WO2023142726A1

WO2023142726A1 - Communication method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2023142726A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/138409
Authority: WO
Inventors: 孙海洋; 施拉姆米而科
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2022-01-26
Filing date: 2022-12-12
Publication date: 2023-08-03
Also published as: CN116546564A

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of communications. Provided are a communication method and apparatus. In the communication method, after a terminal device switches an accessed access network element, it is determined that the execution state of an access network element for a first event after switching is different from the execution state of an access network element for the first event before switching, and first information can be sent to a policy control network element. Since the first information indicates that the execution state of the access network element for the first event changes, the policy control network element is facilitated in determining, according to the first information, the state of the policy control network element executing the first event, wherein the first event involves limiting the transmission rate of the terminal device in a slice according to the maximum bit rate, and the execution state for the first event comprises executing the first event or not executing the first event. In this way, a mechanism for controlling the maximum bit rate of a terminal device in a slice is provided.

Description

A communication method and device

Cross References to Related Applications

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202210095867.4 and the application title "A Communication Method and Device" submitted to the China Patent Office on January 26, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated in this application by reference.

technical field

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

Background technique

Currently, in order to control the transmission rate of end devices within a slice, a maximum bit rate is introduced. The maximum bit rate is, for example, a user equipment slice maximum bit rate (UE-slice-MBR), where the slice may be one of the slices accessed by the terminal equipment.

But how to limit the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate (that is, control the maximum bit rate of the terminal device in the slice), there is no corresponding solution at present.

Contents of the invention

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and device, which are used to provide a mechanism for controlling the maximum bit rate of a terminal device in a slice.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, and the method may be executed by a first network element, or may be executed by a chip system, and the chip system may implement a function of the first network element. The first network element is, for example, an access network element, a session management network element, or an access and mobility management network element. For ease of description, the communication method performed by the first network element is taken as an example for description. The method includes: after the terminal device switches from a network element of the first access network to a network element of the second access network, determining that the execution state of the network element of the second access network for the first event is consistent with that of the first access network element. Different network elements that enter the network, the first event is to limit the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate, and the execution state of the first event includes executing the first event or not executing the second event. An event; sending first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the state of execution of the first event by a network element of the access network changes.

In this embodiment of the present application, in the case where the network element of the access network accessed by the terminal device is switched, if the first network element determines that the network element of the first access network accessed by the terminal device before the handover has Compared with the execution status of the second access network element connected to the first event after the handover, the first network element notifies the policy control network element of the first information in a timely manner, which is equivalent to this The embodiment of the application provides a mechanism for determining who executes the first event, and also provides a mechanism for controlling the maximum bit rate of a terminal device in a slice. Moreover, since the policy control network element can timely perceive the change of the execution status of the first event by the network element of the access network to which the terminal device is connected, it is beneficial for the policy control network element to make a reasonable decision on whether to execute the first event. decision.

In a possible implementation manner, determining that the execution status of the first event by the network element of the second access network is different from that of the network element of the first access network includes: receiving second information, where the second information is used to indicate the execution status of the second access network element for the first event; according to the second information and third information, determine the second access The execution state of the first event of the network element is different from that of the first access network element, and the third information is used to indicate the execution state of the first access network element of the first event.

In this embodiment, a mechanism is provided for determining that the execution status of the first event by the network element of the second access network is different from that of the network element of the first access network. The access network element receives the second information, and according to the execution state of the second access network element indicated by the second information for the first event, and the execution status of the first access network element indicated by the third information for the first event Execution state, so as to determine whether the execution state of the second access network element for the first event is different from that of the first access network element, because the first network element does not need to determine the second access network element’s Therefore, the processing load of the first network element will not be increased too much.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving the third information from a network element of the first access network.

In this embodiment, the first network element may also receive third information from the first access network element, so that the first network element may directly determine the first event's response to the first event based on the third information. The execution status provides a relatively simple way of determining the execution status of the first event by the network element of the first access network, and does not increase the processing capacity of the first network element too much.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: determining information about at least one session, where the at least one session includes the successful handover of the terminal device in the session corresponding to the network element side of the first access network. A session to the second access network element; determining that the second access network element will execute the first event for the slice corresponding to the at least one session.

