CN116546578A

CN116546578A - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN116546578A
Application number: CN202210095585.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 林玮健; 杨静; 何龙
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-01-26
Filing date: 2022-01-26
Publication date: 2023-08-04
Also published as: WO2023142632A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and a communication device. The method comprises the following steps: the mobility management network element sends a request message to the network slice selection function network element, wherein the request message is used for requesting slice information, and the slice information is used for indicating: slicing supported by the network element and/or slicing mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network; the mobility management network element receives a response message for the request message sent by the network slice selection function network element, wherein the response message is used for indicating slice information. By the technical scheme, the mobility management network element does not need to request the network slice selection function network element every time slice information is needed, and therefore impact on the network slice selection network element is reduced.

Description

Communication method and communication device

Technical Field

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

Background

In the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) standard, a network slice selection network element may provide a slice selection service and a slice availability service. Wherein the slice selection service is a mobility management network element providing the terminal device with slices supporting its request. The slice selective service is to provide a mobility management element (mobility function (NF) with a Tracking Area (TA) -based slice availability to the NF network element.

However, in the roaming scenario, each roaming user needs to request the network slice selection element for the slice mapping relationship of the home public land mobile network and its associated visited public land mobile network, which causes impact on the network slice selection element.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and a communication device, wherein the method can reduce impact on network slice selection network elements.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be performed by a mobility management network element, or may also be performed by a chip or a circuit for the mobility management network element, which is not limited in this application, and for convenience of description, an example will be described below as being performed by the mobility management network element.

The method comprises the following steps: the mobility management network element sends a request message to the network slice selection function network element, wherein the request message is used for requesting slice information, and the slice information is used for indicating: slicing supported by the network element and/or slicing mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network; the mobility management network element receives a response message for the request message sent by the network slice selection function network element, wherein the response message is used for indicating the slice information.

The mobility management network element may actively request the network element level slice information from the network slice selection function network element, i.e. the slice supported by the network element and/or the slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network. Therefore, the mobility management network element does not need to request the network slice selection function network element every time slice information is needed, and the impact on the network slice selection network element is reduced.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the request message includes: the identification of the network element set and/or the corresponding relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network; the slice information includes: the slice supported by the network element set and/or the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network; wherein the mobility management network element belongs to a network element in the network element set.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the request message is further configured to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element, where the uniform resource identifier is configured to send, after the slice information is updated, the updated slice information to the mobility management network element.

When the mobility management network element actively requests slice information from the network slice selection function network element, the network slice selection function network element is informed of a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element. Therefore, after the slice information of the network slice selection function network element side is updated, the network slice selection function network element can timely inform the mobility management network element of the updated slice information, and the situation that the mobility management network element cannot perceive the updated slice information is avoided. In this way, the slice information can be enabled to take effect faster, the effective time is shorter, and the slice information configured on the mobility management network element and the slice information configured by the network slice selection function network element are kept consistent without relying on manual operation.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: and the mobility management network element receives the updated slice information sent by the network slice selection function network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: the mobility management network element stores the slice information in the mobility management network element.

The mobile management network element stores the slice information in the mobile management network element, so that the subsequent mobile management network element can directly provide corresponding slice information for the roaming terminal equipment according to the slice information stored locally by the mobile management network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: the mobile management network element receives registration request information sent by roaming terminal equipment, wherein the registration request information is used for requesting registration to a network; the mobile management network element determines a target mapping relation according to the slice information, wherein the target mapping relation comprises the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment and the visited public land mobile network; and the mobility management network element sends registration acceptance information to the roaming terminal equipment, wherein the registration acceptance information is used for indicating the target mapping relation.

The mobility management network element can provide the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment for the roaming terminal equipment according to the registration request of the roaming terminal equipment and the locally stored slice information, so that the roaming terminal equipment can register to the corresponding network slice.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the determining, by the mobility management network element, a target mapping relationship according to the slice information includes: the mobile management network element determines a slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment and the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment; the mobility management network element determines the target mapping relation according to the mapping relation, the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, and the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the registration request information is further used to indicate an identifier of a slice corresponding to a home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device and an identifier of a visited public land mobile network corresponding to a home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, or the registration request information is further used to indicate an identifier of a home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, an identifier of a visited public land mobile network corresponding to a home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, and an identifier of a slice corresponding to a home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device.

In case the roaming terminal device knows the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network that it can access, the roaming terminal device can carry the identification of the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network that it can access in the registration request information to inform the mobility management network element. In this way, the mobility management network element can register the request information to directly determine the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, and further determine the slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, where the communication method may be performed by a network slice selection function network element, or may also be performed by a chip or a circuit for the network slice selection function network element, and this application is not limited thereto, and for convenience of description, description will be given below with an example of the execution by the network slice selection function network element.

The method comprises the following steps: the network slice selection function network element receives a request message sent by the mobility management network element, wherein the request message is used for requesting slice information, and the slice information is used for indicating: slicing supported by the network element and/or slicing mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network; the network slice selection function network element sends a response message for the request message to the mobility management network element, wherein the response message is used for indicating the slice information.

The network slice selection function network element sends the slice information of the network element level to the mobility management network element according to the initiative request of the mobility management network element, namely, the slice supported by the network element and/or the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network are sent to the mobility management network element. Therefore, the mobility management network element does not need to request the network slice selection function network element every time slice information is needed, and the impact on the network slice selection network element is reduced.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the request message includes: the identification of the network element set and/or the corresponding relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network; the slice information includes: a slice supported by the network element set and/or a slice mapping relationship of the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network; wherein the mobility management network element belongs to a network element in the network element set.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the request message is further configured to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element, where the uniform resource identifier is configured to send the updated slice information to the mobility management network element after the slice information is updated.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network slice selection function network element determines that the slice information is updated; and the network slice selection function network element sends the updated slice information to the mobility management network element according to the uniform resource identifier.

When the mobility management network element actively requests slice information from the network slice selection function network element, the network slice selection function network element is informed of a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element. Thus, when the network slice selection function network element side determines that the slice information is updated, the network slice selection function network element can timely inform the mobility management network element of the updated slice information, and the situation that the mobility management network element cannot perceive the updated slice information is avoided.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: and the network slice selection function network element acquires the slice information according to the request message.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network slice selection function network element configures the slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network, which is not acquired, as a preset slice mapping relationship.

The network slice selection function network element configures the slice mapping relation between the unobtained home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network as a preset slice mapping relation, so that each slice corresponding to each home public land mobile network can be ensured to have the slice mapping relation in each visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network.

In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be performed by a mobility management network element, or may also be performed by a chip or a circuit for a mobility management network element, which is not limited in this application, and for convenience of description, an example will be described below as being performed by the mobility management network element.

The method comprises the following steps: the mobile management network element sends a request message to a network slice selection function network element, wherein the request message is used for indicating a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobile management network element, and the uniform resource identifier is used for sending updated slice information to the mobile management network element after the slice information is updated; and the mobility management network element receives the updated slice information sent by the network slice selection function network element.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the slice information is used to indicate: and the slice supported by the network element set and/or the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be performed by a network slice selection function network element, or may also be performed by a chip or a circuit for a network slice selection function network element, which is not limited in this application, and for convenience of description, an example will be described below as being performed by the network slice selection function network element.

The method comprises the following steps: the network slice selection function network element receives a request message sent by a mobility management network element, wherein the request message is used for indicating a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element, and the uniform resource identifier is used for sending updated slice information to the mobility management network element after the slice information is updated; the network slice selection function network element determines that the slice information is updated; and the network slice selection function network element sends the updated slice information to the mobility management network element according to the uniform resource identifier.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the slice information is used to indicate: and the slice supported by the network element set and/or the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a mobility management network element, or a chip or a circuit of the mobility management network element, which is not limited in this application, and for convenience of description, the mobility management network element is described below as an example.

