CN117749569A

CN117749569A - Communication method, device, equipment, system and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN117749569A
Application number: CN202311801549.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李沸乐; 杨文聪; 曹畅; 唐雄燕; 岳毅
Original assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-12-25
Filing date: 2023-12-25
Publication date: 2024-03-22

Abstract

The application provides a communication method, a device, equipment, a system and a storage medium. The communication system includes: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting equipment comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connecting equipment is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting equipment is connected with a WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, and the method comprises the following steps: after receiving a first ethernet packet carrying a MAC address of a DN server sent by a terminal, a connection device may encapsulate the first ethernet packet to obtain a packet including: a first vxlan message of the IP address of the user plane network element; and then, the first Ethernet data packet is transmitted to the WLAN interworking network element through the WLAN access point, so that the WLAN interworking network element transmits the first Ethernet data packet to the DN server through the user plane network element. The method can realize two-layer data transmission.

Description

Communication method, device, equipment, system and storage medium

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method, apparatus, device, system, and storage medium.

Background

With the exploration of the mature commercial and industrial digitization of the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology,5G) in the world, the 5G is accelerating the deep fusion with industries such as industry, traffic and medical treatment, and the main application fields and scenes of the 5G and wireless communication technology (Wireless Fidelity, WIFI) network are respectively emphasized, and the two technologies cooperatively form a complementary fusion network, so that multi-level service coverage can be provided for the coverage area.

The third generation partnership project (3rd Generation Partnership Project,3GPP) standard defines a communication system based on 5g+wifi fusion of a trusted wireless local area network (Trusted WLAN Access Network, TWAN) architecture. At present, a 5G+WIFI fusion communication system based on TWAN architecture supports three-layer data transmission, and is not suitable for a terminal with two-layer data transmission requirements.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method, a device, equipment, a system and a storage medium, which are used for solving the technical problem that the existing 5G+WIFI fusion communication system does not support the two-layer data transmission requirement of a terminal.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, a communication system including: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, and the method comprises the following steps:

The connection device receives a first ethernet data packet sent by a terminal, where a packet header of the first ethernet data packet includes: the MAC address of the DN server;

the connection equipment encapsulates the first Ethernet data packet to obtain a first vxlan message; the header of the first vxlan message includes: an IP address of the user plane network element;

and the connecting equipment transparently transmits the first vxlan message to a WLAN interworking network element through a WLAN access point so that the WLAN interworking network element transmits the first Ethernet data packet to the DN server through the user plane network element.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the connection equipment acquires an IP address distributed by a control surface network element of a core network;

and the connection equipment establishes a vxlan tunnel with the user plane network element.

Optionally, the first ethernet packet further includes a MAC address of the terminal; the header of the first vxlan message further includes: the IP address of the connecting device.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the connecting equipment receives a second vxlan message transmitted by the WLAN interworking network element through a WLAN access point; the second vxlan message is obtained by decapsulating a second GTPU message by the WLAN interworking network element, where the second GTPU message is obtained by encapsulating a second vxlan message by the user plane network element, and the second vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a second ethernet packet sent by the DN server by the user plane network element; the header of the second ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the terminal and the MAC address of the DN server; the header of the second vxlan message includes: the IP address of the connecting device and the IP address of the user plane network element;

The connection equipment unpacks the second vxlan message to obtain the second Ethernet data packet;

and the connection equipment sends the second Ethernet data packet to the terminal according to the MAC address of the terminal carried by the second Ethernet data packet.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, a communication system including: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, and the method comprises the following steps:

the WLAN interworking network element receives a first vxlan message transmitted by the connection device through a WLAN access point; the first vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a first ethernet data packet sent by the terminal by the connection device, and a header of the first vxlan message includes: the IP address of the user plane network element, and the header of the first ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the DN server;

the WLAN interworking network element encapsulates the first vxlan message to obtain a first GTPU message;

And the WLAN interworking network element sends the first GTPU message to the user plane network element according to the IP address of the user plane network element carried by the first vxlan message, so that the user plane network element sends the first Ethernet data packet to the DN server.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and the WLAN interworking network element and the user plane network element establish a GTPU tunnel.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the WLAN interworking network element receives a second GTPU message sent by the user plane network element; the second GTPU message is obtained by encapsulating a second vxlan message by the user plane network element, where the second vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a second ethernet packet sent by the DN server by the user plane network element; the header of the second ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the terminal and the MAC address of the DN server; the header of the second vxlan message includes: the IP address of the connecting device and the IP address of the user plane network element;

The WLAN interworking network element decapsulates the second GTPU message to obtain a second vxlan message;

and the WLAN interworking network element transparently transmits the second vxlan message to the connecting device through a WLAN access point according to the IP address of the connecting device carried by the second vxlan message, so that the connecting device sends the second Ethernet data packet to the terminal.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, a communication system including: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, and the method comprises the following steps:

the user plane network element receives a first GTPU message sent by the WLAN interworking network element; the first GTPU message is obtained by encapsulating the first vxlan message sent by the connection device by the WLAN interworking network element, where the first vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a first ethernet packet sent by the connection device by a terminal, and a header of the first vxlan message includes: the IP address of the user plane network element, and the header of the first ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the DN server;

The user plane network element decapsulates the first GTPU message to obtain the first vxlan message;

the user plane network element decapsulates the first vxlan message to obtain the first ethernet packet;

and the user plane network element sends the first Ethernet data packet to the DN server according to the MAC address of the DN server.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the user plane network element establishes a vxlan tunnel with the connection equipment;

and the user plane network element establishes a GTPU tunnel with the WLAN interworking network element.

