RU2783588C2 - Network configuration method and communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: communication.

SUBSTANCE: using a network element of a session management function, the first request message is received from a terminal device. In this case, the first request message is used to obtain information about configuration of a servicing network element. Information about configuration of the servicing network element contains address information of the servicing network element of configuration. The terminal device is a subscriber gateway. Using the network element of the session management function, the second request message is transmitted to a network element of data control. In this case, the second request message is a message containing an identifier of a data network to be accessed by means of the terminal device. Using the network element of the session management function, the second response message is received from the network element of data control. In this case, the second response message contains information about configuration of the servicing network element. Using the network element of the session management function, the first response message is transmitted to the terminal device. In this case, the first response message contains information about configuration of the servicing network element.

EFFECT: provision of a possibility of automatic configuration of a subscriber gateway, using an existing 5G network configuration.

21 cl, 20 dwg

Description

The field of technology to which the invention belongs

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of communication technologies and, in particular, to a method for configuring a network and a communication device.

State of the art

The 3rd generation partnership project ( ^3GPP ) specification development group proposed a fifth-generation (5G) network architecture. The 5G network architecture supports a residential gateway (RG) to access the 5G core network via a radio access network or fixed broadband access network, and then access the data network (DN) connected to the 5G core network. In the prior art, the RG can obtain the configuration platform address in the fixed network via the DHCP protocol. However, in addition to providing a data network access service for the RG, a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server in the 5G core network can additionally provide a data network access service for another operator's device; or the carrier that owns the 5G core network and the carrier that owns the RG are not the same carrier. Therefore, the RG cannot be automatically configured using the existing 5G network configuration.

Disclosure of the essence of the invention

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a network configuration method and communication apparatus for solving the technical problem that an RG cannot be automatically configured using an existing 5G network configuration.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network configuration method. The method may be applied to a terminal device, or may be applied to a chip in a terminal device. The following describes an example method in which the method is applied to a terminal device. The method includes:

transmitting a request message to the main network element, where the request message is used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network element configuration; and

receiving a response message from the main network element, where the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in the first aspect, the configuration information of the serving network element is configured in the 5G network architecture, so that the terminal device can obtain the configuration information of the serving network element from the 5G network configuration. The configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element. Thus, the terminal device can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the terminal device using the 5G network configuration. Thus, the end device can be automatically configured using the existing 5G network configuration.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information, and the first indication information is used to request obtaining configuration information of the serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, the terminal may indicate, using the terminal identifier and/or the first indication information, that the request message is used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element, such that the ways in which the terminal requests information about Serving NE configurations are flexible and diverse, expanding usage scenarios.

In an exemplary implementation, the first indication information is the identifier of the data network to which the terminal is to access.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, the ID of the data network to be accessed by the terminal device is used as the first indication information to reduce the overhead of the request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the underlying network element is an access control network element, the request message is a registration request message, and the response message is a registration confirmation message;

the main network element is a session control network element, the request message is a session establishment request message, and the response message is a session establishment response message; or

the main network element is a session control network element, the request message is an access request message for requesting access to the data network, and the response message is a feedback message for the access request message.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, the terminal device can obtain, through a registration procedure, a session establishment procedure, or an access procedure for accessing a data network, configuration information of a serving network element corresponding to a terminal device from a 5G network configuration, so that the ways in which a terminal requests to obtain configuration information of a serving network element can be flexible and varied, expanding usage scenarios.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

receiving a configuration update message from the access control network element, where the configuration update message is used to indicate to update the configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration update message includes the configuration update information of the serving network element; and

updating the locally stored configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration update information of the serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, when updating the configuration information of the serving network element, the terminal device can obtain from the 5G network configuration, by means of a configuration information update message, the configuration update information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device. In this way, the accuracy of the configuration information of the serving network element that is stored in the terminal can be guaranteed. Subsequently, the terminal device can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, which is carried in the exact configuration information of the serving network element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the terminal device using the 5G network configuration, which improves efficiency of automatic configuration.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration update message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: adding the configuration information of the serving network element again, changing the information about the configuration of the serving network element; and deleting the configuration information of the serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, when the configuration information of the serving network element is updated, the terminal device can perform the corresponding update operation based on the second information of specifying the configuration information in the update message and the configuration update information of the serving network element, so that the methods for updating the information about the configuration of the serving network element are flexible and diverse, expanding usage scenarios.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network configuration method. The method can be applied to:

the core network element or the chip in the core network element. The main network element in this document may be a configuration network element, e.g., a unified data repository (UDR) network element, a data management network element (e.g., UDM network element), a policy control network element (e.g., PCF network element) or a DHCP server, or a primary network element connected to the network configuration element. The following describes an example method in which the method is applied to a core network element. The method includes:

receiving a request message from the main network element, where the request message is used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network element configuration;

obtaining configuration information of the serving network element based on the request message; and

transmitting a response message to the core network element, where the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in the second aspect, the configuration information of the serving network element can be provided to the tag based on a request message from the tag using another core network element. Thus, the terminal device can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the terminal device using the 5G network configuration. Thus, the end device can be automatically configured using the existing 5G network configuration.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information, and the first indication information is used to request to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, the tag identifier and/or the first indication information may be used to indicate that the request message is used to obtain the configuration information of the serving network element, so that the methods of requesting to obtain the configuration information of the serving network element are flexible and diverse, expanding use cases.

In an exemplary implementation, the first indication information is the identifier of the data network to which the terminal is to access.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, the ID of the data network to be accessed by the terminal device is used as the first indication information to reduce the overhead of the request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier, and obtaining the serving network element configuration information based on the request message includes:

determining, based on the terminal ID, an operator ID to which the serving network configuration element belongs; and

obtaining configuration information of the serving network element based on the identifier of the operator to which the serving network configuration element belongs.

According to the network configuration method provided in this possible implementation, when the main network element is a network configuration element, the configuration information of the serving network element, which belongs to the same operator as the terminal device, can be obtained based on the ID of the terminal device to ensure accuracy. received information about the configuration of the serving network element.

In a possible implementation, the core network element is any of the following network elements:

a web content control element, a web policy control element, a web session control element, and a web access control element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, the terminal can obtain from the 5G network configuration using a network data element, network policy element, network session control element, or network access control element in the 5G network architecture, configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device, so that the ways in which the terminal device obtains the configuration information of the serving network element from the 5G network configuration are flexible and diverse, expanding the use cases.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

receiving a configuration request message from the network exposure network element or the unified data repository network element, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element; and

processing the configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, the configuration request message is received for appropriate processing, such as storing, forwarding, deleting, or updating the configuration information of the serving network element. Thus, the configuration information of the serving network element can be flexibly configured in the 5G network architecture, expanding the use cases.

In an exemplary implementation, processing the configuration information of the serving platform based on the configuration request message includes:

storing configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes:

second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, change of the configuration information of the serving network element, and deletion of the configuration information serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, a corresponding update operation may be performed on the configuration information of the serving network element based on the second indication information in the configuration request message of the serving network element configuration. Thus, the configuration information of the serving network element can be flexibly configured in the 5G network architecture, expanding the use cases.

In an exemplary implementation, processing the configuration information of the serving platform based on the configuration request message includes:

transmitting a configuration request message to the data network control element or the policy network control element.

In a possible implementation, processing the configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message includes:

processing the configuration information of the serving network element based on the second indication information.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, a corresponding update operation may be performed on the configuration information of the serving network element based on the second indication information in the configuration request message. Thus, the configuration information of the serving network element can be flexibly configured in the 5G network architecture, expanding the use cases.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

transmitting a configuration update message to the access control network element, where the configuration update message is used to indicate to update the configuration information of the serving network element and the configuration update message includes the configuration update information of the serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this possible implementation, when the configuration information of the serving network element is updated, the access control network element forwards a configuration information update message to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can obtain from the 5G network configuration the configuration update information of the serving network element, corresponding to the end device. In this way, the accuracy of the configuration information of the serving network element that is stored in the terminal can be guaranteed. Subsequently, the terminal device can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, which is carried in the exact configuration information of the serving network element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the terminal device using the 5G network configuration, which improves efficiency of automatic configuration.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration information update message further includes second indication information.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, when the configuration information of the serving network element is updated, the terminal device can perform the corresponding update operation based on the second information of specifying the configuration information in the update message and the configuration update information of the serving network element, so that the methods for updating the information about the configuration of the serving network element are flexible and diverse, expanding usage scenarios.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network configuration method. The method may be applied to a core network element or a chip in a core network element. The core network element herein may be, for example, an access control network element (eg, AMF network element) or a session control network element (eg, SMF network element). The following describes an example method in which the method is applied to a core network element. The method includes:

obtaining information about the configuration of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device; and

transmitting a response message to the terminal device, where the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element.

According to the network configuration method provided in the third aspect, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device is obtained from the 5G network configuration and added to the response message, and the response message is transmitted to the terminal device so that the terminal device can obtain the configuration information of the serving network element from 5G network configuration. The configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element. Thus, the terminal device can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the terminal device using the 5G network configuration. Thus, the end device can be automatically configured using the existing 5G network configuration.

In an exemplary implementation, before obtaining information about the configuration of the serving platform, the method further includes:

receiving a request message from the terminal device, where the request message is used to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, after receiving the request message from the terminal device, the main network element can obtain from the 5G network configuration the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device, add the configuration information of the serving network element to the response message, and transmit a response message to the end device so that the ways in which the end device obtains the configuration information of the serving network element are flexible and varied, extending the use of the script.

In a possible implementation, after receiving the serving platform configuration information, the method further includes:

receiving a request message from the terminal device, where the request message is used to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this possible implementation, before receiving the request message from the terminal device, the main network element can obtain from the 5G network configuration the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device, add the configuration information of the serving network element to the response message after receiving request messages from the terminal device and send a response message to the terminal device, so that the ways in which the terminal device obtains the configuration information of the serving network element are flexible and varied, expanding the use cases.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information, and the first indication information is used to request obtaining configuration information of the serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this possible implementation, the tag identifier and/or the first indication information may be used to indicate that the request message is used to obtain the configuration information of the serving network element, so that the ways in which the tag requests the configuration information of the serving network element network element are flexible and diversified, expanding usage scenarios.

In a possible implementation, obtaining configuration information of a serving network element includes:

transmitting a request message to the network element control data, where the request message is used to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element; and

receiving a response message from the network data control element, where the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element; or

sending the request message to the network policy control element; and

receiving a response message from the network policy control element; or

transmitting a request message to a DHCP dynamic host configuration protocol server; and

receiving a response message from a DHCP server.