The communication device includes: a transceiver unit, configured to send a request message to a network slice selection function network element, where the request message is used to request slice information, and the slice information is used to indicate: slicing supported by the network element and/or slicing mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network; the receiving and transmitting unit is further configured to receive a response message for the request message sent by the network slice selection function network element, where the response message is used to indicate the slice information.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the request message includes: identification of a set of network elements and/or correspondence of the home public land mobile network supported by the communication device with the visited public land mobile network; the slice information includes: a slice supported by the set of network elements and/or a slice mapping relationship of the home public land mobile network supported by the communication device and the visited public land mobile network; wherein the communication device belongs to a network element in the network element set.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the request message is further configured to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the communication device, where the uniform resource identifier is configured to send the updated slice information to the communication device after the slice information is updated.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive updated slice information sent from the network slice selection function network element.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the communication apparatus further includes: and the processing unit is used for storing the slice information in the communication device.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive registration request information sent from a roaming terminal device, where the registration request information is used to request registration to a network; the processing unit is further configured to determine a target mapping relationship according to the slice information, where the target mapping relationship includes a slice mapping relationship between a home public land mobile network and a visited public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device; the receiving and transmitting unit is further configured to send registration acceptance information to the roaming terminal device, where the registration acceptance information is used to indicate the target mapping relationship.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the fifth aspect, the processing unit is further specifically configured to: determining a slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment and the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment; and determining the target mapping relation according to the mapping relation, the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment and the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the registration request information is further used to indicate an identifier of a slice corresponding to a home public land mobile network of a roaming terminal device and an identifier of a visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, or the registration request information is further used to indicate an identifier of a home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, an identifier of a visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, and an identifier of a slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a network slice selection function network element, or a chip or a circuit of the network slice selection function network element, which is not limited in this application, and for convenience of description, the network slice selection function network element is described below as an example.

The communication device includes: a transceiver unit, configured to receive a request message sent from a mobility management network element, where the request message is used to request slice information, and the slice information is used to indicate: slicing supported by the network element and/or slicing mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network; the transceiver unit is further configured to send a response message for the request message to the mobility management network element, where the response message is used to indicate the slice information.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the request message includes: the identification of the network element set and/or the corresponding relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network; the slice information includes: a slice supported by the network element set and/or a slice mapping relationship of the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network; wherein the mobility management network element belongs to a network element in the network element set;

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the request message is further configured to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element, where the uniform resource identifier is configured to send the updated slice information to the mobility management network element after the slice information is updated.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the communication apparatus further includes: a processing unit for determining that the slice information has been updated; and the receiving and transmitting unit is further configured to send the updated slice information to the mobility management network element according to the uniform resource identifier.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the sixth aspect, the processing unit is further configured to obtain the slice information according to the request message.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the sixth aspect, the processing unit is further configured to configure a slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network that is not acquired as a preset slice mapping relationship.

In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a mobility management network element, or a chip or a circuit of the mobility management network element, which is not limited in this application, and for convenience of description, the mobility management network element is described below as an example.

The communication device includes: a transceiver unit, configured to send a request message to a network slice selection function network element, where the request message is configured to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the communication device, and the uniform resource identifier is configured to send updated slice information to the communication device after the slice information is updated; the receiving and transmitting unit is further configured to receive updated slice information sent by the network slice selection function network element.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the slice information is used to indicate: the slice supported by the network element set and/or the slice mapping relationship of the home public land mobile network supported by the communication device and the visited public land mobile network.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a network slice selection function network element, or a chip or a circuit of the network slice selection function network element, which is not limited in this application, and for convenience of description, the network slice selection function network element is described below as an example.

The communication device includes: a transceiver unit, configured to receive a request message sent from a mobility management network element, where the request message is configured to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element, and the uniform resource identifier is configured to send updated slice information to the mobility management network element after the slice information is updated; a processing unit for determining that the slice information has been updated; and the receiving and transmitting unit is further configured to send the updated slice information to the mobility management network element according to the uniform resource identifier.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the slice information is used to indicate: and the slice supported by the network element set and/or the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network.

A ninth aspect provides a communication device for performing the communication method of any one of the possible implementations of the first or third aspects.

In particular, the apparatus may comprise means and/or modules, such as a processing unit and/or a transceiver unit, for performing the communication method provided by any of the above implementations of the first or third aspect.

The apparatus may be a mobility management network element. When the device is a mobility management network element, the transceiver unit may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface; the processing unit may be at least one processor. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided for performing the communication method in any one of the possible implementations of the second or fourth aspect.

In particular, the apparatus may comprise means and/or modules, such as a processing unit and/or a transceiver unit, for performing the communication method provided by any of the above-mentioned implementations of the second or fourth aspect.

The apparatus may select a functional network element for the network slice. When the device selects a functional network element for the network slice, the transceiver unit may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface; the processing unit may be at least one processor. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

An eleventh aspect provides a communication apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a memory for storing a program; at least one processor configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in a memory, in a communication method according to any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect or the third aspect.

The apparatus may be a mobility management network element.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising: a memory for storing a program; at least one processor configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in a memory to perform a communication method according to any one of the possible implementations of the second or fourth aspect.

The apparatus may select a functional network element for the network slice.

In a thirteenth aspect, a processor is provided for performing the communication method in any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

The operations such as transmitting and acquiring/receiving, etc. related to the processor may be understood as operations such as outputting and receiving, inputting, etc. by the processor, or may be understood as operations such as transmitting and receiving by the radio frequency circuit and the antenna, if not specifically stated, or if not contradicted by actual function or inherent logic in the related description, which is not limited in this application.

In a fourteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions) which, when executed, causes a computer to perform the communication method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

In a fifteenth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, storing a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions) which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the communication method in any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

In a sixteenth aspect, there is provided a chip system comprising: a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, so that a communication device on which the chip system is installed performs the communication method in any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

Optionally, as an implementation manner, the chip further includes a memory, where a computer program or an instruction is stored, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program or the instruction stored on the memory, and when the computer program or the instruction is executed, the processor is configured to perform the communication method in any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect to the ninth aspect.

Seventeenth aspect, a communication system is provided, including a mobility management network element and a network slice selection function network element; wherein the mobility management network element is configured to perform the communication method in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, and the network slice selection function network element is configured to perform the communication method in any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect; or, the mobility management network element is configured to perform the communication method in any one of the possible implementation manners of the third aspect, and the network slice selection function network element is configured to perform the communication method in any one of the possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary communication system provided in the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of an example of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of another example communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of another example of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of another example of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

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

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of another example communication apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: global system for mobile communications (Global System of Mobile communication, GSM), code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) systems, general packet Radio service (General Packet Radio Service, GPRS), long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (Frequency Division Duplex, FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (Time Division Duplex, TDD), universal mobile telecommunications system (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, wiMAX) communication systems, future fifth generation (5th Generation,5G) systems or New Radio, NR) systems, and the like.

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system to which the present application may be applied. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a servitization architecture. The 5G network architecture shown in fig. 1 may include three parts, namely a terminal device part, a Data Network (DN) part, and an operator network part. Wherein the operator network may comprise one or more of the following network elements: a (radio) access network (R) AN device, a user plane network element, a mobility management network element, a session management network element, a policy control network element, AN application function network element, a network slice selection network element, AN authentication service network element, a data management network element, a network slice, and AN authentication authorization function (nsaaf) network element of a stand-alone non-public network (SNPN).

