CN116097741A

CN116097741A - Session processing method and device

Info

Publication number: CN116097741A
Application number: CN202080104442.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李洪; 舒林; 孙兵
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-08-26
Filing date: 2020-08-26
Publication date: 2023-05-09
Also published as: WO2022041019A1; CN116097741A8

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of communication and discloses a session processing method and device, which are used for solving the problems that PDU (protocol data unit) session is released and service interruption is caused because an EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session cannot be mapped out due to the fact that the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session cannot be mapped out after the PDU session established by terminal equipment after the capability of accessing to a 4G network is disabled and the capability of accessing to the 4G network is started. The method comprises the following steps: after enabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, the terminal equipment sends a first message to a session management network element, wherein the first message comprises first indication information for distributing associated EPS bearing context for PDU session, and the PDU session is established after the capability of the terminal equipment for accessing the 4G network is disabled; the terminal equipment receives a second message from the session management network element, wherein the second message comprises the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session.

Description

Session processing method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a session processing method and apparatus.

Background

Session management is related to protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session in 5G, whereas session management is related to evolved packet system (evolved packet system, EPS) bearers in 4G. In order to ensure the continuity of service when the terminal equipment moves between the 4G network and the 5G network, when the terminal equipment establishes EPS bearing in the 4G network, the network not only distributes EPS bearing context of the 4G network for the terminal equipment, but also distributes PDU session parameters of the 5G network associated with the EPS bearing context; when the terminal equipment is in the 5G network to establish PDU session, the network not only distributes PDU session parameters of the 5G network to the terminal equipment, but also distributes EPS bearing context of the 4G network associated with the PDU session parameters. Therefore, when the terminal equipment moves between the 4G network and the 5G network, EPS bearing of the 4G network and PDU conversation of the 5G network can be seamlessly converted, and the continuity of the service is ensured to the greatest extent. One premise that a 5G network can do so is that the terminal device supports the ability to access a 4G network.

However, the 3gpp TS 24.301 protocol specifies that when a terminal device is in a certain scenario under the 4G network, such as when the IP multimedia subsystem (IP multimedia subsystem, IMS) fails to register, the terminal device needs to disable the capability of accessing the 4G network, and when the terminal device that disables the capability of accessing the 4G network establishes a PDU session under the 5G network, the network will not allocate an EPS bearer context associated with the terminal device to the terminal device, which results in that the terminal device, after the capability of accessing the 4G network is enabled, has no PDU session associated with the EPS bearer context, and after the terminal device moves from the 5G network to the 4G network, cannot map out the EPS bearer associated with the PDU session, resulting in that the PDU session is released, resulting in service interruption and affecting the user experience.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a session processing method and device, which are used for solving the problems that in the prior art, a PDU session is established after a terminal device is disabled from accessing a 4G network, after the terminal device is started to access the 4G network, an inter-system moves to the 4G network, and the EPS bearing associated with the PDU session cannot be mapped out due to the fact that the EPS bearing context is not associated, so that the PDU session is released, service interruption is caused, and user experience is affected.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a session processing method, where the method includes: after enabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, the terminal equipment sends a first message to a session management network element, wherein the first message comprises first indication information for distributing associated EPS bearing context for PDU session, and the PDU session is established after the capability of the terminal equipment for accessing the 4G network is disabled; the terminal equipment receives a second message from the session management network element, wherein the second message comprises the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session. Optionally, the EPS bearer context is allocated to the PDU session by the session management network element according to the first indication information.

By adopting the method, if the terminal equipment establishes the PDU session of the 5G network after the capability of accessing the 4G network is disabled, the terminal equipment can initiate a session modification flow to the session management network element after the capability of accessing the 4G network is started, and the first indication information of the associated EPS bearing context allocated to the PDU session is sent to the session management network element, so that the session management network element allocates the EPS bearing context to the PDU session, and after the different system of the terminal equipment moves to the 4G network, the PDU session can be seamlessly converted (or mapped) to the EPS bearing of the 4G network according to the EPS bearing context, thereby avoiding interruption of service of the terminal equipment and being beneficial to improving user experience.

In one possible design, the EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session includes EPS bearer parameters corresponding to a quality of service Qos flow of the PDU session, where the EPS bearer parameters include at least one of the following: EPS QoS parameters, traffic flow templates, access point name maximum bitrate aggregation, EPS bearer identification.

In the design, the terminal equipment is favorable for acquiring the parameter information of the EPS bearing, and the seamless switching from the PDU session of the 5G network to the EPS bearing of the 4G network after the different system of the terminal equipment moves to the 4G network is ensured.

In one possible design, the first message is a PDU session modification request message.

In one possible design, the second message is a PDU session modification command message.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a session processing method, including: the method comprises the steps that a session management network element receives a first message from terminal equipment, wherein the first message comprises first indication information for distributing associated EPS bearing context for PDU session, and the PDU session is established after the terminal equipment is disabled in the capability of accessing a 4G network; and the session management network element sends a second message to the terminal equipment, wherein the second message comprises the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session. Optionally, the EPS bearer context is allocated to the PDU session by the session management network element according to the first indication information.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a session processing method, where the method includes: after enabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, the terminal equipment releases a PDU session, wherein the PDU session is established after the capability of accessing the 4G network of the terminal equipment is disabled; the terminal equipment sends PDU session establishment request information to a session management network element; the terminal equipment receives a PDU (protocol data unit) session establishment acceptance message from a session management network element, wherein the PDU session establishment acceptance message comprises an EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session. Optionally, the EPS bearer context is allocated by the session management network element for the PDU session.

By adopting the method, if the terminal equipment establishes the PDU session of the 5G network after the capability of accessing the 4G network is disabled, the terminal equipment can release the PDU session after the capability of accessing the 4G network is started, and re-initiate a PDU session establishment request to the session management network element, so that the session management network element re-establishes the PDU session for the terminal equipment, and distributes the associated EPS bearing context for the PDU session, thereby enabling the terminal equipment to seamlessly transfer (or map) the PDU session to the EPS bearing of the 4G network according to the EPS bearing context after the terminal equipment is moved to the 4G network, avoiding interruption of service of the terminal equipment, and being beneficial to improving user experience.

In one possible design, the terminal device releases the PDU session after enabling the capability to access the 4G network, including: the terminal equipment receives PDU session release command information from the session management network element; and the terminal equipment releases the PDU session according to the PDU session release command message. Optionally, the PDU session release command message includes second indication information for indicating the terminal device to reestablish the PDU session; the terminal device sends PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element, including: and the terminal equipment sends a PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element according to the second indication information.

In the design, the terminal equipment can release the PDU session according to the instruction of the session management network element and send the PDU session establishment request message, thereby being beneficial to avoiding the interference to the existing service of the terminal equipment.

In one possible design, the terminal device releases the PDU session after enabling the capability to access the 4G network, including: the terminal equipment sends PDU session release request information to the session management network element; the terminal equipment receives PDU session release command information from the session management network element; and the terminal equipment releases the PDU session according to the PDU session release command message.