In this embodiment, if the second access network element accepts the session on the side of the first access network element, it means that the second access network element can execute the first event on the slice corresponding to the session, so the terminal After the device is handed over from the first access network element to the second access network element, the first network element can determine whether the second access network element executes the first event according to the information of the successfully switched session. In this way, There is no need for the second access network element to determine the execution status of the second access network element for the first event, which can save the processing load of the second access network element, and can reduce the interaction between the second access network element and the first event. The number of interactions between network elements.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: if the execution state of the second access network element for the first event changes, sending fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate The state of execution of the first event by the network element of the second access network has changed.

In this embodiment, once the second access network element perceives that its execution status for the first event has changed, it can notify the policy control network element in time, so that the policy control network element can follow the second access network element's response to the event. The execution status of the first event is to timely adjust the execution status of the policy control network element for the first event.

In a possible implementation manner, the first event includes: limiting the aggregate bit rate expected to be provided for the quality of service flow of the session, and the quality of service flow includes a non-guaranteed bit rate quality of service flow and/or a guaranteed bit rate service Quality flow, the session includes part or all of the sessions serving the terminal device in the slice.

In this embodiment, several possible ways of performing the first event are provided, e.g. limiting to the aggregate bit rate that the terminal device is expected to provide in a non-guaranteed bit rate QoS flow within the slice, and/or limiting to the terminal The aggregate bit rate that the device is expected to deliver in Guaranteed Bit Rate Quality of Service streams within the slice.

In a possible implementation manner, not executing the first event includes one of the following: not supporting execution of the first event; or supporting execution of the first event but not implementing the first event; Alternatively, the first event cannot be performed exactly.

In this embodiment, several possibilities of not executing the first event are provided. The access network element is used as an example for illustration. The access network element does not execute the first event. For example, due to functional limitations, the access network element Not capable of executing the first event, or the network element of the access network has the capability of executing the first event, but chooses not to execute the first event.

In a second aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, and the method may be executed by a policy control network element, or may be executed by a chip system, and the chip system may implement a function of the policy control network element. For ease of description, the method is implemented by a policy control network element as an example below. The method includes: acquiring first information, the first information is used to indicate that the execution state of the network element of the access network changes for the first event, and the first event is to limit the terminal device in the first slice according to the maximum bit rate The execution state of the first event includes execution of the first event or not execution of the first event; according to the first information, determine the execution state of the policy control network element for the first event.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: determining information about at least one session, where the at least one session includes that the terminal device successfully switches to the second session in the session corresponding to the network element side of the first access network. A session of a network element of the second access network; determining that the network element of the second access network will execute the first event for the slice corresponding to the at least one session.

In a possible implementation manner, obtaining the first information includes: obtaining the first information includes: receiving second information from a session management network element or a second access network element, and the second access network element An access network element after the handover of the terminal device; determine the first information according to the second information and third information, where the third information indicates that the first access network element is for the In the execution state of the first event, the first access network element is the access network element before the handover of the terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving third information from a network element of the first access network, where the third information indicates that the network element of the first access network responds to the first event execution state.

In a possible implementation manner, according to the first information, determining the execution state of the policy control network element for the first event includes: if the first information also indicates that the second access network element executes the The first event is to determine that the policy control network element does not execute the first event, and the second access network element is the access network element after the terminal device is handed over; if the first information also indicates It is determined that the second access network element does not execute the first event, and it is determined that the policy control network element executes the first event, and the second access network element is the access network after the terminal device is switched. network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the state of execution of the first event by a network element of the second access network has changed, the The second access network element is the access network element after the terminal device is switched; and according to the fourth information, determine the execution state of the policy control network element for the first event.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the method further includes: adjusting the policy and charging control rules of the session corresponding to the terminal device in the slice; The aggregate maximum bit rate for the corresponding session.