According to the network configuration method provided in this possible implementation, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device can be obtained from the 5G network configuration through a registration procedure, a session establishment procedure, or an access procedure for accessing a data network, so that methods for obtaining Serving NE configuration information is flexible and varied, expanding usage scenarios.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information.

According to the network configuration method provided in this possible implementation, the tag identifier and/or the first indication information may be used to indicate that the request message is used to obtain the configuration information of the serving network element, so that the ways in which the tag requests the configuration information of the serving network element network element are flexible and diversified, expanding usage scenarios.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

receiving a configuration update message from the main network element, where the configuration update message is used to indicate to update the configuration information of the serving network element and the configuration update message includes the configuration update information of the serving network element; and

transmitting a configuration information update message to the terminal device.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, when the configuration information of the serving network element is updated, a configuration information update message is forwarded to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can obtain from the 5G network configuration the configuration update information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device. In this way, the accuracy of the configuration information of the serving network element that is stored in the terminal can be guaranteed. Subsequently, the terminal device can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, which is carried in the exact configuration information of the serving network element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the terminal device by using the 5G network configuration, which improves the efficiency of automatic configuration.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration update message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: adding the configuration information of the serving network element again, changing the information about configuration of the serving network element; and deleting the configuration information of the serving network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, a corresponding update operation can be performed on the configuration information of the serving network element based on the second indication information in the configuration update message. Thus, the configuration information of the serving network element can be flexibly configured in the 5G network architecture, expanding the use cases.

According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network configuration method. The method may be applied to a network exposure network element (eg, NEF network element) or a chip in a network exposure network element. The following describes an example method in which the method is applied to a network exposure network element. The method includes:

receiving a configuration request message from the serving network configuration element, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element; and

transmitting a configuration request message to the core network element, where the core network element is one of the following network elements: a unified data repository network element, a data control network element, a policy control network element, and a dynamic host configuration protocol server.

According to the network configuration method provided in the fourth aspect, the serving network configuration element configures for the 5G network configuration with the network exposure network element in the 5G network architecture the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can subsequently obtain the configuration information serving network element from the 5G network configuration. Thus, the terminal device can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the terminal device using the 5G network configuration. Thus, the end device can be automatically configured using the existing 5G network configuration.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes:

indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, change of the configuration information of the serving network element, and deletion of the configuration information of the serving network element. element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, the network configuration element in the 5G network architecture can perform a corresponding operation of updating the configuration information of the serving network element based on the indication information in the configuration request message. Thus, the configuration information of the serving network element can be flexibly configured in the 5G network architecture, expanding the use cases.

In a possible implementation, the configuration request message further includes an operator identifier to which the serving network configuration element belongs and/or an identifier of the serving network configuration element, and the method further includes:

performing authentication of the serving network configuration element based on the identifier of the operator to which the serving network configuration element belongs and/or the identifier of the serving network configuration element; and

sending a configuration request message to the core network element includes:

transmitting a configuration request message to the main network element after successful authentication of the serving configuration network element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this possible implementation, further, after receiving the configuration request message, the network exposure network element may first authenticate the serving network configuration element based on the identity of the operator to which the serving network configuration element belongs and/or the identity of the serving network element configuration to determine whether the serving network configuration element has permission to configure the configuration information of the serving network element for the 5G network configuration. In this implementation, the network exposure network element may send a configuration request message to the main network element after the authentication of the serving network configuration element is successful. Thus, it is possible to prevent unauthorized configuration of the serving network element in the data communication network from configuring the configuration information of the serving network element for the 5G network configuration.

In an exemplary implementation, the serving network element configuration information further includes a data network identifier, where the data network is the network that owns the session used by the terminal to receive configuration information from the serving network configuration element.

According to the network configuration method provided in this exemplary implementation, the identifier of the DN to be accessed by the terminal device is conveyed in the configuration information of the serving network element. Thus, after subsequently obtaining the configuration information of the serving network element from the 5G network configuration, the terminal device can quickly establish a connection based on the DN when establishing a connection with the serving network element of the configuration based on the address information of the serving network element, the session used to receive information configuration from the serving network configuration element. Thus, the serving network configuration element can send configuration information to the terminal device using a session for automatic configuration of the terminal device, improving the efficiency of automatic configuration of the terminal device.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network configuration method. The method may be applied to a serving network configuration element (eg, ACS) or a chip in a serving network configuration element. The following describes a method using an example in which the method is applied to a serving network configuration element. The method includes:

generating a configuration request message, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element; and

transmitting a configuration request message to the network exposure network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes:

indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, change of the configuration information of the serving network element, and deletion of the configuration information of the serving network element. element.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes at least one of the operator identifier to which the serving network configuration element belongs, and the identifier of the serving network configuration element.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration information of the serving network element further includes a data network identifier, where the data network is the network that owns the session used by the terminal to receive the configuration information from the serving network configuration element.

For the positive effects of the network configuration method provided in the fifth aspect and possible implementations of the fifth aspect, refer to the positive effects provided by the fourth aspect and possible implementations of the fourth aspect, and the details are not re-described.

According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network configuration method. The method may be applied to a core network element or a chip in a core network element. The main network element in this document may be a configuration network element, e.g., a unified data repository (UDR) network element, a data management network element (e.g., UDM network element), a policy control network element (e.g., PCF network element) or a DHCP server, or a primary network element connected to the network configuration element. The following describes an example method in which the method is applied to a core network element. The method includes:

receiving a configuration request message from the network exposure network element or the unified data repository network element, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element; and

processing the configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, processing the configuration information of the serving platform based on the configuration request message includes:

storing configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes:

indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, change of the configuration information of the serving network element, and deletion of the configuration information of the serving network element. element.

In an exemplary implementation, processing the configuration information of the serving platform based on the configuration request message includes:

transmitting a configuration request message to the data network control element or the policy network control element.

In a possible implementation, processing the configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message includes:

processing the configuration information of the serving network element based on the indication information.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

transmitting a configuration information update message to the access control network element, where the configuration information update message is used to indicate to update the configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration update message includes the configuration update information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration information update message further includes indication information.

For the positive effects of the network configuration method provided in the sixth aspect and possible implementations of the sixth aspect, refer to the beneficial effects provided by the second aspect and possible implementations of the second aspect, and the details are not re-described here.

According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The device includes:

a transmission unit configured to transmit a request message to the main network element, where the request message is used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network element configuration; and

a receiving unit configured to receive a response message from the main network element, where the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information, and the first indication information is used to request to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the first indication information is the identifier of the data network to be accessed by the terminal.

In an exemplary implementation, the underlying network element is an access control network element, the request message is a registration request message, and the response message is a registration confirmation message;

the main network element is a session control network element, the request message is a session establishment request message, and the response message is a session establishment response message; or

the main network element is a session control network element, the request message is an access request message for requesting access to the data network, and the response message is a feedback message for the access request message.

In a possible implementation, the device further includes a processing unit;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a configuration update message from the network access control element, where the configuration update message is used to indicate to update the configuration information of the serving network element and the configuration update message includes the configuration update information of the serving network element; and

the processing unit is configured to update the locally stored configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration update information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration update message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: new adding of the configuration information of the serving network element, changing the information about the configuration of the serving network element; and deleting the configuration information of the serving network element.

For the benefits of the communication device provided in the seventh aspect and the possible implementations of the seventh aspect, refer to the benefits provided by the first aspect and the possible implementations of the first aspect, and details are not described here again.

According to an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The device includes:

a receiving unit configured to receive a request message from the main network element, where the request message is used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network element configuration;

a processing unit configured to obtain configuration information of the serving network element based on the request message; and

a transmission unit configured to send a response message to the main network element, where the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information, and the first indication information is used to request to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the first indication information is the identifier of the data network to be accessed by the terminal.

In a possible implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier; and

the processing unit is specifically configured to determine, based on the tag ID, the ID of the operator to which the serving network configuration element belongs, and obtain configuration information of the serving network element based on the ID of the operator to which the serving network configuration element belongs.

In a possible implementation, the core network element is any of the following network elements:

a web content control element, a web policy control element, a web session control element, and a web access control element.

In an exemplary implementation, the receiving unit is further configured to receive a configuration request message from a network exposure network element or a unified data repository network element, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element; and

the processing unit is further configured to process the configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the processing unit is specifically configured to store configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes:

second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, change of the configuration information of the serving network element, and deletion of the configuration information serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the processing unit is specifically configured to transmit the configuration request message to the data network element or policy network element using the transmission unit.

In an exemplary implementation, the processing unit is specifically configured to process the configuration information of the serving network element based on the second indication information.

In an exemplary implementation, the transmitter is further configured to send a configuration update message to the access control network element, where the configuration update message is used to indicate to update the serving network element's configuration information, and the configuration update message includes the serving network element's configuration update information.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration information update message further includes second indication information.

For the beneficial effects of the communication device provided in the eighth aspect and possible implementations of the eighth aspect, refer to the benefits provided by the second aspect and possible implementations of the second aspect, and details are not described here again.

According to a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The device includes:

a processing unit configured to obtain configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device; and

a transmission unit configured to send a response message to the terminal device, where the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element.

In a possible implementation, the device further includes:

a receiving unit configured: before the processing unit receives the configuration information of the serving platform, to receive a request message from the terminal device, where the request message is used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

In a possible implementation, the device further includes:

a receiving unit configured: after the receiving unit has received the configuration information of the serving platform, to receive a request message from the terminal device, where the request message is used to obtain the configuration information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information, and the first indication information is used to request to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the processing unit is specifically configured to send a request message to the network data element using a transmit unit and receive, using a receive unit, a response message from the network data element, where the request message is used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element and the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element;

the processing unit is specifically configured to transmit the request message to the network policy control element using the transmitting unit, and receive using the receiving unit a response message from the network policy control element; or

the processing unit is specifically configured to transmit the request message to the DHCP dynamic host configuration protocol server using the transmitting unit and receive, using the receiving unit, a response message from the DHCP server.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information.

In a possible implementation, the device further includes:

a receiving unit configured to receive a configuration update message from the main network element, where the configuration update message is used to indicate to update the configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration update message includes the configuration update information of the serving network element; and

the transmission unit is further configured to transmit the configuration information update message to the terminal device.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration update message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, change of the configuration of the serving network element; and deleting the configuration information of the serving network element.

For the positive effects of the communication device provided in the ninth aspect and possible implementations of the ninth aspect, refer to the beneficial effects provided by the third aspect and possible implementations of the third aspect, and details are not described here again.

