WO2022068771A1

WO2022068771A1 - Communication method and communication apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2022068771A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/120957
Authority: WO
Inventors: 武绍芸; 张春蕾
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2020-09-30
Filing date: 2021-09-27
Publication date: 2022-04-07
Also published as: CN114339948A

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and to a communication method and a communication apparatus, for use in increasing the flexibility in processing abnormal slices. The method comprises: an access network device receives abnormality indication information from a mobility management network element, the abnormality indication information being used to indicate a first link corresponding to a first slice, to which an abnormality occurs, in the mobility management network element, and the first link being a transmission link between the access network device and the mobility management network element; the access network device releases a first terminal device, the first terminal device being a terminal device that accesses the first slice by means of the first link.

Description

A communication method and communication device

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202011063769.X and the application title "a communication method and communication device" filed with the China Patent Office on September 30, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference Applying.

technical field

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

Background technique

With the continuous emergence of various communication services, the concept of network slice (NS) was introduced in the fifth generation mobile communication system (5G) to meet the demands of different communication services on network performance. difference. A network slice can consist of a set of logical network functions that support specific communication services.

For some network elements in the communication system, one or more network slices can be deployed. Taking the access and mobility management function (AMF) network element in the 5G system as an example, one or more network slices can be deployed in the AMF network element. or multiple network slices. When a slice in the AMF network element is abnormal, the AMF will notify the access network device that the AMF is abnormal or the slice in the AMF is abnormal. The access network device can only determine the abnormal AMF or the slice according to the notification of the AMF, and can control other terminals. The device is no longer connected to the AMF or the abnormal slice in the AMF. However, the terminal equipment that has been connected to the abnormal slice in the AMF cannot be processed in a targeted manner. It can be seen that the related technology is flexible for abnormal slice processing. low sex.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device, which are used to improve the flexibility of abnormal slice processing.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, and the method can be applied to an access network device or a chip inside the access network device. Taking the method applied to an access network device as an example, in this method, the access network device receives abnormality indication information from the mobility management network element, and the abnormality indication information is used to indicate the first abnormality in the mobility management network element. The first link corresponding to each slice, the first link is a transmission link between the access network device and the mobility management network element; further, the access network device releases the first link to access the first link. The first terminal equipment for all slices.

In this solution, for each slice deployed in the mobility management network element, each slice and link (transmission link between the mobility management network element and the access network device) deployed in the mobility management network element are pre-established The corresponding relationship between them, through which each slice in the mobility management network element can be bound to the link between the access network equipment and the mobility management network element. When a certain slice is abnormal, the mobility management network element may find a link corresponding to the abnormal slice based on the aforementioned correspondence, and then send abnormality indication information for indicating the link to the access network device. Further, after receiving the abnormality indication information, the access network device can clearly determine the corresponding link, and then release the terminal device that accesses the mobility management network element through the link. In this way, the terminal equipment connected to the abnormal slice in the mobility management network element can be processed timely and effectively, which improves the flexibility and effectiveness of processing the abnormal slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the abnormal occurrence of the first slice includes at least one of slice failure, slice overload, and slice deactivation.

In this way, various types of slice exceptions can be handled correspondingly, which improves the flexibility of exception handling.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network device determines, from all the terminal devices currently accessing the first slice through the first link, the first terminal device that satisfies the priority release condition.

In this solution, when the access network device releases the terminal devices that have access to the abnormal slice, it can only select the ones that meet the priority release conditions to be released, so that all terminal devices can be processed differently when they are released, which can improve the release rate. Flexibility to meet the actual business situation of each terminal device as much as possible.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network device receives slice identification information from the mobility management network element, where the slice identification information is used to indicate a slice type of the first slice.

In this solution, after the first slice is abnormal, the machine access device can timely know the slice type of the first slice through the slice identification information sent by the mobility management network element, so that the service with the first slice can be identified. Terminal devices that meet the requirements of the slice type are no longer connected to the first slice, so as to realize unified perception on the access network side and the core network side, thereby ensuring the reliability of the communication system.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network device sends the service message of the first terminal device to the second slice having the same slice type as the first slice.

In this solution, after the first terminal device is released, in order to ensure the service continuity of the first terminal device, it can be connected to a new slice as soon as possible, and in order to ensure that the service can be executed accurately, it can be re-connected to the new slice as soon as possible. The slice type is the same as that of the slice it accessed before being released to ensure that its business can continue to execute efficiently.

In a possible implementation manner, the second slice is deployed in a mobility management network element, or the second slice is deployed in other mobility management network elements.

That is to say, when switching slices for the first terminal device, the mobility management network element may be switched, or the mobility management network element may not be switched, and two optional slice modes are provided. Better flexibility.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network device receives abnormal revocation information from the mobile management network element, and the abnormal revocation information is used to indicate that the abnormality of the first slice has been eliminated; further, the access network device The service message of the two terminal devices is sent to the first slice through the first link.

The second terminal device and the first terminal device may be the same terminal device, or may be different terminal devices.

In this solution, after the abnormality of the first slice where the abnormality occurred before is eliminated, the terminal device can be connected to the first slice again, which is equivalent to using the first slice again, so as to improve the usage rate of the slice.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, and the method can be applied to a mobility management network element, and can also be applied to a chip inside the mobility management network element. Taking the method applied to a mobility management network element as an example, in this method, the mobility management network element determines that the first slice deployed in the mobility management network element is abnormal; Predefined correspondence between slices and links, and determine the first link corresponding to the first slice, where the first link is the transmission link between the mobility management network element and the access network device ; and then send abnormality indication information to the access network device, where the abnormality indication information is used to indicate the first link.

In this solution, for each slice deployed in the mobility management network element, each slice and link (between the mobility management network element and the access network device) deployed in the mobility management network element are pre-established. The corresponding relationship between the transmission links), through which each slice in the mobility management network element can be bound to the link between the access network equipment and the mobility management network element, so that when the mobility When a slice in the management network element is abnormal, the mobility management network element can find the link corresponding to the abnormal slice based on the aforementioned correspondence, and then send the abnormality indication information used to indicate the link to the access network equipment. Further, after receiving the abnormality indication information, the access network device can clearly determine the corresponding link, and then release the terminal device that accesses the mobility management network element through the link. In this way, the terminal equipment connected to the abnormal slice in the mobility management network element can be processed timely and effectively, which improves the flexibility and effectiveness of processing the abnormal slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the mobility management network element sends slice identification information to the access network device, where the slice identification information is used to indicate the slice type of the first slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the mobility management network element determines that the first terminal device accesses a second slice deployed in the mobility management network element through a second link, and the second slice is the same as the first slice. The slice types are the same, the first terminal device is a terminal device released by the access network device from the first slice, and the second link corresponds to the second slice in the aforementioned correspondence between slices and links.

In a possible implementation manner, the mobility management network element sends exception cancellation information to the access network device, where the exception cancellation information is used to indicate that the exception of the first slice has been eliminated.

In a possible implementation manner, the mobility management network element determines that the second terminal device accesses the first slice through the first link.

For the technical effects of the above several possible solutions, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the corresponding solutions in the first aspect.

In a possible implementation manner, when it is determined that the data volume of the data flow on the third link with the access network device is greater than the threshold, the mobility management network element performs packet loss processing on the data flow; wherein, In the aforementioned correspondence between slices and links, the third link corresponds to the third slice, and the threshold is determined according to the third slice.

In this solution, based on the predefined correspondence between slices and links, flow control processing can be performed at the bottom layer of the mobility management network element (that is, before the traffic enters the slice), and at the front of the data stream transmission path. In this way, excessive data can be prevented from entering the slice, and the overload probability at the slice level can be minimized. In addition, flow control processing is performed on the link corresponding to each slice based on the corresponding relationship between the link and the slice, which can avoid the mutual influence between the slices and improve the reliability of the entire network.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising:

A communication unit, configured to receive abnormality indication information from the mobility management network element, where the abnormality indication information is used to indicate the first link corresponding to the first slice where the abnormality occurs in the mobility management network element, the first link It is the transmission link between the access network equipment and the mobility management network element;

The processing unit is configured to release the first terminal device, where the first terminal device is a terminal device that accesses the first slice through the first link.

In a possible implementation manner, the occurrence of an exception in the first slice includes at least one of the following: the first slice is faulty; or, the first slice is overloaded; or, the first slice is disabled.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to determine, from all the terminal devices currently accessing the first slice through the first link, the first terminal device that satisfies the priority release condition.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive slice identification information from the mobility management network element, where the slice identification information is used to indicate a slice type of the first slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send the service message of the first terminal device to a second slice, where the second slice is of the same slice type as the first slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the second slice is deployed in the mobility management network element, or the second slice is deployed in other mobility management network elements.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive exception cancellation information from the mobile management network element, where the exception cancellation information is used to indicate that the exception of the first slice has been eliminated; and the second terminal device The service message is sent to the first slice through the first link.