In a third aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, the method may be executed by an access network element, or may be executed by a chip system, and the chip system may implement functions of the access network element. For ease of description, the following uses an access network element as an example for description. The method includes: sending second information after the terminal device switches to an access network element, wherein the second information is used to indicate the execution state of the access network element for the first event, and the first One event is to limit the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate, and the execution state of the first event includes executing the first event or not executing the first event.

In this embodiment of the present application, the access network element may send second information to the session management network element after determining that the terminal device is handed over to the access network element, and the second information indicates that the access network element is The execution state of the first event, so that the session management network element can determine the execution state of the access network element for the first event.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: determining the second information.

In a possible implementation manner, the slice includes a slice with a maximum bit rate. The slice with the highest bit rate may be understood as the slice that needs to be executed with the first event.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: if the state of execution of the first event by the network element of the access network changes, sending fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate the The state of execution of the first event by the network element of the access network has changed.

In a fourth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, and the method may be executed by a second network element, or may be executed by a chip system, and the chip system may implement a function of the first network element. The second network element is, for example, an access network element, a session management network element, or an access and mobility management network element. For ease of description, the following uses the second network element as an example for introduction. The method includes: determining that the execution state of the network element of the access network changes for a first event, the first event is to limit the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate, and the network element of the access network The execution state of the first event includes executing the first event or not executing the first event; sending fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate the access network element's execution of the first event Execution status has changed.

In this embodiment of the application, once the network element of the access network perceives that its execution state for the first event has changed, it can notify the policy control network element, so that the policy control network element can adjust the execution state of the first event in time, providing A mechanism to execute the first event.

In the fifth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a policy control network element, or by a chip system, and the chip system can realize the function of the policy control network element. For ease of description, the policy control network element is used as an example for introduction below. The method includes: receiving fourth information, the fourth information is used to indicate that the execution state of the network element of the access network has changed for the first event, and the first event is to limit the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate The execution status of the first event includes execution of the first event or non-execution of the first event; according to the fourth information, determine the execution status of the policy control network element for the first event.

In a sixth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, and the method may be executed by a third network element, or may be executed by a chip system, and the chip system may implement a function of the third network element. The third network element is, for example, an access network element, a session management network element, or an access and mobility management network element. The method includes: acquiring capability information of an access network element, wherein the capability information is used to indicate whether the access network element can perform a first event, and the first event is to limit the terminal according to the maximum bit rate The transmission rate of the device in the slice; sending the capability information. The slice is a slice accessed by the terminal device through the network element of the access network.

In this embodiment of the present application, the policy control network element can directly determine whether the access network element can execute the first event based on the capability information of the access network element, and then determine in time whether the policy control network element can execute the first event. Events, which provide a mechanism for executing first events. Moreover, the RAN is used as the granularity to report whether the RAN can execute the first event without reporting whether the RAN can execute the first event for a single slice, which relatively reduces the amount of data transmission.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: determining that the terminal device is handed over to the network element of the access network.

In this implementation manner, when it is determined that the terminal device is handed over to the access network element, the capability information of the access network element may be reported to the policy control network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the capability information includes an identifier of the network element of the access network.

In a seventh aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, the method may be executed by a policy control network element, or may be executed by a chip system, and the chip system may implement the function of the policy control network element. The method includes: receiving capability information of an access network element, wherein the capability information is used to indicate whether the access network element can perform a first event, and the first event is to limit the terminal according to the maximum bit rate The transmission rate of the device in the slice; according to the capability information, determine the execution status of the policy control network element for the first event.

In an eighth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the first network element in the above first aspect, or an electronic device (for example, a chip system) configured in the first network element, or is a larger device including the first network element. The first network element includes corresponding means or modules for implementing the foregoing first aspect or any optional implementation manner. For example, the communication device includes a processing module (also called a processing unit sometimes), and a transceiver module (also called a transceiver unit sometimes).

For example, the processing module is configured to determine the execution state of the second access network element for the first event and the second access network element after the terminal device is switched from the first access network element to the second access network element. An access network element is different, the first event is to limit the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate, and the execution state of the first event includes executing the first event or not executing the The first event; a transceiver module, configured to send first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the state of execution of the first event by a network element of the access network changes.