Optionally, the first ethernet packet further includes a MAC address of the terminal; the header of the first vxlan message further includes: an IP address of the connection device;

the method further comprises the steps of:

the user plane network element constructs the vxlan tunnel information table, wherein the vxlan tunnel information table comprises: the MAC address of the terminal, the identifier of the vxlan tunnel, the IP address of the connection equipment and the mapping relation between the IP addresses of the user plane network elements.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the user plane network element receives a second Ethernet data packet from a DN server; the header of the second ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the terminal and the MAC address of the DN server;

The user plane network element encapsulates the second Ethernet data packet based on the vxlan tunnel information table to obtain a second vxlan message; the header of the second vxlan message includes: the IP address of the connecting device and the IP address of the user plane network element;

the user plane network element encapsulates the second vxlan message to obtain a second GTPU message;

and the user plane network element sends the second GTPU message to the WLAN interworking network element.

Optionally, the user plane network element encapsulates the second ethernet packet based on the vxlan tunnel information table, and before obtaining a second vxlan packet, the method further includes:

the user plane network element determines whether to forward the second Ethernet data packet through a two-layer service data forwarding flow according to the vxlan tunnel information table and the MAC address of the terminal;

the user plane network element encapsulates the second ethernet packet to obtain a second vxlan packet, including:

and when the user plane network element determines to forward the second Ethernet data packet through a two-layer service data forwarding flow, the second Ethernet data packet is encapsulated to obtain a second vxlan message.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and when the user plane network element determines that the second Ethernet data packet is not transmitted through the vxlan tunnel, forwarding the second Ethernet data packet through a three-layer service data forwarding flow.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, the communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, and the device is applied to the connecting device and comprises:

the receiving module is configured to receive a first ethernet packet sent by a terminal, where a packet header of the first ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the DN server;

the encapsulation module is used for encapsulating the first Ethernet data packet to obtain a first vxlan message; the header of the first vxlan message includes: an IP address of the user plane network element;

and the sending module is used for transmitting the first vxlan message to a WLAN interworking network element through a WLAN access point, so that the WLAN interworking network element sends the first Ethernet data packet to the DN server through the user plane network element.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, the communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, wherein the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, and the device comprises:

the receiving module is used for receiving a first vxlan message transmitted by the connecting equipment through the WLAN access point; the first vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a first ethernet data packet sent by the terminal by the connection device, and a header of the first vxlan message includes: the IP address of the user plane network element, and the header of the first ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the DN server;

the packaging module is used for packaging the first vxlan message to obtain a first GTPU message;

and the sending module is used for sending the first GTPU message to the user plane network element according to the IP address of the user plane network element carried by the first vxlan message so that the user plane network element sends the first Ethernet data packet to the DN server.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, the communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connection device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connection device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connection device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, and the device is applied to the user plane network element, and the method comprises the following steps:

the receiving module is used for receiving a first GTPU message sent by the WLAN interworking network element; the first GTPU message is obtained by encapsulating the first vxlan message sent by the connection device by the WLAN interworking network element, where the first vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a first ethernet packet sent by the connection device by a terminal, and a header of the first vxlan message includes: the IP address of the user plane network element, and the header of the first ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the DN server;

the first decapsulation module is used for decapsulating the first GTPU message to obtain the first vxlan message;

the second decapsulation module is used for decapsulating the first vxlan message to obtain the first Ethernet data packet;

And the sending module is used for sending the first Ethernet data packet to the DN server according to the MAC address of the DN server.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising: a processor, and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor;

the memory stores computer-executable instructions;

the processor executes computer-executable instructions stored by the memory to implement the method of any one of the first to third aspects.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, wherein the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are positioned in the same network bridge;

the connection device being adapted to perform the method of any of the first aspects;

the WLAN interworking network element is configured to perform the method of any of the second aspects;

the user plane network element is configured to perform the method according to any of the third aspects.

In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein computer-executable instructions for implementing the method according to any one of the first to third aspects when executed by a processor.

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the method according to any of the first to third aspects.

According to the communication method, the device, the equipment, the system and the storage medium, on the basis of the network architecture of the existing 5G+WIFI fusion communication system, the connection equipment capable of being connected with the two-layer terminal in a hanging mode is introduced, in addition, a two-layer interface for processing the two-layer data from the DN server is added to a user plane network element, and a vxlan interface for establishing a vxlan tunnel between the CPE and a UPF network element is added to achieve the transmission requirement of Ethernet data of the two-layer terminal.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the application and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the application.