According to a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The device includes:

a receiving unit configured to receive a configuration request message from the serving network configuration element, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element; and

a transmission unit configured to transmit a configuration request message to the core network element, where the core network element is any of the following network elements: a unified data repository network element, a data control network element, a policy control network element, and a dynamic host configuration protocol server.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes:

indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, change of the configuration information of the serving network element, and deletion of the configuration information of the serving network element. element.

In a possible implementation, the configuration request message further includes an operator identifier to which the serving network configuration element belongs and/or an identifier of the serving network configuration element, and the device further includes:

a processing unit configured to perform authentication of the serving network configuration element based on the identifier of the operator to which the serving network configuration element belongs and/or the identifier of the serving network configuration element; and

a transmission unit specifically configured to transmit a configuration request message to the main network element after successful authentication of the serving configuration network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the serving network element configuration information further includes a data network identifier, where the data network is the network that owns the session used by the terminal to receive configuration information from the serving network configuration element.

For the positive effects of the communication device provided in the tenth aspect and possible implementations of the tenth aspect, refer to the beneficial effects provided by the fourth aspect and possible implementations of the fourth aspect, and details are not described here again.

According to an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The device includes:

a processing unit configured to generate a configuration request message, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element; and

a transmission unit configured to transmit the configuration request message to the network exposure network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes:

indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, change of the configuration information of the serving network element, and deletion of the configuration information of the serving network element. element.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes at least one of the operator identifier to which the serving network configuration element belongs, and the identifier of the serving network configuration element.

In an exemplary implementation, the serving network element configuration information further includes a data network identifier, where the data network is the network that owns the communication session used by the terminal to receive configuration information from the served network configuration element.

For the beneficial effects of the communication device provided in the eleventh aspect and the possible implementations of the eleventh aspect, refer to the beneficial effects of the fifth aspect and possible implementations of the fifth aspect, and details are not described here again.

According to a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The device includes:

a receiving unit configured to receive a configuration request message from a network exposure network element or a unified data repository network element, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element; and

a processing unit configured to process the configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the processing unit is specifically configured to store configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes:

indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, change of the configuration information of the serving network element, and deletion of the configuration information of the serving network element. element.

In a possible implementation, the device further includes a transmission unit; and

the processing unit is specifically configured to transmit the configuration request message to the data network element or the policy network control element using the transmission unit.

In an exemplary implementation, the processing unit is specifically configured to process the configuration information of the serving network element based on the indication information.

In a possible implementation, the device further includes a transmission unit; and

the processing unit is specifically configured to transmit the configuration information update message to the network access control element with the transmission unit, where the configuration information update message is used to indicate to update the configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration update message includes the configuration update information of the serving network element .

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration information update message further includes indication information.

For the benefits of the communication device provided in the twelfth aspect and the possible implementations of the twelfth aspect, refer to the benefits brought by the sixth aspect and the possible implementations of the sixth aspect, and details are not described here again.

According to a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor, a memory, a receiver and a transmitter. Both the receiver and the transmitter are coupled to the processor, and the processor controls the receive action of the receiver and the transmit action of the transmitter.

The memory is configured to store program code executable by the computer, and the program code includes an instruction. When the processor executes an instruction, the instruction enables the communication device to execute the network configuration method in accordance with the first aspect or possible implementations of the first aspect.

According to a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor and a memory.

The memory is configured to store program code executable by the computer, and the program code includes an instruction. When the processor executes an instruction, the instruction allows the communication device to execute the network configuration method according to the second aspect or possible implementations of the second aspect.

According to a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor and a memory.

The memory is configured to store program code executable by the computer, and the program code includes an instruction. When the processor executes an instruction, the instruction allows the communication device to execute the network configuration method according to the third aspect or possible implementations of the third aspect.

According to a sixteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor and a memory.

The memory is configured to store program code executable by the computer, and the program code includes instructions. When the processor executes the instructions, the instructions cause the communication device to execute the network configuration method according to the fourth aspect or possible implementations of the fourth aspect.

According to a seventeenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor and a memory.

The memory is configured to store program code executable by the computer, and the program code includes instructions. When the processor executes the instructions, the instructions cause the communication device to execute the network configuration method in accordance with the fifth aspect or possible implementations of the fifth aspect.

According to an eighteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor and a memory.

The memory is configured to store program code executable by the computer, and the program code includes instructions. When the processor executes the instructions, the instructions cause the communication device to execute the network configuration method in accordance with the sixth aspect or possible implementations of the sixth aspect.

According to a nineteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device including blocks, modules, or circuits configured to perform a method according to the first aspect or possible implementations of the first aspect. The communications device may be a terminal device, or may be a module applied to a terminal device, such as a chip applied to a terminal device.

According to a twentieth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device including blocks, modules, or circuits configured to perform a method according to a second aspect or possible implementations of the second aspect. The communication device may be a core network element or may be a module applied to the core network element, such as a chip applied to the core network element. The primary network element can be a configuration network element, such as a unified data repository (UDR) network element, a data management network element (for example, a UDM network element), a policy network element (for example, a PCF network element), or a DHCP server. , or the primary NE connected to the NE.

According to a twenty-first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communications device including blocks, modules, or circuits configured to perform a method according to a third aspect or possible implementations of the third aspect. The communication device may be a core network element or may be a module applied to the core network element, such as a chip applied to the core network element. The core network element herein may be, for example, an access control network element (eg, AMF network element) or a session control network element (eg, SMF network element).

According to a twenty-second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device including blocks, modules, or circuits configured to perform a method in accordance with a fourth aspect or possible implementations of the fourth aspect. The communication device may be a network exposure network element (eg, NEF network element) or may be a module applied to the network exposure network element, such as a chip applied to the network exposure network element.

According to a twenty-third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device including blocks, modules, or circuits configured to perform the method according to the fifth aspect or possible implementations of the fifth aspect. The communication device may be a serving network configuration element (eg, an ACS) or may be a module applied to a serving network configuration element, such as a chip applied to a serving network configuration element.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communications device including blocks, modules, or circuits configured to perform a method in accordance with a sixth aspect or possible implementations of the sixth aspect. The communication device may be a core network element or may be a module applied to the core network element, such as a chip applied to the core network element. The main network element in this document may be a configuration network element, e.g., a unified data repository (UDR) network element, a data management network element (e.g., UDM network element), a policy control network element (e.g., PCF network element) or a DHCP server, or a primary network element connected to the network configuration element.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer program product including an instruction. When a computer program product is executed on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method in accordance with the first aspect or possible implementations of the first aspect.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer program product including instructions. When the computer program product is executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to the second aspect or possible implementations of the second aspect.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer program product including instructions. When the computer program product is executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to the third aspect or possible implementations of the third aspect.

According to a twenty-eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer program product including instructions. When the computer program product is executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to the fourth aspect or possible implementations of the fourth aspect.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer program product including instructions. When the computer program product is executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to the fifth aspect or possible implementations of the fifth aspect.

According to a thirtieth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer program product including instructions. When the computer program product is executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to the sixth aspect or possible implementations of the sixth aspect.

According to a thirty-first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium stores instructions; when the instructions are executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to execute the method in accordance with the first aspect or possible implementations of the first aspect.

According to a thirty-second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium stores instructions; when the instructions are executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to execute the method according to the second aspect or possible implementations of the second aspect.

According to a thirty-third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium stores instructions; when the instructions are executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to execute the method according to the third aspect or possible implementations of the third aspect.

According to a thirty-fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium stores instructions; when the instructions are executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to execute the method according to the fourth aspect or possible implementations of the fourth aspect.

According to a thirty-fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium stores instructions; when the instructions are executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to execute the method according to the fifth aspect or possible implementations of the fifth aspect.

According to a thirty-sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium stores instructions; when the instructions are executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to execute the method according to the sixth aspect or possible implementations of the sixth aspect.

According to the network configuration methods and communication devices that are provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the serving network configuration element can configure the serving network element configuration information for the 5G network configuration so that the terminal device can obtain the serving network element configuration information from the 5G network configuration. The configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element. Thus, the terminal device can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the terminal device using the 5G network configuration.

Brief description of the drawings

1 is a diagram of an existing network configuration in which a terminal accesses a data network;

Fig. 2 is a network configuration diagram in embodiments of the present disclosure;

3 is a flowchart of a network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

4 is a flowchart of another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

5 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

6 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

7 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

8 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

9 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

10 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

11 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

12 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 13 is a diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 14 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 15 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 16 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 17 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 18 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 19 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

20 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Implementation of the invention

1 is a network configuration diagram in which a terminal device accesses a data network. As shown in FIG. 1, an RG can access a data network via a fixed network to obtain a data service. Therefore, the user can access the data network via the RG using a UE (eg, a mobile phone or a tablet computer) to obtain a data service. RG and fixed network are owned by the same operator. The auto-configuration server (ACS) is configured on the data network. The RG can establish a connection to the operator's auto-configuration server (ACS) via the fixed network based on the ACS address information so that the ACS can send the configuration information to the RG via the connection and automatically configure the RG. Before establishing a connection with the ACS, the RG needs to perform an ACS discovery process to obtain the ACS address information. Currently, an RG can obtain ACS address information by communicating with a server in a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) DN.

2 is a network configuration diagram in embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2, the 5G network architecture according to the 3GPP specification includes: an access network device, a user plane function (UPF) network element, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element ), session management function (SMF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, unified data management (UDM) network element, network exposure function network element , NEF) and a DHCP server. One skilled in the art can appreciate that the 5G network architecture shown in FIG. 2 is not a limitation for the 5G network configuration. During a specific implementation of 5G, the network architecture may include more or fewer network elements than shown in the drawing, some network elements may be combined, and so on.

In the 5G network architecture, the access network device is an access network side device, and the AMF network element, SMF network element, PCF network element, UDM network element, NEF network element, and DHCP server are core network side network elements (which are referred to as main network elements). The access network in this document may be a radio access network or a fixed broadband access network. Therefore, 5G network architecture can also be referred to as fixed-mobile convergence architecture. In some embodiments, the DHCP server may alternatively be independent of the core network in the 5G network architecture, i.e., the DHCP server may or may not belong to the core network.