The following briefly describes the devices shown in fig. 1:

1. terminal equipment: may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment.

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

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

In addition, in the embodiment of the application, the terminal device may also be a terminal device in an internet of things (internet of things, ioT) system, and the IoT is an important component of future information technology development, and the main technical characteristic of the terminal device is that the article is connected with a network through a communication technology, so that an intelligent network for man-machine interconnection and internet of things interconnection is realized.

2. (R) AN: the network access function is provided for the terminal equipment, and the transmission tunnels with different qualities can be used according to the level of the user, the service requirement and the like. The access network may be an access network employing different access technologies. There are two types of current radio access technologies: 3GPP access technologies (e.g., radio access technologies employed in 3G, 4G, or 5G systems) and non-3GPP (non-3 GPP) access technologies. The 3GPP access technology refers to an access technology conforming to the 3GPP standard specification, for example, access network devices in a 5G system are referred to as next generation base station nodes (next generation Node Base station, gNB). The non-3GPP access technology refers to an access technology that does not conform to the 3GPP standard specification, for example, a null interface technology represented by an Access Point (AP) in wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wiFi).

An access network implementing access network functions based on wireless communication technology may be referred to as a radio access network (radio access network, RAN). The radio access network can manage radio resources, provide access service for the terminal, and further complete the forwarding of control signals and user data between the terminal and the core network.

Access network devices include, for example, but are not limited to: a next generation base station (G nodeB, gNB), evolved node B (eNB), radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), node B (NB), base station controller (base station controller, BSC), base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved nodeB, or home node B, HNB), baseBand unit (BBU), transmission point (transmitting and receiving point, TRP), transmission point (transmitting point, TP), mobile switching center, and the like in 5G. The access network device may also be a wireless controller in the context of a cloud wireless access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN), or the access network device may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle device, a wearable device, a network device in a future 5G network or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network, etc. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific technology and the specific equipment form adopted by the wireless access network equipment.

3. User plane network element: is a gateway provided by the operator and is a gateway for the operator network to communicate with the DN. The user plane network element comprises the functions related to the user plane such as data packet routing and transmission, packet detection, service usage reporting, quality of service (quality of service, qoS) processing, lawful interception, uplink packet detection, downlink data packet storage and the like.

In a 5G communication system, the user plane element may be a user plane function (user plane function, UPF) element, and in a future communication system, such as 6G, the user plane element may still be a UPF element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application.

4. DN: the network is located outside the operator network, the operator network can be accessed to a plurality of DNs, a plurality of services can be deployed on the DNs, and services such as data and/or voice can be provided for the terminal equipment. For example, the DN is a private network of an intelligent plant, the sensors installed in the plant of the intelligent plant may be terminal devices, a control server of the sensors is disposed in the DN, and the control server may serve the sensors. The sensor may communicate with the control server, obtain instructions from the control server, transmit collected sensor data to the control server, etc., according to the instructions. For another example, DN is an internal office network of a company, where a mobile phone or a computer of an employee of the company may be a terminal device, and the mobile phone or the computer of the employee may access information, data resources, etc. on the internal office network of the company.

5. Mobility management network element: the method is mainly used for mobility management, access management and the like, such as user location updating, user registration network, user switching and the like. For example, the mobility management network element may receive non-access stratum (NAS) signaling (including mobility management (mobility management, MM) signaling and session management (session management, SM) signaling) of the terminal device and related signaling of the access network device (e.g., base station granularity N2 signaling that interacts with the mobility management network element), and complete the registration procedure of the user and forwarding of the SM signaling and mobility management. The mobility management network element may also be used to implement other functions in the mobility management entity (mobility management entity, MME) than session management. Such as lawful interception, or access authorization (or authentication), etc.

In a 5G communication system, the mobility management element may be an access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) element, and in future communication systems, such as the sixth generation (the 6th generation,6G) communication system, the mobility management element may still be an AMF element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application.

6. Session management network element: a control plane network element provided by the operator network is responsible for managing protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) sessions of the terminal device. A PDU session is a channel for transmitting PDUs, and the terminal device needs to transmit PDUs to each other through the PDU session and DN. The PDU session is responsible for establishment, maintenance, deletion, etc. by the SMF network element. Session management network elements include session-related functions such as session establishment, modification and release, including tunnel maintenance between user plane network elements and access network devices, selection and control of user plane network elements, traffic and session continuity (Service and Session Continuity, SSC) mode selection, roaming, etc.

In a 5G communication system, the session management network element may be a session management function (session management function, SMF) network element, and in a future communication system, such as 6G, the session management network element may still be an SMF network element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application.

7. Policy control network element: a control plane function provided by the operator for providing the policy of the PDU session to the session management network element. Policies may include charging related policies, qoS related policies, and authorization related policies, among others.

In a 5G communication system, the policy control element may be a PCF element, and in a future communication system, such as 6G, the policy control element may still be a policy control function (policy control function, PCF) element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application.

8. Application network element: for delivering the demands of the application side on the network side, e.g. QoS demands or user status event subscriptions, etc. The application network element may be a third party functional entity or an application server deployed by an operator.

In a 5G communication system, the application network element may be an application function (application function, AF) network element, and in a future communication system, such as 6G, the application network element may still be an AF network element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application.

9. Network slice selection network element: is responsible for the selection of network slices.

In a 5G communication system, the application network element may be a network slice selection function (network slice selection function, NSSF) network element, and in a future communication system, such as 6G, the application network element may still be a NSSF network element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application.

10. Authentication service network element: belongs to a core network control plane network element and is mainly responsible for authenticating and authorizing a user to ensure that the user is a legal user.

In a 5G communication system, the authentication service element may be an authentication service function (authentication server function, AUSF) element, and in a future communication system, such as 6G, the authentication service element may still be an AUSF element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application.

11. Data management network element: the control plane network element provided by the operator is responsible for storing information such as a user permanent identifier (subscriber permanent identifier, SUPI), a credentials (security context), subscription data, etc. of the signing user in the operator network. This information stored by the data management network element may be used for authentication and authorization of the terminal device to access the operator network. The subscriber of the operator network may be a subscriber using a service provided by the operator network, for example, a subscriber using a mobile phone core card of chinese telecommunication, or a subscriber using a mobile phone core card of chinese mobile. The SUPI of the subscriber may be the number of the mobile phone card, etc. The credentials and security context of the subscriber may be a small file stored in the encryption key of the mobile phone core card or information related to the encryption of the mobile phone core card, for authentication and/or authorization. The security context may be data (cookie) or token (token) stored on the user's local terminal (e.g., handset), etc. The subscription data of the subscriber can be the matched service of the mobile phone core card, such as the flow package of the mobile phone core card or the use network. It should be noted that, in this application, the permanent identifier, the credentials, the security context, the authentication data (cookie), and the information related to authentication and authorization such as the token are not distinguished or limited for convenience of description. Unless specifically stated, embodiments of the present application will be described using security contexts as examples, but embodiments of the present application are equally applicable to authentication, and/or authorization information in other expressions.

In a 5G communication system, the data management network element may be a unified data management (unified data management, UDM) network element, and in a future communication system, such as 6G, the data management network element may still be a UDM network element, or have other names, which are not limited in this application.

12. NSSAAF: the method is mainly used for network slicing, authentication and authorization of independent non-public networks and the like.

