CN115699887A

CN115699887A - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN115699887A
Application number: CN202080101766.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李伟; 刘清顺; 何朗; 林浩
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-02
Filing date: 2020-09-02
Publication date: 2023-02-03
Also published as: WO2022047654A1

Abstract

A communication method and a communication device are applied to the field of Internet of things, and an edge relay node integrates a first CU-UP entity and a first UPF entity; user equipment initiates a first PDU session request to a core network, wherein the first PDU session request carries a local communication type identifier; the user equipment sends the identification of the edge relay node to the access network, and the access network equipment can select a first CU-UP entity according to the identification of the edge relay node to establish a first DRB; the core network equipment can select a first UPF according to the local communication type identifier to establish a first PDU session, and the core network equipment sends the first PDU session information to the edge relay node through the first DRB; the first PDU session information is used for the first UPF entity to serve the first PDU session, and the first PDU session is used for carrying transmission data between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment. The edge relay node can have the function of the edge computing equipment, so that the deployment of the edge computing equipment can be reduced, and the data transmission delay can be reduced.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

The application relates to the field of internet of things, in particular to a communication method and device.

Background

With the rapid development of the internet of things technology, the number of internet of things devices is rapidly increased, the actual demands of many scenes cannot be met by a cloud computing-based mode, and an edge computing mode is developed accordingly. More and more internet of things is changed from an end, edge, pipe and cloud architecture to an end, edge, pipe and cloud architecture. Please refer to fig. 1, wherein the terminal refers to a local terminal for collecting data. The edge refers to a device with edge computing capability, and is used for collecting information of the local terminal, performing edge computing on the obtained information, and implementing local management and control. A local communication pipe between the pipe finger end and the edge, and a remote communication pipe between the edge and the cloud. Cloud refers to an internet of things platform or application.

Local communication needs to be supported between the end and the edge (namely, the end can directly access local application), and data does not need to be forwarded to the Internet of things platform for processing through an access network and a core network through remote communication. The architecture of edge computing improves communication efficiency.

In some cases, due to the complexity of the device deployment environment, multiple relay nodes are required to support relaying between the end and the edge in local communication, so as to ensure reliable communication between the end and the edge. That is to say, in this case, in order to implement reliability of edge computation and communication of the internet of things, edge computing devices need to be deployed, and relay node devices need to be deployed, which increases device deployment cost.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used for enabling a relay node and a terminal device to realize local communication so as to reduce the deployment of edge computing devices, reduce the cost and reduce the data transmission delay.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, where the method is applied to an edge relay node, where the edge relay node refers to a relay node that can support local communication; the edge relay node comprises a first centralized unit user plane CU-UP entity and a first user plane function UPF entity; the edge relay node sends the identification of the edge relay node to the access network equipment, so that the access network equipment selects a first CU-UP entity according to the identification of the edge relay node, and establishes a first data bearer DRB between the access network equipment and the CU-UP entity; then, the edge relay node may receive first PDU session information from the core network device through the first DRB, where the first PDU session information is from the core network device and forwarded by the access network device; the first PDU session information is used for serving the first PDU session; wherein the first PDU session consists of: after the terminal equipment initiates a first PDU session request to a core network, the core network selects a first UPF entity according to a local communication type identifier and an identifier of an edge relay node and then establishes the UPF entity; the first PDU session request comprises an identification of an edge relay node and a local communication type identification; the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.

In this embodiment, the edge relay node integrates a first CU-UP entity and a first UPF entity. The first CU-UP entity and the first UPF entity are used for realizing the user plane function of the edge relay node. The core network equipment selects a first UPF entity according to the local communication identifier to establish a first PDU session, the first UPF entity is used for serving the first PDU session, and the first PDU session is used for bearing transmission data between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment. In the application, the edge relay node and the terminal equipment can realize local communication, and the edge relay node in the communication system of the Internet of things can have the function of the edge computing equipment, so that the deployment of the edge computing equipment can be reduced, the cost is reduced, and the data transmission delay can be reduced.

In an optional implementation manner, the edge relay node may further initiate a second PDU session request to the core network to establish a second PDU session of itself; the second PDU session request comprises a remote communication type identifier, and the remote communication type identifier indicates that the second PDU session to be established is a PDU session of remote communication; and the remote communication type identifier indicates the core network device to select a second UPF entity deployed in the core network for a second PDU session to be established so as to establish a second PDU session from the edge relay node, the access network device to the core network, wherein the second UPF entity is used for serving the second PDU session.

In this example, the edge relay node may establish a second PDU session with a second UPF in the core network to support the remote communication, and the terminal device may establish a first PDU session with a first UPF in the edge relay node to support the local communication. The core network device may select a first UPF to serve the first PDU session according to the local communication type identifier and select a second UPF to serve the second PDU session according to the remote communication type identifier. In this way, the terminal can switch traffic from remote communication to local communication, or local communication to remote communication, as desired. In this example, the edge relay node may implement a function of local communication, and may be flexibly applied to different application scenarios.

In an alternative implementation, after the edge relay node receives the first PDU session information from the core network device, the edge relay node transmits service data between the edge relay node and the terminal device through the first PDU session, and the terminal device may perform local communication (i.e., local application access) with the edge relay node.

In an optional implementation manner, the first PDU session information includes a quality of service QoS flow list, and transmitting the service data between the end terminal and the intermediate node through the first PDU session may include: the method comprises the steps that an edge relay node receives first service data sent by terminal equipment; then, mapping the first service data to the QoS flow based on the first PDU session information through the first UPF and the first CU-UP; and transmitting second service data according to the mapping relation between the first service data and the QOS flow, wherein the second service data can be service data obtained according to the first service data. For example, the edge relay node may output the second service data to a display device, display the second service data through the display device, or the edge relay node transmits the second service data to the terminal.

In an alternative implementation, the edge relay node may broadcast a system message, which includes an identification of the edge relay node. The edge relay node may broadcast the identifier of the edge relay node in a manner of broadcasting a system message, so that the terminal device receives the identifier of the edge relay node, and thus the terminal device may select an edge relay node supporting the local communication to access the cell.

In an alternative implementation, the edge relay node may be a PLC central coordinator in power line communication, and the identifier of the edge relay node is a PLC network identifier NID. In this example, the edge relay node may also be applied to a PLC wireless dual-mode scenario, so as to meet the requirements of a specific application scenario.

In an optional implementation manner, the first PDU session information includes a second DRB list, and a QoS flow and a packet detection rule PDR corresponding to each second DRB in the second DRB list; the second DRB is a bearer between the terminal device and the edge relay node.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, where the method is applied to an access network device, and the access network device receives an identifier of an edge relay node sent by a terminal device; wherein the edge relay node comprises a first UPF entity and a first CU-UP entity; then, receiving a first PDU session request initiated by the terminal equipment, and forwarding the first PDU session request to the core network equipment, wherein the first PDU session request comprises an identifier of an edge relay node and a local communication type identifier; the local communication type is used for indicating the core network equipment to select a first UPF according to the identifier of the relay node so as to establish a first PDU session; then, the access network equipment receives first PDU session information and an identification of an edge relay node sent by a core network; the access network equipment selects a first CU-UP to establish a first DRB according to the ID of the edge relay node; and sending first PDU session information to the edge relay node through the first DRB, wherein the first PDU session information is used for a first UPF entity to serve the first PDU session, and the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.

In this embodiment, the edge relay node integrates a first CU-UP entity and a first UPF entity. The first CU-UP entity and the first UPF entity are used for realizing the user plane function of the edge relay node. The core network equipment selects a first UPF entity according to the local communication identifier to establish a first PDU session, the first UPF entity is used for serving the first PDU session, and the first PDU session is used for bearing transmission data between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment. In the method, the edge relay node and the terminal equipment can realize local communication, and the edge relay node in the Internet of things system can have the function of the edge computing equipment, so that the deployment of the edge computing equipment can be reduced, the cost is reduced, and the data transmission delay can be reduced.