In the design, the terminal equipment can actively initiate and release the PDU session, such as actively initiate and release the PDU session when no data is transmitted, so that the interference to the existing service of the terminal equipment can be effectively avoided, meanwhile, the acquisition of EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session can be effectively ensured, and the service interruption caused by the movement of a different system to a 4G network is avoided.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a session processing method, including: the method comprises the steps that a session management network element determines the capability of a terminal device which establishes a PDU session to enable access to a 4G network, wherein the PDU session is established after the capability of the terminal device to access to the 4G network is disabled; the session management network element sends a PDU session release command message to the terminal device, wherein the PDU session release command message comprises second indication information for indicating the terminal device to reestablish a PDU session.

In the above design, after knowing that the terminal device having the PDU session of the 5G network established after disabling the capability of accessing the 4G network enables the capability of accessing the 4G network, the session management network element may instruct the terminal device to reestablish the PDU session, so as to allocate an associated EPS bearer context to the PDU session of the terminal device when the terminal device re-initiates the PDU session establishment request, so that after the terminal device is moved to the 4G network, the PDU session can be seamlessly converted (or mapped) to the EPS bearer of the 4G network according to the EPS bearer context, thereby avoiding interruption of service of the terminal device and being beneficial to improving user experience.

In one possible design, the session management network element determining the capability of the terminal device having the PDU session established to enable access to the 4G network includes: the session management network element receives a PDU session update session management context request message from a mobility management network element, the PDU session update session management context request message including information of the capability of the terminal device having the PDU session established to support access to a 4G network.

In the above design, the session management network element can acquire the information of the capability of the terminal equipment for supporting the access to the 4G network according to the PDU session updating session management context request message from the mobile management network element, thereby determining that the terminal equipment has enabled the capability of accessing the 4G network, and being beneficial to the accurate acquisition of the capability of the terminal equipment by the session management network element.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a session processing method, including: the method comprises the steps that a session management network element determines the capability of a terminal device which establishes a PDU session to enable access to a 4G network, wherein the PDU session is established after the capability of the terminal device to access to the 4G network is disabled; and the session management network element sends a PDU session modification command message to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDU session modification command message comprises the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session.

In the above design, after knowing that the terminal device having the PDU session of the 5G network established after disabling the capability of accessing the 4G network enables the capability of accessing the 4G network, the session management network element can actively allocate an associated EPS bearer context for the PDU session and send the EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session to the terminal device, so that after the terminal device is moved to the 4G network, the PDU session can be seamlessly converted (or mapped) to the EPS bearer of the 4G network according to the EPS bearer context, thereby avoiding interruption of service of the terminal device and being beneficial to improving user experience.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a session processing apparatus, where the session processing apparatus has a function of implementing a method in any one of the foregoing first aspect or any one of the foregoing possible designs of the first aspect, or implementing a function of a method in any one of the foregoing possible designs of the third aspect or any one of the foregoing possible designs of the third aspect, where the function may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units (modules) corresponding to the functions described above, such as a transceiver unit and a processing unit.

In one possible design, the device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In one possible design, the apparatus includes a processor and a transceiver, the processor being coupled to the transceiver for implementing the functionality of the method described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect, or implementing the functionality of the method in the third aspect or any one of the possible designs of the third aspect. The apparatus may further comprise a memory storing a program executable by the processor for implementing the functions of the method described in the above-mentioned first aspect or any of the possible designs of the first aspect, or implementing the functions of the method in the above-mentioned third aspect or any of the possible designs of the third aspect.

In one possible design, the apparatus may be a terminal device.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a session processing apparatus, where the apparatus has a function of implementing a method in any one of the possible designs of the second aspect or the second aspect, or implementing a function of a method in any one of the possible designs of the fourth aspect or the fourth aspect, or implementing a function of a method in any one of the possible designs of the fifth aspect or the fifth aspect, where the function may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units (modules) corresponding to the functions described above, such as a transceiver unit and a processing unit.

In one possible design, the device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In one possible design, the apparatus includes a processor and a transceiver, the processor being coupled to the transceiver for implementing the functions of the method described in the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect, or implementing the functions of the method in the fourth aspect or any one of the possible designs of the fifth aspect, or implementing the functions of the method in the fifth aspect or any one of the possible designs of the fifth aspect. The apparatus may further comprise a memory storing a program executable by the processor for implementing the functions of the method described in the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect, or implementing the functions of the method in the fourth aspect or any one of the possible designs of the fifth aspect, or implementing the functions of the method in the fifth aspect.

In one possible design, the apparatus may be a session management network element.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a session processing system, where the session processing system may include a terminal device and a session management network element, where the terminal device may perform the method described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect, and the session management network element may perform the method described in the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect; alternatively, the terminal device may perform the method described in the third aspect or any one of the possible designs of the third aspect, and the session management network element may perform the method described in the fourth aspect or any one of the possible designs of the fourth aspect.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer readable storage medium having a computer program or instructions for performing the method described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect, or the method described in the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the third aspect, or the method described in the fourth aspect or any one of the possible designs of the fourth aspect, or the method described in any one of the possible designs of the fifth aspect.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product comprising a computer program or instructions which, when executed, may implement the method described in the first aspect or any of the possible designs of the first aspect, or the method described in the second aspect or any of the possible designs of the third aspect, or the method described in the fourth aspect or any of the possible designs of the fourth aspect, or the method described in any of the possible designs of the fifth aspect.

The eleventh aspect, the present application further provides a chip, when the chip is running, implementing the method described in the above-mentioned first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect, or implementing the method described in the above-mentioned second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the third aspect, or implementing the method described in the above-mentioned fourth aspect or any one of the possible designs of the fourth aspect, or implementing the method described in the above-mentioned fifth aspect or any one of the possible designs of the fifth aspect.

The technical effects of the sixth aspect to the eleventh aspect are the technical effects of the first aspect to the eighth aspect, and the detailed description is omitted herein.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a 4G-5G interoperable network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic process diagram of a terminal device residing in an NR network according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a session processing procedure according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a second schematic diagram of a session processing procedure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a procedure for releasing a PDU session according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a second schematic diagram of a procedure for releasing PDU sessions according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a third diagram illustrating a procedure for releasing PDU sessions according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a session processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a second schematic diagram of a session processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a third schematic diagram of a session processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a session processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical scheme provided by the application can be applied to a 5G network architecture, a 4G-5G interoperation network architecture, a future communication network architecture and the like. In the following description, a terminal device is taken as a User Equipment (UE) as an example.

As shown in fig. 1, a schematic diagram of a possible 5G network architecture applicable to the present application is shown, where the 5G network architecture includes a UE, a radio access network (radio access network, RAN) device, a user plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element, an access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) network element, a session management function (session management function, SMF) network element, a policy control function (policy control function, PCF) network element, an application function (application function, AF) network element, a network slice selection function (network slice selection function, NSSF) network element, an authentication service function (authentication server function, AUSF) network element, a user data management (user data management, UDM) network element, a network slice authentication authorization function (network slice-specific authentication and authorization function, NSSAAF) network element, a data network (data network, DN), and the like.