It should be noted that in other systems, for example, future communication systems such as 6G, NSSAAF may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

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

In the architecture shown in fig. 1, devices may communicate through an interface shown in the figure. As shown in fig. 1, a Next generation Network (NG) 1 interface (abbreviated as N1 interface) is a reference point between a terminal device and a mobility management network element, and is used for transmission of registration request information and registration acceptance information; the N22 interface is a reference point between the mobility management network element and the network element with the network slice selection function, and is used for transmitting slice information and the like. In addition, the relationship between other interfaces and devices is shown in fig. 1, and is not described in detail here for brevity.

In fig. 1, N2, N3, N4, N5, N6, N7, N8, N9, N10, N11, N12, N13, N14, N15, N22, N58, etc. are interface serial numbers. The meaning of these interface serial numbers may be found in the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) standard protocol, and is not limited herein.

Note that, the names of the respective devices and the communication interfaces between the devices in fig. 1 are described simply by taking the example specified in the current protocol as an example, but the embodiments of the present application are not limited to being applied to the currently known communication system. Therefore, the standard names appearing when describing the present protocol as an example are all functional descriptions, and the specific names of the devices, interfaces or signaling and the like are not limited, only the functions of the devices, interfaces or signaling are represented, and the functions can be correspondingly expanded into other systems, such as 2G, 3G, 4G or future communication systems.

The architecture to which the embodiment of the present application shown in fig. 1 can be applied is merely an example, and the architecture to which the embodiment of the present application is applied is not limited to this, and any architecture capable of implementing the functions of the respective devices described above is applicable to the embodiment of the present application.

It should also be understood that the above designations are merely defined to facilitate distinguishing between different functions and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way. The present application does not exclude the possibility of employing other naming in 5G networks as well as other networks in the future. For example, in a 6G network, some or all of the above devices may follow the terminology in 5G, other names may also be used, etc. The names of interfaces between the devices in fig. 1 are only an example, and the names of interfaces in the specific implementation may be other names, which are not specifically limited in this application. Furthermore, the names of the transmitted messages (or signaling) between the above-described respective devices are also merely an example, and do not constitute any limitation on the functions of the messages themselves.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of an example of a roaming user registering with a network according to an embodiment of the present application.

For example, as shown in fig. 2, the procedure for registering a roaming user (roaming user equipment) to a network includes the steps of:

s1, an access network device sends a registration request message to a mobility management network element. Accordingly, the mobility management network element receives the registration request message sent by the access network device.

Wherein the registration request message is used for requesting registration to the mobility management network element. The registration request message includes slice information of the home public land mobile network that the user wants to use.

S2, the mobile management network element sends a slicing request message to the data management network element. Correspondingly, the data management network element receives the slice request message sent by the mobility management network element.

The slice request message is used for requesting the slice information signed by the roaming user. The slice information subscribed by the roaming user is used to indicate the slice of the operator subscribed by the subscriber identity (subscriber identity module, SIM) card of the user (terminal equipment), so to speak, the slice information subscribed by the roaming user is used to indicate the slice of the home public land mobile network of the user (terminal equipment).

And S3, the data management network element sends a slicing response message to the mobility management network element. Correspondingly, the mobility management network element receives the slice response message sent by the data management network element.

The slice response message includes slice information signed by the roaming user.

S4, the mobile management network element sends a slice mapping relation request message to the network slice selection function network element. Correspondingly, the network slice selection function network element receives a slice mapping relation request message sent by the mobility management network element.

The slice mapping relation request message is used for requesting slice information of the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the slice information signed by the roaming user.

S5, the network element of the network slice selection function sends a slice mapping relation response message to the mobile management network element. Correspondingly, the mobility management network element receives the slice mapping relation response message sent by the network slice selection function network element.

The slice request message includes a mapping relationship between slice information signed by the roaming user and slice information of the visited public land mobile network.

For example, if the operator to which the SIM card is subscribed is operator 1, i.e. the terminal device equipped with the SIM card may access the network provided by operator 1. If there is no network deployed by the operator 1 in a certain area, there is a network provided by the operator 2, and the terminal device equipped with the SIM card can access the network provided by the operator 2. At this time, the terminal device with the SIM card is a roaming terminal device, the network provided by the operator 1 is the home public land mobile network of the terminal device, and the network provided by the operator 2 is the visited public land mobile network of the terminal device.

S6, the mobile management network element sends a slice selection request message to the network slice selection function network element. Correspondingly, the network slice selection function network element receives a slice selection request message sent by the mobility management network element.

Wherein the slice selection request message is used for requesting a slice supported by the mobility management network element among slices indicated by slice information of the visited public land mobile network of the roaming user.

S7, the network slice selection function network element sends a slice selection response message to the mobility management network element. Correspondingly, the mobility management network element receives a slice selection response message sent by the network slice selection function network element.

Wherein the slice selection response message is used to indicate slice information supported by the mobility management network element in the slice indicated by the slice information of the visited public land mobile network of the roaming user.

After S7, the access network device, the mobility management network element, the data management network element, and the network slice selection function network element perform a registration procedure.

After the registration procedure is completed, the mobility management network element performs S8.

And S8, the mobility management network element sends a registration acceptance message to the access network equipment. Accordingly, the access network device receives the registration acceptance message sent by the mobility management network element.

The registration acceptance message carries the slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network which can be used by the roaming user in the current network and the visited public land mobile network, and the configured slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network which can be used by the roaming user and the visited public land mobile network.

As can be seen from S4 described above, the mobility management network element needs to invoke the slice selection service of the network element with the network slice selection function to complete the slice mapping of the roaming user. As known from S6 described above, the mobility management element also needs to invoke the slice selection service of the network slice selection function element to complete the slice selection of the roaming user. This can impact the performance of the network slice selection function network element.

Therefore, the embodiment of the application provides a communication method, through which the mobility management network element can firstly acquire the slice supported by the network element and/or the slice mapping relation. Thus, when the roaming user makes a registration request, the mobility management network element can complete the registration process according to the local slice information and the slice mapping relation. The network slice selection function network element is not required to be requested for slice selection and slice mapping every time, and the impact on the performance of the network slice selection function network element is reduced. When the non-roaming user makes a registration request, the mobility management network element can make a slice selection according to the slice supported by the locally stored network element. Therefore, the network element with the network slice selection function is not required to be requested for slice selection every time, and the impact on the performance of the network element with the network slice selection function is reduced.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of an example communication method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

For example, as shown in fig. 3, the method 200 includes:

s210, the mobility management network element sends a request message to the network slice selection function network element. Accordingly, the network slice selection function network element receives the request message sent by the mobility management network element.

Wherein the request message is used for requesting slice information.

Illustratively, slice information is used to indicate: and/or a slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network.

It should be noted that a slice supported by a network element may be understood as a slice supported by one or more network elements, for example, a slice supported by a network element may be understood as a slice supported by one or more mobility management network elements. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

Illustratively, the slices supported by the network element include slices corresponding to the home public land mobile network and/or slices corresponding to the visited public land mobile network, which are not limited in this embodiment.

It should be noted that, the slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network may be understood as a slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by one or more network elements and the visited public land mobile network, for example, the slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network may be understood as a slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by one or more mobility management network elements and the visited public land mobile network. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

The slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network can be understood as: and the mapping relation between the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network.

In embodiments of the present application, the home public land mobile network may correspond to one or more slices. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard. For example, if the home public land mobile network is a network provided by the operator 1, the slice corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 is slice 1, or the slice corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 is slice 1 and slice 1'.

In embodiments of the present application, the visited public land mobile network may correspond to one or more slices. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard. For example, if the public land mobile network corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 is the network provided by the operator 2, the slice corresponding to the network provided by the operator 2 is slice 2, or the slice corresponding to the network provided by the operator 2 is slice 2, slice 2' and slice 2".