End device can access using 5G network architecture, DN connected to core network in 5G network architecture. The end device here can be: a set top box (STB), RG, customer premise equipment (CPE), an end device in the Internet of things (Internet of things, IoT), a computer with wireless transmission and reception functions, wireless end device in the smart home system, etc. The DN herein can be any network, such as the Internet, an IPTV network, or an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), that can provide a data service to a user. The terminal may alternatively include a UE. For example, the terminal is the UE in Fig.1. In embodiments of the present disclosure, the DN is a third party network relative to the 5G network configuration. In a possible implementation, the terminal and the ACS are owned by the same operator. ACS can automatically configure the end device that establishes a connection with ACS.

In particular, the network access device is configured to connect the terminal device to the core network. When the access network corresponding to the network access device is a fixed broadband access network, the network access device may be a fixed access gateway function (FAGF) network element in the fixed broadband access network. When the access network corresponding to the network access device is a radio access network, the network access device may be a network radio access device. The radio access network device in this document is an access device wirelessly connecting a terminal device with a 5G network architecture, and, for example, may be a Node B on the network side, an eNodeB on the network side, a network side in a 5G mobile communication system, a network side in a future system mobile phone or access point in the Wi-Fi system. The specific technology and specific form of the device that is used by the radio access network device is not limited to the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that if the access network corresponding to the access network device is a fixed broadband access network, the terminal device can alternatively communicate with the core network elements in the 5G network architecture using the network element of the fixed-mobile interworking function. function, FMIF) in a fixed broadband network.

The AMF network element is configured to control whether a terminal can access the core network. The SMF network element is configured to manage a session connection established by a terminal device over a core network, and each session connection is used to transmit user plane data of the terminal device. The UPF network element is configured to transmit user plane data. The PCF network element is configured to enforce policies, such as a quality of service (QoS) policy, which is used by the terminal device to access the core network. The UDM network element is configured to store tag subscription data. The NEF network element is the network exposure network element in the 5G network architecture. A third party network device can call an operator-provided API to subscribe to an event from a 5G system using NEF. The DHCP server is configured to provide the end device with an access service of the DN connected to the core network in the 5G network architecture.

Using the example in which the terminal is an RG as described above, the 5G network architecture shown in FIG. 5G core network. However, in addition to providing DN access service for RG, the DHCP server in the 5G core network can additionally provide DN access service for another operator's end device; or the carrier that owns the 5G core network and the carrier that owns the RG are not the same carrier. Therefore, the RG cannot be automatically configured using the existing 5G network configuration.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for configuring a network. The configuration information of the serving network element can be configured by the 5G network configuration, so that the terminal device can obtain the configuration information of the serving network element from the 5G network configuration. The configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element. Thus, the terminal device can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the terminal device using the 5G network configuration. In a possible implementation, the serving network configuration element and the terminal belong to the same operator. It may be appreciated in the art that the method presented in the embodiments of the present disclosure includes, but is not limited to, a scenario in which an RG accesses a DN network using a 5G network configuration. The method presented in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be used in all scenarios in which a terminal accesses a DN using the 5G network configuration shown in FIG.

Based on the 5G network configuration shown in FIG. 2, the method in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below using some embodiments. The following few embodiments may be combined with each other, and the same or similar concept or process may not be re-described in some embodiments.

3 is a flowchart of a network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This embodiment refers to a specific process in which a serving network configuration element configures configuration information of a serving network element for a 5G network configuration. The network elements in this embodiment include: a serving network configuration element (eg, ACS), an exposure network element (eg, NEF network element) that resides in the 5G network architecture and that communicates with an external network, and a main network element in 5G network architecture. As shown in figure 3, the method includes the following steps.

S101. The serving network configuration element generates a configuration request message.

The configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network element configuration.

S102. The serving network configuration element sends a configuration request message to the network exposure network element.

Accordingly, the network exposure network element may receive a configuration request message.

S103. The network exposure network element sends a configuration request message to the main network element.

S104. The core network element processes the configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In particular, the serving network element configuration in the DN may generate a configuration request message containing information about the configuration of the serving network element. The serving network element configuration information includes address information of the serving network configuration element, such as the uniform resource locator (URL) of the serving network configuration element and/or the Internet protocol (IP) address of the serving network configuration element. After generating the configuration request message, the serving network configuration element can send the configuration request message to the network exposure network element that is in the 5G network architecture and which is configured to interact with the external network to configure the configuration information of the serving network element for the 5G network configuration. For example, a serving network configuration element may send a configuration request message to the network exposure network element by invoking an application programming interface (API) of the network exposure network element.

After receiving the configuration request message, the network exposure network element may send the configuration request message to the core network element on the core network side. The main network element in this document may be the main network element for configuring the configuration information of the serving network element (where the main network element for configuring the configuration information of the serving network element, referred to as the network configuration element for short) in the 5G network architecture, and may be, for example , any of the following network elements: a unified data repository (UDR) network element, a data management network element (eg, UDM network element), a policy management network element (eg, PCF network element), or a DHCP server. Alternatively, the primary network element may be the primary network element connected to the configuration network element. For example, the network configuration element is a data network element (eg, UDM network element) or a policy network element (eg, PCF network element), the main network element associated with the network configuration element is a UDR network element. It can be understood that if there are multiple DHCP servers in the 5G network architecture and each DHCP server corresponds to one or more operators, the network exposure network element can forward the configuration request message to the DHCP server corresponding to the operator to which the serving network configuration element belongs.

When the core network element is a configuration network element, after receiving the configuration request message from the network exposure network element, the core network element can store, based on the configuration request message, the configuration information of the serving network element that is transmitted in the configuration request message. In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message may further include first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element. The operation includes any of the following: new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, change of the configuration information of the serving network element, and deletion of the configuration information of the serving network element. In this implementation, the main network element may perform, based on the first indication information in the configuration request message, an appropriate operation on the configuration information of the serving network element that is transmitted in the configuration request message. For example, if the first indication information is used to indicate a new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, the main network element may store the configuration information of the serving network element. If the first indication information is used to indicate a change in the configuration information of the serving network element, the core network element may replace the configuration information of the serving network element with the configuration information of the serving network element that is stored previously. If the first indication information is used to indicate to delete the configuration information of the serving network element, the core network element may delete the configuration information of the serving network element locally.

When the core network element is the core network element connected to the configuration network element, after receiving the configuration request message from the network exposure network element, the core network element may send a configuration request message to the network configuration element (for example, a data control network element or a policy network element). ) for processing. Upon receiving the configuration request message, the configuration network element may store configuration information of the serving network element that is conveyed in the configuration request message. It is possible that if the configuration request message includes first indication information used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, the configuration network element can perform, based on the first indication information in the configuration request message, a corresponding operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, which sent in the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message may further include an operator identifier to which the serving network configuration element belongs and/or an identifier of the serving network configuration element. In addition, upon receiving the configuration request message, the network exposure network element may first authenticate the serving network configuration element based on the operator ID to which the serving network configuration element belongs and/or the ID of the serving network configuration element to determine whether the serving network configuration element has permission. configure configuration information of the serving network element for the 5G network configuration. In this implementation, the network exposure network element may send a configuration request message to the main network element upon successful authentication of the serving configuration network element. Thus, it is possible to prevent unauthorized configuration of the serving network element in the data communication network from configuring the configuration information of the serving network element for the 5G network configuration.

It can be understood that the configuration information of the serving network element may further include other configuration information of the serving network element. This is not limited to this embodiment of the present disclosure. In an exemplary implementation, the configuration information of the serving network element may further include a DN, and the DN may be the network that owns the session used by the terminal to receive configuration information from the serving network element. Thus, after receiving the configuration information of the serving network element from the 5G network configuration, the terminal device can quickly establish a connection based on the DN when establishing a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, the session used to receive information about configuration from the serving network configuration element. Thus, the serving network configuration element can send configuration information to the terminal device using a session for automatic configuration of the terminal device, improving the efficiency of automatic configuration of the terminal device.

Thus, the serving network configuration element in the data network can configure the configuration information of the serving network element for the 5G network configuration.

The following describes how a terminal obtains from the 5G network configuration the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal. 4 is a flowchart of another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in figure 4, the method includes the following steps.

S201. The terminal device sends the first request message to the first primary network element.

The first request message is used to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element.

S202. The first primary network element receives the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device.

The execution order of S201 and S202 can be changed, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example in which S201 is first executed and then S202 is executed.

S203. The first primary network element transmits the first response message to the end device.

The response message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

In particular, the terminal device may send a request message to the first primary network element to request to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device. The Configuration Serving Network Element corresponding to the terminal device in this document is a Serving Network Configuration Element that is owned by the same operator as the terminal device and that has permission to configure the terminal device. The first basic network element herein may be an access control network element (eg, AMF network element) or a session control network element (eg, SMF network element).

The request message may include, for example, a tag identifier and/or second indication information, and the second indication information is used to request to obtain configuration information of the serving network element. The terminal device identifier herein may include at least one of the following: terminal device identifier, international mobile subscriber identification number (IMSI) of the terminal device, generic public subscription identifier (GPSI) ) terminal device, the international ISDN number of the mobile station (Mobile Subscriber International ISDN number, MSISDN) of the terminal device, etc. The second indication information may be, for example, a DN identifier to which the terminal will have access, or a one-bit flag. For example, when the flag is 1, the flag is used to request to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

The first primary network element may receive from the configuration network element, after or before receiving the first request message from the terminal device, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device, add the configuration information of the serving network element to the first response message, and transmit the first response message to the terminal device. . Thus, the terminal device can obtain from the 5G network configuration the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device. After receiving the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device, the terminal device can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, which is carried in the configuration information of the serving network element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure end device.

In an exemplary implementation, if the network configuration element is a data network element (eg, a UDM network element), a policy network element (eg, a PCF network element), a DHCP server, or the like, the first primary network element may send a second request message to the network configuration element. , used to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element. The second request message may include a tag identifier and/or second indication information. Upon receiving the second request message, the network configuration element may obtain the configuration information of the serving network element based on the second request message and send back to the first primary network element a second response message including the configuration information of the serving network element.

For example, if the 5G network architecture provides only one operator's end device with a DN access service, only the configuration information of the serving operator's network element is configured in the network configuration element. In this scenario, the second request message may only include the second indication information. Thus, the network configuration element can add to the second response message, based on the second indication information, the configuration information of the serving network element that is configured in the network configuration element, and transmit the second response message to the first main network element.

