CN116095667A

CN116095667A - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN116095667A
Application number: CN202111307021.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 谢春生; 丁辉; 周凯; 韩文勇
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-05
Filing date: 2021-11-05
Publication date: 2023-05-09
Also published as: WO2023077948A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and device, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the SMF receives a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, wherein the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request carry the same redundant transmission configuration information; the SMF sends a first PDU session context creating request and a second PDU session context creating request to the UPF, wherein the first PDU session context creating request and the second PDU session context creating request carry the redundant transmission configuration information; the SMF receives a first response message and a second response message from the UPF, wherein the first response message carries the PDU session identifier of the first terminal equipment, and the second response message carries the PDU session identifier of the second terminal equipment. Based on the method and the device, the device redundancy transmission can be realized under the condition that the terminal device is decoupled from the subscriber.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for communications.

Background

Currently, a multi-User Equipment (UE) performs redundant transmission by subscription of a user, that is, a subscriber identity module (subscriber identity module, SIM) issued to a user is relatively fixed in the relationship of the redundant transmission of its subscription. The user must keep in mind the redundant subscription relationship between the two SIM cards during use of the SIM cards, and is not allowed to be mixed with other SIMs. Therefore, in order to ensure the reliability of the redundant transmission, each user may have both a non-redundant transmission SIM card and a redundant transmission SIM card, and make a redundant transmission by static subscription. However, in a scenario where many subscribers are present, SIM misuse is often a problem.

Therefore, in order to avoid the mixed use of the SIM card caused by the static subscription redundancy transmission, how to realize the redundancy transmission pairing between the subscribers of the user equipment under the condition that the user equipment blindly inserts the SIM card is a problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and device, which can realize redundant transmission of equipment under the condition that terminal equipment is decoupled from a subscriber.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, where the method is applied to an SMF, or may be performed by a chip or a circuit configured in the SMF, and the application is not limited thereto. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a session management function network element (SMF) receives a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, wherein the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request carry the same redundant transmission configuration information; the SMF sends a request for creating a first PDU session context and a request for creating a second PDU session context to a user plane function entity UPF, wherein the request for creating the first PDU session context and the request for creating the second PDU session context carry the redundant transmission configuration information; the SMF receives a first response message and a second response message from the UPF, wherein the first response message carries the PDU session identifier of the first terminal equipment, and the second response message carries the PDU session identifier of the second terminal equipment.

Based on the scheme, the SMF acquires the redundant transmission configuration information through the PDU conversation request of the terminal equipment, and the redundant transmission configuration information is sent to the same UPF in the PDU conversation process of creating a plurality of terminal equipment, so that the equipment redundant transmission can be realized under the condition that the terminal equipment is decoupled from the subscriber, and an independent redundant transmission conversation process is not required to be initiated, and resources can be saved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, before the SMF sends a create first PDU session context request and a create second PDU session context request to a user plane function, UPF, the method further comprises: the SMF sends a first request message to the UPF, wherein the first request message is used for requesting to create redundant transmission context for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment; the SMF receives a response message from the UPF to the first request, the response message of the first request including a redundant transmission context identification, wherein the create first PDU session context request and the create second PDU session context request further carry the redundant transmission context identification.

Based on the scheme, the SMF sends a first request to the UPF for creating the redundant context, and creates the same redundant context for the terminal equipment of the redundant transmission through the UPF so as to achieve the purpose of realizing the redundant transmission.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: and the SMF determines the UPF for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment according to the redundant configuration information.

It will be appreciated that the UPF determined by the SMF for the first terminal device and the second terminal device is the same.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the SMF sends, to the UPF, a first modification request of the first terminal device and a second modification request of the second terminal device, where the first modification request message carries a PDU session identifier of the first terminal device, the second modification request carries a PDU session identifier of the second terminal device, and the first modification request is used to instruct adding the PDU session identifier of the first terminal device to the redundant transmission context, and the second modification request is used to instruct adding the PDU session identifier of the second terminal device to the redundant transmission context.

Based on the scheme, the binding of the redundant transmission and the terminal equipment is realized by adding the PDU session identifier of the terminal equipment into the redundant transmission context.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the redundant transmission configuration information includes: the redundancy indication information is used for indicating to start redundancy transmission, redundancy type and redundancy identification.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the redundancy type and the redundancy identifier are set by a user.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes:

the SMF sends a first deleting message and a second deleting message to the UPF, wherein the first deleting message is used for indicating to delete the PUD session context, and the second deleting message is used for indicating to delete the user subscription identifier in the redundant transmission context and/or deleting the redundant transmission context.

Based on the scheme, after the redundant transmission is finished, the PDU session context is deleted by deleting the information, or the user subscription identifier of one terminal device in the redundant transmission context is deleted, or the redundant transmission context is deleted, so that the system resource can be saved.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, where the method is applied to an SMF, or may be performed by a chip or a circuit configured in the SMF, which is not limited in this application. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a session management function network element (SMF) receives a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device; the SMF acquires first redundant transmission configuration information of the first terminal equipment from a Unified Data Management (UDM) according to the first PDU session request, and acquires second redundant transmission configuration information of the second terminal equipment from the UDM according to the second PDU session request; the SMF sends a request for creating a first PDU session context and a request for creating a second PDU session context to a user plane function entity UPF, wherein the request for creating the first PDU session context carries the first redundant transmission configuration information, and the request for creating the second PDU session context carries the second redundant transmission configuration information; the SMF receives a first response message and a second response message from the UPF, wherein the first response message carries the PDU session identifier of the first terminal equipment, and the second response message carries the PDU session identifier of the second terminal equipment.

Based on the scheme, the SMF acquires the redundant transmission configuration information of the terminal equipment from the UDM, and sends the redundant transmission configuration information to the UPF by creating a PDU session flow, so that resources are saved, and decoupling of the redundant transmission terminal equipment and user subscription information is realized.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, before the SMF sends a create first PDU session context request and a create second PDU session context request to a user plane function, UPF, the method further comprises: the SMF sends a first request message to the UPF, wherein the first request message is used for requesting to create redundant transmission context for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment; the SMF receives a response message from the UPF to the first request, the response message of the first request including a redundant transmission context identification, wherein the create first PDU session context request and the create second PDU session context request further carry the redundant transmission context identification.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the SMF sends, to the UPF, a first modification request of the first terminal device and a second modification request of the second terminal device, where the first modification request message carries a PDU session identifier of the first terminal device, the second modification request carries a PDU session identifier of the second terminal device, and the first modification request is used to instruct adding the PDU session identifier of the first terminal device to the redundant transmission context, and the second modification request is used to instruct adding the PDU session identifier of the second terminal device to the redundant transmission context.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first redundant transmission configuration information includes: redundancy type, redundancy identification and subscription redundancy indication information of the first terminal, wherein the second redundancy transmission configuration information comprises: and the redundancy type, the redundancy identifier and subscription redundancy indication information of the second terminal.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the redundancy type and the redundancy identification are set by an application function network element AF.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the SMF sends a first deleting message and a second deleting message to the UPF, wherein the first deleting message is used for indicating to delete the PUD session context, and the second deleting message is used for indicating to delete the user subscription identifier in the redundant transmission context and/or deleting the redundant transmission context.

In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, where the method is applied to an AMF, or may be performed by a chip or a circuit configured in the AMF, which is not limited in this application. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that an access and mobility management function (AMF) receives a first PDU (protocol data unit) session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, wherein the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request carry the same redundant transmission configuration information; the AMF determines the same session management function network element SMF for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment according to the redundant transmission configuration information; the AMF sends the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request to the SMF.

Based on the scheme, the AMF selects the same SMF for different terminal devices through the redundant transmission configuration information sent by the terminal devices to realize redundant transmission, so that the performance of the system is improved.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the redundant transmission configuration information includes: redundancy indication information, a redundancy type and a redundancy identifier, where the redundancy indication information is used to indicate to start redundancy transmission, and the AMF determines the same SMF for the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the redundancy transmission configuration information, and includes: and the AMF determines the same SMF for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment according to the redundant identification.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, where the method is applied to an AMF, or may be performed by a chip or a circuit configured in the AMF, which is not limited in this application. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that an access and mobility management function (AMF) receives a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device; the AMF acquires first redundant transmission configuration information of the first terminal equipment from a Unified Data Management (UDM) according to the first PDU session request, and acquires second redundant transmission configuration information of the second terminal equipment from the UDM according to the second PDU session request; the AMF determines the same session management function network element SMF for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment according to the first redundant transmission configuration information and the second redundant transmission configuration information; the AMF sends the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request to the SMF.

Based on the scheme, the AMF obtains the redundant transmission configuration information of the terminal equipment from the UDM to select the same SMF for different terminal equipment to realize redundant transmission, so that the performance of the system is improved.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first redundant transmission configuration information includes: the redundancy type, the redundancy identifier, the subscription redundancy indication information of the first terminal, and the second redundancy transmission configuration information include: the redundancy type, the redundancy identifier, and subscription redundancy indication information of the second terminal, where the determining, by the AMF, the same SMF for the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the first redundancy transmission configuration information and the second redundancy transmission configuration information includes: and the AMF determines the same SMF for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment according to the redundant identification.