In the embodiment of the present application, a slice corresponding to a home public land mobile network may correspond to a slice corresponding to a visited public land mobile network. The slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network may correspond to the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network and may be understood as the slice mapping relationship described above.

For example, if the home public land mobile network is a network provided by the operator 1, the slice corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 is slice 1. And the public land mobile network corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 is the network provided by the operator 2, and the slice corresponding to the network provided by the operator 2 is the slice 2. Then, the slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network is the mapping relationship between the slice 1 corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 and the slice 2 corresponding to the network provided by the operator 2.

In some embodiments, the request message includes: the identity of the network element set and/or the correspondence of the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set with the visited public land mobile network. The slice information includes: and/or a slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network. Wherein the mobility management network element belongs to a network element in the network element set.

The number of network elements included in the network element set is not limited in the embodiment of the present application, as long as the network element set includes the mobility management network element.

Illustratively, the identification of the Set of network elements may follow the identification of existing AMF sets.

It should be noted that the slice supported by the network element set includes a slice supported by each network element in the network element set.

Illustratively, the slices supported by each network element include slices corresponding to the home public land mobile network and/or slices corresponding to the visited public land mobile network, which are not limited in this embodiment.

For example, if the home public land mobile network is a network provided by the operator 1, the public land mobile network corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 may be a network provided by the operator 2.

In embodiments of the present application, a home public land mobile network may correspond to one or more visited public land mobile networks. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

In some embodiments, the correspondence of the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set with the visited public land mobile network may be carried in the request message in the form of a list.

S220, the network slice selection function network element sends a response message to the mobility management network element for the request message. Correspondingly, the mobility management network element receives a response message sent by the network slice selection function network element.

Illustratively, the response message is used to indicate slice information.

If the request message in S210 does not include: the identification of the network element set and/or the correspondence between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network, then the slice information in the response message in S220 includes: and/or a slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network.

If the request message in S210 includes: the identification of the network element set and/or the correspondence between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network, then the slice information in the response message in S220 includes: and/or a slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network.

The slice supported by the network element set included in the slice information in the response message in S220 includes a slice supported by each network element in the network element set.

In some embodiments, the slices supported by the set of network elements may be carried in the response message in the form of a list. For example, the list may include a mapping of each network element in the set of network elements to the slices supported by each network element. In some embodiments, the slice mapping relationship of the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network may also be carried in the response message in the form of a list.

In some embodiments, if the network slice selection function network element configures the slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network that is not acquired as the preset slice mapping relationship. In this way, it can be ensured that each slice corresponding to each home public land mobile network has a slice mapping relationship in its corresponding visited public land mobile network.

In some embodiments, the slice mapping relationship of the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network may be carried in the response message in the form of a list.

The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific forms of the list. For example, as shown in tables 1 and 2, examples of both lists are shown. It should be understood that tables 1 and 2 are only two examples, which should not be limiting to the present application.

TABLE 1

Slicing corresponding to home public land mobile network	Slice corresponding to visited public land mobile network
		Operator 1 provided network corresponding slice 1	Operator 2 provided network corresponding slice 2
Network-corresponding slice 1 'provided by operator 1'	Operator 2 provided network corresponding slice 2'
		Network-corresponding slice 1 "provided by operator 1"	Network-corresponding slice 5 'provided by operator 5'
Network-corresponding slice 4 provided by operator 4	Network-corresponding slice 5 provided by operator 5

TABLE 2

In some embodiments, the request message described in S210 above may be a subscription request message. The response request message described in S220 above may be a subscription response message. Alternatively, at this time, S210 and S220 may multiplex the related flows of subscription (nnssf_nssaiaivailability_subsribe) among the slice availability flows. This saves signaling overhead.

In other embodiments, the request message described in S210 above may be a get request message. The response request message described in S220 above may be a subscription response message. Alternatively, at this time, S210 may multiplex the related procedure of get, and S220 may multiplex the related procedure of subscription (nnssf_nssaiaivailability_subscience) in the slice availability procedure. This saves signaling overhead.

In still other embodiments, the request message described in S210 above may be a newly added request message. The response request message described in S220 may be a newly added response message.

In the method 200, the mobility management element may actively request the network slice selection function element for slice information at the network element level, that is, a slice supported by the network element and/or a slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network. Therefore, the mobility management network element does not need to request the network slice selection function network element every time slice information is needed, and the impact on the network slice selection network element is reduced.

Optionally, in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, the method 200 further comprises:

and S230, the mobile management network element stores slice information, namely the mobile management network element stores the slice information in the mobile management network element. In this way, the subsequent mobility management network element can directly provide corresponding slice information for the roaming terminal device according to the slice information locally stored by the mobility management network element.

In case the roaming terminal device wants to register to the network, for example, as shown in fig. 4, the roaming terminal device may perform S240.

S240, the roaming terminal device sends registration request information to the mobility management network element. Accordingly, the mobility management network element receives the registration request information sent from the roaming terminal device.

Wherein the registration request information is used to request registration to the network. Registration with the network may be understood as one or more network slices registered with the mobility management network element.

In one example, the registration request information is further used to indicate an identity of a home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device and an identity of a visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device.

The number of the identities of the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment indicated by the registration request information is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that, if the registration request information indicates the identity of the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the one or more roaming terminal devices, the registration request information may be considered as being used to request registration to one or more network slices.

In another example, if the roaming terminal device knows the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network that is accessible to itself, the roaming terminal device may indicate, in the registration request information, the identity of the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device in addition to the identity of the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device. I.e. the registration request information is also used to indicate the identity of the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, the identity of the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, and the identity of the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device. Thus, the mobile management network element can obtain the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment according to the registration request information.

The number of the identifiers of the slices corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment indicated by the registration request information is not limited.

It should be noted that, if the registration request information indicates the identification of the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the one or more roaming terminal devices, the registration request information may be considered as being used to request registration to the one or more network slices.

In one example, the registration request information may directly include an identity of the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device and an identity of a visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device.

In another example, the registration request information may include a subscriber hidden identifier (subscription concealed identifier, sui) including an identity of the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device and an identity of a visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device. According to the SUCI, the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment and the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment can be obtained.

After the mobility management network element receives the registration request message, S250 may be performed.

S250, the mobile management network element determines a target mapping relation according to the slice information.

The target mapping relation comprises a slice mapping relation between a home public land mobile network accessible by the roaming terminal equipment and a visited public land mobile network.

Specifically, first, the mobility management network element determines a slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, and a visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device. Secondly, the mobile management network element determines the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment according to the mapping relation, the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment and the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment. And finally, the mobile management network element determines the slice which can be accessed by the roaming terminal equipment from the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, and determines the slice mapping relation related to the slice which can be accessed by the roaming terminal equipment as a target mapping relation.

The mobility management network element may determine the slice accessible by the roaming terminal device from the slices corresponding to the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device according to the slices supported by the network element set, or the slices supported by the network element set and the geographical area where the roaming terminal device is located.

At this time, the slice accessible by the roaming terminal device is both the slice that the roaming terminal device requests registration and the slice supported by the mobility management network element.

For example, if the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device is the network provided by the operator 1, the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device is the network provided by the operator 2, and the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device is the slice 1 corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1, then the slice corresponding to the network provided by the operator 2 corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 is the slice 2 according to the mapping relation described in, for example, table 1. If the mobility management network element determines that the roaming terminal device can access the slice 2 according to the slice supported by the network element set and the geographical area where the roaming terminal device is located, the mapping relationship between the slice 1 corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 and the slice 2 corresponding to the network provided by the operator 2 is the target mapping relationship.