For example, if the 5G network architecture provides a DN access service for a terminal of at least one operator, the configuration information of each operator's serving network element is configured in the network configuration element. In this scenario, the second request message may include a tag identifier. Thus, the configuration network element can first determine, based on the tag ID, an operator ID to which the configuration service network element belongs, and then obtain configuration information of the serving network element based on the operator ID to which the configuration service network element belongs. Thus, the configuration network element may add the received configuration information of the serving network element to the second response message and send the second response message to the first primary network element. It can be appreciated that the second request message may be a default request message used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element; or the second request message may further include second indication information used to indicate to obtain configuration information of the serving network element to indicate, using the second indication information, that the second request message is used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, if the network configuration element is a UDR network element, the first primary network element may send a second request message to a second primary network element connected to the network configuration element. After receiving the second request message, the second primary network element may send to the configuration network element a third request message used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element. The third request message may include a tag identifier and/or second indication information. After receiving the third request message, the network configuration element may obtain the configuration information of the serving network element based on the third request message and send back to the second core network element a third response message including the configuration information of the serving network element. The second primary network element may transmit to the first primary network element, based on the third response message, a second response message including configuration information of the serving network element. In this implementation, the second primary network element may be, for example, a data control network element (eg, UDM network element) or a policy control network element (eg, PCF network element).

After the terminal obtains from the 5G network configuration in the above manner the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal, if the serving network configuration element updates the configuration information of the serving network element in the 5G network architecture by performing the procedure shown in Fig. 3, the network the configuration element may further send a configuration information update message to the access control network element after updating the configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message from the serving network configuration element. The configuration information update message is used to indicate to update the configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration update message includes the configuration update information of the serving network element.

Upon receiving the configuration update message, the access control network element may forward the configuration update message to the terminal device such that the terminal device updates the locally stored configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration update message. For example, the tag may replace the locally stored configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration update information of the serving network element that is transmitted in the configuration update message.

In an exemplary implementation, if a message that originates from a serving network element and that is used to update the configuration information of the serving network element conveys the first indication information described above, the configuration update message from the network element to the terminal using the network control access may also include the first indication information so that the terminal can perform an appropriate update operation based on the first indication information. The details are again not described here.

The network configuration method presented in this embodiment of the present disclosure is described in detail below with reference to specific scenarios and using an example in which the terminal is an RG, the data control network element is a UDM network element, the policy control network element is a PCF network element, the access control network element is an AMF network element and the session control network element is an SMF network element. In particular, the following several scenarios can be presented:

First scenario: The RG obtains the configuration information of the serving network element through the registration procedure. In this scenario, the first request message is a registration request message and the first response message is a registration confirmation message.

Method 1: The NE is a UDM NE or a UDR NE. 5 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in figure 5, the method includes the following steps.

S301. The RG sends a registration request message to the AMF network element.

The registration request message may include an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S302. The AMF network element communicates with the UDM network element to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

When interacting with the UDM network element to obtain the RG subscription data, the AMF network element may send a request message (namely, a second request message) to the UDM network element used to obtain the RG subscription data. If the network element UDM is a configuration network element, the network element UDM may obtain the serving network element configuration information and the RG subscription data based on the second request message and return a response message to the AMF network element that contains the serving network element configuration information and the RG subscription data. .

If the UDR network element is a configuration network element, after receiving a request message (namely, a second request message) that originates from the network element AMF and is used to obtain RG subscription data, the UDM network element may send a third request message to the UDR network element, used to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element. After receiving the third UDR request message, the network element may obtain the configuration information of the serving network element based on the third request message and send back to the UDM the network element a third response message including the configuration information of the serving network element. The network element UDM may return an AMF to the network element based on the third response message a response message (second response message) that contains the serving network element configuration information and the RG subscription data.

Obviously, it can be determined whether the second request message and the third request message specifically include the RG ID, the second indication information or the RG ID, and the second indication information based on the registration request message.

S303. The AMF network element sends a registration confirmation message to the RG.

The registration confirmation message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

After S303 is executed, the procedure ends.

Method 2: The NE is a PCF NE or a UDR NE. 6 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig.6, the method includes the following steps.

S401. The RG sends a registration request message to the AMF network element.

The registration request message may include an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S402. The AMF network element communicates with the PCF network element to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

When interacting with the PCF network element to obtain a policy for RG access to the core network, the AMF network element may send a request message (namely, a second request message) to the PCF network element used to obtain a policy for RG access to the core network. If the PCF network element is a configuration network element, the PCF network element may obtain, based on the second request message, the configuration information of the serving network element and the policy for accessing the core network with the RG, and sends back to the AMF network element a response message (second response message) that contains information about the configuration of the serving network element and the policy for accessing the RG to the core network.

If the network element's UDR is a configuration network element, after receiving a request message (namely, a second request message) that originates from the network element's AMF and is used to obtain a policy for accessing the RG core network, the PCF network element may send the UDR to the third network element. a request message used to obtain information about the configuration of a serving network element. Upon receiving the third UDR request message, the network element may obtain the configuration information of the serving network element based on the third request message and send back to the PCF the network element a third response message including the configuration information of the serving network element. The network element PCF may return an AMF to the network element based on the third response message a response message (second response message) that contains configuration information of the serving network element and a policy for RG access to the core network.

Obviously, it can be determined whether the second request message and the third request message specifically include the RG identifier, the second indication information or the RG identifier and the second indication information based on the registration request message.

S403. The AMF network element sends a registration confirmation message to the RG.

The registration confirmation message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

After S403 is executed, the procedure ends.

It should be noted that if the access network corresponding to the access network device is a fixed broadband access network, by performing the above registration procedure, the RG may alternatively communicate with the AMF network element using the FMIF network element in the fixed broadband access network. Specifically, in step S401, the RG initiates a request message to the FMIF to initiate the FMIF to send a registration request message to the AMF. In step 403, after receiving the ACS address information, the FMIF transmits the ACS address information to the FN-RG. Messaging between the RG and FMIF uses an interactive message such as Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) or a DHCP message on an existing fixed network. This is not limited in the present invention. In another possible implementation, alternatively, if the access network corresponding to the access network device is a fixed broadband access network, and the RG does not support the RG function defined by 3GPP, when performing the above registration procedure, the RG can communicate with the AMF network element using the network element's FMIF in fixed broadband access networks.

One skilled in the art can appreciate that the registration procedures shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 do not limit the registration procedure. During a particular implementation, the registration procedure may include more or fewer steps than shown in the drawings, some steps may be combined, and so on. Accordingly, the above messages may alternatively include additional information. It is not limited here.

Thus, the RG obtains from the 5G network configuration, through the registration procedure, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG. After receiving the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG, the RG can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, which is carried in the configuration information of the serving network element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the RG using 5G network configuration.

Second scenario: The RG obtains the configuration information of the serving network element through the session establishment procedure. In this scenario, the first request message is a session establishment request message and the first response message is a session establishment confirmation message.

Method 1: The NE is a UDM NE or a UDR NE. 7 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig.7, the method includes the following steps.

S501. The RG sends a session establishment request message to the AMF network element.

The session establishment request message is used to request the establishment of an RG session. The session establishment request message may include an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S502. The AMF network element sends a session control context establishment request message to the SMF network element.

The session management context establishment request message may include an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S503. The SMF network element communicates with the UDM network element to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element.

When interacting with the UDM network element to obtain the RG subscription data, the SMF network element may send a request message (namely, a second request message) to the UDM network element used to obtain the RG subscription data. If the network element UDM is a configuration network element, the network element UDM may obtain the serving network element configuration information and RG subscription data based on the second request message and send back to the network element SMF a response message that contains the serving network element configuration information and subscription data. R.G.

If the UDR network element is a configuration network element, after receiving a request message (namely, a second request message) that originates from the network element SMF and is used to obtain RG subscription data, the UDM network element may send a third request message to the UDR network element, used to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element. After receiving the third UDR request message, the network element may obtain the configuration information of the serving network element based on the third request message and send back to the UDM the network element a third response message including the configuration information of the serving network element. The network element UDM may return the SMF to the network element based on the third response message a response message (second response message) that contains the serving network element configuration information and the RG subscription data.

Obviously, it can be determined whether the second request message and the third request message specifically include the RG identifier, the second indication information or the RG identifier and the second indication information based on the session establishment request message.

S504. The SMF network element sends a session control context establishment response message to the AMF network element.

The session control context establishment response message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

S505. The AMF network element sends a session confirmation message to the RG.

The session establishment confirmation message is used to notify the RG session establishment. The session establishment confirmation message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

After S505 is executed, the procedure ends.

Method 2: The NE is a PCF NE or a UDR NE. 8 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig.8, the method includes the following steps.

S601. The RG sends a session establishment request message to the AMF network element.

The session establishment request message may include an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S602. The AMF network element sends a session control context establishment request message to the SMF network element.

The session management context establishment request message may include an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S603. The SMF network element communicates with the PCF network element to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

When interacting with the PCF network element to obtain a policy for accessing the core network using the RG, the SMF network element may send to the PCF network element a request message (namely, a second request message) used to obtain a policy for accessing the RG to the core network. If the PCF network element is a configuration network element, the PCF network element can obtain, based on the second request message, the configuration information of the serving network element and the policy for accessing the core network with the RG, and sends back to the SMF the network element a response message (second response message) that contains information about the configuration of the serving network element and the policy for accessing the RG to the core network.

If the network element UDR is a configuration network element, after receiving the request message (namely, the second request message) that originates from the network element SMF and which is used to obtain the policy for accessing the RG PCF core network, the network element may send the UDR to the network element a third message. request used to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element. Upon receiving the third UDR request message, the network element may obtain the configuration information of the serving network element based on the third request message and send back to the PCF the network element a third response message including the configuration information of the serving network element. The network element PCF may return the SMF to the network element based on the third response message a response message (second response message) that contains configuration information of the serving network element and a policy for RG access to the core network.

Obviously, it is determined whether the second request message and the third request message specifically include the RG identifier, the second indication information or the RG identifier and the second indication information based on the session establishment request message.

S604. The SMF network element sends a session control context establishment response message to the AMF network element.

The session control context establishment response message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

S605. The AMF network element sends a session confirmation message to the RG.

The session establishment confirmation message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

After S605 is executed, the procedure ends.

It should be noted that if the access network corresponding to the access network device is a fixed broadband access network, when performing the above session establishment procedure, the RG may alternatively communicate with the AMF network element using the FMIF network element in the fixed broadband access network. Specifically, in step S501, the RG initiates a request message to the FMIF to initiate the FMIF to send a session establishment request to the AMF. At AMF step 605, the network element sends a session establishment confirmation message to the FMIF, and the FMIF sends the received ACS address information to the RG. Messaging between RG and FMIF uses an interactive message such as a PPPoE or DHCP message on the existing fixed network. This is not limited in the present invention.