In an optional implementation manner, the communication device includes a storage unit, and the processing unit can be coupled to the storage unit, and executes programs or instructions in the storage unit, enabling the communication device to perform the function of the first network element.

In the ninth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the policy control network element in the above second aspect, or an electronic device (for example, a chip system) configured in the policy control network element, or It is a larger device that includes the policy control network element. The policy control network element includes corresponding means or modules for implementing the above second aspect or any optional implementation manner. For example, the communication device includes a processing module (also called a processing unit sometimes), and a transceiver module (also called a transceiver unit sometimes).

For example, the transceiver module is configured to obtain first information, the first information is used to indicate that the execution state of the network element of the access network changes for the first event, and the first event is to limit the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate The transmission rate within the first event, the execution state of the first event includes executing the first event or not executing the first event; the processing module is configured to determine the policy control network element for the first event according to the first information The execution state of the event.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the second network element in the above third aspect, or an electronic device (for example, a chip system) configured in a network element of an access network, Or it is a larger device including the network element of the access network. The network element of the access network includes corresponding means or modules for implementing the above third aspect or any optional implementation manner. For example, the communication device includes a transceiver module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver unit).

For example, the transceiver unit is configured to send second information after the terminal device switches to an access network element, where the second information is used to indicate the execution status of the access network element for the first event , the first event is to limit the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate, and the execution state of the first event includes executing the first event or not executing the first event.

Optionally, the communication device further includes a processing module (also referred to as a processing unit sometimes), and the processing unit is configured to determine the second information.

In the eleventh aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the second network element in the above third aspect, or an electronic device (for example, a chip system) configured in the second network element, Or it is a larger device including the second network element. The second network element includes corresponding means or modules for implementing the above third aspect or any optional implementation manner. For example, the communication device includes a processing module (also called a processing unit sometimes), and a transceiver module (also called a transceiver unit sometimes).

For example, the processing module is configured to determine that the execution state of the network element of the access network changes for a first event, the first event is to limit the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate, and the access network The execution status of the first event by the network element includes executing the first event or not executing the first event; the transceiver module is configured to send fourth information to the policy control network element, and the fourth information is used to indicate The execution state of the access network element for the first event has changed.

In a twelfth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the policy control network element in the fourth aspect above, or an electronic device (for example, a chip system) configured in the policy control network element, Or it is a larger device including the policy control network element. The policy control network element includes corresponding means or modules for implementing the above fourth aspect or any optional implementation manner. For example, the communication device includes a processing module (also called a processing unit sometimes), and a transceiver module (also called a transceiver unit sometimes).

For example, the transceiver module is configured to receive fourth information, the fourth information is used to indicate that the execution state of the network element of the access network has changed for the first event, and the first event is based on the maximum bit rate limit of the terminal device in the For the transmission rate in the slice, the execution state of the first event includes executing the first event or not executing the first event; the processing module is configured to determine the policy control network element for the second event according to the fourth information The execution state of an event.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the third network element in the fifth aspect above, or an electronic device (for example, a chip system) configured in the third network element , or a larger device including the third network element. The third network element includes corresponding means or modules for implementing the fifth aspect or any optional implementation manner. For example, the communication device includes a transceiver module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver unit). Optionally, the communication device further includes a processing module (also referred to as a processing unit sometimes).

For example, a transceiver module, configured to obtain capability information of an access network element, wherein the capability information is used to indicate whether the access network element can perform a first event, and the first event is based on the maximum bit rate Limit the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice, and send the capability information. Optionally, the processing module is configured to determine that the terminal device is handed over to the network element of the access network.

In a fourteenth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the policy control network element in the sixth aspect above, or an electronic device (for example, a chip system) configured in the policy control network element , or a larger device including the policy control network element. The policy control network element includes corresponding means or modules for implementing the sixth aspect or any optional implementation manner. For example, the communication device includes a transceiver module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver unit). Optionally, the communication device further includes a processing module (also referred to as a processing unit sometimes).