In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided, where the method is applied to an AF, or may be performed by a chip or a circuit configured in the AF, which is not limited in this application. The method comprises the following steps: the application function entity AF acquires first configuration information; the AF sends a redundant configuration request message to a network open function entity (NEF) based on the first configuration information, wherein the redundant configuration request message comprises first indication information or second indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating the NEF to add the first redundant configuration information, and the second indication information is used for indicating the NEF to delete the second redundant configuration information.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the sending, by the AF, a redundant configuration request message to a network open function entity NEF based on the first configuration information includes: the AF determines that a first terminal device and a subscriber of the first terminal device are bound for the first time, and a second terminal device and the subscriber of the second terminal device are bound for the first time; the AF sends a redundant configuration request message to the NEF, wherein the redundant configuration request message comprises first indication information, and the first redundant configuration information comprises: the user subscription identifier of the first terminal device, the user subscription identifier of the second terminal device, redundancy indication information, redundancy type and redundancy identifier, wherein the redundancy indication information is used for indicating starting of redundancy transmission.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the sending, by the AF, a redundant configuration request message to a network open function entity NEF based on the first configuration information includes: the AF determines that the first terminal device and the subscriber of the first terminal device are not bound for the first time, and that the second terminal device and the subscriber of the second terminal device are not bound for the first time; the AF sends a redundant configuration request message to the NEF, wherein the redundant configuration request message comprises second indication information, and the second redundant configuration information comprises: the user subscription identifier of the first terminal device, the user subscription identifier of the second terminal device, and the redundant identifier.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the fifth aspect, the first configuration information includes a redundancy type, a device identifier of the first terminal device, a subscriber identifier of the first terminal device, a device identifier of the second terminal device, and a subscriber identifier of the second terminal device.

In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided, where the method is applied to a NEF, or may be performed by a chip or circuit configured in the NEF, which is not limited in this application. The method comprises the following steps: the network opening function entity NEF receives a redundancy configuration request message from an application function entity AF, wherein the redundancy configuration request message comprises first indication information or second indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating to add first redundancy configuration information of at least two terminal devices, and the second indication information is used for indicating to delete second redundancy configuration information; and the NEF sends a subscription data modification request to the Unified Data Management (UDM) according to the redundancy configuration request message.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, when the first terminal device and the subscriber of the first terminal device are first bound, and the second terminal device and the subscriber of the second terminal device are first bound, the redundancy configuration request message includes first indication information, and the NEF sends a request for modifying subscription data to the unified data management UDM according to the redundancy configuration request message, including: and the NEF sends a subscription data modification request to the UDM according to the first indication information, wherein the subscription data modification request is used for indicating the UDM to add first redundant configuration information.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first redundant configuration information includes: the user subscription identifier of the first terminal device, the user subscription identifier of the second terminal device, redundancy indication information, redundancy type and redundancy identifier, wherein the redundancy indication information is used for indicating starting of redundancy transmission.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the sixth aspect, when a first terminal device and a subscriber of the first terminal device are not first bound, and a second terminal device and a subscriber of the second terminal device are not first bound, the redundancy configuration request message includes second indication information, and the NEF sends a request for modifying subscription data to a unified data management UDM according to the redundancy configuration request message, including: and the NEF sends a subscription data modification request to the UDM according to the second indication information, wherein the subscription data modification request is used for indicating the UDM to delete the second redundant configuration information.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the second redundant configuration information includes: the user subscription identifier of the first terminal device, the user subscription identifier of the second terminal device, and the redundant identifier.

In a seventh aspect, a communication method is provided, where the method is applied to a UPF, or may be performed by a chip or a circuit configured in the UPF, and the application is not limited thereto. The method comprises the following steps: the user plane function entity UPF receives a first PDU conversation context request and a second PDU conversation context request from a conversation management function network element SMF, wherein the first PDU conversation context request and the second PDU conversation context request carry redundant transmission configuration information; the UPF creates a redundant transmission context according to the redundant transmission configuration information; the UPF sends a first response message and a second response message to the SMF, wherein the first response message carries the PDU session identifier of the first terminal equipment, and the second response message carries the PDU session identifier of the second terminal equipment.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the method further includes: the UPF creates a first PDU session context for a first terminal device according to the first PDU session context request and creates a second PDU session context for a second terminal device according to the second PDU session context request.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the method further includes: the UPF adds the PDU session identification of the first terminal device to the redundant transmission context, and the UPF adds the PDU session identification of the second terminal device to the redundant transmission context.

In an eighth aspect, a communication method is provided, where the method is applied to a UPF, or may be performed by a chip or a circuit configured in the UPF, which is not limited in this application. The method comprises the following steps: the user plane function entity UPF receives a first request message from a session management function network element SMF, wherein the first request message is used for requesting to create a redundant transmission context for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment; the UPF creates a redundant transmission context according to the redundant transmission configuration information; the UPF sends a response message to the SMF for a first request, the response message for the first request including a redundant transmission context identification.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the method further includes: the UPF receives a first PDU session context request and a second PDU session context request from a session management function network element SMF; the UPF sends a first response message and a second response message to the SMF, wherein the first response message carries the PDU session identifier of the first terminal equipment, and the second response message carries the PDU session identifier of the second terminal equipment.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the method further includes: the UPF creates a first PDU session context for a first terminal device according to the first PDU session context request and creates a second PDU session context for a second terminal device according to the second PDU session context request.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the method further includes: the UPF receives a first modification request from the SMF and a second modification request from the second terminal equipment, wherein the first modification request message carries a PDU session identifier of the first terminal equipment, and the second modification request carries a PDU session identifier of the second terminal equipment; the UPF adds the PDU session identifier of the first terminal device to the redundant transmission context according to the first modification request, and adds the PDU session identifier of the second terminal device to the redundant transmission context according to the second modification request.

A ninth aspect provides a communication device comprising functional modules for implementing the method of any possible implementation of the first or second aspect.

In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided comprising functional modules for implementing the method in any possible implementation of the foregoing third or fourth aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising functional modules for implementing the method in any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising functional modules for implementing the method in any possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect.

In a thirteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising functional modules for implementing the method in any possible implementation manner of the seventh or eighth aspect.

In a fourteenth aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving signals from or transmitting signals from other communication devices than the communication device to the processor, the processor being operable to implement the method of any possible implementation of the first or second aspect by logic circuitry or executing code instructions.

In a fifteenth aspect, there is provided a communications device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving signals from or transmitting signals to the processor from other communications devices than the communications device, the processor being operable to implement the method of any of the possible implementations of the third or fourth aspects by logic circuitry or executing code instructions.

In a sixteenth aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving signals from or transmitting signals from other communication devices than the communication device to the processor, the processor being operable to implement the method of any of the possible implementations of the fifth aspect by logic circuitry or executing code instructions.

In a seventeenth aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving signals from or transmitting signals from other communication devices than the communication device to the processor, the processor being operable to implement the method of any of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect by logic circuitry or executing code instructions.

In an eighteenth aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving signals from or transmitting signals to the processor from or to other communication devices than the communication device, the processor being operable to implement the method of any of the possible implementations of the seventh or eighth aspects by logic circuitry or executing code instructions.

In a nineteenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any possible implementation of the first or second aspect described above.

In a twentieth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, having stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed, implement the method in any of the possible implementations of the foregoing third or fourth aspect.

In a twenty-first aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program or instructions is stored which, when executed, implement the method of any of the possible implementations of the fifth aspect.

In a twenty-second aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program or instructions is stored which, when executed, implement the method in any of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect.

In a twenty-third aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program or instructions is stored which, when executed, implement the method of any possible implementation of the seventh or eighth aspect described above.

In a twenty-fourth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any possible implementation of the foregoing first or second aspect.

In a twenty-fifth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any possible implementation of the foregoing third or fourth aspect.

In a twenty-sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided comprising instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any of the possible implementations of the fifth aspect.

In a twenty-seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided comprising instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any of the possible implementations of the aforementioned sixth aspect.

In a twenty-eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any of the possible implementations of the seventh or eighth aspect described above.

In a twenty-ninth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising code or instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any possible implementation of the first or second aspect described above.

In a thirty-first aspect, a computer program is provided comprising code or instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any possible implementation of the preceding third or fourth aspect.

In a thirty-first aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising code or instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any possible implementation of the fifth aspect described above.

In a thirty-second aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising code or instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect described above.

A thirty-third aspect provides a computer program comprising code or instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any possible implementation of the seventh or eighth aspect described above.

In a thirty-fourth aspect, a chip system is provided, the chip system comprising a processor and possibly a memory, for implementing the method of any possible implementation of the first or second aspect. The chip system may be formed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

In a thirty-fifth aspect, a chip system is provided, the chip system comprising a processor and possibly further comprising a memory for implementing the method of any possible implementation of the foregoing third or fourth aspect. The chip system may be formed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

In a thirty-sixth aspect, a chip system is provided, the chip system comprising a processor and possibly further comprising a memory for implementing the method in any possible implementation of the foregoing fifth aspect. The chip system may be formed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

In a thirty-seventh aspect, a chip system is provided, the chip system comprising a processor and possibly further comprising a memory for implementing the method of any possible implementation of the foregoing sixth aspect. The chip system may be formed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

A thirty-eighth aspect provides a chip system comprising a processor, and possibly a memory, for implementing the method of any of the possible implementations of the first to eighth aspects. The chip system may be formed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

A thirty-ninth aspect provides a communication system comprising the apparatus of any of the ninth to eighteenth aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 suitable for use in embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic architecture of a basic 5G system 200.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic architecture diagram based on a servitization interface.