Fig. 1 is a network architecture diagram of a 5g+wifi converged communication system;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of data forwarding;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of one possible user plane protocol stack;

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

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a vxlan message format;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a first communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

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

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a third communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in more detail. These drawings and the written description are not intended to limit the scope of the inventive concepts in any way, but to illustrate the concepts of the present application to those skilled in the art by reference to specific embodiments.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, the same numbers in different drawings refer to the same or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary examples are not representative of all implementations consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the accompanying claims.

Currently, some 5g+wifi converged communication systems require that a WIFI terminal (i.e., a terminal accessed through WIFI) have a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) session function, but many WIFI terminals currently do not have this capability. Therefore, a communication system with 5g+wifi integration is provided, which can be accessed without having NAS session function.

The WIFI terminal that does not need to have the NAS session function is called a wireless local area network (Non-5G-Capable over WLAN, N5 CW) terminal without 5G access capability.

Fig. 1 is a network architecture diagram of a 5g+wifi converged communication system. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system may include: an access network device, a user plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element, an access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) network element, and a session management function (session management function, SMF) network element.

The access network device may include: a trusted wireless access node (Trusted WLAN Access Point, TWAP) network element, a trusted WLAN interworking function (Trusted WLAN Interworking Function, TWIF) network element. The two network elements constitute a TWAN.

The UPF network element, the AMF network element and the SMF network element are devices in the 5G core network, and the devices form the 5G core network.

The UPF network element is used for transmitting user plane data. The AMF network element is used for managing whether the N5CW terminal can access the network. The SMF network element is configured to manage session connections established by the N5CW terminal through the network, and each session connection is configured to transmit user plane data of the N5CW terminal.

The access network device is used for accessing the N5CW terminal into the 5G core network. Wherein, TWAP network element is used for the wireless access of multiuser in a certain range. The TWIF network element is used for receiving and processing protocol (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service, radius) messages which are used for authenticating and authorizing equipment and users which access to the 5G network between TWAPs, processing dynamic host configuration protocol (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, DHCP) messages which are transmitted by the TWAPs, processing processes related to User registration, session and the like, processing messages such as stream control transmission protocol (Stream Control Transmission Protocol, SCTP), NAS, 5G network access control protocol (Next Generation Access Protocol, NGAP) and the like between the AMF network elements, and communicating with the UPF network elements by using general packet radio Service technology (General Packet Radio Service, GPRS) User plane tunnel protocol (GPRS Tunneling Protocol for the User plane, GTPU).

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of Data forwarding, as shown in fig. 2, in the architecture shown in fig. 1, a TWAN may aggregate N5CW terminals using unlicensed WIFI frequency bands, and after the N5CW terminals are successfully connected to a 5G core Network, service Data transmission is performed through TWAP Network elements, TWIF Network elements, and UPF Network elements, and a server in a Data Network (DN).

An explanation of how an N5CW terminal may use this network to achieve three layers of data transmission is provided below.

For ease of understanding, three and two layers will be described.

The three layers are network layers. Three-layer communication, also called network layer communication, uses three-layer protocols, mainly the internet protocol (Internet Protocol, IP), addressed using IP addresses. Three-layer data transmission is mainly applied to communication scenarios across different networks, such as the internet or wide area networks (Wide Area Network, WAN). In some embodiments, the three-layer data transmission may also be referred to as an L3 data transmission, or a layer three data transmission.

Two layers are data link layers. The two-layer communication is also called data link layer communication, and the used protocol is a two-layer protocol, mainly an ethernet protocol, and is addressed by using a media access control address (Media Access Control Address, MAC address). The two-layer data transmission is mainly applied to communication scenes inside a local network, such as a local area network (local area network, LAN) or communication inside a data center. In some embodiments, the two-layer data transfer may also be referred to as an L2 data transfer or a layer two data transfer.

The terminal equipment under TWAN architecture is N5CW equipment.

The TWIF network element is a gateway for the N5CW terminal to access the 5G core network, a Yw interface is arranged between the TWIF network element and the TWAP network element, the wireless messages between the TWAP network element and the TWAP are supported, the DHCP messages transmitted by the TWAP network element are processed, and related flows such as user registration, session and the like are processed.

The TWIF network element and the AMF network element are N1 and N2 interfaces, and messages such as SCTP, NAS, NGAP between the TWIF network element and the AMF network element are processed.

An N3 interface is arranged between the TWIF network element and the UPF network element.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a possible user plane protocol stack, as shown in fig. 3, in which an N3 port mainly processes a service packet between a TWIF network element and a UPF network element, and the UPF network element performs the operations of encapsulation and decapsulation of the GTPU packet by using a GTPU protocol.

The TWAP network element is a trusted wireless access node, is an access point for the N5CW terminal to enter the 5G network, and realizes wireless access of multiple users within a certain range.

The N5CW terminal is successfully accessed to the 5G core network, and the N5CW terminal performs service transmission with the DN server through the TWAP network element, the TWIF network element and the UPF network element.