For example, a transceiver module, configured to receive capability information of an access network element, wherein the capability information is used to indicate whether the access network element can perform a first event, and the first event is based on the maximum bit rate Limiting the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice; a processing module, configured to determine the execution state of the policy control network element for the first event according to the capability information.

In a fifteenth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store one or more computer programs, and the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions, when the When the communication device is running, the processor executes the one or more computer programs stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, the first aspect The method described in any one of the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect.

Optionally, the communication device further includes other components, for example, an antenna, an input and output module, an interface, and the like. These components can be hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

In a sixteenth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes: a processor and an interface. Wherein, the processor is used to call and execute instructions from the interface, and when the processor executes the instructions, the method described in any one of the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect or the fourth aspect is implemented.

In a seventeenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, the computer-readable storage medium is used to store computer programs or instructions, and when it is executed, the above-mentioned first aspect, second aspect, third aspect, and fourth aspect can be realized Aspect, the method described in any one of the fifth aspect, the sixth aspect, or the seventh aspect.

In an eighteenth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, and when it is run on a computer, it can realize the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect, the sixth aspect or the first aspect The method described in any one of the seven aspects.

Regarding the beneficial effects of the second aspect to the eighteenth aspect, reference may be made to the beneficial effects discussed in the first aspect, which will not be listed here.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1A, Fig. 1B, Fig. 2A, Fig. 2B, Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B are schematic diagrams of several application scenarios applicable to the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow diagram of a first RAN sending third information to a second RAN according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

In order to make the purpose, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the following, some terms used in the embodiments of the present application are explained, so as to facilitate the understanding of those skilled in the art.

1. The terminal device in the embodiment of this application is a device with a wireless transceiver function, which can be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device, a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless device built into the above-mentioned devices (for example, communication module or chip system, etc.). The terminal device is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, such as including but not limited to the following scenarios: cellular communication, device-to-device communication (device-to-device, D2D), car-to-everything (vehicle to everything, V2X), machine-to-machine/machine-type communications (M2M/MTC), internet of things (IoT), virtual reality (VR) , augmented reality (augmented reality, AR), industrial control (industrial control), unmanned driving (self driving), telemedicine (remote medical), smart grid (smart grid), smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation , Terminal equipment for smart cities, drones, robots and other scenarios. The terminal equipment may sometimes be referred to as user equipment (user equipment, UE), terminal, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication device, or user device, etc. For the convenience of description, the embodiment of the present application refers to the terminal The device is described by taking UE as an example.

The network device in this embodiment of the present application includes, for example, an access network element (or, called an access network device), and/or a core network element (or, called a core network device).

2. The network element of the access network in the embodiment of the present application is a device with a wireless transceiver function, and is used to communicate with the terminal device. The network elements of the access network include but are not limited to base stations (BTS, Node B, eNodeB/eNB, or gNodeB/gNB) and transceiver points (t(R)ANsmission reception point, TRP) in the above-mentioned communication system, 3GPP subsequent evolution base station, access node, wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, etc. in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The base station may be: a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a small station, a relay station, and the like. Multiple base stations may support the aforementioned networks of the same access technology, or may support the aforementioned networks of different access technologies. A base station may contain one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission and reception points. The network device may also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (CU) in a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, C(R)AN) scenario, which may also be called an aggregation unit, and/or a distribution unit (distributed unit, DU). The network device can also be a server, a wearable device, or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, a network device in a vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU). In the following, the base station is used as an example for the access network device to be described. The multiple network devices in the communication system may be base stations of the same type, or base stations of different types. The base station can communicate with the terminal equipment, and can also communicate with the terminal equipment through the relay station. A terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies.

The network element of the core network is used to implement at least one of functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and charging. The names of devices implementing core network functions in systems with different access technologies may be different, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. Taking the 5G system as an example, the core network elements include: access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF), session management function (session management function, SMF), PCF or user plane function (user plane function , UPF) etc.