Fig. 4 shows a flow chart of a communication method 400 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 shows a flow chart of a communication method 500 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 shows a flow chart of a communication method 600 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 shows a flow chart of a communication method 700 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 shows a flow chart of a communication method 800 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 shows a flowchart of a communication method 900 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device 1100 provided by an 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 accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 suitable for use in embodiments of the present application.

As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 100 may include at least one Core Network (CN) network element 1200 including one or more access network devices, such as an access network device 1101, an access network device 1102, and at least one terminal device 1301 and/or terminal device 1302. The wireless network includes a RAN and a CN, the RAN or the AN for accessing the terminal device to the wireless network, and the CN is used for managing the terminal device and providing a gateway for communicating with the DN.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic architecture of a basic 5G system 200. As shown in fig. 2, the system 200 includes: PCF, AMF, session management function (session management function, SMF), radio access network (radio access network, RAN), unified data management (unified data management, UDM), data Network (DN), user plane function (user plane function, UPF), UE, application function (application function, AF), and/or unified data store (unified data repository, UDR). Optionally, the following functions (not shown in fig. 2) may also be included in fig. 2: a network slice selection function (network slice selection function, NSSF), an authentication server function (authentication server function, AUSF), a capability open function (network exposure function, NEF), or a network storage function (NF repository function, NRF).

Wherein, the main functions of each network element are described as follows:

1. terminal equipment

The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be: a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment, etc.

The terminal device may be a device providing voice/data connectivity to a user, e.g., a handheld device with wireless connectivity, an in-vehicle device, etc. Currently, some examples of terminals are: mobile phone (mobile phone), tablet, notebook, palm, mobile internet device (mobile internet device, MID), wearable device, virtual Reality (VR) device, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) device, wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), wireless terminal in unmanned (self-driving or autopilot), wireless terminal in teleoperation (remote medical surgery), wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), cellular phone, cordless phone, session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phone, wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), handheld device with wireless communication function, public or other processing device connected to wireless modem, vehicle-mounted device, wearable device, terminal device in future 5G network or evolving land communication terminal (public land mobile network), and the like, without being limited to this embodiment.

By way of example, and not limitation, in embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. The wearable device can also be called as a wearable intelligent device, and is a generic name for intelligently designing daily wear by applying wearable technology and developing wearable devices, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothes, shoes and the like. The wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the clothing or accessories of the user. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also can realize a powerful function through software support, data interaction and cloud interaction. The generalized wearable intelligent device includes full functionality, large size, and may not rely on the smart phone to implement complete or partial functionality, such as: smart watches or smart glasses, etc., and focus on only certain types of application functions, and need to be used in combination with other devices, such as smart phones, for example, various smart bracelets, smart jewelry, etc. for physical sign monitoring. Furthermore, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a terminal device in an internet of things (internet of things, ioT) system.

2. Radio access network

The radio access network is an access network implementing an access network function based on a wireless communication technology. The wireless access network can manage wireless resources, provide wireless access or air interface access service for the terminal, and further complete the forwarding of control signals and user data between the terminal and the core network.

As an example and not by way of limitation, the radio access network may be an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, may also be a radio controller in a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario, or the access device may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle device, a wearable device, and an access device in a 5G network, or an access device in a future evolved PLMN network, etc., may be an Access Point (AP) in a WLAN, may be a gNB in an NR system, and embodiments of the present application are not limited.

3. Access and mobility management function network element

The access and mobility management function network element is mainly used for mobility management, access management and the like, and can be used for realizing other functions besides session management in the functions of a mobility management entity (mobility management entity, MME), such as legal interception, access authorization (or authentication) and the like, and is also used for transferring user policies between the UE and the PCF. In the embodiment of the application, the method and the device can be used for realizing the functions of the access and mobile management network elements.

4. Session management function network element

The session management function network element is mainly used for session management, network interconnection protocol (internet protocol, IP) address allocation and management of terminal equipment, selecting a manageable user plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element, a termination point of a policy control and charging function interface, downlink data notification, and the like. In the embodiment of the application, the method and the device can be used for realizing the function of the session management network element.

5. User plane functional network element

The user plane function network element can be used for packet routing and forwarding, qoS parameter processing of user plane data, and the like. User data may be accessed to a Data Network (DN) through the network element. In the embodiment of the present application, the function of the user plane network element may be implemented, for example, when a session is established on a different UPF, the service experience of the UE may also be different, so the SMF is required to select a suitable UPF for the session of the UE.

6. Policy control network element

The policy control network element is used for guiding a unified policy framework of network behavior, and provides policy rule information for control plane function network elements (such as AMF, SMF network elements, etc.). The method is mainly responsible for policy control functions such as charging, qoS bandwidth guarantee, mobility management, UE policy decision and the like aiming at session and service flow levels. In this embodiment of the present application, PCFs to which the AMF and the SMF are connected correspond to an AM PCF (PCF for Access and Mobility Control) and an SM PCF (PCF for Session Management), respectively, and in an actual deployment scenario, the PCF entities may be the same PCF entity or two different PCF entities.

7. Network element with network capability opening function

The network capability opening function network element is used to open services and network capability information (such as a terminal location, whether a session is reachable) provided by the 3GPP network function to the outside, etc.

8. Application function network element

The application function network element is mainly used for transmitting the requirement of the application side on the network side, such as QoS requirement or user state event subscription. The AF may be a third party functional entity or may be an application service deployed by an operator, such as an IMS voice call service. For the application function entity of the third party application, when interacting with the core network, authorization processing may be performed through the NEF, for example, the third party application function directly sends a request message to the NEF, the NEF determines whether the AF is allowed to send the request message, and if the validation is passed, the request message is forwarded to the corresponding PCF or unified data management (unified data management, UDM).

9. Unified data management network element

The unified data management network element is mainly used for unified data management, and supports authentication trust status processing, user identity processing, access authorization, registration and mobility management, subscription management, short message management and the like in a 3GPP authentication and key negotiation mechanism.

10. Unified data storage network element

The unified data storage network element is mainly used for the access function of subscription data, policy data, application data and other types of data.

11. Data network

The data network refers to a specific data service network accessed by the UE, for example, a typical DN includes internet, IP multimedia subsystem (IP multimedia subsystem, IPMS).

In the above architecture, the respective interface functions are described as follows:

n7: and the interface between PCF and SMF is used for issuing PDU session granularity and service data flow granularity control strategy.

N15: and the interface between the PCF and the AMF is used for issuing UE strategies and access control related strategies.

N5: and the interface between the AF and the PCF is used for issuing application service requests and reporting network events.

N4: the interface between SMF and UPF is used for transferring information between control plane and user plane, including control plane-oriented forwarding rule, qoS control rule, flow statistics rule, etc. issuing and user plane information reporting.

N11: an interface between the SMF and the AMF for conveying PDU session tunnel information between the RAN and the UPF, conveying control messages sent to the UE, conveying radio resource control information sent to the RAN, etc.

N2: and an interface between the AMF and the RAN, which is used for transmitting radio bearer control information and the like from the core network side to the RAN.

N1: the interface between the AMF and the UE, access independent, is used to deliver QoS control rules etc. to the UE.

N8: the interface between the AMF and the UDM is used for the AMF to acquire subscription data and authentication data related to access and mobility management from the UDM, and the AMF registers the current mobility management related information of the UE from the UDM.

N10: and the interface between the SMF and the UDM is used for the SMF to acquire session management related subscription data from the UDM, registering the current session related information of the UE from the UDM, and the like.

N35: and the interface between the UDM and the UDR is used for the UDM to acquire the user subscription data information from the UDR.

N36: and the interface between the PCF and the UDR is used for the PCF to acquire the policy related subscription data and the application data related information from the UDR.

N52: an interface between the UDM and the NEF for the NEF to open network capabilities to third party application functions, such as third party application functions subscribing to reachability events for all users in a particular group through the NEF to the UDM.

In addition, the NEF has direct interfaces with the AMF and the SMF, respectively corresponding to an N29 interface and an N51 interface (for simplifying the illustration, not shown in the above figure), for opening the network capability of the operator to the third party Application functional entity, where the former can be used for the NEF to subscribe to the AMF directly for corresponding network events and update the user configuration information, and the latter can be used for updating the Application configuration data on the SMF/UPF, such as packet flow description information (packet flow description, PFD) corresponding to the Application ID.

It should be understood that the network architecture applied to the embodiments of the present application is merely an exemplary network architecture described from the perspective of a conventional point-to-point architecture and a service architecture, and the network architecture to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable is not limited thereto, and any network architecture capable of implementing the functions of the respective network elements described above is applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

It should be understood that the names of interfaces between the network elements in fig. 2 are only an example, and the names of interfaces in the specific implementation may be other names, which are not specifically limited in this application. Furthermore, the names of the transmitted messages (or signaling) between the various network elements described above are also merely an example, and do not constitute any limitation on the function of the message itself.

The network element may also be referred to as an entity, a device, an apparatus, a module, or the like, and the present application is not particularly limited. Also, in this application, for ease of understanding and explanation, a description of network elements is omitted in some descriptions, for example, SMF network elements are abbreviated as SMF, in which case, the "SMF" is understood as an SMF network element, and hereinafter, description of the same or similar cases is omitted.

