes a PDU session.

In step 402a, the af sends a policy authorization request to the PCF, where the policy authorization request includes the address of the terminal and the flow description information. Accordingly, the PCF receives the policy authorization request.

Optionally, the policy authorization request may be sent by the AF directly to the PCF or via the NEF to the PCF, for example, the policy authorization request may be Npcf _ PolicyAuthorization _ Create/Update.

The stream description information includes an offset (offset), a length (length), and a reference value (value). Optionally, the flow description information includes a source address and a destination address. Optionally, the flow description information further includes a matching rule, where the matching rule may be greater than (>), less than (<), equal to (=) or a functional relationship.

In step 402b, the smf sends a policy association update request to the PCF, the policy association update request including flow description information. Accordingly, the PCF receives the policy association update request.

Specifically, the terminal sends a PDU session modification request to the SMF, where the PDU session modification request includes the flow description information. Optionally, the PDU session modification request further includes a requested QoS (requested QoS), and the policy association update request may further include the requested QoS.

The flow description information may refer to the description of step 402a.

It should be noted that, the step 402a and the step 402b are optional steps. As an implementation method, the above step 402a is performed but the above step 402b is not performed. As another implementation, the step 402b is performed but the step 402a is not performed. As another implementation method, neither the step 402a nor the step 402b is executed.

In step 403, the pcf generates PCC rules.

The PCC rule includes the flow description information and the QoS parameter, and optionally further includes a charging policy, a flow control policy, and the like.

The QoS parameters include 5QI, ARP, GBR, and other parameter information. The QoS parameter indicates the QoS guarantee to be performed on the service flow.

As an implementation method, when performing step 402a, the PCF generates the PCC rule according to the flow description information provided by the AF.

As another implementation method, when performing step 402b, the PCF generates the PCC rule according to the flow description information provided by the terminal.

As another implementation method, when the PCF executes the step 402a and the step 402b, the PCF may determine the PCC rule according to the local policy, other event information reported by the SMF, or the UDR subscription.

In step 404, the pcf sends the PCC rule to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF receives the PCC rule.

In step 405, the smf allocates QFI to the PCC rule, and generates QoS rule (rule), PDR, and QoS configuration (profile).

The SMF performs QoS flow binding according to the QoS parameters in the PCC rules. The SMF judges whether a QoS flow corresponding to the QoS parameter already exists, if not, the SMF allocates a new QFI for the PCC rule, and if so, the SMF uses the QFI of the QoS flow.

The PDR generated by the SMF contains QFI and flow description information in the PCC rule.

The QoS rule generated by the SMF contains QFI and flow description information in the PCC rule. Optionally, the flow description information in the PCC rule includes uplink flow description information and downlink flow description information, and the QoS rule includes only the uplink flow description information.

The QoS configuration generated by the SMF includes the QoS parameters in the PCC rule.

At step 406, the SMF sends the PDR to the UPF.

As an implementation method, the SMF sends an N4 Session Modification to the UPF, where the PDR is carried.

Step 407, the smf sends the QoS rule to the terminal via the AMF. Accordingly, the terminal receives the QoS rule.

As an implementation method, the SMF sends a PDU session modification request/response, which carries QoS rules, to the terminal via the AMF.

In step 408, the SMF sends the QFI and QoS configuration to the base station. Accordingly, the base station receives the QFI and QoS configuration.

In step 409, the upf performs QoS flow matching on the downlink data packets according to the flow description information in the PDR.

And after receiving the downlink data packet, the UPF matches the downlink data packet according to the stream description information in the PDR. And when the flow description information in the PDR is matched with the downlink data packet, the UPF encapsulates the QFI in the PDR in a packet header of the downlink data packet and forwards the QFI to the base station.

The specific method for the UPF to match the downlink data packet according to the stream description information in the PDR may refer to the foregoing description, and is not described again.

In step 410, the terminal performs QoS flow matching on the uplink data packet according to the flow description information in the QoS rule.

And the UPF matches the uplink data packet according to the flow description information in the QoS rule. And when the flow description information in the QoS rule is matched with the uplink data packet, the terminal encapsulates the QFI in the QoS rule in the packet header of the uplink data packet and forwards the QFI to the base station.

The specific method for the terminal to match the uplink data packet according to the flow description information in the QoS rule may refer to the foregoing description, and is not described again.

In step 411, the base station performs QoS guarantee on the uplink data packet or the downlink data packet according to QFI and QoS configuration.