As shown in fig. 2, another possible 4G-5G interoperable network architecture applicable to the present application, as shown in fig. 2, unlike the 5G network architecture, a home subscription server (home subscriber server, HSS), a packet data network gateway (packet data network gateway, PDN gateway, PGW), a Serving Gateway (SGW), a mobility management entity (mobility management entity, MME), an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (evolved universal terrestrial radio access network, E-TURAN) and the like in the network architecture 4G-5G interoperable network architecture may also be included in the network architecture 4G-5G interoperable network architecture.

In order to better realize 4G-5G interoperation, so that service continuity is better, a 4G-5G converged gateway is selected in a 4G-5G interoperation network architecture, namely, a 4G PGW-C (control plane of the PGW gateway) and a 5G SMF network element are converged (SMF+PGW-C), a 4G PGW-U (user plane of the PGW gateway) and a 5G UPF network element are converged (UPF+PGW-U), so that when a terminal device accesses 4G, and an EPS bearer is established, if the terminal device has started the capability of accessing the 5G network, the converged gateway can allocate not only the EPS bearer context of the 4G network but also PDU session parameters of the 5G network associated with the EPS bearer context; when the terminal equipment is accessed in 5G and establishes PDU session, the fusion gateway can not only distribute PDU session parameters of 5G network, but also distribute EPS bearing context of 4G network associated with the PDU session parameters. In this way, during 4G-5G interoperation, EPS bearing and PDU conversation can be well converted without re-establishment, and service continuity is maintained.

The network architectures shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2 above may be used as the network architecture to which the present application is applicable. Of course, the above network architectures are merely examples, and the application is not limited to the above network architectures.

Before describing embodiments of the present application, some of the terms in the present application are explained first to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

1) Terminal devices, including devices that provide voice and/or data connectivity to a user, may include, for example, a handheld device having wireless connectivity, or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal device may communicate with the core network via a radio access network (radio access network, RAN), exchanging voice and/or data with the RAN. The terminal device may include a UE, a wireless terminal device, a mobile terminal device, a device-to-device (D2D) terminal device, a V2X terminal device, a machine-to-machine/machine-type communication (M2M/MTC) terminal device, an internet of things (internet of things, ioT) terminal device, a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a subscriber station (subscriber station), a mobile station (mobile station), a remote station (access point (AP), a remote terminal (remote terminal), an access terminal (access terminal), a user terminal (user agent), a user agent (user device), or a user equipment (user device), etc. For example, mobile telephones (or "cellular" telephones) computers with mobile terminal devices, portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-built mobile devices, and the like may be included. Such as personal communication services (personal communication service, PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phones, wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (personal digital assistant, PDAs), and the like. But also limited devices such as devices with lower power consumption, or devices with limited memory capabilities, or devices with limited computing capabilities, etc. Examples include bar codes, radio frequency identification (radio frequency identification, RFID), sensors, global positioning systems (global positioning system, GPS), laser scanners, and other information sensing devices.

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 or an intelligent wearable device, and is a generic name for intelligently designing daily wear and developing wearable devices, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothes, shoes, and the like, by applying wearable technology. 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 helmets, smart jewelry, etc. for physical sign monitoring.

While the various terminal devices described above, if located on a vehicle (e.g., placed in a vehicle or mounted in a vehicle), may be considered as in-vehicle terminal devices, for example, also referred to as in-vehicle units (OBUs).

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal device may further include a relay (relay). Or it is understood that all that is capable of data communication with a base station can be seen as a terminal device.

2) N1 capability refers to the capability of a terminal device to support access to a 5G network through a 5G non-access stratum (non access stratum, NAS) protocol, also referred to as the capability of accessing a 5G network, and may also be referred to as N1 mode capability (N1 mode capability).

3) S1 capability refers to a capability of a terminal device to support access to a 4G network through a 4G NAS protocol, also referred to as an access to the 4G network, and may also be referred to as an S1 mode capability (S1 mode capability), or an evolved universal terrestrial radio access capability (E-UTRA capability).

4) 3GPP protocol, 3GPP TS 24.301 protocol specifies that certain scenarios (e.g. IMS registration failure etc.) occur for the terminal device under 4G, the terminal device needs to disable (disable) S1 capability, i.e. the terminal device does not support S1 capability. According to 3GPP TS 24.301 protocol section 4.5, after the terminal device disables S1 capability, an attempt is made to search for a network to a new wireless (NR) network of 5G, if the network search is successful, the network will reside in the NR network, initiate an initial registration (initial registration) procedure or a mobile update registration (mobility update registration) procedure, informing the network to turn off S1 capability. After the terminal device disables the S1 capability, the 4G and 5G interoperability is no longer supported, the PDU session (session) established under 5G is not allocated by the network to the EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session, including not setting the associated EPS bearer identifier (EPS bearer ID) to the quality of service (quality of service, qos) flow (flow) of the PDU session, and so on.

In addition, the 3GPP TS 24.301 protocol also provides that under the conditions that the voice center is changed into a data center, an S1mode re-enabling timer is overtime and the like, the terminal equipment re-enables the (re-enabling) S1 capability, PDU (protocol data unit) sessions corresponding to the terminal equipment and not associated with EPS bearing contexts cannot be mapped out after the terminal equipment moves from a 5G network heterogeneous system to a 4G network, and the PDU sessions are released, so that service interruption is caused and user experience is affected. And the above problems are more and more occurring in the case of 5G independent networking (SA) business.

As shown in fig. 3, a schematic process diagram of the terminal device after disabling the capability of accessing the 4G network resides in the NR network.

S301: after disabling the S1 capability (i.e. after disabling the capability to access the 4G network, for example, refer to the scenario mentioned in the 3gpp TS 24.301 protocol), the terminal device may attempt to search for the network to the NR network, and if the network search is successful, the terminal device resides in the NR network.

S302: after the terminal device successfully resides in the NR network, the terminal device initiates a initial registration flow or mobility update registration flow, for example, the terminal device sends a registration request (request) message to the network. Wherein the 5G mobility management (mobility management, MM) capability (capability) cell in the registration request message is set to S1mode not supported (S1 mode not supported) and does not carry an S1 terminal device (e.g., UE) network capability (network capability) cell, indicating that the network terminal device does not support S1 capability, i.e., does not support the capability of accessing the 4G network.

S303: when one or more applications on the terminal device are started, the terminal device is triggered to request the establishment of a new PDU session.

S304: the terminal device initiates a PDU session establishment request to the network.

It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, a network may refer to one or more network elements on the network side, for example, the network may refer to a mobility management network element (such as an AMF) on the network side, a session management network element (such as an SMF or smf+pgw-C), or the like.

Specifically, the terminal device sends an uplink NAS transport (uplink NAS transport) message to the mobility management network element, and carries a PDU session establishment request (PDU session establishment request) message (S304 a in the figure) sent by the terminal device to the session management network element in the uplink NAS transport message, and after receiving the uplink NAS transport message sent by the terminal device, the mobility management network element sends (or forwards) the PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element (S304 b in the figure) through a PDU session establishment session management (session management, SM) context request (nsmf_pdu session_ create SM context request) message, that is, the PDU session establishment request message is transmitted to the session management network element, where the PDU session establishment request message is carried in the PDU session establishment session management context request message.