However, there are terminals that use a two-layer protocol for traffic transmission, i.e., two-layer data transmission. Such as embedded WIFI devices, industrial cameras in industrial sites, sensors, and the like. For convenience of distinction, a terminal requiring a two-layer protocol for service transmission is referred to as a two-layer terminal.

However, the communication system shown in fig. 1 and the conventional communication system requiring the WIFI terminal to have the NAS session function do not support the two-layer data transmission. Therefore, how to realize the data transmission requirement of the two-layer terminal is a problem to be solved.

For ease of understanding, the vxlan technique is described first.

Virtual extended local area network (Visual eXtensible Local Area Network, vxlan) technology is essentially a tunneling technology, which creates a logical tunnel over an IP network, so that a message from a sender can be forwarded to a receiver through the tunnel after a specific encapsulation. Thus, with vxlan, an L2 layer network can be created over the L3 layer infrastructure, enabling L2 data transfer.

In view of the foregoing, embodiments of the present application provide a new architecture of a communication system to solve the above-mentioned problems.

Fig. 4 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4, the communication system includes: a wireless local area network (Wireless Local Area Network, WLAN) access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connection device, a user plane network element.

The WLAN access point may be, for example, the TWAP network element, and the WLAN interworking network element may be, for example, the TWIF network element, where the WLAN access point and the WLAN interworking network element form a TWAN. The user plane network element may be, for example, a UPF network element.

That is, the present application introduces a connection device on the basis of the above-described architecture, compared to the communication system shown in fig. 1. The connection device may be any device capable of hanging the terminal into the WLAN, for example, a customer premises equipment (Customer Premise Equipment, CPE). One or more connection devices may be deployed in a communication system, each of which may have one or more terminals attached thereto.

For convenience of explanation, the following embodiments take a connection device as a CPE, the WLAN access point as a TWAP network element, the WLAN interworking network element as a TWIF network element, and the user plane network element as a UPF network element as an example.

For example, the CPE may include a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, where the CPE is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, and the CPE is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, where the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same bridge, so as to implement access of the terminal into the WLAN. For example, the interface of each CPE down-hanging terminal and the WIFI interface are bound to the same bridge through the bridge configuration function of the operating system of each CPE. Subsequently, the two-layer data message of the CPE lower hanging terminal can be directly communicated with the WIFI interface on the CPE through the network bridge. In the embodiment of the present application, the CPE is equivalent to an N5CW terminal in the TWAN architecture for the TWAP network element.

In addition, a two-layer interface and a virtual extended local area network (Visual eXtensible Local Area Network, vxlan) interface are added on the UPF network element. The two-layer interface is used for processing the two-layer data from the DN server. And the added vxlan interface of the UPF network element is used for establishing a vxlan tunnel between the CPE and the UPF network element. The vxlan interface may be preconfigured with an IP address, which may be IP0, for example.

Optionally, the UPF network element may further include a three-layer interface, where the three-layer interface is used to implement three-layer data transmission. In this way, the UPF network element can realize two-layer data transmission on the basis of realizing three-layer data transmission.

It should be understood that fig. 4 above is merely an exemplary network element used in implementing the method of the embodiment of the present application in the application, and is not limited to whether other network elements are included in the communication system and whether other communication functions are provided. For example, the communication system may further include an AMF network element, an SMF network element.

In addition, the method in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to a 5G communication system, or may be applied to other communication systems, or future communication systems, etc., which is not limited thereto. The following embodiments are described by taking a 5G communication system as an example.

Before two-layer data transmission using the communication system shown in fig. 4, the following procedure may be performed:

(1) The CPE may, for example, employ a registration procedure in the 5G communication system to register with the 5G core network via the TWAN and 5G core network control plane (5G Core Control plane,5GC CP) and establish a protocol data unit (Protocol Data Unit, PDU) session with the 5GC via the TWAN.

(2) Network elements of the 5G core network (e.g., SMF network elements or UPF network elements, etc.) may allocate IP addresses to WIFI interfaces of the CPEs. For example: taking IP address of the vxlan interface of UPF as an example, IP address of the WIFI interface of CPE1 may be IP1, IP address of the WIFI interface of CPE2 may be IP2, and similarly, IP address of the WIFI interface of CPEn may be ipn.

(3) And establishing a GTPU tunnel between the TWIF network element and the UPF network element.

(4) The CPE establishes a vxlan tunnel with the UPF network element, and the vxlan tunnel is correspondingly provided with a vxlan network identifier (VXLAN Network Identifier, VNI) serving as an identifier of the vxlan tunnel. The vxlan tunnel is used for transmitting vxlan messages.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a vxlan message format. As shown in fig. 5, the header of the vxlan packet includes: vxlan header field, user datagram protocol (User Datagram Protocol, UDP) header field, external IP header field (Outer IP header), external ethernet header field.

In this embodiment, the external IP header field of the header of the vlan packet carries the source IP address (Source IP Address, IP SA) of the vlan tunnel local end, and the destination IP address (Destination Address IP, IP DA), that is, (IP SA, IP DA).