In an optional implementation manner, the first PDU session information includes a second DRB list, and a QoS flow and a PDR corresponding to each second DRB in the second DRB list; the second DRB is a bearer between the terminal device and the edge relay node.

In an optional implementation manner, the access network device receives a second PDU session request initiated by the edge relay node, and forwards the second PDU session request to the core network device, where the second PDU session request includes an identifier of the edge relay node and a remote communication type identifier; so that the core network device selects the second UPF entity to establish the second PDU session for the edge relay node.

In this example, the edge relay node may establish a second PDU session with a second UPF in the core network to support the remote communication, and the terminal device may establish a first PDU session with a first UPF in the edge relay node to support the local communication. The core network can select a first UPF to serve the first PDU session according to the local communication type identifier and select a second UPF to serve the second PDU session according to the remote communication type identifier. In this way, the terminal can switch the service from remote communication to local communication or switch the local communication to remote communication as required. In this example, the edge relay node may implement a function of local communication, and may be flexibly applied to different application scenarios.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a core network device, and the method includes:

the core network equipment receives a first PDU session request from the terminal equipment, wherein the first PDU session request is initiated by the terminal equipment and comprises an identification of an edge relay node and a local communication type identification; the local communication type identifier is used for informing the core network equipment that the first PDU session is used for local communication, and the edge relay node comprises a first CU-UP entity and a first UPF entity; then, the core network equipment selects a first UPF entity in the edge relay node according to the local communication type identifier to establish a first PDU session; the core network equipment sends first PDU session information to the access network equipment, wherein the first PDU session information comprises an identifier of the edge relay node; the method comprises the steps that the access network equipment selects a first CU-UP entity according to an identification of an edge relay node to establish a first DRB, and sends first PDU session information to the edge relay node through the first DRB, the first UPF entity is used for serving the PDU session according to the first PDU session information, and the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.

In an optional implementation, the method further comprises: the core network equipment can also receive a second PDU session request initiated by the edge relay node, wherein the second PDU session request comprises an identifier of the edge relay node and a remote communication type identifier; and then selecting a second UPF entity deployed in the core network according to the remote communication type identifier to establish a second PDU session, wherein the second UPF entity is used for serving the second PDU session, and the second PDU session is used for carrying service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the core network equipment.

In an alternative implementation, the core network device sends the PDR to the edge relay node. Each PDR may also be used to detect data packets in a particular transmission direction, e.g., uplink or downlink. In this example, the edge relay nodes are used to support both local and remote communications. For example, when the relay node receives the first service data sent by the terminal device, the second service data may be locally processed to obtain the second service data. The relay node may detect, according to the PDR, which second service data needs to be processed locally, which second service data (downlink data) needs to be sent to the terminal, and which second service data (uplink data) needs to be sent to the access network device.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which may be configured to implement the method performed by the relay node in the first aspect, and integrate the first CU-UP entity and the first UPF entity; the communication device further includes: a transceiver module, configured to send an identifier of an edge relay node to an access network device, so that the access network device selects a first CU-UP entity according to the identifier of the edge relay node, and establishes a first data bearer DRB between the access network device and the CU-UP entity; the transceiver module is further configured to receive first PDU session information from the core network through the first DRB, where the first PDU session information is used to serve a first PDU session; wherein the first PDU session consists of: after the terminal equipment initiates a first PDU session request to a core network, the core network equipment selects a first UPF entity according to a local communication type identifier and an identifier of an edge relay node and establishes the UPF entity; the first PDU session request comprises an identification of an edge relay node and a local communication type identification; the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.

In an optional implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to initiate a second PDU session request to the core network device to establish a second PDU session; the second PDU session request includes a remote communication type identifier; the remote communication type identifier is used for the core network to select a second UPF entity for a second PUD session to be established, and the second UPF entity is a UPF entity deployed in the core network; the second UPF entity is configured to serve the second PDU session.

In an optional implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to transmit service data between the edge relay node and the terminal device through the first PDU session.

In an optional implementation manner, the first PDU session information includes a quality of service QoS flow list, and the apparatus further includes a processing module; the receiving and sending module is also used for receiving first service data sent by the terminal equipment; the processing module is used for mapping the first service data to the QoS flow based on the first PDU session information through the first UPF and the first CU-UP; and the transceiver module is further configured to transmit second service data according to the mapping relationship between the first service data and the QoS stream, where the second service data is service data obtained according to the first service data.

In an optional implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to broadcast a system message, where the system message includes an identifier of the edge relay node, so that the terminal device receives the identifier of the edge relay node.

In an alternative implementation, the edge relay node is a PLC central coordinator in power line communication, and the identifier of the edge relay node is a PLC network identifier NID.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, where the communication apparatus is configured to implement the method performed by the access network device in the second aspect, and the apparatus includes: the receiving and sending module is used for receiving the mark of the edge relay node sent by the terminal equipment; wherein the edge relay node comprises a first UPF entity and a first CU-UP entity; the receiving and sending module is further configured to receive a first PDU session request initiated by the terminal device, and forward the PDU session request to the core network device, where the first PDU session request includes an identifier of the edge relay node and a local communication type identifier; the local communication type is used for the core network equipment to select a first UPF according to the identification of the relay node so as to establish a first PDU session; the receiving and sending module is further used for receiving the first PDU session information and the identification of the edge relay node sent by the core network equipment; the processing module is used for selecting CU-UP to establish a first DRB according to the ID of the edge relay node received by the transceiving module; the receiving and sending module is further configured to send first PDU session information to the edge relay node through the first DRB established by the processing module, the first UPF entity is configured to serve the PDU session according to the first PDU session information, and the first PDU session is configured to carry service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal device.

In an optional implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a second PDU session request initiated by the edge relay node, and forward the second PDU session request to the core network device, where the second PDU session request includes an identifier of the edge relay node and a remote communication type identifier; the remote communication type identifier is used for indicating the core network equipment to select a second UPF entity to establish a second PDU session for the edge relay node.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, where the communication apparatus is configured to implement the method performed by the core network device in the third aspect, and the apparatus includes: the system comprises a receiving and sending module, a sending and receiving module and a sending and receiving module, wherein the receiving and sending module is used for receiving a first PDU session request sent by access network equipment, and the first PDU session request comprises an identification of an edge relay node and a local communication type identification; the edge relay node includes a first CU-UP entity and a first UPF entity; the processing module is used for selecting a first UPF entity in the edge relay node according to the local communication type identifier received by the receiving and sending module so as to establish a first PDU session; the receiving and sending module is used for sending first PDU session information to the access network equipment, wherein the first PDU session information comprises an identifier of the edge relay node; and the first PDU session information is used for the first UPF entity to serve the PDU session according to the first PDU session information, and the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.

In an optional implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a second PDU session request initiated by the edge relay node, where the second PDU session request includes an identifier of the edge relay node and a remote communication type identifier; the processing module is further used for selecting a second UPF entity according to the remote communication type identifier received by the transceiver module so as to establish a second PDU session, wherein the second UPF entity is a UPF entity deployed in the core network; and the second UPF entity is used for serving a second PDU session, and the second PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the core network equipment.

In an optional implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to send the PDR to the edge relay node.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including a processor, coupled with at least one memory, and configured to read a computer program stored in the at least one memory, so as to cause the apparatus to perform the method of the first aspect, or cause the apparatus to perform the method of the second aspect, or cause the apparatus to perform the method of the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the first aspect; or causing the computer to perform the method of the second aspect; or cause the computer to perform the method of the third aspect.