S305: the network issues a PDU session establishment accept (PDU session establishment accept) message to the terminal device, which will not carry the EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session, since the terminal device does not support S1 capabilities.

Specifically, the session management network element sends a PDU session creation session management context response (nsmf_pdu session_ create SM context response) message to the mobility management network element (S305 a in the figure), and carries a PDU session creation accept message sent to the terminal device in the PDU session creation session management context response message, and after receiving the PDU session creation session management context response message sent by the session management network element, the mobility management network element sends a downlink NAS transport (downlink NAS transport) message to the terminal device, and carries the PDU session creation accept message in the downlink NAS transport message, where the PDU session creation accept message does not carry an EPS bearer context (S305 b in the figure).

S306: the terminal device re-enables S1 capabilities (i.e. enables the capability to access the 4G network).

For example, in certain scenarios specified by the 3GPP TS 24.301 protocol (e.g., a voice center changing to a data center, an S1 mode re-enable timer time out, etc.), a terminal device re-enables S1 capability (i.e., capability to enable access to a 4G network), etc.

S307: the terminal device initiates mobility update registration the procedure and successfully executes because of the radio capability change. Wherein the terminal device 5G MM capability cell in the registration request message is set to S1 mode supported (S1 mode supported), and may carry an S1 terminal device (e.g., UE) network capability cell, indicating that the network terminal device supports S1 capability.

After the terminal device moves from the 5G network heterogeneous system to the 4G network after the wireless capability includes the S1-enabled capability (i.e., the capability of accessing the 4G network is enabled), the EPS bearer associated with the PDU session cannot be mapped according to the scheme in the prior art, so that the PDU session is released, service interruption is caused, and user experience is affected.

The method and the device aim to solve the problems that in the prior art, PDU conversation is established after the terminal equipment is forbidden to access the 4G network, after the terminal equipment starts to access the 4G network, the different system moves to the 4G network, and EPS bearing associated with the PDU conversation cannot be mapped due to the fact that the EPS bearing context is not associated, so that the PDU conversation is released, service interruption is caused, and user experience is affected.

Furthermore, the solution of the present application is not limited to a handover scenario between 5G and 4G networks. The application is equally applicable to the following scenarios: when the terminal equipment disables the data channel of the second network established after the capability of accessing the first network, the different system moves to the first network after the terminal equipment starts the capability of accessing the first network.

In addition, it should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, at least one may also be described as one or more, and a plurality may be two, three, four or more, which is not limited in the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, "/" may indicate that the associated object is an "or" relationship, for example, a/B may indicate a or B; "and/or" may be used to describe that there are three relationships associated with an object, e.g., a and/or B, which may represent: there are three cases, a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. In order to facilitate description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first", "second", etc. may be used to distinguish between technical features that are the same or similar in function. The terms "first," "second," and the like do not necessarily denote any order of quantity or order of execution, nor do the terms "first," "second," and the like. In this application embodiment, the terms "exemplary" or "such as" and the like are used to denote examples, illustrations, or descriptions, and any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "such as" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. The use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete fashion to facilitate understanding.

Embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a session processing procedure provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the procedure includes:

s401: after the terminal equipment starts the capability of accessing the 4G network, a first message is sent to a session management network element, the session management network element receives the first message, and the first message comprises first indication information for distributing associated EPS bearing context for PDU session.

Wherein the PDU session is established by the terminal equipment after the capability of the access 4G network is disabled;

in the embodiment of the application, the terminal equipment is firstly disabled from accessing the capability of the 4G network, then establishes the PDU session of the 5G network, and then initiates a session modification flow to a session management network element after enabling to access the capability of the 4G network so as to acquire the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session, thereby realizing seamless transfer (transfer) of the PDU session of the 5G network or mapping (map) to the EPS bearing of the 4G network according to the EPS bearing context after the different system of the terminal equipment moves to the 4G network.

In one possible implementation, if the terminal device establishes a PDU session (i.e. a PDU session without associated EPS bearer context) after disabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, the terminal device may actively initiate a session modification procedure after enabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, and send a first message to the session management network element, where the first message includes first indication information for allocating the associated EPS bearer context for the PDU session.

For example, the terminal device may send an uplink NAS transport message to the mobility management network element, and carry a first message sent to the session management network element in the uplink NAS transport message, where the first message includes first indication information for allocating an associated EPS bearer context for the PDU session (S401 a in the figure). After receiving the uplink NAS transport message sent by the terminal device, the mobility management network element forwards (or transparently transmits) the first message to the session management network element through a PDU session update session management context request (nsmf_pdu session_ update SM context request) message carrying the first message (S401 b in the figure).

As an example, the first message may be a PDU session modification request (PDU session modification request) message.

In addition, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present application may be applied to a 5G network architecture, and may also be applied to a 4G-5G converged network architecture, where the mobility management network element may be an AMF network element in the 5G network architecture, and may also be an AMF network element in the 4G-5G converged network architecture, and the session management network element may be an SMF network element in the 5G network architecture, and may also be a converged gateway (such as smf+pgw-C) in the 4G-5G converged network architecture.

S402: the session management network element sends a second message to the terminal equipment, the terminal equipment receives the second message, and the second message comprises the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session.

After receiving a first message including first indication information for distributing associated EPS bearing context for PDU session, session management network element distributes associated EPS bearing context for PDU session corresponding to terminal device according to the first indication information, and sends to terminal device through a second message. It should be noted that the EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session may also be referred to as an EPS bearer context (mapped EPS bearer context) mapped by the PDU session, where the EPS bearer context includes EPS bearer parameters corresponding to QoS flows of the PDU session, where the EPS bearer parameters include one or more of mapped EPS QoS parameters (mapped EPS QoS parameters), traffic flow templates (traffic flow template), maximum bit rate convergence of access point names (access point name-aggregate maximum bit rate, APN-AMBR), EPS bearer identifiers (EPS bearer identity), and the like, and for example, includes an EPS bearer identifier corresponding to each QoS flow of the PDU session specified by a QoS flow list (list), and the like.

Example: the session management network element may send a PDU session update session management context response (nsmf_pdu session_ update SM context response) message to the mobility management network element, and carry a second message (S402 a in the figure) sent to the terminal device in the PDU session update session management context response message, where the second message includes an EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session, and after receiving the PDU session update session management context response message, the mobility management network element forwards (or transparently transmits) the second message carried by the PDU session update session management context response message to the terminal device through a downlink NAS transport message (S402 b in the figure).

As an example, the second message may be a PDU session modification command (PDU session modification command) message.

In one possible implementation, after the terminal device receives the second message, the mobile management network element may further return an uplink NAS transport message to the mobile management network element, and carry a PDU session modification complete (PDU session modification complete) message sent to the session management network element in the uplink NAS transport message, after the mobile management network element receives the uplink NAS transport message sent by the terminal device, the mobile management network element may further send a PDU session update session management context request (nsmf_pdu session_ update SM context request) message carrying the PDU session modification complete message to the session management network element, forward (or transparently transmit) the PDU session modification complete message to the session management network element, notify the session management network element that the PDU session of the 5G network is successful, and the session management network element replies a PDU session update session management context response (nsmf_pdu session_ update SM context response) message to the mobile management network element.