For another example, if the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device includes a network provided by the operator 1, the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device includes a network provided by the operator 2, and the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device is the slice 1 corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 and the slice 1' corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1, then the slice corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 and the slice corresponding to the network provided by the operator 2 is the slice 2, and the slice corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 and the slice corresponding to the network provided by the operator 2' is the slice 2' according to the mapping relationship described in, for example, table 1. If the mobility management network element determines that the mobility management network element supports only the slice 2' according to the slices supported by the network element set, the mapping relationship between the slice 1' corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 and the slice 2' corresponding to the network provided by the operator 2 is the target mapping relationship.

For another example, if the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device includes a network provided by operator 1, the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device includes a network provided by operator 2 and a network provided by operator 5, and the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device is slice 1 corresponding to the network provided by operator 1, then, according to the mapping relationship described in, for example, table 1, the slice corresponding to the network provided by operator 1 corresponds to the slice corresponding to the network provided by operator 2 is slice 2, and the slice corresponding to the network provided by operator 1 "corresponds to the slice corresponding to the network provided by operator 5 is slice 5'. If the mobility management network element determines that the mobility management network element supports both the slice 2 'and the slice 5' according to the slices supported by the network element set, the mapping relationship between the slice 1 'corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 and the slice 2' corresponding to the network provided by the operator 2 and the mapping relationship between the slice 11 'corresponding to the network provided by the operator 1 and the slice 5' corresponding to the network provided by the operator 5 are the target mapping relationship.

In the case where the registration request information indicates only the identity of the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device and the identity of the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, the mobility management network element needs to determine a slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device before determining the target mapping relationship. For example, the mobility management network element may first determine the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device based on the registration request information. Then, the mobility management network element obtains the section signed by the roaming terminal equipment according to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, and at the moment, the section signed by the roaming terminal equipment is the section corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment. The slice subscribed by the roaming terminal device can be understood as a slice which is allowed to be used by the roaming terminal device by the home public land mobile network.

In an embodiment of the present application, the target mapping relationship may include a mapping relationship between a slice corresponding to a home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device and a slice corresponding to one or more visited public land mobile networks. Alternatively, the target mapping relationship may include a mapping relationship of each of a plurality of slices corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device with one slice corresponding to one or more visited public land mobile networks. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

In one example, if the slice information in the response message involved in S220 includes the slice supported by the network element set and does not include the slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network, the mobility management network element needs to request, from the network slice selection function network element, the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device before determining the target mapping relationship.

For example, the mobility management network element sends the identifier of the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, the identifier of the visited public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device and the identifier of the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device to the network slice selection function network element, and the network slice selection function network element determines the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device according to the identifier of the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, the identifier of the visited public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device and the identifier of the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, and sends the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network of the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device to the mobility management network element.

In another example, if the slice information in the response message involved in S220 includes the slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network and does not include the slice supported by the network element, before determining the target mapping relationship, the mobility management network element needs to request the network slice selection function network element to determine whether the mobility management network element supports the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device from the network slice selection function network element.

For example, the mobility management network element sends the identification of the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device determined by itself to the network slice selection function network element. Then, the network slice selecting function network element determines whether the mobility management network element supports the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, and the determined result information is sent to the mobility management network element. And under the condition that the result information indicates that the mobile management network element supports the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, the mobile management network element determines the slice mapping relationship corresponding to the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment as a target mapping relationship.

In case the mobility management network element determines in S250 that there is an accessible slice for the roaming terminal device, the mobility management network element may also perform S260.

And S260, the mobility management network element sends registration acceptance information to the roaming terminal equipment. Accordingly, the roaming terminal device receives the registration acceptance information sent by the mobility management network element.

The registration acceptance information is used for indicating the target mapping relation.

Through S240 to S260, the mobility management network element may provide the roaming terminal device with a slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device according to the registration request of the roaming terminal device and the locally stored slice information, so that the roaming terminal device may register with a corresponding network slice. Thus, when the roaming terminal equipment carries out the registration request, the mobility management network element can complete the registration flow according to the local slice information and the slice mapping relation. The network slice selection function network element is not required to be requested for slice selection and slice mapping every time, and the impact on the performance of the network slice selection function network element is reduced.

In case the non-roaming terminal device wants to register with the network and the slice information described above comprises slices supported by the network element, S240 to S260 described above can also be replaced by S240 'to S260'.

And S240', the non-roaming terminal equipment sends registration request information to the mobility management network element. Accordingly, the mobility management network element receives the registration request information sent from the non-roaming terminal device.

In one example, the registration request information is also used to indicate an identity of a home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device.

In another example, if the non-roaming terminal device knows the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network that is accessible to itself, the non-roaming terminal device may indicate, in the registration request information, the identity of the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device in addition to the identity of the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device. I.e. the registration request information is also used to indicate the identity of the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device and the identity of the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device. Thus, the mobile management network element can obtain the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal equipment according to the registration request information.

The number of the identities of the slices corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal equipment indicated by the registration request information is not limited.

It should be noted that, if the registration request information indicates the identification of the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the one or more non-roaming terminal devices, the registration request information may be considered as being used to request registration to the one or more network slices.

In one example, the registration request information may directly include an identification of the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device.

In another example, the registration request information may include a sui that includes an identification of the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device. And acquiring the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal equipment according to the SUCI.

After the mobility management network element receives the registration request message, S250' may be performed.

And S250', the mobility management network element determines the slice which can be accessed by the non-roaming terminal equipment according to the slice information.

The mobility management network element first determines a slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device. And then, the mobility management network element determines the slice which can be accessed by the non-roaming terminal equipment from the slice corresponding to the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment according to the slice information.

At this time, the slice accessible by the non-roaming terminal device is both the slice that the non-roaming terminal device requests registration and the slice supported by the mobility management network element.

In case the registration request information indicates only the identity of the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device, the mobility management network element also needs to determine the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device before determining the slice accessible by the non-roaming terminal device. For example, the mobility management network element may first determine the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device based on the registration request information. Then, the mobility management network element obtains the section signed by the non-roaming terminal equipment according to the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal equipment, and at this time, the section signed by the non-roaming terminal equipment is the section corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal equipment. The slice subscribed by the non-roaming terminal device can be understood as a slice which is allowed to be used by the home public land mobile network.

In case the registration request information indicates an identity of a home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device and an identity of a slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the non-roaming terminal device, the mobility management network element can determine the slice accessible by the non-roaming terminal device directly according to the registration request information and the slice information.

In case the mobility management network element determines in S250 'that there is an accessible slice for the non-roaming terminal device, the mobility management network element may also perform S260'.

S260', the mobility management network element transmits registration acceptance information to the non-roaming terminal device. Accordingly, the non-roaming terminal device receives the registration acceptance information sent by the mobility management network element.

Wherein the registration acceptance information is used to indicate the slices accessible to the non-roaming terminal device.

Through S240 'to S260', the mobility management network element may provide a slice selection for the non-roaming terminal device according to the registration request of the non-roaming terminal device and the locally stored slice supported by the non-roaming terminal device so that the non-roaming terminal device may register with the corresponding network slice. Therefore, the network element with the network slice selection function is not required to be requested for slice selection every time, and the impact on the performance of the network element with the network slice selection function is reduced.