The local end is the transmitting end, and the far end is the receiving end. Taking CPE1 as a transmitting end and a UPF network element as a receiving end as an example, the external IP header field of the header of the vxlan packet includes (IP 1, IP 0). Taking a UPF network element as a transmitting end and CPE1 as a receiving end as an example, the external IP header fields of the header of the vxlan message are (IP 0, IP 1).

Through the operation, the subsequent two-layer terminal can realize two-layer service data transmission through the communication system.

The following describes the technical solution of the present application and how the technical solution of the present application solves the above technical problems in detail with specific embodiments. The following embodiments may be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described in detail in some embodiments. Embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the method may comprise, for example, the steps of:

S601, the terminal sends a first Ethernet data packet to the CPE.

Accordingly, the CPE receives the first ethernet packet. Wherein, the packet header of the first ethernet data packet includes: the MAC address of the terminal and the MAC address of the DN server.

The CPE referred to herein may be any CPE under the communication system architecture shown in fig. 2. Taking CPEm as an example, assuming that the downlink terminal k has uplink two-layer service data to be transmitted, the terminal k can transmit an Ethernet data packet containing the service data to CPEm through a downlink interface of CPEm. The ethernet packet is an ethernet packet addressed by a MAC address, and includes a MAC address macmk of the terminal and a MAC address macdn of the DN server.

S602, the CPE encapsulates the first Ethernet data packet to obtain a first vxlan message.

The header of the first vxlan message includes: the IP address of the CPE and the IP address of the UPF network element.

In the vxlan message format shown in fig. 5, the external IP header field of the header of the first vxlan message carries an IP address, and the first ethernet packet is located in the original message.

S603, the CPE transmits the first vxlan message to the TWIF network element through the TWAP network element.

Accordingly, the TWIF network element receives the first vxlan message.

The CPE sends the first vxlan message to the TWAP network element, and the TWAP network element directly forwards the received first vxlan message to the TWIF network element without processing the first vxlan message.

With continued reference to the foregoing example, in this example, the CPEm encapsulates the two layers of data of the terminal k, and then transmits the encapsulated two layers of data through a vxlan tunnel, and then transmits the encapsulated two layers of data to the TWIF network element through the TWAP network element, where the encapsulated external IP header field includes (ipm, IP 0).

S604, the TWIF network element encapsulates the first vxlan message to obtain a first GTPU message.

As described above, the TWIF network element and the UPF network element construct a GTPU tunnel, so the first vxlan packet may be encapsulated into a first GTPU packet, so as to forward the packet through the GTPU tunnel.

S605, the TWIF network element sends the first GTPU message to the UPF network element according to the IP address of the user plane network element carried by the first vxlan message.

For example, TWIF is transmitted to UPF through the N3 port. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the first GTPU message.

S606, the UPF network element decapsulates the first GTPU message to obtain a first vxlan message.

As described above, the UPF network element has a vlan interface therein, so the first GTPU packet may be decapsulated into a first vlan packet for sending to the vlan interface of the UPF network element.

S607, the UPF network element decapsulates the first vxlan message to obtain a first Ethernet data packet.

As described above, the first ethernet packet is located in the original packet of the first vxlan packet. Therefore, the UPF network element may decapsulate the first vlan packet through its vlan interface to obtain a first ethernet packet. The first ethernet packet contains the MAC address of the DN server, so that the MAC address of the DN server can be obtained when the first ethernet packet is obtained.

And S608, the UPF network element sends the first Ethernet data packet to the DN server according to the MAC address of the DN server.

For example, the UPF network element transmits to the DN server via the N6 port. Accordingly, the DN server receives the first ethernet packet.

So far, the interaction that the terminal sends Ethernet data to the DN server is completed.

According to the method, on the basis of the network architecture of the existing 5G+WIFI fusion communication system, connection equipment capable of being connected with a two-layer terminal in a hanging mode is introduced, in addition, a two-layer interface for processing two-layer data from a DN server is added to a user plane network element, and a vxlan interface for establishing a vxlan tunnel between a CPE and a UPF network element is added to achieve the transmission requirement of Ethernet data of the two-layer terminal.

Therefore, the UPF network element can also construct a vxlan tunnel information table between the UPF network element and the terminal based on the first vxlan message, so as to bind the terminal and the tunnel, and enable the UPF network element to correctly transmit ethernet data returned by the DN server to the corresponding terminal.

The vxlan tunnel information table may include: the mapping relation among the MAC address of the terminal, the identifier of the vxlan tunnel, the IP address of the CPE and the IP address of the UPF network element. For example, as shown in table 1 below:

TABLE 1

Terminal MAC	VNI	External IP header
			macmk	mk	ipm，ip0

The following describes how to forward ethernet data of the DN server to the terminal, i.e. the process that the DN server returns ethernet data to the terminal.

Fig. 7 is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the method may include the steps of:

and S701, the DN server sends a second Ethernet data packet to the UPF network element.