And the terminal equipment stores the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session included in the second message, and after the different system of the terminal equipment moves to the 4G network, the QoS flow (QoS flow) of the PDU session of the 5G network can be seamlessly converted (or mapped) to the EPS bearing of the 4G network according to the EPS bearing context, so that the interruption of the service of the terminal equipment is avoided.

In one possible implementation, if the terminal device establishes a PDU session (i.e. a PDU session without associated EPS bearer context) after disabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, the session management network element determines that the terminal device enables the capability of accessing the 4G network, and the session management network element may also actively send a second message including the EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session to the terminal device, where the terminal device stores the EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session included in the second message, and after the terminal device is moved to the 4G network, the QoS flow of the PDU session of the 5G network may be seamlessly converted (or mapped) to the EPS bearer of the 4G network according to the EPS bearer context, so as to avoid interruption of service of the terminal device.

The second message may be a PDU session modification command message, etc., and the implementation of the session management network element to send the second message to the terminal device may refer to the implementation of S402, and the repetition is not repeated.

As an example, for the determination that a terminal device having established a PDU session enables the capability of accessing the 4G network, the session management network element may be implemented by receiving a PDU session update session management context request message sent by the mobility management network element, said PDU session update session management context request message comprising information that said terminal device having established said PDU session supports the capability of accessing the 4G network. For example: for a terminal device that establishes a PDU session of a 5G network after the capability of accessing the 4G network is disabled, after knowing that the terminal device supports the capability of accessing the 4G network, i.e. supports S1 capability, in the mobility update registration flow of S307 shown in fig. 3, the mobility management network element may send a PDU session update session management context request message to the session management network element, where the PDU session is established, including information that the terminal device supports the capability of accessing the 4G network, informing the session management network element that the terminal device enables the capability of accessing the 4G network.

In the above-mentioned scheme of fig. 4, after the terminal device having established the PDU session of the 5G network after disabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, after the capability of accessing the 4G network is enabled, session modification may be initiated by the terminal device or the session management network element, so that the terminal device obtains the EPS bearer context. In other possible implementations, the terminal device may also release the PDU session after enabling the capability to access the 4G network and re-establish the PDU session to obtain the EPS bearer context. The following is a description with reference to fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a session processing procedure provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the procedure includes:

s501: the terminal device releases the PDU session after enabling the capability to access the 4G network.

Wherein the PDU session is established after the terminal device is disabled from accessing the 4G network.

In the embodiment of the application, after the capability of accessing the 4G network is forbidden, the terminal equipment with the PDU session of the 5G network is established, after the capability of accessing the 4G network is started, the PDU session can be released, and a PDU session establishment request is reinitiated to a session management network element to obtain an EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session, so that after the terminal equipment is moved to the 4G network, the QoS stream of the PDU session of the 5G network can be seamlessly converted (or mapped) to the EPS bearing of the 4G network according to the EPS bearing context. The method can be applied to a 5G network architecture and a 4G-5G converged network architecture, the related mobile management network element can be an AMF network element in the 5G network architecture and an AMF network element in the 4G-5G converged network architecture, and the related session management network element can be an SMF network element in the 5G network architecture and a converged gateway (such as SMF+PGW-C and the like) in the 4G-5G converged network architecture.

In one possible implementation, the release PDU session may be initiated actively by the terminal device after enabling the capability to access the 4G network.

Example: as shown in fig. 6, after the terminal device enables the capability of accessing the 4G network, an uplink NAS transport message may be sent to the mobility management network element, where the uplink NAS transport message carries a PDU session release request (PDU session release request) message sent to the session management network element, and after the mobility management network element receives the uplink NAS transport message sent by the terminal device and carrying the PDU session release request message, the mobility management network element sends a PDU session update session management context request (nsmf_pdu session_ update SM context request) message carrying the PDU session release request message to the session management network element, and forwards (or transparently transmits) the PDU session release request message to the session management network element to request the session management network element to release the PDU session. The session management network element replies a PDU session update session management context response (Nsmf_PDU session_ update SM context response) message carrying a PDU session release command (PDU session release command) message to the mobility management network element, and after receiving the PDU session update session management context response message, the mobility management network element forwards (or transparently transmits) the PDU session release command message to the terminal device through a downlink NAS transport message. The terminal device releases the PDU session, and can send an uplink NAS transmission message carrying PDU session release completion (PDU session release complete) message to the mobile management network element, and after the mobile management network element receives the uplink NAS transmission message carrying PDU session release completion message, the mobile management network element can also forward or transmit the PDU session release completion message to the session management network element through PDU session update session management context request message to complete PDU session release.

In addition, in order to avoid that the service transmission of the terminal device is affected by releasing the PDU session, the terminal device may have no uplink and downlink signaling and no data packet transmission for a period of time, and the network device actively releases the link to let the terminal device enter an IDLE state (IDLE), and then releases the PDU session. If the terminal device enters an idle state, the terminal device needs to initiate an NR MM procedure service (service) to establish a link with a network (such as a session management network element) to send an NR SM message.

In another possible implementation, the terminal device release the PDU session may be initiated by a network indication.

Mode one: after the terminal equipment starts the capability of accessing the 4G network, the mobile management network element identifies the PDU session which corresponds to the terminal equipment and is not associated with the EPS bearing context, requests the session management network element to release the PDU session, and the session management network element sends a PDU session release command and generates second indication information for reestablishing the PDU session.

Example: as shown in fig. 7, for a terminal device that establishes a PDU session of a 5G network after the capability of accessing a 4G network is disabled, the mobility management element may learn the capability of the terminal device to support access to the 4G network in the mobility update registration flow of S307 shown in fig. 3, that is, after supporting S1 capability, send a PDU session release session management context request (nsmf_pdu session_ release SM context request) message to the session management element, requesting the session management element to release the PDU session; the session management network element replies a PDU session release session management context response (Nsmf_PDU session_ release SM context response) message to the mobility management network element, and carries a PDU session release command (PDU session release command) message including second indication information for indicating the terminal device to reestablish the PDU session, which is sent to the terminal device, in the PDU session release session management context response message. After receiving the PDU session release session management context response message, the mobile management network element can forward (or transparently transmit) the PDU session release command message to the terminal device by sending a downlink NAS transmission message carrying the PDU session release command message to the terminal device.

The terminal equipment releases PDU conversation according to PDU conversation release order information, and can return uplink NAS information to the mobile management network element, and carry PDU conversation release completion (PDU session release complete) information sent to the conversation management network element in the uplink NAS information, after receiving the uplink NAS information, the mobile management network element can forward (or pass through) the PDU conversation release completion information to the conversation management network element through PDU conversation update conversation management context request (Nsmf_PDU conversation_ update SM context request) information, and the PDU conversation release is completed.