It will be appreciated that the network elements or functions described above may be either network elements in a hardware device, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). Alternatively, the network element or the function may be implemented by one device, or may be implemented by a plurality of devices together, or may be a functional module in one device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should also be understood that in the communication system shown in fig. 2, the functions of the respective constituent network elements are merely exemplary, and that not all the functions are necessary when the respective constituent network elements are applied in the embodiments of the present application.

In addition, the naming of each network element (such as PCF, AMF, etc.) as included in fig. 2 is only one name, and the name does not limit the function of the network element itself. In 5G networks and other networks in the future, the above-mentioned network elements may also be named, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, in a 6G network, some or all of the above network elements may use the terminology in 5G, and other names may also be used, which is generally described herein and not described in detail herein.

It should be further noted that, in fig. 2, communication between network elements of the control plane function is described by taking a non-service interface as an example, but the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application is not limited. Those skilled in the art will understand that each network element of the control plane function in fig. 2 may also communicate through a service interface, for example, the service interface provided by the AMF to the outside may be Namf; the servitization interface provided by the SMF may be Nsmf; the service interface provided by the UDM to the outside can be Nudm, and the service interface provided by the AF can be Naf; the server interface provided by the PCF may be Npcf, etc.

The network elements in fig. 2 are reference point-based architectures, and are not limited to the embodiments of the present application. Fig. 3 presents a schematic architecture diagram based on a servitization interface. As shown in fig. 3, the architecture includes: NSSF, AUSF, UDM, NEF, NRF, PCF, AF, AMF, SMF, UE, RAN, UPF, DN. In fig. 3, the service interface provided by NSSF to the outside may be Nnssf, the service interface provided by NEF to the outside may be Nnef, the service interface provided by NRF to the outside may be Nnrf, and the service interface provided by AMF to the outside may be Namf; the servitization interface provided by the SMF may be Nsmf; the service interface provided by the UDM to the outside can be Nudm, and the service interface provided by the AF can be Naf; the service interface provided by PCF to the outside can be Npcf, the service interface provided by AUSF to the outside can be Nausf, and the service interface provided by CHF to the outside can be Nchf; the interface between the control plane functions and the RAN and UPF is a non-service interface. The UE is connected with the AMF through an N1 interface, and is connected with the RAN through a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) protocol; the RAN is connected with the AMF through an N2 interface, and the RAN is connected with the UPF through an N3 interface; the UPF is connected with DN through N6 interface, and at the same time, UPF is connected with SMF through N4 interface. The related description may refer to the 5G system architecture (5G system architecture) in the standard, and the connection relationship of the architecture 300 is not described herein for brevity.

To facilitate an understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a procedure for establishing a PDU session connection and PDU session management for a UE is first briefly described using a 5G network as an example.

In the 5G network, the 5G network provides a data exchange service for the UE and DN network, which is called a PDU connection service. The UE obtains a PDU connection service by initiating a PDU session establishment request to the mobile network. The network side provides a PDU connection service by maintaining a PDU session for the UE.

To achieve data exchange between the UE and the DN network, the UE needs to establish a DNN-based PDU session (signaling plane flow) using a PDU connection service provided by the mobile network. The establishment of a PDU session involves two basic procedures: the UE registers a network access flow to the mobile network, and requests to establish a PDU session flow to the network, which belong to a signaling plane interaction flow between the UE and the mobile network.

The general UE registration procedure can be described simply as: the UE sends a registration request to the AMF through the (R) AN, and the AMF acquires subscription data from the specific UDM according to the user identification. The network side finally confirms that the UE is allowed to access the network through a series of authentication and authorization operations, at the moment, the AMF responds to the UE registration request and issues relevant strategy information to the UE, and the UE completes network registration residence. The network side AMF maintains the registration network access information of the UE and carries out mobility management on the UE.

After the UE completes registration and network access, a PDU session establishment request can be initiated to acquire the PDU connection service of the network. The general PDU session establishment procedure can be described simply as: the UE sends PDU session establishment request to AMF through RAN, AMF selects SMF to provide session service for UE, saves the corresponding relation between SMF and PDU session, and sends session establishment request to SMF, SMF selects corresponding UPF to establish user plane transmission path for UE, and distributes IP address for it.

In the PDU Session management process of the UE, the SMF interacts with the UPF through an N4 interface to control the UPF to create, modify and delete the corresponding UE N4 Session (N4 Session/PFCP Session) so as to realize the control of UPF processing data messages. The SMF issues various data packet processing rules to the UE N4 session in the UPF to complete the control of UPF processing data packets. After the UPF receives the external data message, the message is matched according to the data message matching rule issued by the SMF, and the message is forwarded according to the forwarding rule.

In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following description is made.

First, in the embodiments of the present application, "for indicating" may include for direct indication and for indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by a certain information (configuration information described below) is called to-be-indicated information, and in a specific implementation process, there are various ways to indicate to-be-indicated information, for example, but not limited to, the to-be-indicated information may be directly indicated, such as the to-be-indicated information itself or an index of the to-be-indicated information, etc. The information to be indicated can also be indicated indirectly by indicating other information, wherein the other information and the information to be indicated have an association relation. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while other parts of the information to be indicated are known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of the specific information may also be achieved by means of a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol-specified) arrangement sequence of the respective information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to some extent.

Second, the first, second, third, fourth, and various numerical numbers in the embodiments shown below are merely for convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, to distinguish between different messages, etc.

Third, references to "save" in embodiments of the present application may refer to saving in one or more memories. The one or more memories may be provided separately or may be integrated in an encoder or decoder, processor, or communication device. The one or more memories may also be provided separately in part, and integrated in the decoder, processor, or communication device. The type of memory may be any form of storage medium, and this application is not limited in this regard.

Fourth, the "protocol" referred to in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, and may include, for example, an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and related protocols applied in a future communication system, which is not limited in this application.

Fifth, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or", describes an association relationship of an association object, and indicates that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may indicate: a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b, and c may represent: a, b, or c, or a and b, or a and c, or b and c, or a, b and c, wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple.

Sixth, in the following embodiments of the present application, the UE is described as the terminal device, but the terminal device of the present application is not limited thereto.

Seventh, in order to facilitate understanding of the communication method provided by the present application, hereinafter, two terminal devices are taken as examples to describe in detail the method provided by the embodiment of the present application without losing generality.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic flow chart of an example of a method of communication provided herein. The following steps are combined to apply the access service method 400 to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 to 3.

S401, terminal central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU)/user transmits redundancy configuration to UE1 and UE 2.

Specifically, after the UE1 and the UE2 insert the sim cards of the subscribers, respectively, the terminal CPU/user sends the redundant configuration to the UE1 and the UE 2. The redundant configuration may include: redundancy indication, redundancy type, redundancy identification.

Or, alternatively, the terminal CPU/user may send the redundant configuration to UE1 and UE2 before UE1, UE2 respectively insert the subscriber sim card.

The redundancy indication is used to indicate that the redundant transmission of the UE1 and the UE2 is turned on, or the redundancy indication may be understood as a device that indicates that the subsequent network device needs to set the UE1 and the UE2 to the redundant transmission. The redundancy type may be a type used by redundancy transceiving, for example, may include a protocol type and related parameters adopted by redundancy transmission such as multiple transmission, primary transmission, standby transmission, or multi-link load balancing transmission. The redundant identifier is unique identifier information of the UE of the redundant node pair at the network device side, and it should be understood that multiple UEs forming the node pair have the same redundant identifier.

The terminal CPU may refer to an execution module in the wireless terminal that performs automatic configuration on a wireless communication module, for example, a wireless communication chip.

The user may be an external system that operates the configuration wireless communication terminal, for example, a person who operates the terminal device, or the like.

S402, UE1 and UE2 complete registration to the network.

Specifically, the terminal CPU/user triggers the UE1 and UE2 to register to the network by powering up the device or by dialing to access the network by command, etc. UE1 and UE2 then initiate network registration, respectively, and camp on the wireless network, and the process may refer to a 3GPP related access protocol, which is not described herein for simplicity of illustration.

S403, UE1 and UE2 send a first PDU session request and a second PDU session request to the AMF, respectively.

Specifically, UE1 and UE2 respectively initiate PDU session requests to the AMF, where the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request carry the same redundant transmission configuration information. Specifically, the first PDU session request may carry a subscriber subscription identifier, a redundancy indication, a redundancy type, and a redundancy identifier of the UE1, and the second PDU session request may carry a subscriber subscription identifier, a redundancy indication, a redundancy type, and a redundancy identifier of the UE 1.

S404, the AMF determines the same SMF for UE1 and UE 2.

Specifically, after the AMF receives the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request sent by the UE1 and the UE2, the AMF selects the same SMF for the UE1 subscriber and the UE2 subscriber according to the redundant identifier carried in the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request.

S405, the AMF sends to the SMF a first PDU session request of UE1 and a second PDU session request of UE 2.

Specifically, the AMF sends a first PDU session request and a second PDU session request of UE1 and UE2 to the SMF, where the first PDU session request of UE1 is used to request to create a packet data unit PDU session for UE1, and the second PDU session request of UE2 is used to request to create a packet data unit PDU session for UE2, where the first PDU session request may carry a user subscription identifier, a redundancy indication, a redundancy type, and a redundancy identifier of UE1, and the second PDU session request may carry a user subscription identifier, a redundancy indication, a redundancy type, and a redundancy identifier of UE 2.