In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor, configured to support an edge relay node to implement the functions referred to in the above aspects, or to support an access network device to implement the functions referred to in the above aspects, or to support a core network device to implement the functions referred to in the above aspects, for example, to transmit or process data and/or information referred to in the above methods. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data for the edge relay node, or for storing necessary program instructions and data for the access network device, or for storing necessary program instructions and data for the core network device. The chip system may be formed by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system of the internet of things;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an architecture of each device in an internet of things communication system in a conventional method;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a user plane protocol stack of each device in an internet of things communication system in a conventional method;

fig. 4 is a schematic architecture diagram of each device in the communication system of the internet of things in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of user plane protocol stacks of devices in the communication system of the internet of things in the embodiment of the present application;

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

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of an edge relay node broadcast system message in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating steps of another embodiment of a method of communication in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a communication device in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of a communication device in the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and in the claims of the present application and in the above-described drawings are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments described herein are capable of operation in other sequences than described or illustrated herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions.

In the communication system of the internet of things, under certain conditions, due to the complexity of the equipment deployment environment, a plurality of relay nodes are needed between the end and the edge to support multi-hop relay, so that reliable communication between the end and the edge can be ensured. That is to say, in this case, in order to implement reliability of edge computing and communication of the internet of things, both edge computing equipment and relay node equipment need to be deployed, which increases equipment deployment cost.

In order to solve the above problem, a solution of the present application is to enable a relay node to have the capability of an edge computing device (also referred to as an edge computing device), so that in an internet of things communication system, the relay node can implement both the functions of a relay and an edge computing device. The relay node is closer to the terminal equipment, and the relay node is deployed as the edge computing equipment, so that the method is more suitable, the transmission delay of data can be reduced, and the deployment cost of the equipment is saved. Since the current relay node can only forward (i.e. relay) data, and the relay node cannot directly transmit data with the terminal device, the relay node in the current technology cannot implement the function of the edge computing device. Compared with the current relay node, the communication enhancement is performed on the relay node in the application, and the relay node is additionally provided with a central unit user plane (CU-UP) entity and a User Plane Function (UPF) entity, so that data transmission between the relay node and the terminal equipment can be realized, and the relay node can realize the function of the edge computing equipment.

For better understanding of the present solution, a relay node architecture in the conventional method is first described below.

Currently, the third generation partnership project (3 rd generation partnership project,3 gpp) is discussing a relay scheme in 5G communication systems (5 th generation, 5G), where the relay is referred to as IAB (integrated access and backhaul) in TR38.874, which supports both access and backhaul links. The link between the terminal device and the relay is an access link (access link), and the link between the relay and the relay or the access network device (such as a base station) is a backhaul link.

Referring to fig. 2, the architecture of the IAB utilizes a Distributed Unit (DU) and Centralized Unit (CU) separation architecture, and the IAB is composed of a DU and a Mobile Terminal (MT). The CU in the access network equipment manages one or more DUs, and an interface between the CU and the DU is an F1 interface. The DU of the IAB provides an air interface access service for User Equipment (UE) and an MT of a child relay node, and is used for implementing RLC and lower layer protocols. The MT of the IAB cooperates with a parent relay node or access network device (e.g., IAB Donor) to implement a backhaul link of the relay. The DU and the MT cooperate together to implement a relay function. The IAB Donor is a base station for the UE and the relay IAB access, and is composed of DU and CU.

As shown in fig. 3, a conventional user plane protocol stack of a relay node is used by a CU to implement a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP). The DU is used to implement a Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol, a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, and a physical layer (PHY) protocol (not shown). An adaptation protocol (adapt) is added to the RLC protocol, and the adaptation protocol supports multi-hop relay forwarding. The adaptation protocol only exists on the backhaul link between relays and not on the access link. The IAB relay scheme is to forward data in the RLC layer (belonging to the air interface layer 2), and the data needs to be sent to the access network device to complete the air interface user plane protocol processing. Since the access network device in the 3GPP architecture does not support the data forwarding function between UEs, data needs to be further sent to the core network to complete the data forwarding between UEs. Therefore, the IAB relay scheme cannot support local communication, that is, the relay node cannot directly analyze and process the data packet of the terminal device, and the current relay node does not have the capability of implementing the edge computing device.

The application provides a communication method, which is used for enabling a terminal device and a relay node to support direct communication (namely direct local application access), namely the terminal device and the relay node can realize local communication, so that the relay node can realize the functions of an edge computing device. In this embodiment, the edge relay node integrates a first CU-UP entity and a first UPF entity. The first CU-UP entity and the first UPF entity are used for realizing the user plane function of the edge relay node. User equipment initiates a first Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session request to a core network, wherein the first PDU session request carries a local communication type identifier. And the user equipment sends the identification of the edge relay node to the access network so that the access network equipment selects the first CU-UP entity according to the identification of the edge relay node and establishes a first DRB between the access network equipment and the first CU-UP entity. The core network equipment can select a first UPF according to the local communication type identifier to establish a first PDU session, generate first PDU session information for the PDU session requested by the user equipment, and send the first PDU session information to the edge relay node through the first DRB. The first PDU session information is used for the first UPF entity to serve the first PDU session, and the first PDU session is used for carrying transmission data between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment. In the application, the relay node in the communication system of the internet of things can have the function of the edge computing equipment, so that the deployment of the edge computing equipment can be reduced, the cost is reduced, and the data transmission delay can be reduced.

The words involved in this application will be explained first.

An edge relay node: in order to distinguish between a relay that does not support local communication and a relay that supports local communication, the relay that supports local communication is referred to as an "edge relay node" in the present application. The edge relay node has both the capability of relaying by an ordinary relay node (e.g., IAB) and the capability of local communication (equivalent to local communication by an edge computing device). In the present application, when an edge relay node supports local communication, the edge relay node may be equivalent to an edge computing device. In the present application, the edge relay node is also referred to as Direct Local Application Access (DLAA) IAB. In the present application, a relay node supporting only a relay function may be described by taking an IAB as an example. The edge relay node that supports both local communication and relay function may be described by taking DLAA IAB as an example.

Local communication: communication between a local terminal (which may also be referred to as user equipment) within a small area and an edge computing device.

Remote communication: wide area communication between edge computing devices and internet of things platforms (or applications).

In order to distinguish the CU-UP in the edge relay node from the CU-UP in the base station, the CU-UP in the edge relay node is referred to as "first CU-UP" and the CU-UP in the base station is referred to as "second CU-UP". In order to distinguish between the UPFs in the edge relay nodes and the UPFs deployed in the core network, the UPF in the relay node is referred to as a "first UPF" and the UPF deployed in the core network is referred to as a "second UPF".

The communication method is applied to the communication system of the internet of things, and the communication system of the internet of things includes but is not limited to a 5G communication system, a 5.5G communication system, a 6G communication system, a system with a plurality of communication systems being integrated, or a communication system evolving in the future. Such as New Radio (NR) systems, wireless fidelity (WiFi) systems, and 3 GPP-related communication systems, among others. Referring to fig. 4, the communication system of the internet of things includes a terminal device (also referred to as a user equipment), an edge relay node (e.g., a DLAA IAB), an access network device (e.g., an IAB donor), and a core network, and optionally, may further include a plurality of relay nodes (e.g., IABs). Wherein, the edge relay node integrates a first CU-UP and a first UPF of user plane functional entities required for realizing local communication. The relay IAB includes a DU, an MT, and a first CU-UP. The first CU-UP may manage one or more DUs, the interface between the first CU-UP and the DU being an F1 interface. Because the DLAA IAB needs to realize the CU-UP function, an E1 interface needs to be added between the DLAA IAB and the access network equipment, the interface is a control surface interface and is used for realizing control surface signaling interaction between the edge relay node and the access network equipment, the Protocol is an E1Application Protocol (AP), and a second CU-UP in the access network equipment and a first CU-UP in the edge relay node interact through the E1 interface. User plane protocol stack in the system as shown in fig. 5, the first CU-UP includes a PDCP protocol layer and an SDAP protocol layer. The first CU-UP in the edge relay node is used to implement the SDAP and PDCP protocols, the SDAP being responsible for completing the mapping from quality of service (QoS) flows to radio bearers (DRBs). The first UPF performs mapping of the received IP packets to QoS flows, i.e. marks the QoS flow to which the received IP packets belong. The first UPF and the first CU-UP together complete the mapping of data to radio bearers.