Mode two: after the terminal equipment starts the capability of accessing the 4G network, the session management network element identifies the PDU session which corresponds to the mobile terminal and is not associated with the EPS bearing context, releases the PDU session, and sends a PDU session release command and generates second indication information for reestablishing the PDU session.

Example: as shown in fig. 8, for a terminal device having established a PDU session of a 5G network after the capability of accessing a 4G network is disabled, the mobility management element may learn that the terminal device supports the capability of accessing the 4G network, that is, support S1 capability in the mobility update registration flow of S307 shown in fig. 3, send a PDU session update session management context request (nsmf_pdu session_ update SM context request) message including information of the terminal device having established the PDU session supporting the capability of accessing the 4G network to the session management element, and the session management element may further reply to the mobility management element with a PDU session update session management context response (nsmf_pdu session_ update SM context response) message. After knowing the capability of the terminal equipment to support access to the 4G network, the session management network element can issue a communication message transfer (Namf_communication_N1N2 message transfer) message to the mobile management network element, and carry a PDU session release command (PDU session release command) message sent to the terminal equipment in the communication message transfer message, wherein the PDU session release command message comprises second indication information for indicating the terminal equipment to reestablish a PDU session, and the mobile management network element forwards (or transmits) the PDU session release command message to the terminal equipment by sending a downlink NAS message carrying the PDU session release command message to the terminal equipment.

After receiving the PDU session release command message, the terminal device releases the PDU session, and can send an uplink NAS message carrying a PDU session release completion (PDU session release complete) message replied to the session management network element to the mobile management network element, and after receiving the uplink NAS message, the mobile management network element can forward (or pass through) the PDU session release completion message to the session management network element through a PDU session update session management context request (Nsmf_PDU session_ update SM context request) message to complete the release of the PDU session.

In addition, it is specified in the 3GPP TS 24.501 protocol that the PDU session is released locally by triggering the terminal device (e.g. UE) by the cause value "39", and the PDU session establishment request is initiated again, and the 3GPP TS 24.501 protocol is described as "If the PDU SESSION RELEASE COMMAND message includes 5GSM cause #39"reactivation requested ", then after completion of the network-requested PDU session release procedure, the UE shield re-initiation the UE-requested PDU session establishment procedure as specified in subclause 6.4.1", for the handling of the cause value 39. Accordingly, the second indication information for instructing the terminal device to re-establish the PDU session in fig. 7 or 8 in the present application may be indicated with a cause value of "39".

Returning to fig. 5, S502: the terminal device sends PDU session establishment request message to a session management network element, and the session management network element receives the PDU session establishment request message.

As an example, the terminal device may send an uplink NAS transport message to the mobility management network element, and carry a PDU session establishment request (PDU session establishment request) message (S502 a in the figure) sent to the session management network element in the uplink NAS transport message, and after the mobility management network element receives the uplink NAS message sent by the terminal device, it forwards (or transparently transmits) the PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element (S502 b in the figure) through a PDU session creation session management context request (nsmf_pdu session_ create SM context request) message carrying the PDU session establishment request message.

After releasing the PDU session, the terminal device sends a PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element, and the session management network element not only reestablishes the PDU session for the terminal device but also distributes an associated EPS bearing context for the PDU session and sends the PDU session establishment request message to the terminal device through the PDU session establishment acceptance message after receiving the PDU session establishment request message sent by the terminal device because the terminal device has supported the capability of accessing the 4G network (namely S1 capability). It should be noted that the EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session may also be referred to as an EPS bearer context mapped by the PDU session, where the EPS bearer context includes EPS bearer parameters corresponding to QoS flows of the PDU session, where the EPS bearer parameters include one or more of mapped EPS QoS parameters, a traffic flow template, maximum bit rate aggregation of access point names, EPS bearer identifiers, and the like, and for example, includes an EPS bearer identifier corresponding to each QoS flow of the PDU session specified by a QoS flow list.

S503: the session management network element sends a PDU session establishment acceptance message to the terminal equipment, the terminal equipment receives the PDU session establishment acceptance message, and the PDU session establishment acceptance message comprises the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session.

As an example, the session management network element may send a PDU session creation session management context response (nsmf_pdu session_ create SM context response) message to the mobility management network element, and carry a PDU session establishment accept (PDU session establishment accept) message (S503 a in the figure) sent to the terminal device in the PDU session creation session management context response message, where the PDU session establishment accept message includes the EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session. After receiving the PDU session creation session management context response message, the mobility management network element may forward (or transparently transmit) the PDU session creation accept message to the terminal device through a downlink NAS message (S503 b in the figure).

After the terminal equipment obtains the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session, when the different system of the terminal equipment moves to the 4G network, the QoS flow of the PDU session of the 5G network can be seamlessly converted (or mapped) to the EPS bearing of the 4G network according to the EPS bearing context, so as to avoid interruption of the service of the terminal equipment.

In addition, it should be understood that the procedures initial registration or mobility update registration related to the present application and the procedures related to PDU session (session) establishment and modification (including registration request, PDU session establishment request, PDU session establishment accept, PDU session modification request, PDU session modification command, PDU session modification complete, PDU session release request, PDU session release command, PDU session release complete, etc.) are standard procedures specified by the 3gpp TS 24.501 protocol, and specific information may refer to the 3gpp TS 24.501 protocol.

The nsmf_pdu session_ create SM context request, nsmf_pdu session_ create SM context response, nsmf_pdu session_ update SM context request, nsmf_pdu session_ update SM context response, nsmf_pdu session_ release SM context request, nsmf_pdu session_ release SM context Response, namf_communication_n1n2message transfer are all messages between a mobile management network element (such as an AMF network element) and a session management network element (such as an SMF network element), and are standard procedures specified by the 3gpp TS 23.502 protocol, and specific information may refer to the 3gpp TS 23.502 protocol.

In addition, it should be understood that the names of the messages interacted between the network elements (such as the terminal device, the mobility management network element, the session management network element, etc.) are only an example, and in the embodiment of the present application, the names of the messages interacted between the network elements (such as the terminal device, the mobility management network element, the session management network element, etc.) are not limited.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the present application is mainly introduced from the point of interaction between the terminal device and the session management network element. It will be appreciated that, in order to implement the above-described functions, each network element includes corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules (or units) that perform the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the elements and algorithm steps of the examples described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is implemented as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

In case of integrated units (modules) fig. 9 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of a session handling device according to an embodiment of the present application, which session handling device 900 may be in the form of software. The apparatus 900 may include: a processing unit 902 and a transceiver unit 903.

In a possible design, the processing unit 902 is configured to implement corresponding processing functions. The transceiver unit 903 is used to support communication between the device 900 and other network entities. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 903 may include a receiving unit and/or a transmitting unit for performing receiving and transmitting operations, respectively. Optionally, the apparatus 900 may further comprise a storage unit 901 for storing program codes and/or data of the apparatus 900.