For the technical effects of the various possible technical solutions in the third aspect, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the corresponding technical solutions in the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising:

a processing unit, configured to determine that the first slice deployed in the mobility management network element is abnormal;

The processing unit is further configured to determine, according to a predefined correspondence between slices and links, a first link corresponding to the first slice, where the first link is a mobility management network element and an access network Transmission link between devices;

The communication unit is configured to send abnormality indication information to the access network device, where the abnormality indication information is used to indicate the first link.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send slice identification information to the access network device, where the slice identification information is used to indicate a slice type of the first slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to determine that the first terminal device accesses the second slice deployed in the mobility management network element through the second link, the second slice and the slice type of the first slice Similarly, the first terminal device is a terminal device released by the access network device from the first slice, and the second link corresponds to the second slice in the above-mentioned correspondence between slices and links.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send exception cancellation information to the access network device, where the exception cancellation information is used to indicate that the exception of the first slice has been eliminated.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to determine that the second terminal device accesses the first slice through the first link.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to determine that the data volume of the data flow on the third link with the access network device is greater than a threshold, and perform packet loss processing on the data flow; wherein, in In the above-mentioned correspondence between slices and links, the third link corresponds to the third slice, and the aforementioned threshold is determined according to the third slice.

For the technical effects of the various possible technical solutions in the fourth aspect, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the corresponding technical solutions in the second aspect.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and a communication interface communicatively connected to the at least one processor; the at least one processor executes instructions stored in a memory so that the communication device passes The communication interface performs the method as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and a communication interface communicatively connected to the at least one processor; the at least one processor executes instructions stored in a memory so that the communication device passes The communication interface performs the method as described in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, comprising a program or an instruction, when the program or instruction is run on a computer, the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect is described in the first aspect. method is executed.

In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, comprising a program or an instruction, which, when the program or instruction is executed on a computer, makes the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect described in the second aspect method is executed.

A ninth aspect provides a chip, which is coupled to a memory for reading and executing program instructions stored in the memory, so that the first aspect or any of the possible implementations of the first aspect method is executed.

A tenth aspect provides a chip, which is coupled to a memory for reading and executing program instructions stored in the memory, so that the second aspect or any of the possible implementations of the second aspect method is executed.

In an eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method described in the first aspect or any of the possible implementations of the first aspect to be performed.

A twelfth aspect provides a computer program product comprising instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the method described in the second aspect or any of the possible implementations of the second aspect to be performed.

It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and do not limit the scope of protection of the present application.

Description of drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service-oriented architecture;

Fig. 2 is a kind of schematic diagram of network slice;

3 is a schematic flowchart of a terminal device registering a slice with a network side;

Figure 4a is a schematic diagram of deploying a single slice in AMF;

Figure 4b is a schematic diagram of deploying multiple slices in AMF;

Fig. 5 is the schematic diagram that AN and AMF establish link;

6 is a schematic diagram of an AN saving context information of a UE;

Fig. 7 is the schematic diagram that the slice in AMF is abnormal;

Figure 8a is a schematic diagram of a slice failure in the AMF;

Figure 8b is a schematic diagram of an abnormality in the slice in the AMF;

Figure 8b is a schematic diagram of slice deactivation in AMF;

Figure 8c is a schematic diagram of overloading of slices in AMF;

8d is a schematic diagram of slice overload recovery in AMF;

Fig. 9 is the schematic diagram of slice establishment in AMF corresponding relationship between slice and link;

10 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device configuring a link;

FIG. 11 is an interaction flowchart of the communication method in the embodiment of the application;

FIG. 12 is another interactive flowchart of the communication method in the embodiment of the present application;

13 is another interactive flowchart of the communication method in the embodiment of the application;

14 is a schematic diagram of performing flow control processing on a data stream in an embodiment of the present application;

15 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device in an embodiment of the present application;

16 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device in an embodiment of the present application;

17 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more clear, the embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a server architecture, and is also a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application. The 5G network architecture shown in Figure 1 may include three parts, namely the terminal equipment part, the data network (DN) part and the operator network part. The operator network part may include one or more of the following network elements: an authentication server function (AUSF) network element, a network exposure function (NEF) network element, a policy control function (policy control function) control function, PCF) network element, unified data management (unified data management, UDM) network element, NRF network element, application function (application function, AF) network element, AMF network element, session management function (session management function, SMF) Network elements, radio access network (RAN) network elements, user plane function (UPF) network elements, and network slice-related network slice authentication functions (Network Slice-Specific Authentication and Authorization Function, NSSAAF) (not shown in Figure 1), etc. In the above-mentioned operator network part, the part other than the radio access network part may be referred to as the core network part.

In this network architecture, network slice selection function (NSSF) network element, network exposure function (NEF) network element, NRF network element, policy control function (PCF) network element , unified data management (UDM) network element, application function (AF) network element, authentication server function (AUSF) network element, AMF network element and SMF network element, these network elements Both of them can communicate based on a service method. Of course, to communicate between two network elements, one network element needs to open a corresponding service method to the other network element. In FIG. 1 , Namf is the service interface of AMF, Nnssf can be regarded as the service interface of NSSF, and the service interfaces of other network elements can be understood by referring to FIG. 1 . In addition, the AMF and the terminal device can communicate through the N1 interface, and the AMF and the RAN can communicate through the N2 interface. The communication interface between other network elements can be specifically shown in FIG. 1 .

For easier understanding, some functional network elements shown in FIG. 1 are briefly introduced below.

The mobility management function network element is, for example, a mobility management entity (mobility management entity, MME) network element in the 4th generation (4th generation, 4G) system, and is, for example, an AMF network element in a 5G system, of course, the embodiment of the present application It is not limited to this, and can also be implemented by other network elements in other communication systems, for example, in future communication systems, it may be a network element having the function of the above-mentioned AMF network element. Taking the mobility management function network element as an example of an AMF network element, the AMF network element is mainly responsible for interfacing with the radio, terminating the RAN control plane (CP) interface, that is, the N2 interface, and terminating the non-access stratum (non-access- stratum, NAS) and NAS encryption and integrity protection, registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, transfer of session management (session management, SM) messages between user equipment (UE) and SMF, or UE's mobility notification and other functions.

NSSF network element, responsible for determining network slice instances, selecting AMF network elements, etc.

The SMF network element can provide session management functions such as session establishment, modification or release, including the tunnel maintenance function between the UPF network element and the access network (AN) node, and the UE's Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation. Related to management, dynamic host control protocol (DHCP), selection and control of user plane (UP) functions, configuration of UPF routing functions, termination policy control function interfaces, billing, roaming functions, or policy control and other functions.

The UDM network element is responsible for managing the subscription data, and is responsible for notifying the corresponding network element when the subscription data is modified.

The AUSF network element is responsible for the authentication function and for executing the network slice authentication and authorization process.

The UPF network element is the entity that forwards data on the user plane. As an external protocol data unit (PDU) session of the data network interconnection, it has the functions of packet routing and forwarding, packet detection, user plane part of the policy execution, Lawful interception, traffic usage reporting, or QoS processing functions.

In order to make the text more concise, the abbreviations are used for each network element in the following text, and the word "network element" is omitted. For example, the AMF network element is abbreviated as AMF, the NRF network element is abbreviated as NRF, the access network element is abbreviated as RAN, the SMF network element is abbreviated as SMF, and so on.

In addition, when introducing the network architecture shown in Figure 1, the concept of service method was mentioned. Specifically, in the 5G system, it is currently believed that the network elements of the control plane can interact through a service-based method, and the network elements of the user plane Between elements, the interaction can be based on a point-to-point method. For example, in the 5G system, as the network element of the control plane, the NRF can open some service methods, and other devices can interact with the NRF through these service methods.

In the 5G era, hundreds of billions of IoT devices will be connected to the network, and different types of application scenarios have differentiated network requirements, and some even conflict with each other. Using a single network to provide services for different types of application scenarios at the same time will result in extremely complex network architecture, low network management efficiency, and low resource utilization efficiency. To this end, network slicing technology is proposed. 5G network slicing technology provides mutually isolated network environments for different application scenarios by virtualizing independent logical networks on the same network infrastructure, so that different application scenarios can customize network functions and Features, can effectively guarantee the QoS requirements of different services. The goal of 5G network slicing is to organically combine terminal equipment, access network resources, core network resources, and network operation and maintenance and management systems to provide independent operation and maintenance for different business scenarios or business types. The internet.

Referring to FIG. 2 , it is a schematic diagram of network slicing. Figure 2 includes three types of network slices, namely critical (machine type of communication, MTC) slices, massive (massive) MTC slices, and mobile broadband (mobile broadband, MBB) slices. In Figure 2, the terminal equipment corresponding to the critical MTC slice may include vehicles, etc.; the terminal equipment corresponding to the massive MTC slice may include some measurement meters, such as water meters or gas meters; the terminal equipment corresponding to the MBB slice may include mobile phones or personal computers ( personal computer, PC), etc. Among them, a specific application scenario of critical MTC slices is, for example, automatic driving slices. For automatic driving slices, safety, reliability and delay are critical. Due to delay limitations, all necessary (may be dedicated) Functions, including vertical industry applications, are installed on cloud edge nodes; a specific application scenario of massive MTC slicing is, for example, Internet of things (IOT) slicing, which is a device that supports large-scale machine types (such as sensors) Some basic functions of the control plane can be configured or omitted; for example, a specific application scenario of MBB slicing is smartphone slicing. Smartphone slicing is a mature network function distributed throughout the network by deploying it. 5G slices.