S406, the first SMF determines UPFs for UE1 and UE 2.

Specifically, the first SMF determines the same UPF for UE1 and UE2 based on the first PDU session request of UE1 and the second PDU session request of UE 2. The SMF may select the same UPF for UE1 and UE2 according to the redundant identities of UE1 and UE 2. The procedure of selecting the UPF may refer to a 3GPP related session creation procedure, which is not limited in this application.

S407, the SMF sends a create first PDU session context request and a create second PDU session context request to the UPF.

Specifically, after determining the UPF for the UE1 and the UE2, the SMF sends a first PDU session context creation request of the UE1 and a second PDU session context creation request of the UE2 to the UPF, where the first PDU session context creation request and the second PDU session context creation request carry redundant transmission configuration information.

S408, the UPF creates a redundant context.

Specifically, after the UPF receives the request for creating the first PDU session context or the request for creating the second PDU session context, the UPF creates a redundant context for the first UE, and obtains a redundant context identifier of the redundant context.

It should be noted that, when the first UE receives the request for creating the PDU session context for the first UE, it should be understood that, when the UPF receives the request for creating the PDU session context for each UE, the UPF only needs to create a redundant context for the UE corresponding to the first received request for creating the PDU session context, and obtain the redundant context identifier, because the uplink time of each specific UE is different, or the request for creating the PDU session context sent by the SMF is received by the UPF at different times. If the UPF receives the request for creating the first PDU session context first, UE1 is the first UE, or if the UPF receives the request for creating the second PDU session context first, UE2 is the first UE.

The redundancy context is used for processing a UE1 or UE2 redundancy message, such as a multiple receiving and selecting scene, and is responsible for performing redundancy copying on the downlink message and multiple receiving through the UE1 or UE2 context, performing redundancy de-duplication on the UE1 or UE2 uplink redundancy message, and forwarding.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the redundant context may also be referred to as a redundant transmission context.

S409, the UPF creates PDU session context for UE1 and UE 2.

After the UPF creates the redundant context, the UPF creates PDU session context for UE1 and UE2, obtains the PDU session context identification, and adds the PDU session context identification of UE1 and UE2 to the redundant context.

Specifically, after the UPF completes the creation of the redundant context, the UPF continues to create the PDU session of the first UE, and after the PDU session of the first UE is created successfully, the UPF acquires the PDU session context identifier and adds the PDU session context identifier of the first UE to the redundant context. Then, after the UPF receives the request of creating the PDU session from the second UE, the UPF determines that the UE1 in the second UE pair has created the PDU session according to the information carried by the request of creating the PDU session, and the corresponding redundant context also exists, at this time, the UPF directly creates the PDU session context of the UE2, acquires the second PDU session context identifier, and associates the PDU session context identifier corresponding to the UE2 with the redundant context.

Wherein, it may be that the UPF creates an N4 session context for the UE1 and the UE2, and acquires the N4 session context identifier.

S410, the UPF sends a first response message and a second response message to the SMF.

Specifically, after the first UPF creates a PDU session context for UE1 and UE2, the UPF sends a first response message and a second response message to the SMF, where the first response message carries a PDU session identifier of UE1 and the second response message carries a PDU session identifier of UE 2.

In one implementation, the method 400 of communication provided herein may further include the additional steps of:

s411, the SMF sends create session response messages to UE1 and UE2, respectively.

Specifically, after the PDU session creation of UE1 and UE2 is successful, the SMF sends a create session response message to UE1 and UE2, respectively.

Optionally, the method 400 may further include a secondary authentication process, which may include:

s412, the SMF sends secondary authentication request messages to DN-AAA respectively.

Specifically, after the SMF receives the first request message of UE1 and UE2, the SMF decides whether to send a secondary authentication request message to the DN-AAA according to the local configuration, the UE1 and UE2 user subscription identities, and the redundancy indication. When it is determined to initiate the secondary authentication procedure, the secondary authentication request message carries a user identifier, which may be, for example, a general public subscription identifier (generic public subscription identifier, GPSI), and the user identifier may be used for DN-AAA to identify the user to be authenticated, and the secondary authentication request message may also carry a redundancy indication, a redundancy type, and a redundancy identifier.

Optionally, the SMF may also decide whether to allow the UE1 subscriber and the UE2 subscriber to form a redundant transmission pair according to the local configuration.

S413, DN-AAA authenticates UE1 and UE 2.

Specifically, DN-AAA confirms whether the user identifications corresponding to UE1 and UE2 allow redundant transmission according to the local configuration, whether the user identifications corresponding to UE1 and UE2 allow pairing, and if the pairing is allowed, initiates authentication to UE1/UE 2.

Optionally, if the DN-AAA confirms that UE1 and UE2 do not allow pairing, a secondary authentication failure response is sent directly to the SMF, at which time the UE1, UE2 session establishment fails.

S414, DN-AAA sends an authentication response message to SMF.

Specifically, after the authentication of the DN-AAA to the UE1 and the UE2 is successful, the binding relation between the redundant identifier and the UE1 signing user and the binding relation between the redundant identifier and the UE2 signing user are recorded, a secondary authentication success response message is sent to the SMF, and the fact that the UE1 signing user and the UE2 signing user can mutually combine to enable redundant transmission is confirmed.

Based on the embodiment of the application, in the NAS signaling flow, the binding of redundant transmission and UE equipment is realized, the decoupling with the UE subscription user is realized, the dynamic association of the subscription user pair for the redundant transmission is completed in the PDU session establishment stage of the UE, and the redundancy receiving and transmitting of the equipment are independent of the SIM.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic flow chart of an example of a method of communication provided in the present application. The following steps are combined to apply the access service method 500 to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 to 3.

S501 to S506 may correspond to the related descriptions in the flow chart of fig. 4, and are not repeated herein for brevity.

S507, the SMF sends a first request message to the UPF.

The first request message is for requesting creation of a redundant transmission context for UE1 and UE 2.

S508, the UPF creates a redundant context.

Specifically, after the UPF receives the first request message sent by the SMF, a redundant context is created for UE1 and UE 2.

S509, the UPF sends a response message of the first request cancellation to the SMF.

The response message of the first request message carries a redundant transmission context identification.

S510, the SMF sends a create first PDU session context request and a create second PDU session context request to the UPF.

Specifically, the SMF sends a first PDU session context creation request of UE1 and a second PDU session context creation request of UE2 to the UPF, wherein the first PDU session context creation request and the second PDU session context creation request carry redundant transmission configuration information and a redundant transmission context identifier.

S511, the UPF creates a PDU session context.

Specifically, after the UPF receives the first PDU session context request and creates the second PDU session context request, the UPF creates a PDU session for UE1 and UE2, respectively, and obtains a context identifier of the PDU session, where the PDU session may be an N4 session.

S512, the UPF sends the first response message and the second response message to the SMF.

S513, the SMF sends the first modification request and the second modification request to the UPF.

Specifically, the first modification request message carries a PDU session identifier of UE1, the second modification request carries a PDU session identifier of UE2, the first modification request is used for indicating that the PDU session identifier of UE1 is added to the redundant transmission context, and the second modification request is used for indicating that the PDU session identifier of UE2 is added to the redundant transmission context.

S514, the UPF modifies the redundant context.

Specifically, after the UPF receives the first modification request and the second modification request, the UPF adds the PDU session identifier of the UE1 to the redundant transmission context according to the first modification request, and adds the PDU session identifier of the UE2 to the redundant transmission context according to the second modification request.

In one implementation, the method 500 for communication provided herein may further include other steps of:

S515-S518, the process may be correspondingly described with reference to fig. 4, and will not be described herein.

Based on the embodiment of the application, in the NAS signaling flow, the indication information is used for indicating to add the session identifier of the UE into the redundancy context, so that the redundancy transmission is bound with the UE equipment, the UE equipment is decoupled, the dynamic association of the user contract pair for the redundancy transmission is completed in the PDU session establishment stage of the UE, and the redundancy receiving and transmitting of the equipment are irrelevant to the SIM.

When the communication is completed using the method described above with respect to fig. 4 or fig. 5, the method of communication of the present application further includes a method of resolving the junction to the user. Fig. 6 shows a schematic flow diagram of implementing subscriber node pair resolution based on NAS signaling flow, the method 600 comprising:

s601, UE1 triggers session deletion.

Specifically, when the SIM is removed from the UE1, the UE1 triggers a session deletion procedure, for example, the SIM card of the subscriber under the UE1 is removed from the UE1 and inserted into the UE 3.

S602, the first SMF sends a first delete message to the first UPF.

Specifically, the first SMF sends a first delete message to the first UPF, where the first delete message is used to instruct the first UPF to delete the N4 session context of the UE 1.

S603, the first SMF sends a second delete message to the first UPF.

Specifically, the first SMF sends a second delete message to the first UPF, where the second delete message is used to instruct the first UPF to delete the redundant transmission context or delete the subscriber identity of the redundant transmission context UE 1. The second deletion message may carry a context identifier of the N4 session of the UE 1.