The apparatus 900 may be a terminal device in any of the above embodiments, or may also be a chip or other component disposed in the terminal device. The processing unit 902 may support the apparatus 900 to perform the actions of the terminal device in the examples of the methods above. Alternatively, the processing unit 902 mainly performs the internal actions of the terminal device in the method example, and the transceiving unit 903 may support communication between the apparatus 900 and the session management network element or the like.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the processing unit 902 is configured to send, after enabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, a first message to the session management network element through the transceiver unit 903, where the first message includes first indication information for allocating an associated EPS bearer context for a PDU session, where the PDU session is established by the terminal device after disabling the capability of accessing the 4G network;

The processing unit 902 is further configured to receive, through the transceiver unit 903, a second message from the session management network element, where the second message includes an EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session.

In one possible design, the EPS bearer context is allocated by the session management network element for the PDU session according to the first indication information.

In another embodiment, the processing unit 902 is configured to release, through the transceiver unit 903, a protocol data unit PDU session after enabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, where the PDU session is established after the capability of the terminal device for accessing the 4G network is disabled; the processing unit 902 is further configured to send a PDU session establishment request message to a session management network element through the transceiver unit 903;

The processing unit 902 is further configured to receive a PDU session establishment acceptance message from a session management network element through the transceiver unit 903, where the PDU session establishment acceptance message includes an EPS bearer context of the evolved packet system associated with the PDU session.

In a possible design, the processing unit 902 is configured to receive, by the transceiver unit 903, a PDU session release command message from the session management network element when the PDU session is released by the transceiver unit 903 after enabling the capability of accessing the 4G network; and releasing the PDU session according to the PDU session release command message.

In one possible design, the PDU session release command message includes second indication information for instructing the terminal device to reestablish a PDU session;

the processing unit 902 is specifically configured to send a PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element according to the second indication information when sending the PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element through the transceiver unit 903.

In a possible design, when the processing unit 902 releases the PDU session through the transceiver unit 903 after enabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, the processing unit is specifically configured to send a PDU session release request message to the session management network element through the transceiver unit 903; receiving a PDU session release command message from the session management network element; and releasing the PDU session according to the PDU session release command message.

In one possible design, the EPS bearer context is allocated by the session management network element for the PDU session.

As shown in fig. 10, the embodiment of the present application further provides a session processing apparatus 1000, where the session processing apparatus 1000 includes a processor 1010 and a transceiver 1030, and may further include a memory 1020. In one possible design, the memory 1020 stores instructions or programs or data, and the memory 1020 may be used to implement the functions of the storage unit 901 in the above embodiment. The processor 1010 is configured to read instructions or programs or data stored in the memory 1020. When executed, the processor 1010 is configured to perform the operations performed by the processing unit 902 in the above embodiment, and the transceiver 1030 is configured to perform the operations performed by the transceiver unit 903 in the above embodiment.

In case of integrated units (modules) fig. 11 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of a further session handling device, which is referred to in the embodiments of the present application, which session handling device 1100 may be present in the form of software. The apparatus 1100 may include: a processing unit 1102 and a transceiver unit 1103. In a possible design, the processing unit 1102 is configured to implement corresponding processing functions. The transceiver unit 1103 is configured to support communication between the apparatus 1100 and other network entities. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 1103 may include a receiving unit and/or a transmitting unit, for performing receiving and transmitting operations, respectively. Optionally, the apparatus 1100 may further comprise a storage unit 1101 for storing program code and/or data of the apparatus 1100.

The apparatus 1100 may be a session management network element in any of the foregoing embodiments, or may also be a chip or other component disposed in the session management network element. The processing unit 1102 may support the apparatus 1100 to perform the actions of the session management network element in the examples of methods above. Alternatively, the processing unit 1102 mainly performs the internal actions of the session management network element in the method example, and the transceiver unit 1103 may support communication between the apparatus 1100 and the terminal device or the like.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the processing unit 1102 is configured to receive, through the transceiver unit 1103, a first message from a terminal device, where the first message includes first indication information for allocating an associated evolved packet system EPS bearer context for a protocol data unit PDU session, where the PDU session is established after a capability of the terminal device to access the 4G network is disabled;

the processing unit 1102 is further configured to send a second message to the terminal device through the transceiver unit 1103, where the second message includes the EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session.

In another embodiment, the processing unit 1102 is configured to determine that a terminal device that establishes a PDU session is capable of enabling access to a 4G network, where the PDU session is established by the terminal device after the capability of accessing the 4G network is disabled;

the processing unit 1102 is further configured to send, by the transceiver unit 1103, a PDU session release command message to the terminal device, where the PDU session release command message includes second indication information for indicating the terminal device to reestablish a PDU session.

In one possible design, when the processing unit 1102 determines that the terminal device with the PDU session is established and enables the capability of accessing the 4G network, the processing unit is specifically configured to receive, through the transceiver unit 1103, a PDU session update session management context request message from a mobility management network element, where the PDU session update session management context request message includes information about the capability of the terminal device with the PDU session established and supporting the capability of accessing the 4G network.

In yet another embodiment, the processing unit 1102 is configured to determine that a terminal device that establishes a protocol data unit PDU session is capable of enabling access to a 4G network, where the PDU session is established by the terminal device after the capability of the access 4G network is disabled; the processing unit 1102 is further configured to send a PDU session modification command message to the terminal device through the transceiver unit 1103, where the PDU session modification command message includes an EPS bearer context of the evolved packet system associated with the PDU session.

As shown in fig. 12, the embodiment of the present application further provides a session processing apparatus 1200, where the session processing apparatus 1200 includes a processor 1210 and a transceiver 1230, and may further include a memory 1220. In one possible design, the memory 1220 stores instructions or programs or data, and the memory 1220 may be used to implement the functions of the storage unit 1101 in the above embodiment. Processor 1210 is configured to read instructions or programs or data stored in memory 1220. When executed, the processor 1210 is configured to perform the operations performed by the processing unit 1102 in the above embodiment, and the transceiver 1230 is configured to perform the operations performed by the transceiver 1103 in the above embodiment.

The processor may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), a network processor (network processor, NP) or a combination of CPU and NP. The processor may further comprise a hardware chip or other general purpose processor. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (programmable logic device, PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (complex programmable logic device, CPLD), a field-programmable gate array field-programmable gate array (FPGA), general-purpose array logic (generic array logic, GAL), and other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and the like, or any combination thereof. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It should also be understood that the memory referred to in the embodiments of the present application may be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile Memory may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash Memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) which acts as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double Data Rate SDRAM (Double Data Rate SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

While preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. It is therefore intended that the following claims be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the application.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims and the equivalents thereof, the present application is intended to encompass such modifications and variations.