After receiving the uplink data packet or the downlink data packet, the base station acquires the QFI in the uplink data packet or the downlink data packet, and then executes corresponding QoS guarantee according to the QoS configuration corresponding to the QFI.

According to the scheme, by introducing a more flexible packet filter form, the network can execute more fine service matching aiming at the data packet of the service flow, so that the service requirement of the uplink and downlink service flow with more fine granularity can be met.

It is understood that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the SMF, PCF, UPF, base station and terminal include corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules that perform the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and method steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed in hardware or computer software driven hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the solution.

Fig. 5 and fig. 6 are schematic structural diagrams of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the SMF, PCF, UPF and terminal in the above method embodiments, and therefore can also implement the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device may be an SMF, a PCF, a UPF, and a terminal, or may be a module (e.g., a chip) applied to the SMF, the PCF, the UPF, and the terminal.

As shown in fig. 5, the communication device 500 includes a processing unit 510 and a transceiving unit 520. The communication apparatus 500 is used to implement the functions of the SMF, PCF, UPF and terminal in the method embodiments shown in fig. 3 (a), fig. 3 (b) or fig. 4.

When the communication apparatus 500 is used to implement the functions of a terminal or user plane network element (UPF) in the method embodiments shown in fig. 3 (a), fig. 3 (b) or fig. 4: a processing unit 510, configured to match a first data packet with stream description information, where the stream description information includes an offset, a length, and a reference value, the offset is used to indicate a starting point of a target field in the data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used to match a value of the target field; when the first data packet is matched with the flow description information, adding a quality of service flow identifier QFI corresponding to the flow description information to the header of the data packet to obtain a second data packet; a transceiving unit 520, configured to transmit the second data packet.

In a possible implementation method, the processing unit 510 is configured to match the first data packet with the stream description information, and specifically includes: the starting point of the target field in the first data packet is determined according to the offset starting point and the offset; determining a target field in the first data packet according to a starting point and the length of the target field in the first data packet; and judging whether the first data packet is matched with the stream description information or not according to the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value.

In a possible implementation method, the processing unit 510 is configured to determine whether the first data packet matches the stream description information according to a value of a target field in the first data packet and the reference value, and specifically includes: when the value of the target field in the first data packet is the same as the reference value, determining that the first data packet is matched with the stream description information; or when the value of the target field in the first data packet is different from the reference value, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the flow description information.

In a possible implementation method, the flow description information further includes a matching rule; the processing unit 510 is configured to determine whether the first data packet is matched with the stream description information according to the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value, and specifically includes: when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value meet the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is matched with the flow description information; or when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value do not satisfy the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the flow description information.

When the communication apparatus 500 is used to implement the function of the session management network element (SMF) in the method embodiment shown in fig. 3 (a), fig. 3 (b) or fig. 4: the transceiver 520 is configured to receive a policy and charging control PCC rule from a policy control network element, where the PCC rule includes first flow description information; the first flow description information comprises an offset, a length and a reference value, wherein the offset is used for indicating a starting point of a target field in a data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used for matching a value of the target field; the processing unit 510 is configured to generate a packet detection rule PDR according to the PCC rule; the transceiver unit 520 is further configured to send the PDR to a user plane network element, where the PDR includes the first flow description information and a qos flow identifier QFI allocated to the PCC rule.

In a possible implementation method, the processing unit 510 is further configured to generate a QoS rule according to the PCC rule; the transceiving unit 520 is further configured to send the QoS rule to a terminal, where the QoS rule includes the QFI and the second flow description information.

In a possible implementation method, the PCC rule further includes a QoS parameter; the processing unit 510 is further configured to generate a QoS configuration according to the PCC rule, where the QoS configuration includes the QoS parameter; the transceiving unit 520 is further configured to send the QFI and the QoS configuration to an access network device.

In a possible implementation method, the transceiver unit 520 is further configured to receive a session modification request from the terminal, where the session modification request includes the first flow description information; and sending the policy association update request to the policy control network element, where the policy association update request includes the first flow description information.

When the communication apparatus 500 is used to implement the function of the policy control network element (PCF) in the method embodiment shown in fig. 3 (a), fig. 3 (b) or fig. 4: a processing unit 510, configured to obtain stream description information, where the stream description information includes an offset, a length, and a reference value, the offset is used to indicate a starting point of a target field in a data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used to match a value of the target field; generating a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule, wherein the PCC rule comprises the flow description information; a transceiver 520, configured to send the PCC rule to a session management network element.