When network slices are deployed in the core network, the selection process of network slices is triggered when a terminal device initially attaches to the network. The selection process of network slices depends on one or more of the parameters such as user subscription data, local configuration information, roaming agreements, or operator policies. The end device chooses the best slice type.

Network slicing is a logical division of a physical network, and is deployed in the form of network elements in practical applications.

The mobility management network element in the embodiment of the present application may be the AMF network element shown in FIG. 1 , or may be a network element having the functions of the above-mentioned AMF network element in a future communication system.

The access network (AN) device in this application, also referred to as a radio access network (RAN) device, is a device that provides wireless communication functions for terminal devices. Access network equipment includes but is not limited to: next-generation base station (g nodeB, gNB), evolved node B (evolved node B, eNB), radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), node B (node B) in 5G B, NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), home base station (for example, home evolved nodeB, or home node B, HNB), baseband unit (baseBand unit, BBU), transmission point (transmitting and receiving point, TRP), transmitting point (transmitting point, TP), mobile switching center, etc.

The terminal device (also referred to as user equipment (UE)) in this application is a device with wireless transceiver functions, which can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water. (such as ships, etc.); can also be deployed in the air (such as aircraft, balloons and satellites, etc.). The terminal may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (virtual reality, VR) terminal, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal, an industrial control (industrial control) wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical, wireless terminals in smart grid, wireless terminals in transportation safety, Wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, etc.

It should be noted that, in this application, "network slice instance", "network slice", and "slice" refer to the same content, and one of the descriptions is used in different places, and the two can be interchanged.

In a 5G network, when a terminal device needs to use network services, it needs to register with the network first. The terminal device may initiate the registration process in the following scenarios:

(1) The terminal device registers to the 5G network for the first time;

(2) When the terminal device moves out of the original registered area, perform mobility registration update;

(3) The terminal device performs periodic registration and update.

During the registration process, the establishment of one or more PDU sessions may be triggered. For example, in a scenario where a terminal device performs a mobility registration update, the terminal device has uplink data to send, and a PDU session is created in the registration process at this time. The following describes the process of registering a terminal device with reference to FIG. 3 .

S301: The terminal device sends registration request (Registration Request) information to the AN, and correspondingly, the AN receives the registration request information from the terminal device.

The registration request message is sent to the AN through, for example, an AN message (message).

S302: The AN selects the AMF according to the radio access technology (radio access technology, RAT) and the identifier of the network slice requested by the registration request message.

If the registration request message does not carry the 5G globally unique temporary UE identity (GUTI), or although the registration request message carries the 5G GUTI, but the 5G GUTI cannot indicate a legal AMF, the AN can The identification of the supported RAT and the network slice requested by the Registration Request message selects the AMF. Or, if the terminal device is in a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) connected (connected) state, the AN can directly forward the registration request message to the corresponding AMF according to the existing RRC connection, that is, without executing S502, Instead, S503 may be performed.

The identifier of the network slice is, for example, S-NSSAI. The registration request message may carry one or more S-NSSAIs, and one of the S-NSSAIs may indicate a network slice. The network slice indicated by the one or more S-NSSAIs is the network slice that the terminal device requests to access.

S303. The AN sends the registration request message to the AMF, and correspondingly, the AMF receives the registration request message from the AN.

That is, the AN forwards the registration request message to the AMF.

S304, the AMF executes the main authentication process of the permanent identification of the terminal device, and this process is called, for example, a security process PLMN access (security procedures PLMN access). When the process is successful, the AMF obtains the UE's subscription data from the UDM. The subscription data includes information indicating whether each S-NSSAI subscribed by the terminal device needs to execute the NSSAA process, and S304 is represented as the security process PLMN access in FIG. 3 .

S305: The AMF determines, according to the subscription data of the terminal device, whether the S-NSSAI that needs to perform the NSSAA process is included in the Requested NSSAI.

Specifically, according to the subscription data of the terminal device, the AMF determines that a certain S-NSSAI included in the Requested NSSAI can be mapped to the HPLMN S-NSSAI, and the HPLMN S-NSSAI needs to perform the NSSAA process, then the AMF determines that the terminal device is in this registration process. After that, the NSSAA process needs to be performed.

S306: The AMF sends a Registration Accept (Registration Accept) message to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the Registration Accept message from the AMF.

The Registration Accept message can carry the allowed NSSAI (Allowed NSSAI), where the Allowed NSSAI contains the S-NSSAI that does not require the NSSAA process. At the same time, the AMF also sends the pending NSSAI to the terminal device

(Pending NSSAI), the terminal device receives the Pending NSSAI from the AMF. The Pending NSSAI may include one or more S-NSSAIs that need to perform the NSSAA process, and the Pending NSSAI is used to indicate the terminal device that these S-NSSAIs that need to perform the NSSAA process are in the pending state.

S307: After sending the Registration Accept message, the AMF performs the NSSAA process on the S-NSSAI in the pending state.

For example, the Pending NSSAI includes S-NSSAI-1, then the AMF can perform the NSSAA procedure on S-NSSAI-1.

S308: After the execution of the NSSAA process is completed, the AMF updates the Allowed NSSAI of the terminal device according to the authentication result of the NSSAA process. In Figure 3, S308 is represented as a configuration update procedure (UE configuration update procedure) of the terminal device, that is, the AMF can update the Allowed NSSAI for the terminal device.

Through the process shown in FIG. 3 , the terminal device can access a certain slice in the AMF.

One or more slices can be deployed in the AMF. When some slices in the AMF are abnormal, the access network device can only determine the abnormal AMF or slice according to the notification of the AMF, and can control other terminal devices to no longer access the abnormal AMF. Or an abnormal slice in the AMF, but the terminal equipment that has been connected in the abnormal slice in the AMF cannot be processed in a targeted manner, which may affect the normal execution of the terminal equipment service. The processing flexibility is poor, which may affect the service of the terminal equipment and reduce the reliability of the communication system.

In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, in which, for each slice deployed in a mobility management network element (eg, AMF), each slice and link (transmission between AMF and AN) can be pre-established For example, if slice 1 and slice 2 are deployed in AMF, and there are two links, link 1 and link 2 between AMF and AN, then slice 1 and link 1 can be established in advance Correspondence, the corresponding relationship between slice 2 and link 2, through which each slice in AMF can be bound to the link between AN and AMF, so that when a slice in AMF is abnormal, AMF can Find the link corresponding to the abnormal slice based on the aforementioned correspondence, and then send the abnormal indication information for indicating the link to the AN. Further, after receiving the abnormal indication information sent by the AMF, the AN can determine that the The corresponding link is connected to the terminal equipment of the abnormal slice in the AMF, and then the terminal equipment connected to the abnormal slice through the link is released, so that the terminal equipment on the abnormal slice can be processed in a timely and effective manner, and the abnormality is improved. The flexibility and effectiveness of slice processing improves the reliability of the communication system.

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various communication systems, for example, a fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) communication system, a sixth generation (6th generation, 6G) communication system, or other future evolution systems, or other various A wireless communication system using a wireless access technology, etc., as long as there is a network slice in the communication system, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be adopted.

For ease of understanding, the slice management solution in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As mentioned above, one or more slices can be deployed in AMF, that is, there are a single AMF single-slice scenario and a single AMF multi-slice scenario in actual deployment. Among them, a single AMF single slice means that only one network slice instance is deployed in an AMF. As shown in Figure 4a, only one slice, slice 1, is deployed in an AMF; a single AMF multi-slice means that in an AMF Multiple (ie at least two) network slice instances are deployed in the AMF, as shown in Figure 4b, three network slice instances, slice 1, slice 2, and slice 3, are deployed in one AMF. For a scenario where multiple slices are deployed in an AMF, the slice types of each slice deployed in an AMF can be exactly the same, for example, slice 1, slice 2, and slice 3 are the aforementioned MBB slices; The slice types of all slices are not exactly the same, for example, slice 1 and slice 2 are MBB slices, while slice 3 is a massive MTC slice; or, the slice types of all slices deployed in an AMF are not the same, for example, slice 1 is an MBB slice, slice 2 is a massive MTC slice, and slice 3 is a critical MTC slice.

AMF can be configured with one or more globally unique AMF identifiers (GUAMI) for interaction in business processes. GUAMI is equivalent to the business identifier of AMF. In the single AMF multi-slice scenario shown in Figure 4b, for example, the slice processing processes corresponding to slice 1, slice 2, and slice 3 may each have a GUAMI, or the three slices may also share a GUAMI, that is, a GUAMI in an AMF. Each slice has the same GUAMI, and the embodiments of this application relate to a scenario in which multiple slices share one GUAMI.