For example, the DN server transmits to the UPF network element through the N6 port. Accordingly, the UPF network element receives the second ethernet packet. The header of the second ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the terminal and the MAC address of the DN server.

The terminal here may be any terminal hung under any CPE under the communication system architecture shown in fig. 2. Taking CPEm and a terminal k hung below the CPEm as an example, when the DN server has downlink two-layer service data to be transmitted to the terminal k hung below the CPEm, the Ethernet data packet contains the MAC address of the terminal as macmk.

S702, the UPF network element encapsulates the second Ethernet data packet based on the vxlan tunnel information table to obtain a second vxlan message.

As described above, the UPF network element records the terminal MAC address in the vxlan tunnel information table, and binds with the vxlan tunnel. And the UPF network element confirms a vxlan tunnel which is required to be walked by the two-layer service data sent to the terminal according to the entry recorded in the table 1, and the vxlan interface of the UPF network element can encapsulate the second Ethernet data packet to obtain a second vxlan message.

The header of the second vxlan message includes: the IP address of the CPE and the IP address of the UPF network element.

Referring to the foregoing example, in this example, when the DN server transmits downlink two-layer service data to the down-hook terminal k of the CPEm, the encapsulated external IP header includes (IP 0, ipm).

S703, the UPF network element encapsulates the second vxlan message to obtain a second GTPU message.

As described above, the TWIF network element and the UPF network element construct a GTPU tunnel, so that the second vxlan packet may be encapsulated into a second GTPU packet, so as to forward the packet through the GTPU tunnel.

S704, the UPF network element sends a second GTPU message to the TWIF network element according to the IP address of the CPE carried by the second vxlan message.

For example, the UPF network element transmits to the TWIF network element via the N3 port. Correspondingly, the TWIF network element receives the second GTPU message.

S705, the TWIF network element decapsulates the second GTPU message to obtain a second vxlan message.

As described above, the header of the second vxlan packet includes: the IP address of the CPE.

S706, the TWIF network element transparently transmits the second vxlan message to the CPE through the TWAP network element according to the IP address of the CPE carried by the second vxlan message.

Accordingly, the CPE receives the second vxlan message.

For example, the TWIF network element sends the second vxlan message to the TWAP network element, and the TWAP network element may directly forward the received second vxlan message to the CPE without processing the second vxlan message.

S707, the CPE decapsulates the second vxlan message to obtain a second Ethernet data packet.

As described above, the header of the second ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the terminal.

And S708, the CPE sends the second Ethernet data packet to the terminal according to the MAC address of the terminal carried by the second Ethernet data packet.

Accordingly, the terminal receives the second ethernet packet.

So far, the interaction that the DN server sends the Ethernet data to the terminal is completed.

The above embodiment is applicable to a scenario where the communication system supports only two-layer data transmission, and for a communication system that supports both two-layer data transmission and three-layer data transmission, after receiving the second ethernet packet, the UPF network element may further determine whether to forward the second ethernet packet through a two-layer service data forwarding flow. For example, the UPF network element may determine from the interface from which the data packet is received. Namely, the UPF network element adopts different N6 interfaces for receiving the three-layer service data transmission, and therefore, the UPF network element can judge through the interfaces.

When the UPF network element determines to forward the second ethernet packet through the two-layer service data forwarding flow, the flow in the foregoing embodiment may be used to encapsulate and forward the second ethernet packet.

When the UPF network element determines that the second ethernet packet is not sent through the vxlan tunnel, the service data is described as three-layer service data, so that forwarding processing can be performed through the existing three-layer service data forwarding flow, which is not described in detail. By the method, the communication system can be improved on the basis of the existing communication system supporting three-layer service data transmission, so that the communication system supports three-layer service data transmission and two-layer service data transmission, implementation and use of a scheme are facilitated, and reusability of the existing communication system is improved.

The foregoing is a description of embodiments of methods of the present application, and the following describes an apparatus provided in embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a first communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication system includes: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, wherein the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge.

As shown in fig. 8, the apparatus is applied to a connection device, and may include, for example: a receiving module 801, an encapsulating module 802, and a transmitting module 803. Optionally, the apparatus may further comprise at least one of the following modules: an acquisition module 804, a construction module 805, and a decapsulation module 806.

A receiving module 801, configured to receive a first ethernet packet sent by a terminal, where a packet header of the first ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the DN server;

the encapsulation module 802 is configured to encapsulate the first ethernet packet to obtain a first vxlan packet; the header of the first vxlan message includes: an IP address of the user plane network element;

and the sending module 803 is configured to transparently transmit the first vxlan packet to the WLAN interworking network element through the WLAN access point, so that the WLAN interworking network element sends the first ethernet packet to the DN server through the user plane network element.

A possible implementation manner, an obtaining module 804 is configured to obtain an IP address allocated to a control plane network element of the core network;

and a construction module 805, configured to establish a vxlan tunnel with the user plane network element.

One possible implementation manner, the first ethernet packet further includes a MAC address of the terminal; the header of the first vxlan message further includes: the IP address of the connected device.