In one implementation, if the N4 session of the UE1 is not the last session in the redundant context, the second delete message is used to instruct the first UPF to delete the subscriber identity of the UE1 in the redundant context.

In another implementation, if the N4 session of the UE1 is the last session in the redundant context, the second delete message is used to instruct the first UPF to delete the redundant context.

In one implementation, the method 600 for communication provided herein may further include other steps of:

s604, the first SMF sends indication information to DN-AAA.

Specifically, corresponding to the secondary authentication procedure, after the UE1 triggers the session deletion procedure, the first SMF sends indication information to the DN-AAA, where the indication information is used to indicate the UE1 to trigger the session deletion.

S605, DN-AAA unbinds the redundant identification and UE 1.

Specifically, when the DN-AAA determines that the UE1 triggers the session deletion, the DN-AAA unbundles the redundant identifier from the binding relationship with the UE 1.

It should be noted that if all UE information in the redundant identifier is deleted, the DN-AAA clears the redundant identifier related record.

S606, the first SMF sends a response message to UE 1.

Specifically, after the first SMF and the first UPF complete deleting the context information of the UE1, a response message is sent to the UE 1. For informing UE1 that the session deletion of UE1 has been completed.

Based on the embodiment of the application, in the NAS signaling flow, the UE session redundancy transmission is dynamically released in the UE PDU session release stage.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic flow chart of an example of a method of communication provided in the present application. The following steps are combined to apply the access service method 700 to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 to 3.

S701, the terminal CPU/user obtains device identities from UE1 and UE2, which may be international mobile equipment identities (international mobile equipment identity, IMEI) for identifying each UE in the network.

S702, the terminal CPU/user sends a device pair request message of the UE1 and the UE2 to the AF.

Specifically, the device pair request message carries the device identities and redundancy types of UE1 and UE 2.

The device identities of UE1 and UE2 are used to identify devices, and are not subscriber identity information of UE1 and UE 2.

S703, the AF pairs UE1 and UE2 devices.

Specifically, the AF stores the redundant node pair binding relation of the UE1 and the UE2 equipment, distributes redundant identifiers for node pair equipment, and simultaneously keeps the UE1 and the UE2 equipment identifiers and the redundant types associated with the redundant identifiers.

S704, the terminal CPU/user obtains the network access signing user identification from the UE1 and the UE2 respectively.

In particular, the network-access subscriber identity may be, for example, a general public subscription identifier (generic public subscription identifier, GPSI).

S705, the terminal CPU/user sends a device binding subscription request to the AF.

Specifically, the request message carries the user identifier associated with the UE1 and the UE2 and the device identifier.

S706, AF saves the binding relationship between UE1 and UE2 device identifications and user identifications

S707, the AF sends redundant configuration request information to the NEF.

Specifically, the redundant configuration request information includes first indication information for instructing the NEF to add the first redundant configuration information or second indication information for instructing the NEF to delete the second redundant configuration information.

In one implementation manner, if the association relationship between the redundant device and the subscriber is the first binding in the information recorded by the AF, the redundant configuration request message sent by the AF to the NEF includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate the NEF to add first redundant configuration information, and the first redundant configuration information includes: UE1 and UE2 user identities, e.g., GPSI, redundancy indication information, redundancy type, and redundancy identity.

In another implementation manner, if the association relationship between the redundant device and the subscriber is a change relationship in the information of the AF record, the AF-to-NEF redundancy configuration request message includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct the NEF to delete the second redundancy configuration information, and the second redundancy configuration information includes: UE1 and UE2 user identities, i.e. the user indicating the deletion configuration, and a redundant identity, for indicating UE1 and UE2 users to break redundant transmissions from the indicated redundant identities.

Alternatively, after the AF sends the redundant configuration request message including the second indication information to the NEF, the AF may also send the redundant configuration request message including the first indication information to the NEF.

S708, the NEF sends a request to modify the subscription data to the UDM.

Specifically, after receiving the AF redundancy configuration request, the NEF sends a subscription data modification request to the UDM.

S709, the UDM modifies the subscription data.

Specifically, after receiving the request for modifying the subscription data, the UDM modifies the subscription data according to the request.

In one implementation, if the NEF sends a request for modifying subscription data to the UDM according to the first indication information, the request for modifying subscription data is used to instruct the UDM to add the first redundant configuration information of the UE1 and the UE 2.

In one implementation, if the NEF sends a request for modifying subscription data to the UDM according to the second indication information, the request for modifying subscription data is used to instruct the UDM to delete the second redundant configuration information of the UE1 and the UE 2.

S710, the UDM sends a subscription data change message to the SMF.

Specifically, for UE1 and UE2 that have created a session, the UDM sends a subscription data change message to the SMF indicating that the subscription data of the UE has changed.

S711, the SMF sends a subscription data change message to the UE.

Specifically, the subscription data change message is used to notify UE1 and UE2 of the session that is affected by the downlink, and re-initiate session establishment.

S712, the NEF sends a response message to the AF.

Specifically, the response message includes the redundant pair configuration result.

S713, the AF subscribes to the NEF for the subscription identity and device identity association change notification.

Specifically, in the scenario of adding redundant node pair configuration, AF subscribes to the NEF for a subscription user identifier and device identifier association change notification.

S714, the NEF transmits a change notification to the AF.

Specifically, when the association relationship between the subscriber and the device identifier changes, the NEF sends a change notification to the AF.

S715, UE1 and UE2 send PDU session establishment request messages to the AMF, respectively.

Specifically, UE1 and UE2 initiate PDU session establishment request messages to the AMF, respectively.

S716, the AMF obtains the subscriber data from the UDM.

Specifically, the acquisition process may refer to the current related art description, and will not be described herein. Wherein the subscriber data may include: UE1 and UE2 sign up for redundancy indication, redundancy identification, redundancy type, etc.

S717, the AMF determines SMF for UE1 and UE 2.

Specifically, the AMF selects the same SMF for the UE1 subscriber and the UE2 subscriber according to the obtained redundant identifier.

S718, the AMF sends to the SMF a first PDU session request of UE1 and a second PDU session request of UE 2.

Specifically, the AMF sends a first PDU session request and a second PDU session request of UE1 and UE2 to the SMF, where the first PDU session request of UE1 is used to request to create a packet data unit PDU session for UE1, and the second PDU session request of UE2 is used to request to create a packet data unit PDU session for UE2, where the first PDU session request may carry a user subscription identifier of UE1, and the second PDU session request may carry a user subscription identifier of UE 2.

S719, the SMF obtains the subscriber data from the UDM.

S720, the SMF determines UPFs for UE1 and UE 2.

Specifically, the SMF selects the same UPF for the UE1 subscriber and the UE2 subscriber according to the obtained redundant identifier.

S721, the SMF sends a create first PDU session context request and a create second PDU session context request to the UPF.

S722, the UPF creates a redundant context.

After the UPF receives the request for creating the first PDU session context or the request for creating the second PDU session context, the UPF creates a redundancy context for the first UE and acquires a redundancy context identifier of the redundancy context.

S723, the UPF creates PDU session context for UE1 and UE 2.

S724, the UPF sends the first response message and the second response message to the SMF.

In one implementation, the method 700 of communication provided herein may further include the additional steps of:

s725, the SMF sends create session response messages to UE1 and UE2, respectively.

Specifically, after the N4 session creation of UE1 and UE2 is successful, the SMF sends a create session response message to UE1 and UE2, respectively.

Based on the embodiment of the application, in the open flow based on network capability, the redundant transmission is bound with UE equipment and decoupled with the UE subscription, and the dynamic association of the subscription pair with each other as the redundant transmission is completed in the PDU session creation stage of the UE, so that the redundant receiving and transmitting of the equipment are irrelevant with the SIM.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic flow chart of an example of a method of communication provided herein. The following steps are combined to apply the access service method 800 to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 to 3.

It should be noted that fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of implementing device redundancy transmission in an open flow based on network capabilities.

For simplicity of explanation, only the steps of fig. 8 will be described in correspondence with the above-described embodiments.

In fig. 8, steps 801 to 820 may refer to steps 701 to 720 in fig. 7, steps 821 to 828 may refer to corresponding steps 507 to 514 in fig. 5, and step 829 may refer to step 725 in fig. 7.

When the communication is completed using the method described above with respect to fig. 7 or 8, the method of communication of the present application further includes a method of resolving the junction to the user. Fig. 9 shows a flow diagram for implementing subscriber node-to-node resolution based on a network capability open flow, and the method 900 includes:

s901, UE1 triggers session deletion.

S902, the SMF sends a first delete message to the UPF.

Specifically, the first deletion information is used to instruct deletion of the N4 session context of the UE 1.

S903, the SMF sends a second delete message to the UPF.

Specifically, the SMF sends a second delete message to the UPF, where the second delete message is used to instruct the UPF to delete the redundant transmission context or delete the subscriber identity of the redundant transmission context UE 1. The second deletion message may carry a context identifier of the N4 session of the UE 1.

In one implementation, if the N4 session of the UE1 is not the last session in the redundant context, the second delete message is used to instruct the UPF to delete the user subscription identifier of the UE1 in the redundant context.

In another implementation, if the N4 session of the UE1 is the last session in the redundant context, the second delete message is used to instruct the UPF to delete the redundant context.

S904, the SMF sends a third delete message to the UDM.