Claims

A session processing method, comprising:

after enabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, the terminal equipment sends a first message to a session management network element, wherein the first message comprises first indication information for distributing an associated Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearing context for a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, and the PDU session is established after the capability of the terminal equipment accessing the 4G network is disabled;

the terminal equipment receives a second message from the session management network element, wherein the second message comprises the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session.
The method of claim 1, wherein the EPS bearer context is allocated by the session management network element for the PDU session in accordance with the first indication information.
A session processing method, comprising:

A session management network element receives a first message from a terminal device, wherein the first message comprises first indication information for allocating an associated Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer context for a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, and the PDU session is established after the capability of the terminal device for accessing a 4G network is disabled;

and the session management network element sends a second message to the terminal equipment, wherein the second message comprises the EPS bearing context associated with the PDU session.
A method according to claim 3, wherein the EPS bearer context is allocated by the session management network element for the PDU session in accordance with the first indication information.
The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the PDU session associated EPS bearer context comprises EPS bearer parameters corresponding to a quality of service Qos flow of the PDU session, the EPS bearer parameters comprising at least one of:

EPS QoS parameters, traffic flow templates, access point name maximum bitrate aggregation, EPS bearer identification.
The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the first message is a PDU session modification request message.
The method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the second message is a PDU session modification command message.
A session processing method, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that after the terminal equipment enables the capability of accessing the 4G network, a protocol data unit PDU session is released, wherein the PDU session is established after the terminal equipment is disabled;

the terminal equipment sends PDU session establishment request information to a session management network element;

the terminal equipment receives a PDU (protocol data unit) session establishment acceptance message from a session management network element, wherein the PDU session establishment acceptance message comprises an EPS (evolved packet system) bearing context associated with the PDU session.
The method of claim 8, wherein the terminal device releases the PDU session after enabling the capability to access the 4G network, comprising:

the terminal equipment receives PDU session release command information from the session management network element;

and the terminal equipment releases the PDU session according to the PDU session release command message.
The method of claim 9, wherein the PDU session release command message includes second indication information for indicating the terminal device to re-establish a PDU session;

The terminal device sends PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element, including:

and the terminal equipment sends PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element according to the second indication information.
The method of claim 8, wherein the terminal device releases the PDU session after enabling the capability to access the 4G network, comprising:

the terminal equipment sends PDU session release request information to the session management network element;

the terminal equipment receives PDU session release command information from the session management network element;

and the terminal equipment releases the PDU session according to the PDU session release command message.
The method of claim 8, wherein the EPS bearer context is allocated by the session management network element for the PDU session.
The method of any of claims 8-12, wherein the PDU session associated EPS bearer context comprises EPS bearer parameters corresponding to a quality of service, qos, flow of the PDU session, the EPS bearer parameters comprising at least one of:

EPS QoS parameters, traffic flow templates, access point name maximum bitrate aggregation, EPS bearer identification.
A session processing method, comprising:

a session management network element determines that a terminal device with a protocol data unit PDU session established enables the capability of accessing a 4G network, wherein the PDU session is established after the capability of the terminal device accessing the 4G network is disabled;

and the session management network element sends a PDU session modification command message to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDU session modification command message comprises an EPS bearing context of the PDU session associated evolution packet system.
The method of claim 14, wherein the session management network element determining that the terminal device having the PDU session established enables the capability of accessing the 4G network comprises:

the session management network element receives a PDU session update session management context request message from a mobility management network element, the PDU session update session management context request message including information of the capability of the terminal device having the PDU session established to support access to a 4G network.
A session processing apparatus, comprising: a processing unit and a receiving and transmitting unit;

the processing unit is configured to send, after enabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, a first message to a session management network element through the transceiver unit, where the first message includes first indication information for allocating an associated evolved packet system EPS bearer context for a protocol data unit PDU session, where the PDU session is established after the capability of accessing the 4G network is disabled by the terminal device;

The processing unit is further configured to receive, through the transceiver unit, a second message from the session management network element, where the second message includes an EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session.
The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the EPS bearer context is allocated by the session management network element for the PDU session in accordance with the first indication information.
A session processing apparatus, comprising: a processing unit and a receiving and transmitting unit;

the processing unit is configured to receive, by the transceiver unit, a first message from a terminal device, where the first message includes first indication information for allocating an associated EPS bearer context for a PDU session, where the PDU session is established after a capability of the terminal device to access a 4G network is disabled;

the processing unit is further configured to send a second message to the terminal device through the transceiver unit, where the second message includes an EPS bearer context associated with the PDU session.
The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the EPS bearer context is allocated by the session management network element for the PDU session in accordance with the first indication information.
The apparatus of any of claims 16-19, wherein the PDU session associated EPS bearer context comprises EPS bearer parameters corresponding to a quality of service, qos, flow of the PDU session, the EPS bearer parameters comprising at least one of: EPS QoS parameters, traffic flow templates, access point name maximum bitrate aggregation, EPS bearer identification.
A session processing apparatus, comprising: a processing unit and a receiving and transmitting unit;

the processing unit is configured to release, after enabling the capability of accessing the 4G network, a protocol data unit PDU session through the transceiver unit, where the PDU session is established after the capability of the terminal device for accessing the 4G network is disabled;

the processing unit is further configured to send a PDU session establishment request message to a session management network element through the transceiver unit;

the processing unit is further configured to receive, through the transceiver unit, a PDU session establishment acceptance message from the session management network element, where the PDU session establishment acceptance message includes an EPS bearer context of the evolved packet system associated with the PDU session.
The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the processing unit is configured to receive, by the transceiver unit, a PDU session release order message from the session management network element when the PDU session is released by the transceiver unit after enabling the capability to access the 4G network; and releasing the PDU session according to the PDU session release command message.
The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the PDU session release command message includes second indication information for indicating the terminal device to re-establish a PDU session;

the processing unit is specifically configured to send a PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element according to the second indication information when the sending and receiving unit sends the PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element.
The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the processing unit is configured to send a PDU session release request message to the session management network element by the transceiver unit when the PDU session is released by the transceiver unit after enabling the capability to access the 4G network; receiving a PDU session release command message from the session management network element; and releasing the PDU session according to the PDU session release command message.
The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the EPS bearer context is allocated by the session management network element for the PDU session.
The apparatus of any of claims 21-25, wherein the PDU session associated EPS bearer context comprises EPS bearer parameters corresponding to a quality of service, qos, flow of the PDU session, the EPS bearer parameters comprising at least one of: EPS QoS parameters, traffic flow templates, access point name maximum bitrate aggregation, EPS bearer identification.
A session processing apparatus, comprising: a processing unit and a receiving and transmitting unit;

the processing unit is configured to determine that a terminal device that establishes a protocol data unit PDU session is capable of enabling access to a 4G network, where the PDU session is established after the terminal device is disabled from the capability of accessing the 4G network;

the processing unit is further configured to send a PDU session modification command message to the terminal device through the transceiver unit, where the PDU session modification command message includes an EPS bearer context of the evolved packet system associated with the PDU session.
The apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the processing unit is configured to receive, by the transceiver unit, a PDU session update session management context request message from a mobility management network element, the PDU session update session management context request message comprising information of the capability of the terminal device having the PDU session established to support access to the 4G network, when the terminal device having the protocol data unit PDU session established is determined to enable the capability of the terminal device to access the 4G network.
A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the storage medium has stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a session processing means, implements the method according to any of claims 1-2, or the method according to any of claims 3-7, or the method according to any of claims 8-13, or the method according to any of claims 14-15.
A chip, characterized in that the chip, when running, implements the method according to any one of claims 1-2, or implements the method according to any one of claims 3-7, or implements the method according to any one of claims 8-13, or implements the method according to any one of claims 14-15.