In the application, the terminal is a terminal with a data acquisition function. The terminal may be various sensors, 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 (AR) terminal device, a terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a vehicle-mounted terminal device, a terminal in unmanned driving, a terminal in assisted driving, a terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a terminal in smart grID (smart grID), a terminal in transportation safety, a terminal in smart city, a terminal in smart home, and the like. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios. A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal equipment, a terminal equipment (UE), an access terminal equipment, a UE device, or the like. The terminals may be fixed or mobile.

The access network device may be a base station (gnnodeb or gNB) or a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) in the NR, which is a base station for subsequent evolution of 3 GPP. The base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, etc. The base station may communicate with the terminal device, and may also communicate with the terminal device through the relay node. A terminal device may communicate with multiple base stations of different technologies. For example, the terminal device may communicate with a base station supporting a 5G network, and may also support dual connectivity with a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and a base station of the 5G network. In the embodiment of the present application, the access network device takes a base station as an example for description. The base station is an edge relay node access base station (IAB donor).

The edge relay node may be a device with data processing capabilities. For example, the edge relay node may be a gateway, a route, a drive test unit, a micro base station, a small base station, a pico base station, etc. The edge relay node may also be a terminal device, or the edge relay node may also be a server.

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, which is used for realizing local communication between an edge relay node and terminal equipment. Referring to fig. 6, an embodiment of a communication method includes:

step 601, the edge relay node sends the identifier of the edge relay node to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the identifier of the edge relay node sent by the edge relay node.

After the network access of the edge relay node (DLAA IAB) is successful, a message is sent to the access network device, where the message carries an identifier (such as an ID or an index) of the edge relay node itself, and the identifier is pre-allocated by the access network device. Optionally, the edge relay node may send the identifier of the edge relay node to the access network device through a relevant message for establishing the E1 interface, so as to reduce signaling overhead. The purpose of sending the self identification to the access network equipment by the edge relay node is as follows: and enabling the access network equipment to identify the edge relay node, and in the subsequent step, the access network equipment can select the first CU-UP in the DLAA IAB according to the identifier.

Step 602, after receiving the identifier of the edge relay node, the access network device stores the identifier of the edge relay node.

The identifier of the DLAA IAB is used to inform the access network device that the relay node is an edge relay node (a relay node capable of supporting local communication), and is used to distinguish different edge relay nodes. For example, multiple IABs and multiple DLAA IABs may be included in the system. The identifier of the relay node may include a type identifier bit and a sequence number identifier bit, where the type identifier bit is used to indicate whether the relay node is an ordinary relay node (IAB) or an edge relay node (DLAA IAB). The IDs of the IABs may be: 0-1,0-2,0-3, and so on. The IDs of the plurality of DLAA IABs may be: 1-1,1-2,1-3, and so on. The access network device may determine whether the node is an IAB or a DLAA IAB, and specifically which DLAA IAB, based on the identifier. Note that the ID of the DLAA IAB in this example is merely an example for convenience of explanation, and the ID of the DLAA IAB is not limited.

Step 603, the edge relay node broadcasts a system message.

Referring to fig. 7, a System Information (SI) broadcasted by the DLAA IAB may be directly received by the terminal device, or the system information may be received by other IABs in the system, and then received by the terminal device after being broadcasted by the IAB relay. The system message includes a communication type flag (flag) and an edge relay node identifier (DLAA IAB ID). Optionally, the system message may further include a DLAA IAB hop count and a session type (e.g., IPv4, IPv6, IPv4v6, etc.). Wherein the communication type identifier is used for indicating the communication type. For example, when the flag bit in the flag is set to true, indicating that the communication type identifier is a local communication type identifier, the DLAA IAB supports local communication. When the flag bit is set to false, the communication type flag is set to remote communication type flag.

Step 604, the terminal device obtains the identifier of the edge relay node from the system message of the edge relay node, and selects a cell supporting DLAA IAB to camp on.

And when the terminal equipment selects and dwells in the cell, selecting the cell which supports DLAA to camp. For example, when a cell is searched, the terminal device searches a system message broadcasted by the DLAA, where the system message includes a local communication type identifier, which indicates that the cell supports DLAA. Optionally, the terminal device further needs to select a DLAA IAB access with a small hop count (i.e., cell camping). Thereby, the transmission delay from the terminal equipment to the edge relay node can be reduced.

Illustratively, a terminal device needs to access a scene of a specified DLAA IAB. For example, a Power Line Communication (PLC) wireless dual mode scenario. The PLC technology is a communication method for transmitting data and media signals using a power line. The technology changes an original signal into a high-frequency signal through modulation, the high-frequency signal is loaded on a power line for transmission, the modulated signal is taken out and demodulated through a filter at a receiving end, the original signal is obtained, and information transmission is achieved. In a PLC wireless dual-mode scenario, in a transformer area (a power supply range or an area of a transformer), a plurality of terminals connected to the transformer may be wirelessly connected to a DLAA IAB, and at this time, the DLAA IAB is equivalent to a central coordinator (CCo) of the PLC, and the DLAA IAB sets a DLAA IAB ID thereof to a Network Identifier (NID) of the PLC, and broadcasts the PLC NID in a system message.

The local terminal (e.g. electricity meter) needs to access the designated DLAA IAB. For example, a plurality of electric meters are covered in a certain geographical area (such as a building). The method includes that a first building corresponds to 50 users, each user corresponds to an electric meter, the 50 electric meters are connected with a first transformer, in order to avoid the 50 electric meters from being mistakenly connected to other relay nodes, each local terminal (electric meter) presets a DLAA IAB ID, when the local terminal receives a system message, the preset DLAA IAB ID needs to be matched with a received PLC NID, the electric meter determines the PLC NID matched with the preset DLAA IAB ID, the DLAA IAB corresponding to the PLC NID is selected to be connected, the terminal can be ensured to be connected to a corresponding transformer area, and the requirement of a specific application scene is met.

Step 601 and step 602 may be performed after step 604, and the specific timing is not limited.

Step 605, the terminal device initiates a first PDU session request. Correspondingly, the core network equipment receives a first PDU session request from the terminal equipment.

The terminal equipment initiates a first PDU session request (PDU session request) to the core network equipment. The first PDU session request is forwarded by the base station to the core network device. The first PDU session request includes an identification of an edge relay node and a local communication type identification. In the embodiment of the present application, the core network device is also referred to as a core network for short.

Step 606, the core network device identifies the first PDU session as a local communication PDU session according to the local communication type identifier.

The first PDU session request is used for requesting equipment to establish a PDU session to a core network, the first PDU session request carries a local communication type identifier, and the core network equipment identifies the first PDU session as the PDU session for local communication according to the local communication type identifier. In this application the first UPF is included in the DLAA IAB. When the core network identifies that the first PDU session is a PDU session of local communication, the core network equipment selects a first UPF, and the first UPF is used for serving the first PDU session to be established.

Step 607, the core network device sends a context setup request to the access network device, where the context setup request (initial context setup request) includes the first PDU session information.

The first PDU session information including the first PDU session information includes: PDU session ID, PDU Type (Type), and second DRB setup list (DRB to setup list). Each DRB in the second DRB establishment list includes a corresponding QoS flow list (QoS flow list), a Packet Detection Rule (PDR), and the like. The PDR is configured to map data and a QoS flow, and map the data to a corresponding second DRB, where the second DRB is a bearer between the terminal device and the edge relay node. The second DRB is pre-established. Since the first CU-UP and the first UPF are integrated in the edge relay node (DLAA IAB), an interface between the first CU-UP and the first UPF may be simplified, for example, without using a standard general packet radio service tunneling protocol-user plane (GTP-U) protocol, the first PDU session information does not include an IP address and a GTP-U Tunnel End Identifier (TEID) of the first UPF.