Specifically, the SMF invokes the UDM nudm_uecm_Deregistration interface, and the process of deleting the session association information may refer to a 3GPP related procedure, which is not described in detail in this application.

S905, the UDM sends a first change message to the AF through the NEF.

Specifically, the first change message is used for notifying the AF that the relationship between the user identifier and the device identifier of the UE1 is changed.

Alternatively, the first change message may carry indication information, where the indication information is used to instruct the AF to delete the N4 session of the UE 1.

S906, the AF deletes the association relationship between the UE1 device identifier and the user identifier.

S907, the AF sends first indication information to the NEF.

Specifically, the AF invokes the NEF interface to send first indication information to the NEF, where the first indication information is used to instruct the NEF to delete the redundancy configuration, and the redundancy configuration includes: user identification, redundant identification.

S908, the NEF sends the second indication information to the UDM.

Specifically, the NEF invokes the UDM interface to send second indication information to the UDM, where the second indication information is used to instruct the UDM to delete the subscription data specified by the user identifier, where the redundancy transmission related configuration, for example, delete the redundancy indication, the redundancy type, the redundancy identifier, and the like.

S909, the AF sends a second change message to the NEF.

Specifically, the AF sends a second change message to the NEF, where the second change message is used to instruct the NEF to unsubscribe from the association relationship between the UE1 user identifier and the change device identifier, and the second change message may carry user identifier information.

With respect to the embodiments of fig. 4 to 9, it should be noted that:

(1) The step numbers of the flowcharts described in the embodiments are only an example of the execution flow, and do not limit the execution sequence of the steps, and in the embodiments of the present application, there is no strict execution sequence between the steps without time sequence dependency relationship. Furthermore, not all the steps illustrated in the respective flowcharts are necessarily performed, and partial steps may be added or deleted on the basis of the respective flowcharts according to actual needs.

(2) The embodiments of fig. 4 to 9 described above may be implemented independently or may be combined with each other, for example, the embodiment of fig. 4 and the embodiment of fig. 6 are combined with each other, the embodiment of fig. 8 and the embodiment of fig. 9 are combined with each other, and so on.

(3) The above embodiments use messages and parameters in some 5G communication systems, but in implementations, different messages or message names may be used, which embodiments do not limit.

The method for implementing the communication provided by the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 4 to 9, and the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to fig. 10 and 11.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a possible communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 10, the communication apparatus 1000 includes a processing unit 1010 and a transceiver unit 1020.

The module of the communication device 1000 for implementing the functions or operations of the SMF in the method embodiments shown in the above-mentioned fig. 4 to 9, or the module of the communication device 1000 for implementing the functions or operations of the AMF in the method embodiments shown in the above-mentioned fig. 4 to 9, or the module of the communication device 1000 for implementing the functions or operations of the AF in the method embodiments shown in the above-mentioned fig. 7 to 9, or the module of the communication device 1000 for implementing the functions or operations of the NEF in the method embodiments shown in the above-mentioned fig. 7 to 9, may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof.

When the communication apparatus 1000 is configured to implement the SMF function in the method embodiment shown in fig. 4, the transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, where the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request carry the same redundant transmission configuration information; transmitting a first PDU (protocol data unit) session context creation request and a second PDU session context creation request to a User Plane Function (UPF), wherein the first PDU session context creation request and the second PDU session context creation request carry redundant transmission configuration information; and receiving a first response message and a second response message from the UPF, wherein the first response message carries the PDU session identifier of the first terminal equipment, and the second response message carries the PDU session identifier of the second terminal equipment.

When the communication apparatus 1000 is configured to implement the SMF function in the method embodiment shown in fig. 5, the transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, where the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request carry the same redundant transmission configuration information; transmitting a first PDU (protocol data unit) session context creation request and a second PDU session context creation request to a User Plane Function (UPF), wherein the first PDU session context creation request and the second PDU session context creation request carry redundant transmission configuration information; and receiving a first response message and a second response message from the UPF, wherein the first response message carries the PDU session identifier of the first terminal equipment, and the second response message carries the PDU session identifier of the second terminal equipment.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to implement the SMF function in the method embodiment shown in fig. 6, the transceiver unit 1020 is configured to send a first delete message and a second delete message to the UPF, where the first delete message is used to instruct to delete the N4 context, and the second delete message is used to instruct to delete the subscriber identity in the redundant transmission context and/or delete the redundant transmission context.

When the communication apparatus 1000 is configured to implement the SMF function in the method embodiment shown in fig. 7, the processing unit 1010 is configured to obtain, from the unified data management UDM, first redundant transmission configuration information of the first terminal device according to the first PDU session request, and obtain, from the UDM, second redundant transmission configuration information of the second terminal device according to the second PDU session request. The transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, send a first PDU session context creation request and a second PDU session context creation request to the user plane function entity UPF, where the first PDU session context creation request carries first redundant transmission configuration information, the second PDU session context creation request carries second redundant transmission configuration information, and receive a first response message and a second response message from the UPF, the first response message carries a PDU session identifier of the first terminal device, and the second response message carries a PDU session identifier of the second terminal device.

When the communication apparatus 1000 is configured to implement the SMF function in the method embodiment shown in fig. 8, the processing unit 1010 is configured to obtain, from the unified data management UDM, first redundant transmission configuration information of the first terminal device according to the first PDU session request, and obtain, from the UDM, second redundant transmission configuration information of the second terminal device according to the second PDU session request. The transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, send a first PDU session context creation request and a second PDU session context creation request to the user plane function entity UPF, where the first PDU session context creation request carries first redundant transmission configuration information, the second PDU session context creation request carries second redundant transmission configuration information, and receive a first response message and a second response message from the UPF, the first response message carries a PDU session identifier of the first terminal device, and the second response message carries a PDU session identifier of the second terminal device.

When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the SMF function in the method embodiment shown in fig. 9, the transceiver unit 1020 is configured to send the first delete message and the second delete message to the UPF. The first deleting message is used for indicating to delete the PDU context, and the second deleting message is used for indicating to delete the user subscription identifier in the redundant transmission context and/or deleting the redundant transmission context.

When the communication apparatus 1000 is used to implement the function of the AMF in the method embodiment shown in fig. 4, the processing unit 1010 is configured to determine the same session management function network element SMF for the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the redundant transmission configuration information. The transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, where the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request carry the same redundant transmission configuration information, and send the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request to the SMF.

When the communication apparatus 1000 is used to implement the function of the AMF in the method embodiment shown in fig. 5, the processing unit 1010 is configured to determine the same session management function network element SMF for the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the redundant transmission configuration information. The transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, where the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request carry the same redundant transmission configuration information, and send the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request to the SMF.

When the communication apparatus 1000 is used to implement the function of the AMF in the method embodiment shown in fig. 7, the processing unit 1010 is configured to determine the same session management function network element SMF for the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the redundant transmission configuration information. The transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, and send the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request to the SMF.

When the communication apparatus 1000 is used to implement the function of the AMF in the method embodiment shown in fig. 8, the processing unit 1010 is configured to determine the same session management function network element SMF for the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the redundant transmission configuration information. The transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, and send the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request to the SMF.

When the communication apparatus 1000 is used to implement the function of AF in the method embodiment shown in fig. 7, the processing unit 1010 is configured to acquire first configuration information; the transceiver unit 1020 transmits a redundancy configuration request message to the NEF based on the first configuration information, where the redundancy configuration request message includes first indication information or second indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the NEF to add the first redundancy configuration information, and the second indication information is used to instruct the NEF to delete the second redundancy configuration information.

When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the AF function in the method embodiment shown in fig. 8, the processing unit 1010 is configured to acquire first configuration information; the transceiver unit 1020 transmits a redundancy configuration request message to the NEF based on the first configuration information, where the redundancy configuration request message includes first indication information or second indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the NEF to add the first redundancy configuration information, and the second indication information is used to instruct the NEF to delete the second redundancy configuration information.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to implement the function of the NEF in the method embodiment shown in fig. 9, the processing unit 1010 is configured to send a request for modifying subscription data to the UDM according to the redundancy configuration request message; the transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a redundancy configuration request message from the application function entity AF, where the redundancy configuration request message includes first indication information or second indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate adding first redundancy configuration information of at least two terminal devices, and the second indication information is used to indicate deleting second redundancy configuration information.

The more detailed description of the processing unit 1010 and the transceiver unit 1020 described above may be directly obtained by referring to the related description in the method embodiments shown in fig. 4 to 9, which is not repeated herein.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of another possible communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 11, the communication device 1100 includes a processor 1110 and an interface circuit 1120. The processor 1110 and the interface circuit 1120 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1120 may be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 1100 may further include a memory 1130 for storing instructions to be executed by the processor 1110 or for storing input data required by the processor 1110 to execute instructions or for storing data generated after the processor 1110 executes instructions.

When the communication device 1100 is used to implement the methods shown in fig. 4 to 9, the processor 1110 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1010, and the interface circuit 1120 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 1020.

It is to be appreciated that the processor in embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, it may be any conventional processor.

The processor in embodiments of the present application may be in random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), flash Memory, read-Only Memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically Erasable Programmable EPROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may reside in a network device or terminal device. The processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a network device or terminal device.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a terminal device, or other programmable apparatus. The computer program or instructions may be stored in or transmitted across a computer-readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server that integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium, e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, tape; but also optical media such as DVD; but also semiconductor media such as Solid State Disks (SSDs).