The current network slice selection function network element may also only provide a slice availability (nnssf_nssaiiavailability) service, so that the mobility management network element can subscribe to the network slice selection function network element for slice availability information (i.e. slices supported by the mobility management network element) only based on the tracking area identification (tracking area identity, TAI) list, and when the slice availability information changes, the network slice selection function network element may actively notify the mobility management network element.

However, the subscription and notification mechanism between the current mobility management network element and the network slice selection function network element only supports slice availability information, and does not support subscription and notification slice mapping relationships. After the slice mapping relation (the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network) on the network element of the network slice selection function is adjusted, the network slice selection function cannot inform the mobility management network element, and the updating of the slice mapping relation can only depend on the mobility management network element to acquire the slice mapping relation from the network slice selection function network element again in the subsequent mobility process of the user. If the mobility management network element caches the slice mapping relationship of the user, the latest mapping relationship may need to be obtained when the user re-initiates the initial registration. This results in a slow and uncontrollable validation time of the slice map.

In addition, in the 3GPP protocol, an operator is required to configure a slice supported by the operator on a mobility management network element, configure a slice supported by a mobility management network element set on a network slice selection function network element, and keep the configuration relationship consistent through manual configuration. When the slice planning is adjusted, the configuration of the mobility management network element and the network slice selection function network element needs to rely on manual operation to maintain configuration consistency.

Therefore, the embodiment of the application also provides a communication method, through which the network slice selection function network element can notify the mobility management network element after the slice information on the network slice selection function network element is changed. In this way, the slice information can be enabled to take effect faster, the effective time is shorter, and the slice information configured on the mobility management network element and the slice information configured by the network slice selection function network element are kept consistent without relying on manual operation.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

For example, as shown in fig. 5, the method 300 includes:

s310, the mobility management network element sends a request message to the network slice selection function network element. Accordingly, the network slice selection function network element receives a request message sent from the mobility management network element.

The request message is used for indicating a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element, and the uniform resource identifier is used for sending updated slice information to the mobility management network element after the slice information is updated.

In some embodiments, the slice information may be the slice information in S210 above. The description about the slice information may refer to the description about the slice information in the above S210, and will not be repeated here.

In other embodiments, the slice information may be slice information as described above with respect to S2 in fig. 2, and/or slice information as described above with respect to S4 in fig. 2. The description of the slice information may refer to the description of the slice information in S2 and/or S4 above, and will not be repeated here.

S320, the network slice selection function network element determines that slice information has been updated.

And S330, the network slice selection function network element sends updated slice information to the mobility management network element according to the uniform resource identifier. Correspondingly, the mobility management network element receives updated slice information sent from the network slice selection function network element.

In some embodiments, the network slice selection function network element may multiplex the notification related procedure (nnssf_nssaiiavaila-availability_update) to send updated slice information to the mobility management network element. In other embodiments, the network slice selection function network element may multiplex the related procedure of subscription (nnssf_nssaiaivailability_subscience) in the slice availability procedure to send updated slice information to the mobility management network element. In still other embodiments, the network slice selection function network element may newly add a notification related procedure to send updated slice information to the mobility management network element.

In some embodiments, method 200 and method 300 may be implemented alone or in combination, and embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

In the case where the method 200 and the method 300 are implemented in combination, the request message described in S310 and the request message described in S210 may be the same request message or different request messages, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that the fact that the request message in S310 and the request message in S210 are the same request message may be understood as follows: one request message is used not only for requesting slice information but also for indicating a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element.

In one example, if the request message described in S310 and the request message described in S210 are the same request message, the request message may be a subscription request message. Of course, the request message may be an additional request message. The present application is not limited in this regard.

It should be noted that the fact that the request message in S310 and the request message in S210 are different may be understood as follows: one request message is used to request slice information and the other request message is used to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element.

In one example, if the request message in S310 and the request message in S210 are different request messages, the request message in S310 may be a subscription request message, and the request message in S210 may be a get request message. Of course, the two request messages may be newly added request messages. The present application is not limited in this regard.

The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above based on fig. 3 to 5. The following describes in detail the communication apparatus related to the execution of the communication method in fig. 3 to 5 based on fig. 6 and 7.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 600 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 600 comprises a transceiver unit 610. Optionally, the apparatus 600 may further comprise a processing unit 620. The transceiver unit 610 may communicate with the outside, and the processing unit 620 is used for data processing. The transceiver unit 610 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

Optionally, the apparatus 600 may further include a storage unit, where the storage unit may be used to store instructions and/or data, and the processing unit 620 may read the instructions and/or data in the storage unit.

In some embodiments, the communication device 600 may be a mobility management network element or a component configurable in a mobility management network element.

In one example, the transceiver unit 610 is configured to: for sending a request message to a network slice selection function network element, the request message being for requesting slice information, the slice information being for indicating: slicing supported by the network element and/or slicing mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network; the transceiver unit 610 is further configured to receive a response message for the request message sent by the network slice selection function network element, where the response message is used to indicate the slice information.

Optionally, the request message includes: identification of a set of network elements and/or correspondence of the home public land mobile network supported by the communication device with the visited public land mobile network; the slice information includes: a slice supported by the set of network elements and/or a slice mapping relationship of the home public land mobile network supported by the communication device and the visited public land mobile network; wherein the communication device belongs to a network element in the network element set.

Optionally, the request message is further configured to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the communication device, where the uniform resource identifier is configured to send the updated slice information to the communication device after the slice information is updated.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 610 is further configured to receive updated slice information sent from the network slice selection function network element.

Optionally, the communication device further includes: and a processing unit 620, configured to store the slice information in the communication device.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 610 is further configured to receive registration request information sent from the roaming terminal device, where the registration request information is used to request registration to the network; the processing unit 620 is further configured to determine a target mapping relationship according to the slice information, where the target mapping relationship includes a slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device; the transceiver unit 610 is further configured to send registration accept information to the roaming terminal device, where the registration accept information is used to indicate the target mapping relationship.

Optionally, the processing unit 620 is further specifically configured to: determining a slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment and the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment; and determining the target mapping relation according to the mapping relation, the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment and the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment.

Optionally, the registration request information is further used to indicate an identifier of a slice corresponding to a home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device and an identifier of a visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, or the registration request information is further used to indicate an identifier of the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, an identifier of a visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, and an identifier of a slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device.

In another example, the transceiver unit 610 is configured to send a request message to a network slice selection function network element, where the request message is configured to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the communication device, and the uniform resource identifier is configured to send updated slice information to the communication device after the slice information is updated; the transceiver unit 610 is further configured to receive the updated slice information sent from the network slice selection function network element.

Optionally, the slice information is used to indicate: the slice supported by the network element set and/or the slice mapping relationship of the home public land mobile network supported by the communication device and the visited public land mobile network.

In other embodiments, the communications apparatus 600 can be a network slice selection function network element or a component configurable in a network slice selection function network element.

In one example, the transceiver unit 610 is configured to receive a request message sent from a mobility management network element, where the request message is used to request slice information, and the slice information is used to indicate: slicing supported by the network element and/or slicing mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network; the transceiver unit 610 is further configured to send a response message for the request message to the mobility management network element, where the response message is used to indicate the slice information.

Optionally, the request message includes: the identification of the network element set and/or the corresponding relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network; the slice information includes: a slice supported by the network element set and/or a slice mapping relationship of the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network; wherein the mobility management network element belongs to a network element in the network element set;

Optionally, the request message is further configured to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element, where the uniform resource identifier is configured to send the updated slice information to the mobility management network element after the slice information is updated.

Optionally, the communication device further includes: a processing unit 620, configured to determine that the slice information is updated; the transceiver unit 610 is further configured to send the updated slice information to the mobility management network element according to the uniform resource identifier.