One skilled in the art can understand that the session establishment procedures shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 do not limit the session establishment procedure. During a particular implementation, the session establishment procedure may include more or fewer steps than shown in the drawings, some steps may be combined, and so on. Accordingly, the above messages may alternatively include additional information. It is not limited here.

Thus, the RG obtains from the 5G network configuration, through the session setup procedure, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG. After receiving the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG, the RG can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, which is carried in the configuration information of the serving network element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the RG using 5G network configuration.

Third Scenario: The RG obtains the configuration information of the serving network element through a session establishment procedure and an access procedure for accessing the DN. The SMF NE is an SMF NE integrated with the DHCP server function. In this scenario, the first request message is an access request message for requesting access to a data network and includes an RG identifier. The first response message is a feedback message for the access request message. For example, the access request message is a DHCPv4 DHCP discover message, and the loopback message is a DHCPv4 DHCP offer message. Alternatively, the access request message is a DHCP DHCPv4 request message and the feedback message is a DHCPv4 DHCP Ack message. Alternatively, the access request message is a DHCP notification (inform) DHCPv4 message, and the feedback message is a DHCP acknowledgment (Ack) DHCPv4 message. Alternatively, the access request message is a DHCP solicit message for DHCPv6 and the feedback message may be a DHCP DHCPv6 advertise message. Alternatively, the access request message is a DHCP DHCPv6 request message and the feedback message may be a DHCPv6 DHCP reply message.

Method 1: The NE is a UDM NE or a UDR NE. 9 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig.9, the method includes the following steps.

S701. The RG sends a session establishment request message to the AMF network element.

The session establishment request message may include an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S702. The AMF network element sends a session control context establishment request message to the SMF network element.

The session management context establishment request message may include an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S703. The SMF network element communicates with the UDM network element to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element.

When interacting with the UDM network element to obtain the RG subscription data, the SMF network element may send a request message (namely, a second request message) to the UDM network element used to obtain the RG subscription data. If the network element UDM is a configuration network element, the network element UDM may obtain the serving network element configuration information and RG subscription data based on the second request message and send back to the network element SMF a response message that contains the serving network element configuration information and subscription data. R.G.

If the UDR network element is a configuration network element, after receiving a request message (namely, a second request message) that originates from the network element SMF and is used to obtain RG subscription data, the UDM network element may send a third request message to the UDR network element, used to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element. After receiving the third UDR request message, the network element may obtain the configuration information of the serving network element based on the third request message and send back to the UDM the network element a third response message including the configuration information of the serving network element. The network element UDM may return the SMF to the network element based on the third response message a response message (second response message) that contains the serving network element configuration information and the RG subscription data.

Obviously, it can be determined whether the second request message and the third request message specifically include the RG identifier, the second indication information or the RG identifier and the second indication information based on the session establishment request message.

S704. The SMF network element sends a session control context establishment response message to the AMF network element.

S705. The SMF network element sends a session establishment request message to the UPF network element.

The Session Establish Request message is used to request the establishment of a NE UPF session context.

S706. The UPF network element sends a session establishment response message to the SMF network element.

S707. The AMF network element sends a session confirmation message to the RG.

After executing S707, the session establishment procedure ends and the subsequent access procedure for accessing the DN is as follows:

S708. The RG sends an access request message to the UPF NE.

The access request message is used to request access to a DN. The access request message includes an RG identifier.

S709. The UPF network element sends an SMF access request message to the network element.

The access request message includes an RG identifier.

S710. The SMF network element sends a UPF feedback message to the network element.

The feedback message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

After receiving the access request message from the RG forwarded by the UPF network element, the SMF network element can determine, based on the RG identifier that is carried in the access request message, that the SMF network element has received, in the RG session establishment procedure, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG. In this scenario, the SMF network element may add the configuration information of the serving network element to the feedback message and send the feedback message to the UPF network element. Possibly, the feedback message may further include an IP address assigned by the SMF to the NE for the RG.

In an exemplary implementation, it is assumed that the SMF network element does not find, based on the RG identifier that is carried in the access request message, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG, i.e., the SMF network element does not receive, in the session establishment procedure of the RG, the configuration information of the serving network element. the network element corresponding to the RG. In this scenario, the SMF network element may send the received access request message to the DHCP server in the DN based on the existing data network access procedure, and the DHCP server processes the RG access procedure. For details, refer to the prior art, and the details are not described here.

S711. The UPF network element sends a feedback message to the RG.

The feedback message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

After S711 is executed, the access procedure ends.

Method 2: The NE is a PCF NE or a UDR NE. 10 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig.10, the method includes the following steps.

S801. The RG sends an AMF session establishment request message to the network element.

The session establishment request message may include an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S802. The AMF network element sends an SMF Session Control Context Establish Request message to the network element.

The session management context establishment request message may include an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S803. The SMF network element communicates with the PCF network element to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

When interacting with the PCF network element to obtain a policy for accessing the core network with the RG, the SMF network element may send to the PCF network element a request message (namely, a second request message) used to obtain the policy for accessing the core network RG. If the PCF network element is a configuration network element, the PCF network element may obtain, based on the second request message, the configuration information of the serving network element and the policy for accessing the core network with the RG, and send back a response message (second response message) to the network element SMF. message) that contains information about the configuration of the serving network element and the policy for accessing the RG to the core network.

If the network element's UDR is a configuration network element, after receiving a request message (namely, a second request message) that originates from the network element SMF and is used to obtain the RG PCF core network access policy, the network element may send a third request message to the UDR network element, used to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network element. Upon receiving the third UDR request message, the network element may obtain the configuration information of the serving network element based on the third request message and send back to the PCF the network element a third response message including the configuration information of the serving network element. The network element PCF may return the SMF to the network element based on the third response message a response message (second response message) that contains configuration information of the serving network element and a policy for RG access to the core network.

Obviously, it can be determined whether the second request message and the third request message specifically include the RG identifier, the second indication information or the RG identifier and the second indication information based on the session establishment request message.

S804. The SMF network element sends an AMF session control context establishment response message to the network element.

S805. The SMF network element sends a session establishment request message to the UPF network element.

The Session Establish Request message is used to request the establishment of a NE UPF session context.

S806. The UPF network element sends an SMF session establishment response message to the network element.

S807. The AMF network element sends a session confirmation message to the RG.

After executing S807, the session establishment procedure ends and the subsequent access procedure for accessing the DN is as follows:

S808. The RG sends an access request message to the UPF NE.

The access request message includes an RG identifier.

S809. The UPF network element sends an SMF access request message to the network element.

The access request message includes an RG identifier.

S810. The SMF network element sends a UPF feedback message to the network element.

The feedback message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

After receiving the access request message from the RG forwarded by the UPF network element, the SMF network element may determine, based on the RG identifier that is carried in the access request message, that the SMF network element has received, in the RG session setup procedure, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG. . In this scenario, the SMF network element may add the configuration information of the serving network element to the feedback message and send the feedback message to the UPF network element. Possibly, the feedback message may further include an IP address assigned by the SMF to the NE for the RG.

In an exemplary implementation, it is assumed that the SMF network element does not find, based on the RG identifier that is carried in the access request message, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG, i.e., the SMF network element does not receive, in the session establishment procedure of the RG, the configuration information of the serving network element. the network element corresponding to the RG. In this scenario, the SMF network element may send the received access request message to the DHCP server in the DN based on the existing data network access procedure, and the DHCP server processes the RG access procedure. For details, refer to the prior art, and the details are not described here.

S811. The UPF network element sends a feedback message to the RG.

The feedback message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

After S811 is executed, the access procedure ends.

It should be noted that if the access network corresponding to the access network device is a fixed broadband access network, when performing the above session establishment procedure and access procedure, the RG may alternatively communicate with the main network element using the FMIF of the network element in the fixed broadband access network.

Specifically, in step S701 or S801, the RG initiates a request message to the FMIF to request the FMIF to send a session establishment request to the AMF. In step S707 or S807 AMF, the network element sends a session confirmation message to the FMIF. Messaging between RG and FMIF uses an interactive message such as a PPPoE or DHCP message on an existing fixed network. This is not limited in the present invention.

One skilled in the art can appreciate that the session establishment procedures and access procedures shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 are not a limitation of the session establishment procedure and access procedure. During a particular implementation, the session establishment procedure and the access procedure may include more or fewer steps than shown in the drawings, some steps may be combined, and so on. Accordingly, the above messages may alternatively include additional information. This document does not limit this.

Thus, the RG obtains from the 5G network configuration, through the session establishment procedure and the access procedure, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG. After receiving the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG, the RG can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, which is carried in the configuration information of the serving network element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the RG using 5G network configuration.

Fourth Scenario: After executing the session establishment procedure, the RG obtains the configuration information of the serving network element through the access procedure to access the network DN. In this scenario, the first request message is an access request message for requesting access to a data network, the first response message is a feedback message for an access request message, and the network configuration element is a DHCP server. For a description of the first request message and the first response message, refer to the descriptions of the first request message and the first response message in the third scenario. The details are again not described here.

11 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig.11, the method includes the following steps.

S901. The RG sends an access request message to the UPF NE.

The access request message includes an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S902. The UPF network element sends an SMF access request message to the network element.

The access request message includes an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

S903. The SMF network element sends an access request message to the DHCP server.

The access request message includes an RG identifier and/or second indication information.

In a possible implementation, if there are multiple DHCP servers in a 5G network architecture, and each DHCP server corresponds to one or more operators and stores the configuration information of the serving network element DNs of one or more operators, when sending an access request message to the DHCP server, the SMF network element can determined based on the identifier of the RG in the access request message of the operator to which the RG belongs. The NE SMF may then forward the access request message to the DHCP server corresponding to the operator to which the RG belongs.

S904. The DHCP server sends a loopback message to the SMF NE.

The feedback message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

S905. The SMF network element sends a feedback message to the UPF network element.

S906. The UPF network element sends a feedback message to the RG.

The feedback message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

After S906 is executed, the access procedure ends.

It should be noted that if the access network corresponding to the access network device is a fixed broadband access network, when performing the above access procedure, the RG may alternatively communicate with the main network element using the FMIF network element in the fixed broadband access network.

One skilled in the art can appreciate that the access procedure shown in FIG. 11 is not a limitation of the access procedure. During a particular implementation, the access procedure may include more or fewer steps than shown in the drawings, some steps may be combined, and so on. Accordingly, the above messages may alternatively include additional information. It is not limited here.

Thus, the RG obtains from the 5G network configuration, through the access procedure, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG. After receiving the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG, the RG can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element that is carried in the configuration information of the serving network element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the RG using 5G network configuration.