In the various embodiments of the application, if there is no specific description or logical conflict, terms and/or descriptions between the various embodiments are consistent and may reference each other, and features of the various embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

It will be appreciated that the various numerical numbers referred to in the embodiments of the present application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The sequence number of each process does not mean the sequence of the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined according to the function and the internal logic.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a session management function network element (SMF) receives a first Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request of a second terminal device, wherein the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request carry the same redundant transmission configuration information;

the SMF sends a request for creating a first PDU session context and a request for creating a second PDU session context to a user plane function entity UPF, wherein the request for creating the first PDU session context and the request for creating the second PDU session context carry the redundant transmission configuration information;

The SMF receives a first response message and a second response message from the UPF, wherein the first response message carries the PDU session identifier of the first terminal equipment, and the second response message carries the PDU session identifier of the second terminal equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein before the SMF sends a create first PDU session context request and a create second PDU session context request to a user plane function, UPF, the method further comprises:

the SMF sends a first request message to the UPF, wherein the first request message is used for requesting to create redundant transmission context for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment;

the SMF receives a response message from the UPF to the first request, the response message of the first request including a redundant transmission context identification,

wherein the create first PDU session context request and the create second PDU session context request also carry the redundant transport context identification.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of determining the position of the substrate comprises,

the SMF sends a first modification request of the first terminal device and a second modification request of the second terminal device to the UPF, wherein the first modification request message carries PDU session identification of the first terminal device, the second modification request carries PDU session identification of the second terminal device, the first modification request is used for indicating that the PDU session identification of the first terminal device is added to the redundant transmission context, and the second modification request is used for indicating that the PDU session identification of the second terminal device is added to the redundant transmission context.

4. A method according to any one of claim 1 to 3, wherein,

the redundant transmission configuration information includes: the redundancy indication information is used for indicating to start redundancy transmission, redundancy type and redundancy identification.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of determining the position of the first electrode is performed,

the redundancy type and the redundancy identification are set by a user.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

7. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a session management function network element (SMF) receives a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device;

the SMF acquires first redundant transmission configuration information of the first terminal equipment from a Unified Data Management (UDM) according to the first PDU session request, and acquires second redundant transmission configuration information of the second terminal equipment from the UDM according to the second PDU session request;

The SMF sends a request for creating a first PDU session context and a request for creating a second PDU session context to a user plane function entity UPF, wherein the request for creating the first PDU session context carries the first redundant transmission configuration information, and the request for creating the second PDU session context carries the second redundant transmission configuration information;

8. The method of claim 7, before the SMF sends a create first PDU session context request and a create second PDU session context request to a user plane function, UPF, the method further comprising:

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of determining the position of the first electrode is performed,

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein,

the first redundant transmission configuration information includes: redundancy type, redundancy identification and subscription redundancy indication information of the first terminal, wherein the second redundancy transmission configuration information comprises: and the redundancy type, the redundancy identifier and subscription redundancy indication information of the second terminal.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of determining the position of the first electrode is performed,

the redundancy type and the redundancy identification are set by an application function network element AF.

12. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, further comprising:

13. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that an access and mobility management function (AMF) receives a first PDU (protocol data unit) session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device, wherein the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request carry the same redundant transmission configuration information;

the AMF determines the same session management function network element SMF for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment according to the redundant transmission configuration information;

the AMF sends the first PDU session request and the second PDU session request to the SMF.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of determining the position of the probe is performed,

the redundant transmission configuration information includes: redundancy indication information, a redundancy type, and a redundancy identification, the redundancy indication information being used to indicate that a redundancy transmission is turned on,

The AMF determines the same SMF for the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the redundant transmission configuration information, and the AMF comprises:

and the AMF determines the same SMF for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment according to the redundant identification.

15. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that an access and mobility management function (AMF) receives a first PDU session request from a first terminal device and a second PDU session request from a second terminal device;

the AMF acquires first redundant transmission configuration information of the first terminal equipment from a Unified Data Management (UDM) according to the first PDU session request, and acquires second redundant transmission configuration information of the second terminal equipment from the UDM according to the second PDU session request;

the AMF determines the same session management function network element SMF for the first terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment according to the first redundant transmission configuration information and the second redundant transmission configuration information;

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of determining the position of the probe is performed,

The first redundant transmission configuration information includes: the redundancy type, the redundancy identifier, the subscription redundancy indication information of the first terminal, and the second redundancy transmission configuration information include: the redundancy type, the redundancy identification and subscription redundancy indication information of the second terminal,

the AMF determines the same SMF for the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the first redundant transmission configuration information and the second redundant transmission configuration information, and comprises the following steps:

17. A method of communication, comprising:

the application function entity AF acquires first configuration information;

the AF sends a redundant configuration request message to a network open function entity (NEF) based on the first configuration information, wherein the redundant configuration request message comprises first indication information or second indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating the NEF to add the first redundant configuration information, and the second indication information is used for indicating the NEF to delete the second redundant configuration information.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the AF sending a redundant configuration request message to a network open function entity NEF based on the first configuration information, comprises:

The AF determines that a first terminal device and a subscriber of the first terminal device are bound for the first time, and a second terminal device and the subscriber of the second terminal device are bound for the first time;

the AF sends a redundant configuration request message to the NEF, wherein the redundant configuration request message comprises first indication information, and the first redundant configuration information comprises: the user subscription identifier of the first terminal device, the user subscription identifier of the second terminal device, redundancy indication information, redundancy type and redundancy identifier, wherein the redundancy indication information is used for indicating starting of redundancy transmission.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein the AF sending a redundant configuration request message to a network open function entity NEF based on the first configuration information, comprises:

the AF determines that the first terminal device and the subscriber of the first terminal device are not bound for the first time, and that the second terminal device and the subscriber of the second terminal device are not bound for the first time;

the AF sends a redundant configuration request message to the NEF, wherein the redundant configuration request message comprises second indication information, and the second redundant configuration information comprises: the user subscription identifier of the first terminal device, the user subscription identifier of the second terminal device, and the redundant identifier.

20. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein,

the first configuration information comprises a redundancy type, a device identifier of the first terminal device, a subscriber identifier of the first terminal device, a device identifier of the second terminal device and a subscriber identifier of the second terminal device.

21. A method of communication, comprising:

the network opening function entity NEF receives a redundancy configuration request message from an application function entity AF, wherein the redundancy configuration request message comprises first indication information or second indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating to add first redundancy configuration information of at least two terminal devices, and the second indication information is used for indicating to delete second redundancy configuration information;

and the NEF sends a subscription data modification request to the Unified Data Management (UDM) according to the redundancy configuration request message.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the step of determining the position of the probe is performed,

when the first terminal device and the subscriber of the first terminal device are first bound, and the second terminal device and the subscriber of the second terminal device are first bound, the redundancy configuration request message includes first indication information,

The NEF sending a request for modifying subscription data to a unified data management UDM according to the redundancy configuration request message, comprising:

and the NEF sends a subscription data modification request to the UDM according to the first indication information, wherein the subscription data modification request is used for indicating the UDM to add first redundant configuration information.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of determining the position of the probe is performed,

the first redundant configuration information includes: the user subscription identifier of the first terminal device, the user subscription identifier of the second terminal device, redundancy indication information, redundancy type and redundancy identifier, wherein the redundancy indication information is used for indicating starting of redundancy transmission.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the step of determining the position of the probe is performed,

when the first terminal device and the subscriber of the first terminal device are not first bound, and the second terminal device and the subscriber of the second terminal device are not first bound, the redundancy configuration request message includes second indication information,

and the NEF sends a subscription data modification request to the UDM according to the second indication information, wherein the subscription data modification request is used for indicating the UDM to delete the second redundant configuration information.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the step of determining the position of the probe is performed,

the second redundant configuration information includes: the user subscription identifier of the first terminal device, the user subscription identifier of the second terminal device, and the redundant identifier.

26. A communication device, comprising:

a module for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,

or a module for performing the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12,

or a module for performing the method according to claim 13 or 14,

or a module for performing the method according to claim 15 or 16,

or a module for performing the method according to any one of claims 17 to 20,

or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 21 to 25.

27. A communication device comprising a processor and a memory, the processor and the memory being coupled, the processor being configured to control the device to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 6,

or control the apparatus to implement the method of any one of claims 7 to 12,

or control the apparatus to implement the method of claim 13 or 14,

Or control the apparatus to implement the method of claim 15 or 16,

or control the apparatus to implement the method of any one of claims 17 to 20,

or control the apparatus to implement the method of any one of claims 21 to 25.

28. A communication device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving signals from other communication devices than the communication device and transmitting to the processor or sending signals from the processor to other communication devices than the communication device, the processor being configured to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 6, or to implement the method of any one of claims 7 to 12, or to implement the method of claim 13 or 14, or to implement the method of claim 15 or 16, or to implement the method of any one of claims 17 to 20, or to implement the method of any one of claims 21 to 25, by logic circuitry or execution of code instructions.

29. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the storage medium has stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a communication device, implements the method of any one of claims 1 to 6, or implements the method of any one of claims 7 to 12, or implements the method of claim 13 or 14, or implements the method of claim 15 or 16, or implements the method of any one of claims 17 to 20, or implements the method of any one of claims 21 to 25.