In the embodiment of the present application, the device for realizing the function of the network device may be a network device, or a device capable of supporting the network device to realize the function, such as a chip system, and the device may be installed in the network device. In the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application, the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the network device as an example for realizing the function of the network device.

3. The network element in the embodiment of the present application may be a single device, or may be a device integrating multiple devices. The network element shown in the embodiment of the present application can also be a logical concept, such as a software module, or a network function corresponding to the service provided by each network element. The network function can be understood as a virtualization function implemented under virtualization, or It can be understood as the network function that provides services under the service network, for example, it is mainly responsible for the session management SMF dedicated to session management in the 5G core network, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

4. The network slice (network slice) in the embodiment of the present application, which can also be referred to as slice for short, is to virtualize multiple end-to-end networks on a common hardware basis through slice technology. In other words, a slice can be understood as a logical network with specific network characteristics divided in an operator's communication network. A network slice can provide services for one or more types of services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and massive machine type of communication (mMTC). Network slicing can also be divided into multiple types, for example, eMBB type, mMTC type, fixed wireless access (fixed wireless access, FWA) and so on.

5. The network slice selection assistance information (single network slice selection assistance information, S-NSSAI) in the embodiment of the present application is used to identify a network slice. One S-NSSAI can be associated with one or more network slice instances, and one network slice instance can be associated with one or more S-NSSAI. For example, UeMBB slice 1, UeMBB slice 2, and FWA slice 1 all provide services for eMBB services, and their S-NSSAI values are all 0x01000000.

6. In the UE-slice-MBR of the embodiment of the present application, the UE-slice-MBR limits the aggregate bit rate expected to be provided for all QoS flows of the session. The session includes part or all of the sessions serving the UE in the slice, and the session serving the UE may also be referred to as a session corresponding to the UE in the slice. Optionally, the session is a session with an active user plane (have an active user plane). UE-slice-MBR refers to the maximum bit rate of a single UE in a slice, and can be understood as the AMBR of a single UE in a single slice, and the slices are one or more slices currently accessed by the UE. Wherein, the quality of service flow includes guaranteed bit rate quality of service flow (guaranteed bit rate quality of service, GBR Qos flows) and/or non-guaranteed bit rate quality of service flow (non-guaranteed bit rate quality of service, non-GBR Qos flows) , where a session can correspond to one or more GBR Qos flows, and can also correspond to one or more non-GBR Qos flows.

As an example, the UE-slice-MBR may include parameters such as downlink throughput per UE and/or uplink throughput per UE. The downlink throughput of each UE includes parameters such as guaranteed downlink throughput per UE and/or maximum downlink throughput; the uplink throughput of each UE includes guaranteed uplink throughput per UE (guaranteed uplink throughput per UE) and/or maximum uplink throughput (maximum uplink throughput) and other parameters. The following uses Table 1 as an example to describe the downlink throughput of each UE and the uplink throughput of each UE.

Table 1

It should be noted that the UE-slice-MBR is relative to a certain UE in a certain slice, and the UE-slice-MBR of the same UE in different slices may be the same or different. Among them, the two UE-slice-MBRs are the same, which means that the parameters included in the UE-slice-MBR of the two UEs in different slices are the same, and the values of the corresponding parameters are also the same; the two UE-slice-MBRs are different , means that the information items included in the two UE-slice-MBRs are different, and/or at least one information item corresponds to a different value. Wherein, the parameters are, for example, one or more of the guaranteed downlink throughput of each UE, the maximum downlink throughput, the guaranteed uplink throughput of each UE or the maximum uplink throughput shown in Table 1 above.