Referring to Figure 5, after the AMF is deployed, a link connection between the AN and the AMF can be established, and the link connection between the AN and the AMF can be called a transport network layer (TNL) Association. The process of establishing a link connection between AN and AMF is as follows:

S501: The AN configures the link information between the local end and the AMF.

S502: AMF configures local link information.

S503: The AMF configures its own GUAMI information.

S504: AN initiates chain building.

Through the chain establishment process between AN and AMF, one or more links can be established between AN and AMF. For example, as shown in Figure 5, after the chain is established, link 1, chain The two links of road 2 are connected.

It should be noted that, the link between the AN and the AMF in this embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as a "communication link" or a "connection" or a "communication connection".

The terminal device accesses the slice in the AMF, specifically, it accesses the slice in the AMF through the link between the AN and the AMF, and which link each terminal device uses to access the slice in the AMF can be based on the following way is determined.

Referring to FIG. 6 , for the sake of distinction, the solid arrow path in FIG. 6 represents the transmission path corresponding to UE1, and the dotted arrow path in FIG. 6 represents the transmission path corresponding to UE2.

Taking UE1 accessing the AN as an example, when UE1 accesses the AMF for the first time, the AN randomly selects a link to send the user information corresponding to UE1 to the AMF. For example, link 1 is randomly selected to send the user information to the AMF. After receiving the user information of UE1, allocate a slice to UE1 according to the user information, for example, slice 2 is allocated. Further, AMF will select a link (for example, according to the actual load of the link) to reply to the AN message, such as AMF chooses link 2 to reply to AN. Further, the AN will record the link information of the AMF return message, and when the UE1-related information is subsequently exchanged with the AMF again, the link 2 can be directly used to exchange information with the AMF. Moreover, according to the link information of the received AMF return message, the AN can save the context information corresponding to the UE1. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 , the context information of the UE1 can include: the identity of the UE1, the UE1 accessing the AMF through the link 2, Information such as the GUAMI of the AMF accessed by the UE1.

Taking UE2 accessing AN as an example, when UE2 accesses AMF for the first time, AN randomly selects a link to send the user information corresponding to UE2 to AMF. For example, link 2 is randomly selected to send user information to AMF. After receiving the user information of UE2, it allocates a slice to UE2 according to the user information, for example, slice 2 is allocated. Further, AMF will select a link (for example, according to the actual load of the link) to reply to the AN message, For example, the AMF chooses link 1 to reply to the AN. Further, the AN will record the link information of the AMF return message, and when the UE2-related information is subsequently exchanged with the AMF again, the information exchange between the AMF and the link 1 may be directly used. Moreover, according to the link information of the received AMF return message, the AN can save the context information corresponding to the UE2. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 , the context information of the UE2 can include: the identity of the UE2, the access of the UE2 to the AMF through the link 1, Information such as the GUAMI of the AMF accessed by the UE2.

That is to say, the context information of each UE is stored in the AN, and it can be determined through which link each corresponding UE accesses the slice in the AMF through the context information of each UE.

In practice, the slice in the AMF may be abnormal, and when the slice is abnormal, the network service of the terminal device accessing the slice may also be affected. As shown in FIG. 7 , when a slice (eg slice 2) in the AMF is abnormal, the AMF will send an abnormal notification to the AN, and in this way, the AMF will be notified that a slice abnormality has occurred.

Referring to Fig. 8a, when the slice 2 in the AMF fails, in the related art, the abnormal notification sent by the AMF to the AN is, for example, an AMF status indication (AMF status indication) message, and the AMF status indication carries the GUAMI information of the AMF . In the slicing fault scenario, the AN identifies the faulty AMF corresponding to the GUAMI information according to the GUAMI information in the AMF status indication message, and releases all users accessing the AMF according to the saved UE context information. The users on the faulty slice in AMF are released, and at the same time, the users on the non-faulty slice in AMF are also released, which affects the users on the non-faulty slice. In other words, the users on the non-faulty slice are affected. The release handling is inaccurate.

Referring to Figure 8b again, when slice 2 in the AMF is disabled, in the related art, the abnormal notification sent by the AMF to the AN, for example, is also the AMF status indication, which is similar to the AMF status indication sent in the fault scenario. The GUAMI information in the AMF status indication identifies the AMF with the disabled slice corresponding to the GUAMI information, and the AN can identify the AMF with the disabled slice, but cannot perform corresponding processing on the user on the disabled slice.

Referring to Figure 8c, when slice 2 in the AMF is overloaded, in the related art, the abnormal notification sent by the AMF to the AN is, for example, an Overload Start message, and the Overload Start message carries the overloaded slice corresponding to the AMF. The AN can determine that the overloaded slice is slice 2 through the NSSAI carried in the Overload Start message. Further, the AN can no longer allow new users to access slice 2 that is currently in an overloaded state, but cannot perform any processing on users who have already accessed slice 2, because the AN cannot identify which users are on the overloaded slice.

Referring to Fig. 8d again, when the overload condition of the slice in AMF2 is eliminated, that is, when the overload is no longer, the AMF can send an Overload Stop message to the AN, and the Overload Stop message carries the overload recovery information in the AMF. The NSSAI corresponding to the slice, the AN can determine that the slice for overload recovery is slice 2 through the NSSAI carried in the Overload Start message.

In order to implement the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, each slice in the AMF and the link between the AN and the AMF may be configured correspondingly in advance, as shown in FIG. 9 , for example, the NSSAI of slice 1 is NSSAI-1, The NSSAI of slice 2 is NSSAI-2. According to the configuration information of slices and links, it can be known that slice 1 corresponds to link 1, and slice 2 corresponds to link 2. In the specific implementation process, a slice can be bound to one or more links, and the bound links corresponding to each slice are not shared, that is, each slice corresponds to the bound links respectively are different from each other. In addition, the correspondence between each slice and link in the AMF may be pre-configured in the AMF and stored locally by the AMF, or may also be specified by a protocol, in which case the AMF does not need to be configured.

The corresponding configuration between each slice and link in the AMF will be described below with reference to FIG. 10 .

S1001. The configuration management module in the AMF issues the corresponding relationship between the slice and the link during the start-up phase. Specifically, the corresponding relationship can be issued to the link management module in the AMF (for example, the link module in the AMF). In the correspondence between the slice and the link, it is assumed that slice 1 corresponds to link 1, and slice 2 corresponds to link 2.

S1002. The AN randomly selects a link to send to the AMF the first service message sent by the terminal device to the AMF. For example, link 1 is selected for sending. Specifically, it may be sent to a link management module in the AMF.

S1003. The link management module in the AMF identifies the service message, identifies the slice to be accessed by the terminal female device as slice 2 through the NSSAI and other labels carried in the service message, and then forwards the service message to slice 2.

S1004. Slice 2 returns the service feedback message to the link management module. Correspondingly, the link management module receives the service feedback message.

S1005, the link management module determines that the link corresponding to the slice 2 is the link 2 according to the corresponding relationship between the slice and the link configured in S1001.

S1006, the link management module sends the service feedback message to the AN through the link 2, and correspondingly, the AN stores the information of the link 2.

S1007. The link management module saves the link information corresponding to link 2 in the context information of the terminal device.

S1008. When the terminal device needs to send a service message to slice 2 later, the AN uses link 2 to send the subsequent service message of the terminal device. Specifically, the subsequent service message of the terminal device may be sent to the link management in the AMF. module.

An embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. Please refer to the flow interaction diagram of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application shown in FIG. 11 . The flow shown in FIG. 11 is described as follows.

S1101. The mobility management network element determines that the first slice deployed in the mobility management network element is abnormal.

Taking the mobility management network element as an AMF as an example, multiple slices can be deployed in the AMF, that is, the aforementioned scenario of a single AMF with multiple slices. During the specific implementation process, the slices deployed in the AMF may be abnormal, for example, the slice is faulty, for example, the slice is overloaded, for example, the slice is deactivated, for example, the slice is faulty and deactivated at the same time, that is, in the embodiment of the present application The slice exception may refer to at least one of slice failure, slice overload, and slice deactivation.

For example, it is determined that the first slice deployed in the AMF is abnormal. In this embodiment of the present application, the first slice is used to represent the abnormal slice in the AMF. The first slice may be a slice, or, The first slice may also include multiple slices, and in this case, the multiple slices in which an exception occurs are collectively referred to as the first slice. Alternatively, the first slice refers to a slice where an exception occurs, then for multiple slices where an exception occurs, it can be understood as including multiple slices.

S1102. The mobility management network element determines a first link corresponding to the first slice according to a predefined correspondence between slices and links.

The mobility management network element is pre-defined with the corresponding relationship between each slice deployed in the mobility management network element and the link between the mobility management network element and the access network device, and the corresponding relationship may be pre-configured in the AMF. , or it can be stipulated by the agreement. As shown in Figure 9, the correspondence between slices and links in AMF is: slice 1 corresponds to link 1, and slice 2 corresponds to link 2. Based on the correspondence, the chain corresponding to each slice in the AMF can be determined road. Therefore, after it is determined that the first slice is abnormal, the link corresponding to the first slice can be determined according to the corresponding relationship. Taking the first slice as slice 1 as an example, then the corresponding link is link 1 .