Step 608, the access network device selects the first CU-UP located at the DLAA IAB based on the identification of the edge relay node (DLAA IAB ID).

Step 609, the access network equipment sends a bearer context setup request (bearer context setup request) to the first CU-UP.

The access network equipment initiates the establishment of a first DRB to a side relay node (DLAA IAB), the bearer context establishment request carries first PDU session information, and the first PDU session information comprises: and the method comprises the steps of PDU session ID, PDU Type (Type) and a second DRB setup list (DRB to setup list), wherein each DRB in the second DRB setup list comprises a corresponding QoS flow list (QoS flow list) and a PDR, the PDR is used for mapping the received data packet to the corresponding second DRB, and the second DRB is a bearer between the terminal equipment and the edge relay node. The second DRB is pre-established.

Step 610, the edge relay node establishes a corresponding first DRB, and the edge relay node (e.g. DLAA IAB) receives the first PDU session information through the first DRB.

The purpose of steps 608-610 is: the access network equipment selects the first CU-UP, establishes a first DRB between the access network equipment and the edge relay node, and the edge relay node (such as DLAA IAB) receives the first PDU session information through the DRB and stores a QoS flow list and a packet detection rule PDR.

And the first UPF entity serves the first PDU session according to the first PDU session information so as to establish a first PDU session between the user equipment and the edge relay node, wherein the first PDU session is used for bearing transmission data between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment. The number of the first PUD sessions is not limited, and is determined according to the actual service condition.

Step 611, the edge relay node feeds back a bearer context setup response (bearer context setup response) message to the base station.

The bearer context setup response is used to inform the base station that the DRB setup is complete. This step 611 is an optional step and may not be performed.

Step 612, the base station returns an initial context setup response (initial context setup response) message to the core network, where the response may not include the IP address and GTP-U TEID transmitted by the user plane of the base station.

Step 612 is optional and may not be performed.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the present application, a data bearer between the terminal device and the edge computing device is already established in advance, and therefore, in this embodiment of the present application, an establishment process of the data bearer between the terminal device and the edge computing device is not embodied. In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal and the edge relay node may be directly connected, or the information transmitted between the relay node and the terminal device may also be forwarded by at least one relay node, where the relay node (for example, IAB) only plays a role of relaying, and forwards the information transmitted between the relay node and the terminal device.

In this embodiment, the edge relay node integrates a first CU-UP entity and a first UPF entity. The user equipment initiates a first PDU session request to a core network, wherein the first PDU session request carries a local communication type identifier. And the user equipment sends the identification of the edge relay node to an access network, so that the access network equipment selects a first CU-UP entity according to the identification of the edge relay node, and establishes a first DRB between the access network equipment and the CU-UP entity. The core network can select the first UPF according to the local communication type identifier to establish a first PDU session, generate first PDU session information for the PDU session requested by the user equipment, and send the first PDU session information to the edge relay node. The first UPF entity may serve the first PDU session according to the first PDU session information, and the first PDU session is used for carrying transmission data between the edge relay node and the terminal device. It will be appreciated that the first UPF entity and the first CU-UP entity in an edge relay node are "activated" by the methods provided herein such that the edge relay node supports local communication with the user equipment. The communication system of the internet of things has the advantages that the relay node in the communication system of the internet of things can have the function of the edge computing equipment, so that the deployment of the edge computing equipment can be reduced, the cost is reduced, and the data transmission delay can be reduced.

After step 612, traffic data transmission between the edge relay node and the user equipment may be performed through the first PDU session.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first CU-UP entity includes a PDCP layer and an SDAP layer. The SDAP layer is positioned on a user plane and is responsible for finishing the mapping from the QoS flow to the DRB; the PDCP layer provides radio bearer level services to the SDAP layer, which provides QoS flow level services to upper layers. The terminal sends data to the edge relay node, where the first CU-UP is used to implement the SDAP and PDCP protocols, and the SDAP is responsible for completing the mapping from QoS flows to radio bearers (DRBs). The first UPF performs mapping of data to QoS flows, i.e. marks the QoS flow to which the data belongs. The first UPF and the first CU-UP thus together complete the mapping of the first traffic data to the radio bearer. The edge relay node processes the received data to obtain second service data. Optionally, the edge relay node may output the second traffic data. For example, the edge relay node may output the second service data to a display device, display the second service data through the display device, or transmit the second service data to a terminal.

Referring to fig. 8, another embodiment of a communication method is provided. The main difference between this embodiment and the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6 is that: the edge relay node can realize local communication and also support remote communication.

Step 801, the edge relay node initiates a second PDU session request to the core network device.

The edge relay node establishes its own PDU session, and in order to distinguish the terminal-initiated PDU session request, the edge relay node-initiated PDU session is referred to as a "second PDU session". The second PDU session request includes a remote communication type flag (flag set to false). The remote communication type identifier is used for indicating that a second PDU session to be established by the core network is a remote communication PDU session. The remote communication type identifier indicates that the second PDU session is a non-native communication PDU session but supports native communication. Optionally, the second PDU session request may not carry a communication type identifier, and may not carry the communication type identifier, which also indicates that the second PDU session request is a non-local communication (remote communication) PDU session request.

Step 802, the core network device allocates an IP address for the edge relay node (DLAA IAB), and stores a corresponding relationship between an identifier of the edge relay node (DLAA IAB), a global identifier of the base station (global RAN ID) and the IP address of the DLAA IAB.

The core network device may specifically be a Session Management Function (SMF) entity, and the SMF entity allocates an IP address to the DLAA IAB. And storing the DLAA IAB ID and the corresponding relation between the global identifier (global RAN ID) of the base station and the DLAA IAB IP address.

Step 803, the core network device selects a second UPF according to the remote communication type identifier to establish a second PDU session.

And the SMF identifies that the second PDU session is the remote communication PDU session according to the remote communication identifier, and then the SMF selects a second UPF deployed in the core network to establish the connection of the second PDU session among the second UPF, the base station and the DLAA IAB. The second UPF serves a second PDU session. The second PDU session is used to carry traffic data transmitted between the DLAA IAB and the core network.

In the present example, steps 801-803 aim at establishing a second PDU session between the edge relay node and the core network, which second PDU session may be used for telecommunication. The number of the second PUD sessions is not limited, and is determined according to the actual service condition.

The subsequent steps are substantially the same as the steps in the example corresponding to fig. 6, and it is understood that in this example, the edge relay node may implement remote communication or may support local communication through the following steps.

Step 804, the edge relay node broadcasts a system message.

Please refer to the description of step 603 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, which is not described herein.

Step 805, the terminal device obtains the identifier of the edge relay node from the system message of the edge relay node, and selects a cell supporting the edge relay node (e.g. DLAA IAB) to camp on.

Please refer to the description of step 604 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, which is not described herein.

Step 806, the terminal device initiates a first PDU session request.

Please refer to the description of step 605 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, which is not described herein.

Step 807, the core network device receives a first PDU session request from the terminal device, and identifies the first PDU session as a local communication PDU session according to the local communication type.

Please refer to the description of step 606 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, which is not described herein.

Step 808, the core network device searches for the IP address of the DLAA IAB based on the identifier of the edge relay node (DLAA IAB ID) and the Global RAN ID.

Step 809, the core network sends the PDR to the DLAA IAB according to the IP address of the DLAA IAB.

The core network initiates an N4 session establishment process to the DLAA IAB and provides PDR to the DLAA IAB.