7. The first event in the embodiment of the present application refers to the event of limiting the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR. The first event can also be briefly described as an event of controlling or limiting the UE-slice-MBR of the UE in a slice. If the slice is a slice, the first event includes an event of limiting the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR. If the slice is a plurality of slices, the first event includes an event of limiting the transmission rate of the UE in the plurality of slices according to the UE-slice-MBR. Optionally, if the UE-slice-MBRs corresponding to the multiple slices are different, the first event includes limiting the transmission rate of the terminal device in the corresponding slice according to the UE-slice-MBRs corresponding to the multiple slices respectively event. For example, the slice includes slice 1, slice 2 and slice 3, the UE-slice-MBR corresponding to slice 1 is the first UE-slice-MBR, and the UE-slice-MBR corresponding to slice 2 is the second UE-slice-MBR , the UE-slice-MBR corresponding to slice 3 is the third UE-slice-MBR, then the first event includes the event of limiting the transmission rate of the UE in slice 1 according to the first UE-slice-MBR, and according to the second UE-slice - the event of the MBR limiting the transmission rate of the UE in slice 2, and the event of limiting the transmission rate of the UE in slice 3 according to the third UE-slice-MBR.

8. In the embodiment of the present application, the slice corresponding to the first event belongs to part or all of the slices accessed by the UE. The slices include the slices that need to be executed with the first event. Wherein, part or all of the slices accessed by the UE need to be executed the first event. That is to say, which network element executes the first event for the slice will be considered on the basis that the first event needs to be executed for a slice. Slices that need to be executed with the first event include slices with corresponding UE-Slice-MBRs. In other words, some slices that the UE has accessed do not have a UE-Slice-MBR, so there is no need to consider whether to perform the first event on the slice.

Optionally, the slice that needs to be executed with the first event can be determined by the RAN, for example, the AMF sends to the RAN the S-NSSAI of the slice that needs to be executed with the first event, and the UE-Slice-MBR corresponding to the slice, so that the RAN can Determine the slice that needs to be executed for the first event.

9. In the embodiment of this application, the execution state of a network element for the first event may indicate whether the network element executes the first event, for example, the execution state of a network element for the first event includes executing the first event or not executing first event. For example, the network element is an access network element or a policy control network element. Optionally, a network element does not perform the first event, which may include that the network element does not support (not supported) the execution of the first event, or that the network element supports the execution of the first event but does not implement (not feasible) the first event, or The network element cannot accurately execute the first event (for example, when the network element is an access network element, it can generally be executed accurately, and in some cases it cannot be guaranteed to execute accurately), the network element cannot accurately execute the first event, which can also be described as not feasible. Or it can be understood that a network element does not execute the first event because the network element does not support the execution of the first event, or the network element supports the execution of the first event but does not execute the first event, or the network element cannot accurately execute The first event etc. lead to.

If the slice corresponding to the first event is a slice, that is, the first event includes limiting the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR. The execution of the first event by a network element can be understood as that the network element limits the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR. In other words, when the network element controls the transmission rate of the UE in the slice, it will consider UE-slice-MBR; the network element does not perform the first event. It can be understood that the network element will not limit the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR. In other words, the network element controls the UE in the slice. UE-slice-MBR will not be considered when the transmission rate within the range.

Or, if the slice includes multiple slices, the first event includes respectively limiting the transmission rate of the UE in the multiple slices according to UE-slice-MBR. The execution of the first event by a network element can be understood as that the network element limits the transmission rate of the UE in multiple slices respectively according to the UE-slice-MBR. In other words, the network element controls any UE in multiple slices The UE-slice-MBR will be considered when the transmission rate in the slice is considered. It should be noted that if the UE-slice-MBRs corresponding to the multiple slices are different, when the network element controls the transmission rate of the UE in one of the multiple slices, it will consider the UE corresponding to this slice. -slice-MBR. A network element not performing the first event can be understood as that the network element will not limit the transmission rate of the UE in any slice in multiple slices according to the UE-slice-MBR. In other words, the network element controls the UE in multiple slices UE-slice-MBR is not considered when transmitting the transmission rate in any one of the slices.

Optionally, the manners of executing the first event by different network elements may be the same or different. For example, one way for the network element of the access network to perform the first event is to limit the aggregate bit rate expected to be provided by the UE in the GBR QoS flows of the session corresponding to the slice, and the non-GBR QoS flows of the session corresponding to the slice Aggregated bitrate expected to be offered in QoS flows. For another example, a manner for the policy control network element to execute the first event is to limit the GBR expected to be provided by the UE in the GBR service in the session corresponding to the slice. Wherein, the session corresponding to the UE in the slice may be understood as a session providing services for the UE in the slice, and the session corresponding to the UE in the slice may be one session or multiple sessions under the slice.