S1103. The mobility management network element generates abnormality indication information, where the abnormality indication information is used to indicate the first link corresponding to the first slice where the abnormality occurs.

After determining that the first slice is abnormal, the AMF hopes to notify the access network equipment of the abnormality as soon as possible, so that the access network equipment can process the terminal equipment connected to the abnormal slice. Therefore, the AMF can generate abnormality indication information. The abnormality indication information may carry link information of the link corresponding to the slice in which the abnormality occurs. Taking the above-mentioned first slice in which the abnormality occurs is slice 1 as an example, the AMF can send the link information corresponding to the link 1 to the AMF. Generate abnormality indication information carrying link information corresponding to link 1. In the specific implementation process, taking the slice exception being a slice fault or a slice being disabled as an example, the corresponding exception indication information may be an AMF status indication message, and taking the slice exception being a slice overload as an example, the corresponding exception indication information may be Overload Start information.

In a possible implementation manner, in addition to the link information of the first link corresponding to the first slice, the abnormality indication information may also include abnormality type indication information for indicating the abnormality type. The information can indicate the exception type of the slice, such as slice failure or slice overload or slice deactivation. Optionally, the exception type of the slice can be directly indicated by the explicit indication of the exception type indication information, or the exception type of the slice can also be determined according to the format of the exception indication information, for example, if the exception indication information is the aforementioned The AMF status indication message can indicate that the exception type is a slice failure or a slice is disabled. If the exception indication information is the aforementioned Overload Start message, it can indicate that the exception type is slice overload. Let to implicitly indicate the slice's exception type.

S1104. The mobility management network element sends the abnormality indication information to the access network device, and correspondingly, the access network device receives the abnormality indication information from the mobility management network element.

After the abnormality indication information is generated, the AMF can directly send it to the access network device, so that the access network device can know that some slices in the current AMF are no longer available due to a slice exception.

In another embodiment, the AMF may start timing from the occurrence of an abnormality in the slice, and only send the abnormality indication information to the access network device when the abnormality lasts for more than a set period of time (for example, 3S). The access network device will be notified of the exception after a certain period of time, because in practice, some slice exceptions are instantaneous and may be recovered soon. The number of times the terminal equipment is released, so as to keep the continuous continuity of the terminal equipment business as much as possible.

S1105. The access network device determines a terminal device that accesses the mobility management network element through the first link.

After receiving the abnormal indication information sent by the AMF, the link corresponding to the first slice can be determined, for example, the link corresponding to the first slice is represented by the first link, then the access network device can obtain the link from the AMF from the link corresponding to the first slice. The first link is determined among the multiple links between.

Further, according to the context information of each terminal device saved by the access network device (for example, the context information shown in the aforementioned FIG. 6 ), the access network device can filter out all the terminal devices that access the AMF through the first link. The correspondence between links and slices is configured, so these terminal devices that access the AMF through the first link are essentially the first slices in the AMF accessed through the first link. An abnormality has occurred, and it is likely that network services cannot be provided for each terminal device accessing the first slice. Therefore, in order to ensure the continuity of terminal device services, and to facilitate access network testing and the user side can timely know the core If the slice in the network is abnormal, the access network device can perform targeted processing on the terminal device currently accessing the first slice.

S1106, the access network device selects the terminal device to be released from the determined terminal devices, for example, the selected terminal device to be released is called the first terminal device.

In the specific implementation process, according to the different types of abnormal slices and the different service types of each terminal device, the terminal device currently accessing the abnormal slice (ie the first slice) may be processed in the same way, or may be processed in the same way. Differential treatment.

For example, in the scenario of slice failure and slice deactivation, slices generally cannot provide network services. Therefore, you can choose to release all terminal devices currently connected to the first slice. That is, all terminal devices currently accessing the AMF through the first link. For another example, in the scenario of slice overload, the first slice can still provide network services, but the overload may affect the service operation of some of the terminal devices. At this time, all terminal devices that have currently accessed the first slice can be selected. Some of the terminal devices are used as the first terminal device, because in an overload scenario, generally, the overload problem of slices can be resolved by releasing some of the terminal devices.

In a possible implementation manner, some terminal devices may be randomly selected from all terminal devices as the first terminal devices for release. In another possible implementation, in a slice overload scenario, a terminal device that satisfies the priority release condition may be selected from all terminal devices currently accessing the first slice as the first terminal device to be released. The terminal device with poor quality of service (Quality of Service, QoS) is selected as the first terminal device, or the level of each terminal device can be compared, and the terminal device with a lower level is selected as the first terminal device, for example, in an overload scenario, The terminal device corresponding to the common user may be selected as the first terminal device, and the terminal device corresponding to the advanced user may be kept in the access service of the first slice, so as to ensure the continuous execution of the VIP customer service.

S1107. The access network device releases the first terminal device.

As described above, the first terminal device is the terminal device that needs to be released in the first slice with current access abnormality, the first terminal device may be all terminal devices currently accessing the first slice, or the first terminal device The terminal equipment may be part of all terminal equipments currently accessing the first slice.

Releasing the first terminal device can be understood as termination of the state of the first terminal device accessing the first slice, that is, disconnecting the first terminal device from accessing the first slice. In the specific implementation process, the access network device may disconnect the radio resource control protocol (Radio Resource Control, RRC) connection with the first terminal device to release the first terminal device, that is, control the terminal device to go offline, The specific release process may be implemented by adopting the process of disconnecting the RRC connection of the terminal device in the related art, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S1108. The mobility management network element sends the slice identification information of the first slice to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the slice identification information sent by the mobility management network element, where the slice identification information is used to indicate the first slice. The slice type for all slices.

After sending the abnormality indication information to the access network device, the mobility management network element may also send slice identification information of the first slice to the access network device, where the slice identification information is used to indicate the slice type of the first slice.

There are three types of network slices defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) protocol, namely eMBB, uRLLC and mMTC. Each network slice type targets a specific business type. For example: eMBB slice type is for high data rate, high mobility services; uRLLC slice can be used to handle high reliability and low latency communication scenarios; mMTC slice can serve a large number, small data volume, delay tolerance and Services that are accessed infrequently (such as sensors and wearable device services).

After a terminal device using a network slice accesses the network, the network selects a network slice for it through the S-NSSAI carried by the terminal device in the service request. S-NSSAI consists of two parts: slice/service type (SST) and slice differentiator (SD). SST identifies the slice type or the service type supported by the slice, and SD is the slice distinguisher. It is used to distinguish different network slices of the same SST. For example, water plants and power plants order their own mMTC slices. The SST of these two slices is the same, but the SD is different. NSSAI is a set of S-NSSAI, because the terminal device can access multiple network slices at the same time, so the terminal device and the network use NSSAI for network slice selection.

The access network device can determine the slice type of the abnormal slice (for example, the first slice) in the AMF according to the received slice identification information, and then can specify the slice type of the slice accessed before the released first terminal device, for example, The first slice type, in order to ensure the service continuity of these terminal devices, the access network device can determine another slice belonging to the first slice type, such as the second slice, and then reconnect the previously released first terminal device. into the second slice. Of course, before accessing the second slice, you can first determine whether the second slice is an abnormal slice (this action should be performed by the core network device), and only connect the first terminal device when the second slice is not abnormal. The second slice provides network services to the first terminal device through the second slice.

It should be noted that, all the first terminal devices may be reconnected to the second slice, or part of the first terminal devices may be connected to the second slice, and the rest of the first terminal devices may be connected to other slices Slices (such as the third slice or the fourth slice), of course, the third slice and the fourth slice here are of the same slice type as the first slice and the second slice, so that all the first terminal devices can be guaranteed After re-accessing the new slice, the service can be performed normally.

For example, the AMF where the first slice is located is called the old AMF, and the other AMFs are called the new AMF. Taking the above-mentioned second slice as an example, the second slice can be the slice deployed in the old AMF, or it can also be deployed in the old AMF. For the slice in the new AMF, that is to say, after the first terminal device switches the slice, the AMF may also be switched, or the AMF may not be switched.

When the second slice is a slice deployed in the old AMF, that is, the first slice and the second slice are deployed in the same AMF, according to the corresponding relationship between the slice and the link of the AMF described above, for example, the second slice is the same as the first slice and the second slice. The two links are correspondingly bound, and the first terminal device re-accesses the second slice in the old AMF, which is the second slice accessed through the second link between the access network device and the old AMF.

S1109. The mobility management network element sends abnormal revocation information to the access network device.