Fifth scenario: After the RG obtains from the 5G network configuration by any method shown in the preceding first to fourth scenarios, the configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG, if the configuration serving network element updates the configuration information of the serving network element for the 5G network architecture, by executing the procedure shown in FIG. 3, the network configuration element may further perform the following configuration information update procedure after updating the configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message from the serving network element configuration. The details are as follows:

12 is a flowchart of yet another network configuration method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig.12, the method includes the following steps.

S1001. The configuration network element sends a configuration information update message to the AMF network element.

The network configuration element may be a unified data repository (UDR) network element, a data management network element (eg, a UDM network element), a policy network element (eg, a PCF network element), a DHCP server, and the like.

S1002. The AMF network element sends a configuration information update message to the RG.

The configuration information update message includes configuration update information of the serving network element. Alternatively, the configuration information update message includes the serving network element configuration update information and the first indication information.

S1003. The RG updates the locally stored configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration update information of the serving network element.

After S1003 is executed, the procedure ends.

In an exemplary implementation, after executing S1003, the RG may send a configuration information update complete message to the AMF network element to notify that the RG has updated the configuration information. Accordingly, upon receiving the configuration information update complete message from the RG, the AMF network element may send a configuration information update complete message to the network configuration element to notify the network configuration element that the RG has updated the configuration information. Details are not described here.

It should be noted that if the access network corresponding to the access network device is a fixed broadband access network, by performing the above configuration information update procedure, the RG can communicate with the main network element using the FMIF network element in the fixed broadband access network.

Thus, the RG obtains from the 5G network configuration, through the configuration information update procedure, the configuration update information of the serving network element corresponding to the RG. Thus, the RG can subsequently establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, which is carried in the exact configuration information of the serving network element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the RG using the 5G network configuration, increasing efficiency of automatic configuration.

According to the network configuration method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the serving network configuration element can configure the configuration information of the serving network element for the 5G network configuration, so that the terminal device can obtain the configuration information of the serving network element from the 5G network configuration. The configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element. Thus, the terminal device can establish a connection with the serving network configuration element based on the address information of the serving network configuration element, so that the serving network configuration element can automatically configure the terminal device using the 5G network configuration.

13 is a diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device in this embodiment may be the aforementioned terminal device, or may be a chip used in the terminal device. The communication device may be configured to perform the actions of a terminal device in the above method embodiments. As shown in FIG. 13, the communication device may include a transmitting unit 11 and a receiving unit 12.

The transmission unit 11 is configured to transmit a request message to the main network element, where the request message is used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network element configuration.

The receiving unit 12 is configured to receive a response message from the main network element, where the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element. For example, the main network element is an access control network element, the request message is a registration request message, and the response message is a registration confirmation message. Alternatively, the underlying network element is a session management network element, the request message is a session request message, and the response message is a session response message. Alternatively, the main network element is a session control network element, the request message is an access request message for requesting access to the data network, and the response message is a feedback message for the access request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information, and the first indication information is used to request obtaining configuration information of the serving network element. For example, the first indication information is the identifier of the data network to be accessed by the terminal device.

In a possible implementation, the device further includes a processing unit 13 .

The receiving unit 12 is further configured to receive a configuration update message from the network access control element, where the configuration update message is used to indicate to update the configuration information of the serving network element and the configuration update message includes the configuration update information of the serving network element.

The processing unit 13 is configured to update the locally stored configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration update information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration update message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: adding configuration information of the serving network element, changing the configuration information serving network element and deleting the configuration information of the serving network element.

The communication device provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure can perform the actions of a terminal device in the above method embodiments. Implementation principles and technical effects are similar, details are not described here.

14 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device in this embodiment may be the aforementioned main network element, or may be a chip used in the main network element. The communication device may be configured to perform the actions of the main network element in the above method embodiments. The main network element in this document may be a configuration network element, e.g., a unified data repository (UDR) network element, a data management network element (e.g., UDM network element), a policy control network element (e.g., PCF network element) or a DHCP server, or a primary network element connected to the network configuration element. As shown in FIG. 14, the communication device may include a receiving unit 21, a processing unit 22, and a transmission unit 23.

The receiving unit 21 is configured to receive a request message from the main network element, where the request message is used to obtain the configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes the address information of the serving network element configuration. The core network element herein can be any of the following network elements: data control network element, policy network element, session control network element, and access control network element.

The processing unit 22 is configured to obtain configuration information of the serving network element based on the request message.

The transmission unit 23 is configured to send a response message to the main network element, where the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information, and the first indication information is used to request obtaining configuration information of the serving network element. For example, the first indication information is the identifier of the data network to be accessed by the terminal device.

In a possible implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier. The processing unit 22 is specifically configured to determine, based on the tag ID, the ID of the operator to which the serving network configuration element belongs, and obtain configuration information of the serving network element based on the ID of the operator to which the serving network configuration element belongs.

In an exemplary implementation, the receiving unit 21 is further configured to receive a configuration request message from a network exposure network element or a unified data repository network element, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element; and the processing unit 22 is further configured to process the configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the processing unit 22 is specifically configured to store configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: adding configuration information of the serving network element, changing information about configuration of the serving network element; and deleting the configuration information of the serving network element.

In this implementation, the processing unit 22 is specifically configured to transmit a configuration request message to the network data control element or the network policy control element using the transmission unit 23 . Alternatively, the processing unit 22 is specifically configured to process the configuration information of the serving network element based on the second indication information.

After the processing unit 22 processes the configuration information of the serving network element based on the second indication information, the transmission unit 23 is further configured to send a configuration update message to the access control network element, where the configuration update message is used to indicate the configuration information update of the serving network element. element, and the configuration update message includes configuration update information of the serving network element. In an exemplary implementation, the configuration information update message further includes second indication information.

The communication device presented in this embodiment of the present disclosure can perform the actions of the network configuration element or the main network element connected to the network configuration element in the above method embodiments. Implementation principles and technical effects are similar, details are not described here.

15 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device in this embodiment may be the aforementioned first basic network element, or may be a chip used in the first basic network element. The communication device may be configured to perform the actions of the first primary network element in the above method embodiments. The first basic network element herein may be, for example, an access control network element (eg, AMF network element) or a session control network element (eg, SMF network element). As shown in FIG. 15, the communication device may include a processing unit 31 and a transmission unit 32. Possibly, the communication device may further include a receiving unit 33 .

The processing unit 31 is configured to receive configuration information of the serving network element corresponding to the terminal device.

The transmission unit 32 is configured to send a response message to the terminal device, where the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element.

In an exemplary implementation, the receiving unit 33 is configured to: before the receiving unit receives the serving platform configuration information, receive a request message from the terminal, where the request message is used to obtain the serving network element configuration information.

In an exemplary implementation, the receiving unit 33 is configured to: after the receiving unit obtains the serving platform configuration information, receive a request message from the terminal, where the request message is used to obtain the serving network element configuration information.

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information, and the first indication information is used to request to obtain configuration information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the processing unit 31 is specifically configured to send request messages to the network data element using the transmit unit 32, and receive, with the receive unit 33, a response message from the network data element, where the request message is used to obtain information about the configuration of the serving network. element, and the response message includes configuration information of the serving network element.

Alternatively, the processing unit 31 is specifically configured to transmit a request message to the network policy control element using a transmitting unit 32 and receive, using a receiving unit 33, a response message from the network policy control element.

Alternatively, the processing unit 31 is specifically configured to transmit a request message to a DHCP dynamic host configuration protocol server using a transmitting unit 32 and receive a response message from a DHCP server using a receiving unit 33 .

In an exemplary implementation, the request message includes a tag identifier and/or first indication information.

In an exemplary implementation, the receiving unit 33 is configured to receive a configuration update message from the main network element, where the configuration update message is used to indicate to update the configuration information of the serving network element and the configuration update message includes the configuration update information of the serving network element. The transmission unit 32 is further configured to transmit a configuration information update message to the terminal device.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration update message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: adding configuration information of the serving network element, changing information about configuration of the serving network element; and deleting the configuration information of the serving network element.

The communication device provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure can perform the actions of the first basic network element in the above method embodiments. Implementation principles and technical effects are similar, details are not described here.

16 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device in this embodiment may be the aforementioned network exposure network element (eg, NEF network element) or a chip applied to the network exposure network element. The communication device may be configured to perform the actions of the network exposure network element in the above method embodiments. As shown in FIG. 16, the communication device may include a receiving unit 41 and a transmitting unit 42.

The receiving unit 41 is configured to receive a configuration request message from the serving network configuration element, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network configuration element.

The transmission unit 42 is configured to send a configuration request message to the core network element, where the core network element is any of the following network elements: a unified data repository network element, a data control network element, a policy control network element, and a dynamic host configuration protocol server.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate an operation on the configuration information of the serving network element, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the configuration information of the serving network element, change of the configuration information serving network element and deleting the configuration information of the serving network element.

In a possible implementation, the configuration request message further includes an operator identifier to which the serving network configuration element belongs and/or an identifier of the serving network configuration element, and the device further includes a processing unit 43 . The processing unit 43 is configured to perform authentication of the serving network configuration element based on the identifier of the operator to which the serving network configuration element belongs and/or the identifier of the serving network configuration element; and the transmission unit 42 is specifically configured to transmit a configuration request message to the main network element after successful authentication of the serving configuration network element.

In a possible implementation, the configuration information of the serving network element further includes a data network identifier, where the data network is the network that owns the communication session used by the terminal to receive configuration information from the serving network configuration element.

The communication device provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure can perform the actions of the network exposure network element in the above method embodiments. Implementation principles and technical effects are similar, details are not described here.

17 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device in this embodiment may be the aforementioned Serving Network Config Element (eg, ACS) or a chip applied to the Serving Network Config Element. The communication device may be configured to perform the actions of a serving network configuration element in the above method embodiments. As shown in FIG. 17, the communication device may include a processing unit 51 and a transmission unit 52.

The processing unit 51 is configured to generate a configuration request message, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network element configuration.

The transmit unit 52 is configured to transmit a configuration request message to the network view network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate an operation on the serving network element's configuration information, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the serving network element's configuration information, change of the configuration information serving network element and deleting the configuration information of the serving network element.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes at least one of the operator identifier to which the serving network configuration element belongs, and the identifier of the serving network configuration element.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration information of the serving network element further includes a data network identifier, where the data network is the network that owns the session used by the terminal to receive the configuration information from the serving network configuration element.