The PDR may contain information necessary to classify the packet. Each PDR may also be used to detect data packets in a particular transmission direction, e.g., uplink or downlink. In this example, the DLAA IAB is used to support both local and remote communications. For example, when the DLAA IAB receives the first service data sent by the user equipment, the DLAA IAB may locally process the second service data to obtain the second service data. The DLAA IAB may detect which second service data (downlink data) needs to be processed locally, which second service data (downlink data) needs to be sent to the terminal, and which second service data (uplink data) needs to be sent to the base station according to the PDR.

Step 810, the core network sends a context setup request to the access network device, where the context setup request (initial context setup request) includes the first PDU session information.

Please refer to the description of step 607 in the corresponding embodiment of fig. 6, which is not repeated herein. Since the core network device has already sent the PDR to the DLAA IAB in step 809, this step is different from step 607 in that the PDR is not included in the first PDU session information.

Step 811, the access network device selects the first CU-UP located at the DLAA IAB based on the DLAA IAB ID.

Step 812, the access network device initiates bearer establishment to the DLAA IAB, and the base station sends a bearer context setup request (bearer context setup request) to the first CU-UP.

Please refer to the description of step 609 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, which is not described herein. The difference between this step and step 609 is that the bearer context setup request (bearer context setup request) does not include a PDR.

Step 813, the edge relay node establishes a corresponding first DRB. And the edge relay node (DLAA IAB) receives the first PDU session information through the first DRB and stores a QoS flow list.

It should be noted that step 808 and step 809 are optional steps, and the PDR may also be carried in the context establishment request in step 810, and the PDR is also carried in step 812. Steps 801 to 803 have no time-series limitation with the subsequent steps, for example, steps 801 to 803 may be at any position after step 804.

Optionally, in this example, the method may further include: the method comprises two steps of feeding back a bearer context setup response (bearer context setup response) message to the access network equipment by the side relay node and feeding back an initial context setup response (initial context setup response) message to the core network equipment by the base station.

In this example, the edge relay node may establish a second PDU session with a second UPF in the core network to support the remote communication, and the user equipment may establish a first PDU session with a first UPF in the edge relay node to support the local communication. The core network can select a first UPF to serve the first PDU session according to the local communication type identifier and select a second UPF to serve the second PDU session according to the remote communication type identifier. For example, the user equipment sends first service data to the edge relay node through the first PDU session, the edge relay node may process the first service data to obtain second service data, and the edge relay node may send the second service data to the terminal equipment through local communication, where the edge relay node is equivalent to the edge computing device. Or, in different application scenarios, the edge relay node may also send the second service data to the internet of things platform through remote communication, and process the second service data through the internet of things platform, and the like, where the edge relay node is also equivalent to an ordinary relay node (e.g., IAB) and is used to implement a relay forwarding function. The terminal can initiate the establishment of a local communication PDU session or a remote communication PDU session according to the service requirements, or initiate the establishment of a local communication PDU session and a remote communication PDU session simultaneously, and different types of services are carried through different PDU sessions. The PDU session for the terminal device to initiate remote communication is the same as the conventional way, and is not described herein. The terminal may switch the service from remote communication to local communication or local communication to remote communication as required. In this example, the edge relay node may implement a function of local communication, and may be flexibly applied to different application scenarios.

Corresponding to the method provided by the above method embodiment, the embodiment of the present application further provides a corresponding apparatus, which includes a module for executing the above embodiment. The module may be software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

Fig. 9 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device. The communication apparatus 900 may be an edge relay node, an access network device, a core network device, or a terminal device. The method may be implemented by a chip, a system-on-chip, or a processor, which supports the edge relay node to implement the method, or may be implemented by an access network device to implement the method. Or a chip, a chip system, a processor, or the like supporting the core network device to implement the above method. But also a chip, a chip system, a processor, or the like, which supports the terminal device to implement the above method. The communication device may be configured to implement the method described in the above method embodiment, and specifically, refer to the description in the above method embodiment. The communication device 900 may include one or more processors 901, where the processors 901 may also be referred to as processing units and may implement certain control functions. The processor 901 may be a general-purpose processor or a special-purpose processor, etc. For example, a baseband processor or a central processor. The baseband processor may be configured to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processor may be configured to control a communication device (e.g., a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal chip, a DU or CU, etc.), execute a software program, and process data of the software program.

In an alternative design, the processor 901 may also store instructions and/or data 903, and the instructions and/or data 903 may be executed by the processor, so that the communication device 900 performs the method described in the above method embodiment.

In an alternative design, processor 901 may include a transceiver unit for performing receive and transmit functions. The transceiving unit may be, for example, a transceiving circuit, or an interface circuit. The transmit and receive circuitry, interfaces or interface circuitry used to implement the receive and transmit functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, the interface circuit or the interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code/data, or the transceiver circuit, the interface circuit or the interface circuit may be used for transmitting or transferring signals.

In yet another possible design, communications device 900 may include circuitry that may implement the functionality of transmitting or receiving or communicating in the foregoing method embodiments.

Optionally, the communication device 900 may include one or more memories 902, on which instructions 904 may be stored, the instructions being executable on the processor to cause the communication device 900 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory may further store data therein. Optionally, instructions and/or data may also be stored in the processor. The processor and the memory may be provided separately or may be integrated together. For example, the correspondence described in the above method embodiments may be stored in a memory, or stored in a processor.

Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include a transceiver 905 and/or an antenna 906. The processor 901, which may be referred to as a processing unit, controls the communication device 900. The transceiver 905 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver circuit, a transceiver communication device or a transceiver module, etc. for implementing a transceiving function.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 900 in this embodiment of the present application may be configured to execute the method performed by the edge relay node in fig. 6 and fig. 8 in this embodiment of the present application, or may also be configured to execute the method performed by the access network device, or may also be configured to execute the method performed by the core network device, or may also be configured to execute the method performed by the terminal.

As shown in fig. 10, another embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1000. The communication device may be a terminal or a component of a terminal (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.). Alternatively, the communication device may be an edge relay node, or may be a component of an edge relay node (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.). Alternatively, the communication device may be an access network device, or a component (e.g., an integrated circuit, chip, etc.) of an access network device. The communication device may be a core network device or may be a component (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.) of a core network device. The communication device may also be another communication module, which is used to implement the method in the embodiment of the method of the present application. The communication device 1000 may include: a processing module 1002 (or called as a processing unit) and a transceiver module 1001 (or called as a transceiver unit).

In one possible design, one or more of the modules in FIG. 10 may be implemented by one or more processors or by one or more processors and memory; or by one or more processors and transceivers; or by one or more processors, memories, and transceivers, which are not limited in this application. The processor, the memory and the transceiver can be arranged independently or integrated.

The communication device has a function of implementing the edge relay node described in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the communication device includes a module, a unit, or a means (means) corresponding to the step in which the terminal executes the edge relay node described in the embodiment of the present application, and the function, the unit, or the means (means) may be implemented by software, or by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software, or may be implemented by a combination of software and hardware. Or, the communication apparatus has a function of implementing the access network device described in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the communication apparatus includes a module or a unit or means (means) corresponding to the step of executing the network device described in the embodiment of the present application by the access network device, and the function or the unit or the means (means) may be implemented by software or hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software, or may be implemented by a combination of software and hardware. Alternatively, the communication device has a function of implementing the access network device described in the embodiments of the present application. Or, the communication apparatus has a function of implementing the core network device described in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the communication apparatus includes a module or a unit or means (means) corresponding to the step of executing the network device described in the embodiment of the present application by the core network device, and the function or the unit or the means (means) may be implemented by software or hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software, or may be implemented by a combination of software and hardware. Reference may be made in detail to the respective description of the corresponding method embodiments hereinbefore.

Optionally, each module in the communication apparatus 1000 in this embodiment of the present application may be configured to execute the method performed by the edge relay node in fig. 6 and fig. 8 in this embodiment of the present application.

In one possible design, a communications apparatus 1000 may include: a processing module 1002 and a transceiver module 1001.