After the abnormal revocation of the first slice, for example, after the failure of the previously faulty first slice is restored, or after the previously overloaded first slice is no longer overloaded, for example, the previously deactivated first slice is restored After normal use, the AMF can notify the access network device of this state change, specifically, it can send abnormal revocation information to the access network device. The abnormal revocation information is used to indicate that the abnormality of the first slice has been eliminated, so that the connection If the network access device can sense that the abnormality of the first slice in the AMF has been recovered in time, it indicates that the first link between the access network device and the AMF is also resumed. Further, a terminal device (for example, referred to as a second terminal device) may be accessed into the first slice through the first link, and the second terminal device here may be the first terminal that has not re-accessed the slice device, or other terminal devices that have not previously accessed the slice, that is, the second terminal device and the first terminal device may be the same, that is, the same terminal device, or the second terminal device and the first terminal device It may also be different, that is, different terminal devices, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In this embodiment of the present application, when a slice in the AMF is abnormal, the AMF may notify the AN of the link corresponding to the abnormal slice based on the binding correspondence between the slice and the link. The terminal equipment entering the AMF is determined to be the terminal equipment that accesses the abnormal slice in the AMF, so as to realize the accurate identification of the terminal equipment in the abnormal slice, and then release the terminal equipment in the abnormal slice in time, which improves the detection of abnormal slices. The flexibility of slice processing, by disconnecting the network access service of terminal equipment, can facilitate these terminal equipment to access new slices as soon as possible, ensure the continuous execution of services, avoid a great impact on the business of terminal equipment, and improve communication system reliability.

In order to facilitate the understanding of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following three scenarios are respectively used to illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application by taking three scenarios of slice exception being slice failure, slice overload, and slice deactivation.

Figure 12 shows the description of the flow of the technical solution in the embodiment of the present application in the scenario of slice failure/disabling. Two AMFs, namely the first AMF and the second AMF. The flow shown in FIG. 12 is described as follows.

S1201. When the first AMF determines that the slice 1 deployed in the first AMF is faulty or disabled, the first AMF sends an AMF status indication message to the AN through an internal link management module. Correspondingly, the AN receives the first AMF status indication message. The AMF status indication message sent by the AMF.

The first AMF determines that, according to the correspondence between slices and links, for example, the link corresponding to slice 1 is link 1, the AMF status indication message may carry the first link information for indicating link 1.

S1202. The AN determines, according to the AMF status indication message, that a slice in the first AMF is faulty or disabled, and determines a terminal device that accesses the first AMF through the first link.

S1203. The AN releases the first terminal device that accesses the first AMF through the first link.

The released first terminal equipment may be all terminal equipments that access the first AMF through the first link, or the released first terminal equipment is only all terminals that access the first AMF through the first link part of the device.

S1204. The first AMF sends an AMF configuration update message to the AN, and correspondingly, the AN receives the AMF configuration update message.

The AMF configuration update message carries the S-NSSAI of the first slice, such as S-NSSAI-1, and the slice type of the first slice can be indicated by S-NSSAI-1.

S1205. The AN determines the slice type of the faulty or disabled slice in the first AMF according to the S-NSSAI carried in the AMF configuration update message.

The slice type of the slice that fails or is disabled in the first AMF, that is, the slice type of the slice accessed by the previously released first terminal device before being released. In order to ensure that the service of the first terminal device can continue, It is necessary to re-access a new slice for the first terminal device, and in order to meet the service requirements of the first terminal device, the type of the slice newly accessed by the first terminal needs to be the same as that indicated by the S-NSSAI carried in the AMF configuration update message. The slice type remains the same.

S1206. The AN sends the user message of the first terminal device to slice 2 in the first AMF.

That is to say, the previously released slice (ie slice 2) re-accessed by the first terminal device is still the slice deployed in the first AMF, and the slice type of slice 2 is the same as the slice type of slice 1 in the first AMF Are the same. In this embodiment, although the slice is switched for the terminal device, the AMF is not switched.

Assuming that according to the configured correspondence between slices and links, the link corresponding to slice 2 is the second link, then the AN can send the user message of the first terminal device to the first AMF through the second link. link management module, and then the link management module forwards the user message to slice 2.

S1207. The AN sends the user message of the first terminal device to the second AMF.

In another possible implementation manner, the previously released slice re-accessed by the first terminal device is a slice in another AMF, for example, a slice in the second AMF that the first terminal device has re-accessed (in FIG. 12 ). The slices in the second AMF are not shown in the figure, so the user message is directly sent to the second AMF for illustration), which indicates that the AMF has been switched. The slice type of the slice is the same as the slice type indicated by the S-NSSAI carried in the AMF configuration update message.

It should be noted that, since the AN has released the first terminal device in step S1203, for example, disconnected the RRC connection between the AN and the first terminal device, when it is necessary to provide the first terminal device again When the network accesses the service, the first terminal device may first establish an RRC connection with the AN, and further, the slice specified for the first terminal device in the related art may be used, for example, the aforementioned process shown in FIG. 5 may be used for the first terminal device. An end device reselects slices.

In a specific implementation process, S1206 and S1207 may be performed alternatively, or may be performed simultaneously, and when S1206 and S1207 are performed simultaneously, different first terminals may be re-accessed to the slice.

S1208. After determining that the fault of slice 1 is eliminated or deactivated, the first AMF may send the fault cancellation indication information to the AN, and correspondingly, the AN receives the fault cancellation indication information.

S1209. The AN sends the user message of the second terminal device to slice 1 in the first AMF.

The fault cancellation indication information is used to indicate that the abnormal state of the faulty/disabled slice in the AMF has been eliminated, so that the terminal equipment can be connected to slice 1 again. Correspondingly, the AN can re-connect the terminal equipment of slice 1 (for example, The user message of the second terminal device) is sent to slice 1. Specifically, the user message of the second terminal device is sent to the link management module in the AMF, and then the link management module sends the user message of the second terminal device. Forward to slice 1.

In the embodiment of the present application, the AN identifies the corresponding user (ie, the terminal device) that is connected to the faulty/disabled abnormal slice through the corresponding link according to the link information carried in the AMF status indication message, and then slices the abnormal slice. The users on the network are released to avoid business accidents caused by users being unaware of the abnormality on the network side, and it can also prevent new users from being connected to the abnormal slices, which improves the reliability of services.

Figure 13 shows the description of the flow of the technical solution in the embodiment of the present application in a slice overload scenario. In Figure 13, the mobility management network element is AMF and the access network equipment is represented by AN as an example. Figure 13 includes two AMFs. , namely the first AMF and the second AMF. The flow shown in FIG. 13 is described as follows.

S1301. When the first AMF determines that the slice 1 deployed in the first AMF is overloaded, the first AMF sends an overload start message to the AN through an internal link management module. Correspondingly, the AN receives the message sent by the first AMF. overload start message.

The first AMF determines, for example, that the link corresponding to the slice 1 is the link 1 according to the correspondence between the slice and the link, and further, the link 1 may be indicated by the first link information.

Wherein, the overload start message is a notification message used to indicate slice overload. In the embodiment of the present application, the overload start message in the related art is used, and the first link information for indicating link 1 is further carried in the overload start message. and NSSAI information for identifying slice 1 (eg NSSAI-1).

S1302. The AN determines the first link according to the first link information in the overload start message, and determines the terminal device that accesses the first AMF through the first link.

S1303. The AN releases the first terminal device that accesses the first AMF through the first link.

S1304. The AN determines the slice type of the faulty or disabled slice in the first AMF according to the S-NSSAI (for example, the S-NSSAI-1 mentioned above) carried in the overload start message.

The slice type of the slice that fails or is disabled in the first AMF, that is, the slice type of the slice accessed by the previously released first terminal device before being released. In order to ensure that the service of the first terminal device can continue, It is necessary to re-access a new slice for the first terminal device, and in order to meet the service requirements of the first terminal device, the type of the slice newly accessed by the first terminal needs to be the same as the slice indicated by the S-NSSAI carried in the overload start message. Type remains the same.

S1305. The AN sends the user message of the first terminal device to slice 2 in the first AMF.

S1306. The AN sends the user message of the first terminal device to the second AMF.

In another possible implementation manner, the slice re-accessed by the previously released first terminal device is a slice in another AMF, for example, the slice in which the first terminal device has re-accessed the second AMF (in FIG. 13 ). The slices in the second AMF are not shown in the figure, so the user message is directly sent to the second AMF for illustration), which indicates that the AMF has been switched. The slice type of the slice is the same as the slice type indicated by the S-NSSAI carried in the overload start message.

S1307. After determining that the overload of slice 1 is recovered (that is, no longer overloaded), the first AMF may send an overload stop message to the AN. Correspondingly, the AN receives the overload stop message.

S1308: The first AMF sends the user message of the second terminal device to slice 1 in the first AMF.

The overload stop message is a message used to indicate overload recovery. The overload stop message can carry the NSSAI information of the overload recovery slice (for example, the aforementioned slice 1), and the slice 1 can be directly identified by the NSSAI information.

That is to say, after it is clear that slice 1 is overloaded and recovered through the overload stop message, the terminal device can be connected to slice 1 again. Correspondingly, the AN can The user message is sent to slice 1, specifically, the user message of the second terminal device is sent to the link management module in the AMF, and the link management module forwards the user message of the second terminal device to slice 1.