The more detailed description about the processing unit 510 and the transceiver unit 520 can be directly obtained by referring to the related description in the method embodiment shown in fig. 3 (a), fig. 3 (b), or fig. 4, which is not repeated herein.

As shown in fig. 6, the communication device 600 includes a processor 610 and an interface circuit 620. The processor 610 and the interface circuit 620 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 620 may be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 600 may further include a memory 630 for storing instructions for the processor 610 to execute or for storing input data required by the processor 610 to execute the instructions or for storing data generated by the processor 610 after executing the instructions.

When the communication device 600 is used to implement the method shown in fig. 3 (a), fig. 3 (b) or fig. 4, the processor 610 is configured to implement the functions of the processing unit 510, and the interface circuit 620 is configured to implement the functions of the transceiving unit 520.

When the communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip realizes the functions of the terminal in the method embodiment. The terminal chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal, and the information is sent to the terminal by the base station; alternatively, the terminal chip sends information to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the base station.

It is understood that the Processor in the embodiments of the present Application may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), other general purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but may be any conventional processor.

The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by software instructions executed by a processor. The software instructions may be comprised of corresponding software modules that may be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, erasable programmable read only memory, electrically erasable programmable read only memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may reside in a base station or a terminal. Of course, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a base station or terminal.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a base station, user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or 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 program or instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire or wirelessly. 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 integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; optical media such as digital video disks; but also semiconductor media such as solid state disks. The computer readable storage medium may be volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

In the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or conflicting with respect to logic, the terms and/or descriptions in different embodiments have consistency and may be mutually cited, and technical features in different embodiments may be combined to form a new embodiment according to their inherent logic relationship.

In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated object, indicating that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, which may indicate: a alone, A and B together, and B alone, wherein A and B may be singular or plural. In the text description of the present application, the character "/" generally indicates that the preceding and following associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of the present application, the character "/" indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in a relationship of "division".

It is to be understood that the various numerical references referred to in the embodiments of the present application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method applied to a communication device is characterized by comprising the following steps:

matching a first data packet with flow description information, wherein the flow description information comprises an offset, a length and a reference value, the offset is used for indicating a starting point of a target field in the data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used for matching a value of the target field;

when the first data packet is matched with the flow description information, adding a quality of service flow identifier QFI corresponding to the flow description information in a packet header of the first data packet to obtain a second data packet;

and sending the second data packet.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said matching the first packet with the flow description information comprises:

determining a starting point of a target field in the first data packet according to an offset starting point and the offset;

determining a target field in the first data packet according to the starting point and the length of the target field in the first data packet;

and judging whether the first data packet is matched with the stream description information or not according to the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the offset start point is pre-configured or protocol pre-defined.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the stream description information further includes indication information for indicating the offset start point.

5. The method of any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the offset starting point is a starting point of a payload in the first packet or a starting point of the first packet.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the determining whether the first packet matches the flow description information according to the value of the target field in the first packet and the reference value includes:

when the value of the target field in the first data packet is the same as the reference value, determining that the first data packet is matched with the stream description information; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the value of the target field in the first data packet is different from the reference value, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the stream description information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the flow description information further includes a matching rule;

the determining whether the first data packet is matched with the stream description information according to the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value includes:

when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value meet the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is matched with the flow description information; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value do not meet the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the flow description information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the matching rule is greater than, less than, equal to, or a functional relationship.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the communication device is a terminal;

the method further comprises the following steps:

and receiving a quality of service (QoS) rule from a session management network element, wherein the QoS rule comprises the QFI and the flow description information.

10. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the communication device is a user plane network element;

the method further comprises the following steps:

and receiving a packet detection rule PDR from a session management network element, wherein the PDR comprises the QFI and the flow description information.

11. A communication method applied to a session management network element, comprising:

receiving a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule from a policy control network element, wherein the PCC rule comprises first flow description information; the first flow description information comprises an offset, a length and a reference value, wherein the offset is used for indicating a starting point of a target field in a data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used for matching a value of the target field;

generating a packet detection rule PDR according to the PCC rule, wherein the PDR comprises the first flow description information and a quality of service flow identifier QFI distributed for the PCC rule;

and sending the PDR to a user plane network element.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

generating a QoS rule according to the PCC rule, wherein the QoS rule comprises the QFI and second flow description information;

and sending the QoS rule to a terminal.