Optionally, the processing unit 620 is further configured to obtain the slice information according to the request message.

Optionally, the processing unit 620 is further configured to configure a slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network, which is not acquired, as a preset slice mapping relationship.

In another example, the transceiver unit 610 is configured to receive a request message sent from a mobility management network element, where the request message is configured to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element, and the uniform resource identifier is configured to send, after a slice information update, updated slice information to the mobility management network element; a processing unit 620, configured to determine that the slice information is updated; the transceiver unit 610 is further configured to send the updated slice information to the mobility management network element according to the uniform resource identifier.

Optionally, the slice information is used to indicate: and the slice supported by the network element set and/or the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network.

As shown in fig. 7, the embodiment of the application further provides a communication device 700. The communication device 700 comprises a processor 710, the processor 710 being coupled to a memory 720, the memory 720 being for storing computer programs or instructions or and/or data, the processor 710 being for executing the computer programs or instructions and/or data stored by the memory 720, such that the method of the above method embodiments is performed.

Optionally, the communication device 700 includes one or more processors 710.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 7, the communication device 700 may further comprise a memory 720.

Optionally, the communication device 700 may include one or more memories 720.

Alternatively, the memory 720 may be integrated with the processor 710 or provided separately.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 7, the wireless communication device 700 may further include a transceiver 730, where the transceiver 730 is used for receiving and/or transmitting signals. For example, the processor 710 is configured to control the transceiver 730 to receive and/or transmit signals.

As an aspect, the communication apparatus 700 is configured to implement the operations performed by the mobility management network element in the above method embodiment.

For example, the processor 710 is configured to implement the operations related to the processing performed by the mobility management network element in the above method embodiment, and the transceiver 730 is configured to implement the operations related to the transceiving performed by the mobility management network element in the above method embodiment.

Alternatively, the communication device 700 is configured to implement the operations performed by the network slice selection function network element in the above method embodiment.

For example, the processor 710 is configured to implement the operations related to the processing performed by the network slice selection function network element in the above method embodiment, and the transceiver 730 is configured to implement the operations related to the transceiving performed by the network slice selection function network element in the above method embodiment.

The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium, on which computer instructions for implementing the method performed by the mobility management network element or the network slice selection function network element in the above method embodiments are stored.

For example, the computer program when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by the mobility management network element or the network slice selection function network element in the above-described method embodiments.

The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement the method performed by the mobility management network element or the network slice selection function network element in the method embodiment described above.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication system which comprises the mobility management network element and the network slice selection function network element.

As one example, the communication system includes: the mobility management network element and the network slice selection function network element in the above embodiments.

Any of the explanation and beneficial effects of the related content in the wireless communication device provided above may refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and are not repeated herein.

The present embodiment does not particularly limit the specific structure of the execution body of the method provided in the present embodiment, as long as communication can be performed in the method provided in the present embodiment by running a program in which the code of the method provided in the present embodiment is recorded. For example, the execution body of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobility management network element or a network slice selection function network element, or a functional module capable of calling a program and executing the program in the mobility management network element or the network slice selection function network element.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

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

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

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

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

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the mobility management network element sends a request message to the network slice selection function network element, wherein the request message is used for requesting slice information, and the slice information is used for indicating: slicing supported by the network element and/or slicing mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network;

the mobility management network element receives a response message for the request message sent by the network slice selection function network element, wherein the response message is used for indicating the slice information.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the request message includes: the identification of the network element set and/or the corresponding relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network;

The slice information includes: the slice supported by the network element set and/or the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network;

wherein the mobility management network element belongs to a network element in the network element set.

3. A communication method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the request message is further adapted to indicate a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element, the uniform resource identifier being adapted to send the updated slice information to the mobility management network element after the slice information is updated.

4. A method of communicating according to claim 3, wherein the method further comprises:

and the mobility management network element receives the updated slice information sent by the network slice selection function network element.

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

the mobility management network element stores the slice information in the mobility management network element.

6. The communication method according to claim 5, characterized in that the method further comprises:

The mobile management network element receives registration request information sent by roaming terminal equipment, wherein the registration request information is used for requesting registration to a network;

the mobile management network element determines a target mapping relation according to the slice information, wherein the target mapping relation comprises the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment and the visited public land mobile network;

and the mobility management network element sends registration acceptance information to the roaming terminal equipment, wherein the registration acceptance information is used for indicating the target mapping relation.

7. The communication method according to claim 6, wherein the mobility management network element determines a target mapping relationship according to the slice information, comprising:

the mobile management network element determines a slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment and the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment;

the mobility management network element determines the target mapping relation according to the mapping relation, the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, the visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment, and the slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal equipment.

8. The communication method according to claim 7, wherein the registration request information is further used to indicate an identity of a home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device and an identity of a visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, or the registration request information is further used to indicate an identity of a home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, an identity of a visited public land mobile network corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device, and an identity of a slice corresponding to the home public land mobile network of the roaming terminal device.

9. A method of communication, comprising: the network slice selection function network element receives a request message sent by the mobility management network element, wherein the request message is used for requesting slice information, and the slice information is used for indicating: slicing supported by the network element and/or slicing mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element and the visited public land mobile network;

the network slice selection function network element sends a response message for the request message to the mobility management network element, wherein the response message is used for indicating the slice information.

10. The communication method according to claim 9, wherein the request message includes: the identification of the network element set and/or the corresponding relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network;

11. The communication method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the request message is further used for indicating a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element, the uniform resource identifier being used for sending the updated slice information to the mobility management network element after the slice information is updated.

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

the network slice selection function network element determines that the slice information is updated;

and the network slice selection function network element sends the updated slice information to the mobility management network element according to the uniform resource identifier.

13. A method of communicating according to any of claims 9 to 12, wherein the method further comprises:

and the network slice selection function network element acquires the slice information according to the request message.

14. The communication method according to claim 13, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the network slice selection function network element configures the slice mapping relationship between the home public land mobile network and the visited public land mobile network, which is not acquired, as a preset slice mapping relationship.

15. A method of communication, comprising:

the mobile management network element sends a request message to a network slice selection function network element, wherein the request message is used for indicating a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobile management network element, and the uniform resource identifier is used for sending updated slice information to the mobile management network element after the slice information is updated;

16. The communication method according to claim 15, wherein the slice information is used to indicate: and the slice supported by the network element set and/or the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network.

17. A method of communication, comprising:

the network slice selection function network element receives a request message sent by a mobility management network element, wherein the request message is used for indicating a uniform resource identifier associated with the mobility management network element, and the uniform resource identifier is used for sending updated slice information to the mobility management network element after the slice information is updated;

18. The communication method according to claim 17, wherein the slice information is used to indicate: and the slice supported by the network element set and/or the slice mapping relation between the home public land mobile network supported by the network element set and the visited public land mobile network.

19. A communication device for performing the communication method of any one of claims 1 to 18.

20. A communication device, the communication device comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is used for storing a computer program; the processor configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory to cause the communication apparatus to perform the communication method of any one of claims 1 to 18.

21. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium has stored thereon a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the communication method according to any of claims 1 to 18.

22. A chip system, comprising: processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, causing a communication device on which the chip system is installed to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

23. A communication system, comprising a mobility management network element and a network slice selection function network element; wherein the mobility management network element is configured to perform the communication method of any one of claims 1 to 8, and the network slice selection function network element is configured to perform the communication method of any one of claims 9 to 14; alternatively, the mobility management network element is configured to perform the communication method of claim 15 or 16, and the network slice selection function network element is configured to perform the communication method of claim 17 or 18.