Specifically, the transceiver module 1001 is configured to send an identifier of an edge relay node to the access network device, so that the access network device selects a first CU-UP entity according to the identifier of the edge relay node, and establishes a first DRB between the access network device and the CU-UP entity;

the transceiving module 1001 is further configured to receive first PDU session information from the core network through the first DRB, where the first PDU session information is used to serve a first PDU session; wherein the first PDU session consists of: after the terminal equipment initiates a first PDU session request to a core network, the core network selects a first UPF entity according to a local communication type identifier and an identifier of an edge relay node and then establishes the UPF entity; the first PDU session request comprises an identification of an edge relay node and a local communication type identification; the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 is further configured to initiate a second PDU session request to the core network to establish a second PDU session; the second PDU session request includes a remote communication type identifier; the remote communication type identifier is used for indicating the core network to select a second UPF entity for a second PUD session to be established, wherein the second UPF entity is a UPF entity deployed in the core network; the second UPF entity is configured to serve a second PDU session.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 is further configured to transmit service data between the edge relay node and the terminal device through the first PDU session.

Optionally, the first PDU session information includes a QoS flow list;

the transceiving module 1001 is further configured to receive first service data sent by the terminal device;

a processing module 1002, configured to map, by a first UPF and a CU-UP, first service data to a QoS flow to which the first service data belongs based on first PDU session information;

the transceiving module 1001 is further configured to transmit second service data according to the mapping relationship between the first service data and the QoS stream, where the second service data is service data obtained according to the first service data.

Optionally, the transceiving module 1001 is further configured to broadcast a system message, where the system message includes an identifier of the edge relay node, so that the terminal device receives the identifier of the edge relay node.

Optionally, the edge relay node is a PLC central coordinator in power line communication, and the identifier of the edge relay node is a PLC network identifier NID.

Optionally, the first PDU session information includes a second DRB list, and a QoS flow and a packet detection rule PDR corresponding to each second DRB in the second DRB list; the second DRB is a bearer between the terminal device and the edge relay node.

Optionally, each module in the communication apparatus 1000 in this embodiment may be configured to execute the method performed by the access network device in fig. 6 and fig. 8 in this embodiment.

A transceiving module 1001, configured to receive an identifier of an edge relay node sent by a terminal device; wherein the edge relay node comprises a first UPF entity and a first CU-UP entity;

the transceiving module 1001 is further configured to receive a first PDU session request initiated by the terminal device, and forward the first PDU session request to the core network device, where the first PDU session request includes an identifier of the edge relay node and a local communication type identifier; the local communication type is used for the core network equipment to select a first UPF according to the identification of the relay node so as to establish a first PDU session;

the transceiving module 1001 is further configured to receive first PDU session information and an identifier of an edge relay node, where the first PDU session information and the identifier are sent by a core network;

a processing module 1002, configured to select a first CU-UP to establish a first DRB according to the ID of the edge relay node received by the transceiving module 1001;

the transceiving module 1001 is configured to send first PDU session information to the edge relay node through the first DRB established by the processing module 1002, where the first UPF entity is configured to serve a PDU session according to the first PDU session information, and the first PDU session is configured to carry service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal device.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 is further configured to receive a second PDU session request initiated by the edge relay node, and forward the second PDU session request to the core network, where the second PDU session request includes an identifier of the edge relay node and a remote communication type identifier; so that the core network selects the second UPF entity to establish the second PDU session for the edge relay node.

Optionally, each module in the communication apparatus 1000 in this embodiment of the application may be configured to execute the method executed by the core network device in fig. 6 and fig. 8 in this embodiment of the application.

A transceiving module 1001, configured to receive a first PDU session request sent by an access network device, where the first PDU session request includes an identifier of an edge relay node and a local communication type identifier; the edge relay node comprises a first CU-UP entity and a first UPF entity;

a processing module 1002, configured to select a first UPF entity in the edge relay node according to the local communication type identifier received by the transceiving module 1001 to establish a first PDU session;

a transceiving module 1001, configured to send first PDU session information to an access network device, where the first PDU session information includes an identifier of an edge relay node; the method comprises the steps that the access network equipment selects a first CU-UP entity according to an identification of an edge relay node to establish a first DRB, and sends first PDU session information to the edge relay node through the first DRB, the first UPF entity is used for serving the PDU session according to the first PDU session information, and the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 is further configured to receive a second PDU session request initiated by the edge relay node, where the second PDU session request includes an identifier of the edge relay node and a remote communication type identifier;

the processing module 1002 is further configured to select a second UPF entity according to the remote communication type identifier received by the transceiver module 1001, so as to establish a second PDU session, where the second UPF entity is a UPF entity deployed in a core network; and the second UPF entity is used for serving a second PDU session, and the second PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the core network equipment.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 is configured to send the PDR to the edge relay node.

The present application also provides a computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a computer, implements the functionality of an edge relay node in any of the above-described method embodiments. Alternatively, the computer program, when executed by a computer, implements the functionality of the access network device of any of the above-described method embodiments. Alternatively, the computer program, when executed by a computer, implements the functionality of the core network device of any of the above-described method embodiments.

The present application also provides a computer program product, which when executed by a computer implements the functionality of an edge relay node in any of the above method embodiments. Alternatively, the computer program realizes the functions of the access network device of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer. Alternatively, the computer program, when executed by a computer, implements the functionality of the core network device of any of the above-described method embodiments.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps (step) set forth in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design requirements of the overall system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functions in various ways for corresponding applications, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware components.

In another possible design, when the device is a chip within a terminal, the chip includes: a processing unit, which may be for example a processor, and a communication unit, which may be for example an input/output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc. The processing unit may execute computer-executable instructions stored by the storage unit to cause a chip within the terminal to perform the wireless communication method of any one of the above first aspects. Optionally, the storage unit is a storage unit in the chip, such as a register, a cache, and the like, and the storage unit may also be a storage unit located outside the chip in the terminal, such as a read-only memory (ROM) or another type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM), and the like. The processor mentioned in any of the above may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling execution of a program of the wireless communication method according to the first aspect.

It can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that, for convenience and simplicity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

The above embodiments are only used for illustrating the technical solutions of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

A communication method, applied to an edge relay node, wherein the edge relay node comprises a first centralized unit user plane CU-UP entity and a first user plane function, UPF, entity;

sending the identification of the edge relay node to access network equipment, so that the access network equipment selects the first CU-UP entity according to the identification of the edge relay node, and establishes a first data bearer DRB between the access network equipment and the first CU-UP entity;

receiving first PDU session information from a core network device through the first DRB, wherein the first PDU session information is used for serving a first PDU session; wherein the first PDU session is formed by: after terminal equipment initiates a first PDU session request to a core network, the core network equipment selects the first UPF entity according to a local communication type identifier and an identifier of the edge relay node and establishes the UPF entity; wherein the first PDU session request comprises an identifier of the edge relay node and the identifier of the local communication type; the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

initiating a second PDU session request to the core network to establish a second PDU session; the second PDU session request includes a remote communication type identifier; the remote communication type identifier is used for indicating the core network equipment to select a second UPF entity deployed in a core network so as to establish a second PDU session; and the second UPF entity is used for serving the second PDU session.
The method of claim 1, wherein after receiving the first PDU session information from the core network device, the method further comprises:

and carrying service data between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment through the first PDU session.
The method of claim 3, wherein the first PDU session information comprises a quality of service (QoS) flow list, and wherein the carrying of the traffic data between the edge relay node and the terminal device through the first PDU session comprises:

receiving first service data sent by terminal equipment;

mapping, by the first UPF entity and the first CU-UP entity, the first traffic data to the QoS flow based on the first PDU session information;

and transmitting second service data according to the mapping relation between the first service data and the QoS flow, wherein the second service data is obtained according to the first service data.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:

broadcasting a system message, wherein the system message comprises the identification of the edge relay node, so that the terminal equipment receives the identification of the edge relay node.
The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the edge relay node is a power line communication, PLC, central coordinator and the identity of the edge relay node is a PLC network identity, NID.
The method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the first PDU session information comprises a second DRB list, and a QoS flow and packet detection rule PDR corresponding to each second DRB in the second DRB list; the second DRB is a bearer between the terminal device and the edge relay node.
A communication method applied to an access network device, the method comprising:

receiving an identifier of an edge relay node sent by terminal equipment; wherein the edge relay node comprises a first UPF entity and a first CU-UP entity;

receiving a first PDU session request initiated by a terminal device, and forwarding the PDU session request to a core network device, wherein the first PDU session request comprises an identifier of the edge relay node and a local communication type identifier; the local communication type is used for indicating the core network equipment to select the first UPF entity according to the identifier of the relay node so as to establish a first PDU session;

receiving first PDU session information sent by the core network equipment and the identifier of the edge relay node;

selecting the first CU-UP entity to establish a first DRB according to the ID of the edge relay node;

and sending the first PDU session information to the edge relay node through the first DRB, wherein the first UPF entity is used for serving the PDU session according to the first PDU session information, and the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.
The method of claim 8, wherein the first PDU session information comprises a second DRB list, and a QoS flow and a PDR corresponding to each second DRB in the second DRB list; the second DRB is a bearer between the terminal device and the edge relay node.
The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the method further comprises:

receiving a second PDU session request initiated by the edge relay node, and forwarding the second PDU session request to a core network, wherein the second PDU session request comprises an identifier of the edge relay node and a remote communication type identifier; the remote communication type identifier is used for instructing the core network equipment to select a second UPF entity to establish a second PDU session.
A communication method is applied to a core network device, and comprises the following steps:

receiving a first PDU session request from a terminal device, wherein the first PDU session request comprises an identification of an edge relay node and a local communication type identification; the edge relay node comprises a first CU-UP entity and a first UPF entity;

selecting a first UPF entity in the edge relay node according to the local communication type identifier to establish a first PDU session;

sending first PDU session information to access network equipment, wherein the first PDU session information comprises an identifier of an edge relay node; and the access network equipment selects the first CU-UP entity according to the identification of the edge relay node to establish a first DRB, and sends the first PDU session information to the edge relay node through the first DRB, wherein the first PDU session information is used for the first UPF entity to serve the first PDU session, and the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.
The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving a second PDU session request initiated by the edge relay node, wherein the second PDU session request comprises an identifier of the edge relay node and a remote communication type identifier;

and selecting a second UPF entity deployed in the core network according to the remote communication type identifier to establish a second PDU session, wherein the second UPF entity is used for serving the second PDU session, and the second PDU session is used for carrying service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the core network equipment.
The method of claim 12, further comprising:

the PDR is sent to the edge relay node.
A communication device, wherein the device integrates a first CU-UP entity and a first UPF entity; the device further comprises:

a transceiver module, configured to send the identifier of the edge relay node to an access network device, so that the access network device selects the first CU-UP entity according to the identifier of the edge relay node, and establishes a first data bearer DRB between the access network device and the first CU-UP entity;

the transceiver module is further configured to receive first PDU session information from a core network through the first DRB, where the first PDU session information is used to serve a first PDU session; wherein the first PDU session is formed by: after the terminal equipment initiates a first PDU session request to a core network, the core network equipment selects the first UPF entity according to the local communication type identification and the identification of the edge relay node and establishes the UPF entity; wherein the first PDU session request comprises an identifier of the edge relay node and the identifier of the local communication type; the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.
The apparatus of claim 14,

the transceiver module is further configured to initiate a second PDU session request to the core network to establish a second PDU session; the second PDU session request includes a remote communication type identifier; the remote communication type identifier is used for the core network to select a second UPF entity deployed in the core network for a second PUD session to be established so as to establish a second PDU session; the second UPF entity is configured to serve the second PDU session.
The apparatus of claim 14 or 15,

the transceiver module is further configured to carry service data between the edge relay node and the terminal device through the first PDU session.
The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first PDU session information comprises a quality of service, qoS, flow list, the apparatus further comprising a processing module;

the transceiver module is further configured to receive first service data sent by the terminal device;

the processing module to map, by the first UPF and the first CU-UP, the first traffic data to the QoS flow based on the first PDU session information;

the transceiver module is further configured to transmit second service data according to a mapping relationship between the first service data and the QoS stream, where the second service data is obtained according to the first service data.
The apparatus of any one of claims 14-17,

the transceiver module is further configured to broadcast a system message, where the system message includes the identifier of the edge relay node, so that the terminal device receives the identifier of the edge relay node.
The arrangement according to any of the claims 14-18, characterized in that said edge relay node is a power line communication, PLC, central coordinator and that said identification of the edge relay node is a PLC network identification, NID.
The apparatus according to any of claims 14-19, wherein the first PDU session information comprises a second DRB list, and a QoS flow and packet detection rule PDR corresponding to each second DRB in the second DRB list; the second DRB is a bearer between the terminal device and the edge relay node.
A communications apparatus, comprising:

the receiving and sending module is used for receiving the mark of the edge relay node sent by the terminal equipment; wherein the edge relay node comprises a first UPF entity and a first CU-UP entity;

the transceiver module is further configured to receive a first PDU session request initiated by a terminal device, and forward the PDU session request to a core network, where the first PDU session request includes an identifier of the edge relay node and an identifier of a local communication type; the local communication type is used for indicating the core network equipment to select the first UPF according to the identifier of the relay node so as to establish a first PDU session;

the transceiver module is further configured to receive first PDU session information and an identifier of the edge relay node, where the first PDU session information is sent by the core network device;

a processing module, configured to select the first CU-UP entity to establish a first DRB according to the identifier of the edge relay node received by the transceiver module;

a transceiver module, configured to send the first PDU session information to the edge relay node through the first DRB established by the processing module, where the first UPF entity is configured to serve the PDU session according to the first PDU session information, and the first PDU session is configured to carry service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal device.
The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the transceiver module is further configured to receive a second PDU session request initiated by the edge relay node, and forward the second PDU session request to a core network device, where the second PDU session request includes an identifier of the edge relay node and an identifier of a remote communication type; the remote communication type identifier is used for indicating the core network equipment to select a second UPF entity to establish a second PDU session.
A communications apparatus, comprising:

a transceiver module, configured to receive a first PDU session request sent by an access network device, where the first PDU session request includes an identifier of the edge relay node and a local communication type identifier; the edge relay node comprises a first CU-UP entity and a first UPF entity;

the processing module is used for selecting a first UPF entity in the edge relay node according to the local communication type identifier received by the transceiver module so as to establish a first PDU session;

a transceiver module, configured to send first PDU session information to access network equipment, where the first PDU session information includes an identifier of an edge relay node; and the access network equipment selects the first CU-UP entity according to the identification of the edge relay node to establish a first DRB, and sends the first PDU session information to the edge relay node through the first DRB, wherein the first PDU session information is used for the first UPF entity to serve the first PDU session, and the first PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the terminal equipment.
The apparatus of claim 23,

the transceiver module is further configured to receive a second PDU session request initiated by the edge relay node, where the second PDU session request includes an identifier of the edge relay node and a remote communication type identifier;

the processing module is further configured to select a second UPF entity according to the remote communication type identifier received by the transceiver module to establish a second PDU session, where the second UPF entity is a UPF entity deployed in a core network; and the second UPF entity is used for serving the second PDU session, and the second PDU session is used for bearing service data to be transmitted between the edge relay node and the core network equipment.
The apparatus of claim 24,

and the transceiver module is used for sending the PDR to the edge relay node.
A communications apparatus, comprising a processor coupled with at least one memory, the processor to read a computer program stored by the at least one memory, to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1-7, or to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 8-10, or to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 11-13.
A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-7; or causing the computer to perform the method of any of 8-10; or cause the computer to perform the method of any of 11-13.