13. The method of claim 12,

the first flow description information comprises uplink description information and downlink description information, the uplink description information is used for matching uplink, and the downlink description information is used for matching downlink;

the second stream description information includes the upstream description information, or the second stream description information is the same as the first stream description information.

14. A method according to any of claims 11 to 13, wherein said PCC rules further comprise QoS parameters;

the method further comprises the following steps:

generating QoS configuration according to the PCC rule, wherein the QoS configuration comprises the QoS parameter;

and sending the QFI and the QoS configuration to access network equipment.

15. The method of any of claims 11 to 14, further comprising:

receiving a session modification request from a terminal, wherein the session modification request comprises the first flow description information;

and sending the policy association update request to the policy control network element, where the policy association update request includes the first flow description information.

16. A communication method applied to a policy control network element, comprising:

acquiring flow description information, wherein the flow description information comprises an offset, a length and a reference value, the offset is used for indicating a starting point of a target field in a data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used for matching a value of the target field;

generating a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule, wherein the PCC rule comprises the flow description information;

and sending the PCC rule to a session management network element.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the obtaining flow description information comprises:

and receiving a policy authorization request from an application function network element, wherein the policy authorization request comprises the flow description information.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the obtaining flow description information comprises:

and receiving a policy association update request from the session management network element, wherein the policy association update request comprises the flow description information from the terminal.

19. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a processing unit, configured to match a first data packet with stream description information, where the stream description information includes an offset, a length, and a reference value, the offset is used to indicate a starting point of a target field in a data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used to match a value of the target field; when the first data packet is matched with the flow description information, adding a quality of service flow identifier QFI corresponding to the flow description information to the header of the first data packet to obtain a second data packet;

and the transceiving unit is used for transmitting the second data packet.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing unit is configured to match the first packet with the flow description information, and specifically includes:

the starting point of the target field in the first data packet is determined according to the offset starting point and the offset; determining a target field in the first data packet according to a starting point and the length of the target field in the first data packet; and judging whether the first data packet is matched with the stream description information or not according to the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine, according to a value of a target field in the first data packet and the reference value, whether the first data packet is matched with the stream description information, specifically including:

when the value of the target field in the first data packet is the same as the reference value, determining that the first data packet is matched with the stream description information; or when the value of the target field in the first data packet is different from the reference value, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the flow description information.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said flow description information further includes matching rules;

the processing unit is configured to determine whether the first data packet matches the stream description information according to the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value, and specifically includes:

when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value meet the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is matched with the flow description information; or, when the value of the target field in the first data packet and the reference value do not satisfy the matching rule, determining that the first data packet is not matched with the flow description information.

23. The apparatus according to any of the claims 19 to 22, wherein the communication apparatus is a terminal; the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a QoS rule of service quality from a session management network element, where the QoS rule includes the QFI and the flow description information.

24. The apparatus according to any of claims 19 to 22, wherein the communication apparatus is a user plane network element; the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a packet detection rule PDR from a session management network element, where the PDR includes the QFI and the flow description information.

25. A communication apparatus, comprising a transceiving unit and a processing unit;

the receiving and sending unit is configured to receive a policy and charging control, PCC, rule from a policy control network element, where the PCC rule includes first flow description information; the first flow description information comprises an offset, a length and a reference value, wherein the offset is used for indicating a starting point of a target field in a data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used for matching a value of the target field;

the processing unit is configured to generate a packet detection rule PDR according to the PCC rule, where the PDR includes the first flow description information and a qos flow identifier QFI allocated to the PCC rule;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send the PDR to a user plane network element.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the processing unit is further configured to generate a QoS rule according to the PCC rule, and the QoS rule includes the QFI and the second flow description information;

the transceiving unit is further configured to send the QoS rule to a terminal.

27. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a processing unit, configured to obtain flow description information, where the flow description information includes an offset, a length, and a reference value, the offset is used to indicate a starting point of a target field in a data packet to be matched, the length represents the length of the target field, and the reference value is used to match a value of the target field; generating a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule, wherein the PCC rule comprises the flow description information;

and the transceiver unit is used for sending the PCC rule to a session management network element.

28. A communication system comprising a session management network element for performing the method of any one of claims 11 to 15 and a policy control network element for performing the method of any one of claims 16 to 18.