It should be noted that, the second terminal device re-accessing slice 1 may be the aforementioned first terminal device, or may also be other terminal devices, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the AN identifies the corresponding user (ie, terminal device) that accesses the overloaded slice through the corresponding link according to the link information carried in the overload start message, and then releases part or all of the users on the overloaded slice. It can prevent users from being unaware of network-side anomalies and cause service accidents, and can also avoid re-connecting new users to overloaded slices to further aggravate the overloaded slices, thereby improving service reliability.

It should be noted that, in the introduction in the above embodiments, the user message of the terminal device can also be understood as the service message corresponding to the terminal device, that is, the service-related message that the terminal device needs to interact with the network side in the process of executing the service.

In this embodiment of the present application, according to the corresponding relationship between slices and links configured in the AMF, flow control (referred to as flow control) may also be performed on the data on each slice accessed in the AMF at the bottom ingress of the AMF, In order to avoid excessive data from entering the slice of the upper layer and reduce the impact on the slice level, for ease of understanding, the following description is made with reference to FIG. 14 .

As shown in Figure 14, two links, Link 1 and Link 2, are established between the AN and the AMF, and two slices, Slice 1 and Slice 2, are deployed in the AMF. According to the pre-configuration, the slice configured in the AMF is the same as the The correspondence between the links is: slice 1 corresponds to link 1, and slice 2 corresponds to link 2. Based on this correspondence, the data sent by AN to slice 1 is transmitted through link 1, and the data sent by AN to slice 2 is transmitted through link 1. Link 2 transmission.

In the data exchange process between AN and AMF, the data sent by AN to each slice in AMF is generally received by the link management module in the AMF, and then the link management module will pass the data through each slice according to the corresponding relationship between the link and the slice. The data transmitted by each link is forwarded to the corresponding slice. For example, the AN sends a data stream of a certain amount of data to the link forwarding module through a third link, and the third link generally refers to any link between the AN and the AMF, such as the link in FIG. 14 . 1 or link 2, the link management module determines that the slice corresponding to the third link is the third slice according to the correspondence between the link and the slice. For example, when the third link is link 1 in FIG. 14, The corresponding third slice is the slice 1, and for example, when the third link is the link 2 in FIG. 14, the corresponding third slice is the slice 2. The link management module can determine whether the data volume of the data stream transmitted through the third link is greater than the threshold associated with the third slice, and if it is greater than the threshold associated with the third slice, the link management module can perform flow control on For example, packet loss processing is performed to reduce the amount of data, and the packet loss rate for packet loss processing can be dynamically determined according to the difference between the data volume of the data stream and the threshold. For example, the larger the difference, the greater the packet loss rate. The larger the setting, the smaller the difference. The packet loss rate can be set to a smaller value, or the fixed packet loss processing can be performed according to the preset constant packet loss rate, so that flow control can be performed at the traffic entry of AMF. When the data flow has not yet reached the upper slice layer, it can prevent overloaded traffic from entering the corresponding slice, so as to minimize the probability of slice overload, and the threshold used on each link can be based on the current of the third slice. The traffic that has actually been accessed is dynamically determined. For example, the traffic that has been accessed by the third slice is relatively large, and the threshold can be set as small as possible, so as to minimize the impact on the slice.

As shown in Figure 14, the link management module performs packet loss processing on both the data streams transmitted by link 1 and link 2, and the packet loss rates of the packet loss processing on the two links are not the same, because The threshold corresponding to each link can be dynamically changed.

In this embodiment of the present application, flow control processing is performed at the bottom entry of the AMF (ie, the link management module), that is, flow control processing is performed at a position earlier in the data flow, so that excessive data can be prevented from entering the slice. , so that the overload probability at the slice level can be minimized. In addition, flow control processing is performed on the link corresponding to each slice based on the corresponding relationship between the link and the slice, which can avoid the mutual influence between the slices and improve the reliability of the entire network.

Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, where the communication device may be an access network device or a chip provided inside the access network device. The communication apparatus has the function of implementing the access network equipment (AN) in the embodiments shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 14 . For example, the communication apparatus includes the access network equipment that executes the embodiments shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 14 . The modules or units or means corresponding to the executed steps, the functions or units or means may be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware. For example, as shown in FIG. 15 , the communication apparatus in this embodiment of the present application includes a communication unit 1501 and a processing unit 1502, wherein:

The communication unit 1501 is configured to receive abnormality indication information from the mobility management network element, where the abnormality indication information is used to indicate the first link corresponding to the first slice in which the abnormality occurs in the mobility management network element, and the first link is The transmission link between the access network equipment and the mobility management network element;

The processing unit 1502 is configured to release the first terminal device, where the first terminal device is a terminal device that accesses the first slice through the first link.

In a possible implementation manner, the occurrence of an abnormality in the first slice includes at least one of the following: the first slice is faulty; or, the first slice is overloaded; or, the first slice is disabled.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 1502 is further configured to determine, from all the terminal devices currently accessing the first slice through the first link, the first terminal device that satisfies the priority release condition.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit 1501 is further configured to receive slice identification information from the mobility management network element, where the slice identification information is used to indicate the slice type of the first slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit 1501 is further configured to send the service message of the first terminal device to the second slice, where the second slice is of the same slice type as the first slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit 1501 is further configured to receive exception cancellation information from the mobile management network element, where the exception cancellation information is used to indicate that the exception of the first slice has been eliminated; The service message is sent to the first slice through the first link.

Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, where the communication device may be a mobility management network element (eg, AMF) device or a chip provided inside the mobility management network element. The communication apparatus has the function of implementing the mobility management network element in the embodiments shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 14 . For example, the communication apparatus includes executing the functions performed by the mobility management network element in the embodiments shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 14 . The modules or units or means corresponding to the steps, the functions or units or means may be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware. For example, as shown in FIG. 16 , the communication apparatus in this embodiment of the present application includes a processing unit 1601 and a communication unit 1602, wherein:

A processing unit 1601, configured to determine that the first slice deployed in the mobility management network element is abnormal;

The processing unit 1601 is further configured to determine the first link corresponding to the first slice according to the predefined correspondence between the slice and the link, where the first link is the connection between the mobility management network element and the access network device. transmission link between

The communication unit 1602 is configured to send abnormality indication information to the access network device, where the abnormality indication information is used to indicate the first link.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit 1602 is further configured to send slice identification information to the access network device, where the slice identification information is used to indicate the slice type of the first slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 1601 is further configured to determine that the first terminal device accesses the second slice deployed in the mobility management network element through the second link, and the second slice is the same as the slice of the first slice The types are the same, the first terminal device is a terminal device released by the access network device from the first slice, and the second link corresponds to the second slice in the above-mentioned correspondence between slices and links.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit 1602 is further configured to send exception cancellation information to the access network device, where the exception cancellation information is used to indicate that the exception of the first slice has been eliminated.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 1601 is further configured to determine that the second terminal device accesses the first slice through the first link.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 1601 is further configured to determine that the data volume of the data flow on the third link with the access network device is greater than a threshold, and perform packet loss processing on the data flow; wherein, In the above-mentioned correspondence between slices and links, the third link corresponds to the third slice, and the aforementioned threshold is determined according to the third slice.

Based on the same technical concept, referring to FIG. 17 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, including:

At least one processor 1701; and a communication interface 1703 communicatively connected to the at least one processor 1701; at least one processor 1701 executes the instructions stored in the memory 1702 by executing the instructions stored in the memory 1702, so that the communication device executes the above-mentioned operations shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 14 through the communication interface 1703 Method steps performed by an access network device (AN) in an embodiment.

Optionally, the memory 1702 is located outside the communication device.

Optionally, the communication apparatus includes a memory 1702, the memory 1702 is connected to the at least one processor 1701, and the memory 1702 stores instructions executable by the at least one processor 1701. The memory 1702 is optional to the communication device as indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 17 .

Wherein, at least one of the processor 1701 and the memory 1702 may be coupled through an interface circuit, or may be integrated together, which is not limited here.

The specific connection medium between the processor 1701, the memory 1702, and the communication interface 1703 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the processor 1701, the memory 1702, and the communication interface 1703 are connected through a bus 1704 in FIG. 17. The bus is represented by a thick line in FIG. 17, and the connection between other components is only for schematic illustration. , is not limited. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of representation, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 17, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

Based on the same technical concept, referring to FIG. 18 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, including:

At least one processor 1801; and a communication interface 1803 communicatively connected with at least one processor 1801; at least one processor 1801 executes the instructions stored in the memory 1802 by executing the instructions stored in the memory 1802, so that the communication device executes the above-mentioned FIG. 9-FIG. 14 through the communication interface 1803 Steps of a method performed by a mobility management network element (AMF) in an embodiment.

Optionally, the memory 1802 is located outside the communication device.

Optionally, the communication apparatus includes a memory 1802 , the memory 1802 is connected to the at least one processor 1801 , and the memory 1802 stores instructions executable by the at least one processor 1801 . Figure 18 shows in dashed lines that memory 1802 is optional to the communication device.