The communication device presented in this embodiment of the present disclosure can perform the actions of the configuration service network element in the above method embodiments. Implementation principles and technical effects are similar, details are not described here.

18 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device in this embodiment may be the aforementioned main network element, or may be a chip used in the main network element. The communication device may be configured to perform the actions of the main network element in the above method embodiments. The main network element in this document may be a configuration network element, e.g., a unified data repository (UDR) network element, a data management network element (e.g., UDM network element), a policy control network element (e.g., PCF network element) or a DHCP server, or a primary network element connected to the network configuration element. As shown in FIG. 18, the communication device may include a receiving unit 61 and a processing unit 62 .

The receiving unit 61 is configured to receive a configuration request message from a network exposure network element or a unified data repository network element, where the configuration request message includes configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element includes address information of the serving network element. configuration element.

The processing unit 62 is configured to process the configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the processing unit 62 is specifically configured to store configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message.

In an exemplary implementation, the configuration request message further includes indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate an operation on the serving network element's configuration information, and the operation includes any of the following: new addition of the serving network element's configuration information, change of the configuration information serving network element and deleting the configuration information of the serving network element.

In this implementation, the device further includes a transmission unit 63 . The processing unit 62 is specifically configured to transmit the configuration request message to the network data control element or the network policy control element via the transmission unit 63 . The processing unit 62 is specifically configured to process the configuration information of the serving network element based on the indication information.

After processing the configuration information of the serving network element based on the indication information, the processing unit 62 may further transmit a configuration information update message to the access control network element using the transmission unit 63, where the configuration information update message is used to indicate the configuration information update of the serving network element, and the configuration update message includes configuration update information of the serving network element. In an exemplary implementation, the configuration information update message further includes indication information.

The communication device provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure can perform the actions of the network configuration element or the main network element connected to the network configuration element in the above method embodiments. Implementation principles and technical effects are similar, details are not described here.

It should be noted that during the actual implementation, the receive unit may be a receiver and the transmit unit may be a transmitter. The processing unit may be implemented in software called by the processing element, or may be implemented in hardware. For example, the processing unit may be a separate processing element or may be integrated into the chip of the above device for implementation. Additionally, the processing unit may alternatively be stored in the memory of the above device in the form of a program code, and the processing element of the above device calls the program code and performs the function of the processing block. Additionally, all or some of the blocks may be combined together or may be implemented independently. Here, the processing element may be an integrated circuit and may process the signal. In the implementation process, the steps in the above methods or the above blocks may be implemented using an integrated logic circuit in the form of hardware in a processing element or using instructions in the form of software.

For example, the above blocks may be configured as one or more integrated circuits for implementing the above methods, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), one or more microprocessors (digital signal processor, DSP), or one or more field programmable gate array (FPGA). As another example, when a block is implemented by scheduling program code by a processing element, that processing element may be a general purpose processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processor that can call program code. In another example, the blocks can be combined together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

19 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 19, the communication device may include: a processor 71 (e.g., a CPU), a memory 72, a receiver 73, and a transmitter 74. Both the receiver 73 and the transmitter 74 are connected to the processor 71, and the processor 71 controls the receive action of the receiver. 73 and a transmit action of transmitter 74. Memory 72 may include high-speed random-access memory (RAM) and may further include non-volatile memory (NVM), for example, at least one storage on a magnetic disk. Memory 72 may store various instructions for performing various processing functions and implementing method steps in the present invention. Possibly, the communication device in the present invention may further include: a power supply 75, a communication bus 76, and a communication port 77. Receiver 73 and transmitter 74 may be integrated into the communication device's transceiver, or may be an independent receive antenna and transmit antenna on the communication device. The communication bus 76 is configured to implement a communication connection between the components. The communication port 77 is configured to realize connection and communication between the communication device and another peripheral device.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, memory 72 is configured to store computer-executable program code, the program code including an instruction. When the processor 71 executes the instructions, the instruction allows the processor 71 of the communication device to perform the processing action of the tag in the above method embodiments, allows the receiver 73 to perform the receive action of the tag in the above method of embodiments, and allows the transmitter 74 to perform the transmit action of the tag in the above method embodiments . Implementation principles and technical effects are similar, details are not described here.

20 is a diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 20, the communications device may include a processor 81 (eg, a CPU) and a memory 82. The memory 82 may include high-speed random-access memory (RAM) and may further include a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory, NVM), for example, at least one storage on a magnetic disk. Memory 82 may store various instructions for performing various processing functions and implementing method steps in the present invention. Possibly, the communication device in the present invention may further include: a power supply 83, a communication bus 84, and a communication port 85. The communication bus 84 is configured to implement a communication connection between components. The communication port 85 is configured to realize connection and communication between the communication device and another peripheral device.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, memory 82 is configured to store computer-executable program code, the program code including an instruction. When the processor 81 executes an instruction, the instruction enables the communication device processor 81 to perform the operation of the main network element in the above method embodiments. Implementation principles and technical effects are similar, details are not described here. The main network element in this document may be a configuration network element, e.g., a unified data repository (UDR) network element, a data management network element (e.g., UDM network element), a policy control network element (e.g., PCF network element) or a DHCP server, or a primary network element connected to the network configuration element.

Alternatively, when the processor 81 executes an instruction, the instruction allows the communication device processor 81 to perform the action of the first primary network element in the above method embodiments. Implementation principles and technical effects are similar, details are not described here. The first basic network element herein may be, for example, an access control network element (eg, AMF network element) or a session control network element (eg, SMF network element).

Alternatively, when the processor 81 executes an instruction, the instruction allows the communication device processor 81 to perform the action of the network exposure network element (eg, NEF network element) in the above method embodiments. Implementation principles and technical effects are similar, details are not described here.

Alternatively, when processor 81 executes an instruction, the instruction allows communication device processor 81 to perform the action of a serving network configuration element (eg, ACS), in the above method embodiments. Implementation principles and technical effects are similar, details are not described here.

All or some of the above embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to implement the embodiments, the embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. A computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When computer program instructions are downloaded and executed on a computer, procedures or functions according to embodiments of the present disclosure are generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium or may be transferred from a computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center over a wired connection (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, or digital subscriber line (DSL) ) or wireless line (such as infrared, radio, or microwave). A computer-readable storage medium can be any usable medium accessible to a computer, or a storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more usable media. The medium used may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), a semiconductor medium (eg, a Solid State Disk (SSD)) or the like.

The term "multiple" in this description means two or more than two. The term "and/or" in this specification only describes association relationships between associated objects and represents that three relationships can exist. For example, A and/or B can represent the following three cases: only A exists, both A and B exist, and only B exists. Additionally, the "/" character in this specification usually indicates an "or" relationship between related entities. In a formula, the symbol "/" denotes "separation" between related objects.

It should be understood that the various numbers in the embodiments of the present disclosure are used merely to distinguish for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

It should be understood that the sequence numbers of the above processes do not indicate the sequence of execution in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The execution sequences of the processes should be determined according to the functions and internal logic of the processes and should not be considered as any restrictions on the processes for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Claims (39)

1. A method for configuring a network, comprising the steps of: receive, with the session management function network element, a first request message from the terminal device, wherein the first request message is used to obtain the configuration information of the serving network element, the configuration information of the serving network element contains the address information of the serving network configuration element, and the terminal device represents a subscriber gateway; transmitting, with the session management function network element, a second request message to the data network element, the second request message being a message containing the identifier of the data network to be accessed by the terminal; receiving, with the session management function network element, a second response message from the data network element, the second response message containing configuration information of the serving network element; and transmitting, by means of the network element of the session management function, a first response message to the end device, wherein the first response message contains information about the configuration of the serving network element. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first request message contains first indication information, and the first indication information is used to request obtaining configuration information of the serving network element. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first indication information is an identifier of a data network to be accessed by the terminal. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first request message is a session establishment request message and the first response message is a session establishment response message. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising the step of: transmitting, with the session management function network element, a configuration update message to the end device, wherein the configuration update message indicates to update the configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration update message contains the configuration update information of the serving network element. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the configuration update message further comprises second indication information, wherein the second indication information indicates an operation on the serving network element configuration information, and the operation includes any of: new addition of the serving network element configuration information, changing the configuration information of the serving network element; or deleting the configuration information of the serving network element. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the data network element is a unified data network element. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the serving network configuration element is an auto-configuration server. 9. Communication device, comprising: at least one processor coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to cause the device to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8. 10. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program executable by at least one processor, the program including instructions for configuring a device containing said at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-8. 11. A method for configuring a network, comprising the steps of: receive, with the session management function network element, a first request message from the terminal device, wherein the first request message is used to obtain the configuration information of the serving network element, the configuration information of the serving network element contains the address information of the serving network configuration element, the terminal device is a subscriber gateway ; transmitting, via the network element of the session management function, a second request message to the data network element, the second request message being a message containing an identifier of the data network to be accessed by the terminal; transmitting, via the network data control element, a second response message to the session management function network element, the second response message containing configuration information of the serving network element; and transmitting, by means of the network element of the session management function, a first response message to the end device, wherein the first response message contains information about the configuration of the serving network element. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first request message comprises first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to request obtaining configuration information of the serving network element. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first indication information is an identifier of a data network to be accessed by the terminal. 14. The method according to any one of claims 11-13, wherein the first request message is a session setup request message and the first response message is a session setup response message. 15. The method according to any one of claims 11-13, further comprising the step of: obtaining, by means of the network data control element, information about the configuration of the serving network element based on the identifier of the data network to be accessed by the terminal device. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of: receiving, via the network data control element, a configuration request message from the network exposure network element, the configuration request message containing configuration information of the serving network element; and storing, with the network data control element, configuration information of the serving network element based on the configuration request message. 17. A communication system, comprising: a network element of the session management function, configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8; and the data control network element configured to send a second response message to the session management function network element, the second response message containing configuration information of the serving network element. 18. A method for configuring a network, comprising the steps of: the terminal device transmits a request message to the main network element, wherein the request message is used to obtain configuration information of the serving network element, and the configuration information of the serving network element contains address information of the serving network element of the configuration, and the request message contains the identifier of the data network to be access via terminal device; and receive, with the help of the terminal device, a response message from the main network element, and the response message contains information about the configuration of the serving network element. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the request message contains indication information, wherein the indication information is used to request obtaining configuration information of the serving network element. 20. A communication device, comprising: at least one processor coupled to the memory, wherein said at least one processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to cause execution, by the device, of the method of claim 18 or 19. 21. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program executable by at least one processor, the program including instructions for configuring a device containing said at least one processor to implement the method of claim 18 or 19.

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