A possible implementation manner, the receiving module 801 is further configured to receive a second vxlan packet that is transparently transmitted by the WLAN interworking network element through the WLAN access point; the second vxlan message is obtained by decapsulating a second GTPU message by the WLAN interworking network element, the second GTPU message is obtained by encapsulating the second vxlan message by the user plane network element, and the second vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a second ethernet packet sent by the DN server by the user plane network element; the header of the second ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the terminal and the MAC address of the DN server; the header of the second vxlan message includes: an IP address of the connection device and an IP address of the user plane network element;

a decapsulation module 806, configured to decapsulate the second vlan packet to obtain a second ethernet packet;

the sending module 803 is further configured to send the second ethernet packet to the terminal according to the MAC address of the terminal carried by the second ethernet packet by the connection device.

The apparatus provided in this embodiment of the present application may perform the actions of the connection device using the CPE device as an example in the foregoing method embodiment, and the implementation principle and technical effects are similar, and are not described herein again.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a second communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication system includes: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, wherein the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge.

As shown in fig. 9, the apparatus is applied to a WLAN interworking network element, and may include, for example: a receiving module 901, a packaging module 902, and a transmitting module 903. Optionally, the apparatus may further comprise at least one of the following modules: a construction module 904 and a decapsulation module 905.

A receiving module 901, configured to receive a first vxlan packet that is transparently transmitted by a connection device through a WLAN access point; the first vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a first ethernet data packet sent by the terminal by the connection device, and a message header of the first vxlan message includes: the IP address of the user plane network element, and the header of the first ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the DN server.

And an encapsulation module 902, configured to encapsulate the first vxlan message to obtain a first GTPU message.

The sending module 903 is configured to send a first GTPU packet to a user plane network element according to an IP address of the user plane network element carried by the first vxlan packet, so that the user plane network element sends a first ethernet packet to a DN server.

A possible implementation manner, a construction module 904 is configured to establish a GTPU tunnel with a user plane network element.

A possible implementation manner, the receiving module 901 is further configured to receive a second GTPU packet sent by a user plane network element; the second GTPU message is obtained by encapsulating a second vxlan message by the user plane network element, and the second vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a second Ethernet data packet sent by the DN server by the user plane network element; the header of the second ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the terminal and the MAC address of the DN server; the header of the second vxlan message includes: the IP address of the connection device and the IP address of the user plane network element.

The decapsulation module 905 is configured to decapsulate the second GTPU packet to obtain a second vxlan packet.

The sending module 903 is further configured to send the second vxlan packet to the connection device through the WLAN access point according to the IP address of the connection device carried by the second vxlan packet, so that the connection device sends the second ethernet packet to the terminal.

The device provided in the embodiment of the present application may perform the actions of the WLAN interworking network element taking the TWIF network element as an example in the above embodiment of the method, and its implementation principle and technical effects are similar, and are not described herein again.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a third communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication system includes: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, wherein the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge.

As shown in fig. 10, the apparatus is applied to a user plane network element, and the apparatus may include, for example: a receiving module 1001, a decapsulating module 1002, and a transmitting module 1003. Optionally, the apparatus may further comprise at least one of the following modules: building module 1004, encapsulation module 1005, judgment module 1006, and three-layer forwarding module 1007.

A receiving module 1001, configured to receive a first GTPU packet sent by a WLAN interworking network element; the first GTPU message is obtained by encapsulating a first vxlan message sent by the connection device by the WLAN interworking network element, where the first vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a first ethernet packet sent by the connection device by the terminal, and a header of the first vxlan message includes: the IP address of the user plane network element, and the header of the first ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the DN server.

The decapsulation module 1002 is configured to decapsulate the first GTPU packet to obtain a first vxlan packet, and decapsulate the first vxlan packet to obtain a first ethernet packet.

And the sending module 1003 is configured to send the first ethernet packet to the DN server according to the MAC address of the DN server.

A possible implementation manner, a construction module 1004 is configured to establish a vxlan tunnel with a connection device, and establish a GTPU tunnel with a WLAN interworking network element.

The construction module 1004 is further configured to construct a vxlan tunnel information table, where the vxlan tunnel information table includes: the MAC address of the terminal, the identifier of the vxlan tunnel, the IP address of the connection equipment, and the mapping relation between the IP addresses of the user plane network elements.

A possible implementation manner, the receiving module 1001 is further configured to receive a second ethernet packet from the DN server; the header of the second ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the terminal and the MAC address of the DN server.

An encapsulation module 1005, configured to encapsulate the second ethernet packet based on the vxlan tunnel information table, to obtain a second vxlan packet; the header of the second vxlan message includes: the IP address of the connection device and the IP address of the user plane network element.

The encapsulation module 1005 is further configured to encapsulate the second vxlan packet to obtain a second GTPU packet.

And the sending module 1003 is further configured to send a second GTPU packet to the WLAN interworking network element.