The processor 1801 and the memory 1802 may be coupled through an interface circuit, or may be integrated together, which is not limited here.

The specific connection medium between the processor 1801, the memory 1802, and the communication interface 1803 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In this embodiment of the present application, the processor 1801, the memory 1802, and the communication interface 1803 are connected through a bus 1804 in FIG. 18. The bus is represented by a thick line in FIG. 18. The connection between other components is only for schematic illustration. , is not limited. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of presentation, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 18, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by hardware or software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like. When implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software codes stored in memory.

Exemplarily, the processor may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processors, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC) , off-the-shelf programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It should be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Wherein, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), a programmable read-only memory (programmable ROM, PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (Erasable PROM, EPROM), an electrically programmable Erase programmable read-only memory (electrically EPROM, EEPROM) or flash memory. Volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM), which acts as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (Double Data Eate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (Enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (Synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM) ) and direct memory bus random access memory (Direct Rambus RAM, DR RAM).

It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components, the memory (storage module) can be integrated in the processor.

It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes the communication device in FIG. 15 and the communication device in FIG. 16 , or includes the communication device in FIG. 17 and the communication device in FIG. 18 .

Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, including a program or an instruction. When the program or instruction is run on a computer, the connection in the embodiments shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 14 described above is made possible. The method performed by the network access device (AN) is performed.

Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, including a program or an instruction, when the program or instruction is run on a computer, the movement in the above-mentioned embodiments shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 14 is enabled. The method performed by the performance management network element (AMF) is performed.

Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a chip, which is coupled to a memory and used to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory, so that the The method performed by the access network equipment (AN) is performed.

Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a chip, which is coupled to a memory and used to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory, so that the A method performed by a mobility management network element (AMF) is performed.

Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, including instructions, when running on a computer, the access network equipment (AN) in the embodiments shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 14 executes the instructions. method is executed.

Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes instructions, when running on a computer, to enable the mobility management network element (AMF) in the embodiments shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 14 The executed method is executed.

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

In the above-mentioned embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, from a website site, computer, server, or data center via Transmission to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wired (eg, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line, DSL) or wireless (eg, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that includes an integration of one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media (eg, floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (eg, digital versatile discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (eg, solid state disks (SSDs) ))Wait.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

A communication method, characterized in that the method comprises:

The access network device receives the abnormality indication information from the mobility management network element, where the abnormality indication information is used to indicate the first link corresponding to the first slice where the abnormality occurs in the mobility management network element, and the first link corresponding to the abnormal first slice in the mobility management network element. A link is a transmission link between the access network device and the mobility management network element;

The access network device releases the first terminal device, where the first terminal device is a terminal device that accesses the first slice through the first link.
The method of claim 1, wherein the abnormality in the first slice comprises at least one of the following:

the first slice fails; or,

the first slice is overloaded; or,

The first slice is deactivated.
The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

The access network device determines, from all the terminal devices currently accessing the first slice through the first link, the first terminal device that satisfies the priority release condition.
The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

The access network device receives slice identification information from the mobility management network element, where the slice identification information is used to indicate a slice type of the first slice.
The method of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

The access network device sends the service message of the first terminal device to a second slice, where the second slice is of the same slice type as the first slice.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the second slice is deployed in the mobility management network element, or the second slice is deployed in other mobility management network elements.
The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the access network device, abnormal cancellation information from the mobile management network element, where the abnormal cancellation information is used to indicate that the abnormality of the first slice has been eliminated;

The access network device sends the service message of the second terminal device to the first slice through the first link, where the first terminal device and the second terminal device are the same terminal device, or are different terminal equipment.
A communication method, characterized in that the method comprises:

The mobility management network element determines that the first slice deployed in the mobility management network element is abnormal;

The mobility management network element determines a first link corresponding to the first slice according to a predefined correspondence between slices and links, where the first link is the mobility management network element The transmission link with the access network equipment;

The mobility management network element sends abnormality indication information to the access network device, where the abnormality indication information is used to indicate the first link.
The method of claim 8, wherein the abnormality in the first slice comprises at least one of the following:

the first slice fails; or,

the first slice is overloaded; or,

The first slice is deactivated.
The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

The mobility management network element sends slice identification information to the access network device, where the slice identification information is used to indicate a slice type of the first slice.
The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

The mobility management network element determines that the first terminal device accesses the second slice deployed in the mobility management network element through the second link, and the second slice is of the same slice type as the first slice, The first terminal device is a terminal device released by the access network device from the first slice, and in the correspondence between the slice and the link, the second link and the second slice correspond.
The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

The mobility management network element sends exception cancellation information to the access network device, where the exception cancellation information is used to indicate that the exception of the first slice has been eliminated.
The method of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

The mobility management network element determines that the second terminal device accesses the first slice through the first link.
The method according to any one of claims 8-13, wherein the method further comprises:

The mobility management network element determines that the data volume of the data flow on the third link with the access network device is greater than a threshold, wherein in the corresponding relationship between the slice and the link, the third The three links correspond to the third slice, and the threshold is determined according to the third slice;

The mobility management network element performs packet loss processing on the data flow.
A communication device, comprising:

a communication unit, configured to receive abnormality indication information from a mobility management network element, where the abnormality indication information is used to indicate a first link corresponding to a first slice in which an abnormality occurs in the mobility management network element, the The first link is a transmission link between the access network device and the mobility management network element;

A processing unit, configured to release a first terminal device, where the first terminal device is a terminal device that accesses the first slice through the first link.
The device according to claim 15, wherein the abnormality in the first slice comprises at least one of the following:

the first slice fails; or,

the first slice is overloaded; or,

The first slice is deactivated.
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

The first terminal device that satisfies the priority release condition is determined from all the terminal devices currently accessing the first slice through the first link.
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the communication unit is further configured to:

Slice identification information from the mobility management network element is received, where the slice identification information is used to indicate a slice type of the first slice.
The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the communication unit is further configured to:

The service message of the first terminal device is sent to a second slice, where the slice type of the second slice is the same as that of the first slice.
The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the second slice is deployed in the mobility management network element, or the second slice is deployed in other mobility management network elements.
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the communication unit is further configured to:

Receive abnormal revocation information from the mobile management network element, where the abnormal revocation information is used to indicate that the abnormality of the first slice has been eliminated;

The service message of the second terminal device is sent to the first slice through the first link.
A communication device, comprising:

a processing unit, configured to determine that the first slice deployed in the mobility management network element is abnormal;

The processing unit is further configured to determine a first link corresponding to the first slice according to a predefined correspondence between slices and links, where the first link is the mobility management network The transmission link between the element and the access network equipment;

A communication unit, configured to send abnormality indication information to the access network device, where the abnormality indication information is used to indicate the first link.
The device of claim 22, wherein the abnormality in the first slice comprises at least one of the following:

the first slice fails; or,

the first slice is overloaded; or,

The first slice is deactivated.
The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the communication unit is further configured to:

Send slice identification information to the access network device, where the slice identification information is used to indicate a slice type of the first slice.
The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

It is determined that the first terminal device accesses the second slice deployed in the mobility management network element through the second link, the second slice is of the same slice type as the first slice, and the first terminal device is For the terminal device released by the access network device from the first slice, the second link corresponds to the second slice in the correspondence between the slice and the link.
The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the communication unit is further configured to:

Sending exception cancellation information to the access network device, where the exception cancellation information is used to indicate that the exception of the first slice has been eliminated.
The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

It is determined that the second terminal device accesses the first slice through the first link.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 22-27, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

Determine that the data volume of the data flow on the third link with the access network device is greater than the threshold, and perform packet loss processing on the data flow; wherein, the correspondence between the slice and the link The third link corresponds to the third slice, and the threshold is determined according to the third slice.
A communication device, comprising:

at least one processor; and a memory, a communication interface communicatively coupled to the at least one processor;

Wherein, the memory stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor, and the at least one processor executes the instructions stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to execute the methods of claims 1-7 through the communication interface The method of any of the above.
A communication device, comprising:

at least one processor; and a memory, a communication interface communicatively coupled to the at least one processor;

Wherein, the memory stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor, and the at least one processor executes the instructions stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform the methods of claims 8-14 through the communication interface The method of any of the above.
A chip system, comprising: the chip system includes at least one processor, and an interface circuit, the interface circuit and the at least one processor are interconnected through a line, and the processor executes an instruction by running an instruction. The method of any of claims 1-7.
A chip system, comprising: the chip system includes at least one processor, and an interface circuit, the interface circuit and the at least one processor are interconnected through a line, and the processor executes an instruction by running an instruction. The method of any of claims 8-14.
A processor, characterized by being configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-14.
A communication device, characterized by being used for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-14.
A computer program product comprising instructions, characterized in that, when the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is caused to perform the method of any one of claims 1-14.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized by comprising programs or instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the method according to any one of claims 1-14 to be performed.
A communication system, characterized by comprising the apparatus according to any one of claims 15-21, and/or the apparatus according to any one of claims 22-28.