A possible implementation manner, the determining module 1006 is configured to determine, before the encapsulating module 1005 encapsulates the second ethernet packet based on the vxlan tunnel information table to obtain the second vxlan packet, whether to forward the second ethernet packet through the two-layer service data forwarding flow according to the vxlan tunnel information table and the MAC address of the terminal.

In this implementation manner, the encapsulation module 1005 is specifically configured to encapsulate the second ethernet packet to obtain a second vxlan packet when it is determined that the second ethernet packet is forwarded through the two-layer service data forwarding flow.

And the three-layer forwarding module 1007 is configured to perform forwarding processing through a three-layer service data forwarding flow when it is determined that the second ethernet packet is not sent through the vlan tunnel.

The device provided in the embodiment of the present application may perform the actions of the user plane network element taking the UPF network element as an example in the embodiment of the method, and its implementation principle and technical effects are similar, and are not described herein again.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 11, the communication device may include: at least one processor 1101, a memory 1102.

Memory 1102 for storing programs. In particular, the program may include program code including computer-operating instructions.

Memory 1102 may include high-speed RAM memory or may also include non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as at least one disk memory.

The processor 1101 is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1102 to implement the actions of the connection device, or the actions of the WLAN interworking network element, or the actions of the user plane network element in the foregoing method embodiment. The processor 1101 may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), or an application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the communication device may further include a communication interface 1103 for communication interaction with external devices. In a specific implementation, if the communication interface 1103, the memory 1102, and the processor 1101 are implemented independently, the communication interface 1103, the memory 1102, and the processor 1101 may be connected to each other and perform communication with each other through buses.

Alternatively, in a specific implementation, if the communication interface 1103, the memory 1102, and the processor 1101 are implemented integrally on a single chip, the communication interface 1103, the memory 1102, and the processor 1101 may complete communication through internal interfaces.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which may include: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc, and specifically, the computer readable storage medium stores program instructions for implementing the actions of the connection device in the above method embodiment, or the actions of the WLAN interworking network element, or the actions of the user plane network element.

The present application also provides a communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, wherein the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge.

The connection device, the WLAN interworking network element, and the user plane network element are respectively configured to perform the actions in the foregoing method embodiment, so as to implement transmission of two-layer data.

Other embodiments of the present application will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the application following, in general, the principles of the application and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the application pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the application being indicated by the following claims.

It is to be understood that the present application is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, which have been described above, and that various modifications and changes may be effected without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the application is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, the communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, and the method comprises the following steps:

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first ethernet packet further comprises a MAC address of the terminal; the header of the first vxlan message further includes: the IP address of the connecting device.

4. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that the method further comprises:

5. A method of communication, the communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, and the method comprises the following steps:

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first ethernet packet further comprises a MAC address of the terminal; the header of the first vxlan message further includes: the IP address of the connecting device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 5-7, further comprising:

9. A method of communication, the communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, and the method comprises the following steps:

the user plane network element receives a first GTPU message sent by the WLAN interworking network element; the first GTPU message is obtained by encapsulating a first vxlan message sent by the connection device by the WLAN interworking network element, where the first vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a first ethernet packet sent by the connection device by a terminal, and a header of the first vxlan message includes: the IP address of the user plane network element, and the header of the first ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the DN server;

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first ethernet packet further comprises a MAC address of the terminal; the header of the first vxlan message further includes: an IP address of the connection device;

the method further comprises the steps of:

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the user plane network element encapsulates the second ethernet packet based on the vxlan tunnel information table, before obtaining a second vxlan packet, further comprising:

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

15. A communication device, the communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, and the device is applied to the connecting device and comprises:

16. A communication device, the communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, the device is applied to WLAN interworking network elements, and the device comprises:

17. A communication device, the communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are located in the same network bridge, the device is applied to the user plane network element, and the device comprises:

the receiving module is used for receiving a first GTPU message sent by the WLAN interworking network element; the first GTPU message is obtained by encapsulating a first vxlan message sent by the connection device by the WLAN interworking network element, where the first vxlan message is obtained by encapsulating a first ethernet packet sent by the connection device by a terminal, and a header of the first vxlan message includes: the IP address of the user plane network element, and the header of the first ethernet packet includes: the MAC address of the DN server;

18. A communication device, comprising: a processor, and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor;

the memory stores computer-executable instructions;

the processor executes computer-executable instructions stored in the memory to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 14.

19. A communication system, the communication system comprising: the system comprises a WLAN access point, a WLAN interworking network element, at least one connecting device and a user plane network element; the connecting device comprises a lower hanging interface and a WIFI interface, wherein the connecting device is hung with at least one terminal through the lower hanging interface, the connecting device is connected with the WLAN access point through the WIFI interface, and the lower hanging interface and the WIFI interface are positioned in the same network bridge;

the connection device being adapted to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 4;

The WLAN interworking network element being configured to perform the method of any of claims 5 to 8;

the user plane network element being configured to perform the method of any one of claims 9 to 14.

20. A computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer executable instructions which when executed by a processor are adapted to carry out the method of any one of claims 1 to 14.