In the embodiments of the present application, for the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, it means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "And/or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three types of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A, B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the contextual objects are an "or" relationship. For example, A/B means: A or B. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one item (piece) of a, b, or c means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, c Can be single or multiple.

The 5G communication system architecture is divided into two parts: the access network and the core network. The access network is used to implement functions related to wireless access, and the access network includes a third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project, 3GPP) access network and a non-(non)-3GPP access network. The core network is connected to the access network, and is used to implement functions related to user control and management.

Please refer to FIG. 1A , which is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application. The network architecture is, for example, a service architecture of a 5G network, and the network architecture is a non-roaming network architecture. The 5G network includes (R)AN, UPF, AMF, SMF, authentication server function (authentication server function, AUSF), network slice selection function (network slice selection function, NSSF), network exposure function (network exposure function, NEF), Network function storage function (network exposure function Repository Function, NRF), policy control function (policy control function, PCF), unified data management (unified data management, UDM), unified data repository (unified data repository, UDR), application function (application function, AF) or charging function (charging function, CHF), etc. It should be noted that FIG. 1A only exemplifies some examples of network elements or entities in the 5G network, and the 5G network may also include network data analysis functions (network data analytics function, NWDAF) and some other not shown in FIG. 1A . The network element or entity, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Among them, as shown in Figure 1A, the UE accesses the 5G network through the (R)AN, and the UE communicates with the AMF through the N1 interface (N1 for short); the (R)AN communicates with the AMF through the N2 interface (N2 for short); the (R)AN The UPF communicates with the UPF through the N3 interface (N3 for short); the SMF communicates with the UPF through the N4 interface (N4 for short), and the UPF accesses the data network (data network, DN) through the N6 interface (N6 for short). In addition, the control plane functions such as AUSF, AMF, SMF, NSSF, NEF, NRF, PCF, UDM, UDR, CHF or AF shown in FIG. 1A use service interfaces for interaction. For example, the service interface provided by AUSF is Nausf; the service interface provided by AMF is Namf; the service interface provided by SMF is Nsmf; the service interface provided by NSSF is Nnssf; the service interface provided by NEF is Nnef; the service interface provided by NRF is Nnrf; the service interface provided by PCF is Npcf; the service interface provided by UDM is Nudm; the service interface provided by UDR is Nudr; the service interface provided by CHF is Nchf; the service interface provided by AF is Naf. Related function descriptions and interface descriptions can refer to the 5G system architecture (5G system architecture) diagram in the 23501 standard, which will not be listed here.

Please refer to FIG. 1B , which is a schematic diagram of another network architecture applied in the embodiment of the present application, and the network architecture is a non-roaming network architecture. In this network architecture, network elements such as NSSF, AUSF, UDM, UE, (R)AN, PCF, and SMF can all communicate with the AMF. AUSF can also communicate with UDM, UDM can also communicate with SMF, and SMF can communicate with UPF and PCF in addition to AMF and UDM. PCF can also communicate with AF and NEF. NEF can also communicate with AF. UPF can communicate with (R)AN and DN. In FIG. 1B , "Nxx" between two network elements indicates an interface between these two network elements. For example, N22 represents the interface between NSSF and AMF, N12 represents the interface between AUSF and AMF, N8 represents the interface between UDM and AMF, and so on.

Please refer to FIG. 2A , which is a schematic diagram of another network architecture applied in the embodiment of the present application. The network architecture is, for example, a service-oriented architecture of a 5G network. Moreover, the network architecture is a roaming network architecture, such as a local breakout (LBO) roaming scenario. The 5G network includes a home public land mobile network (HPLMN) and a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN). The HPLMN is the UE's home network, and the VPLMN is the UE's roaming network. In this scenario, the service needs to be offloaded on the VPLMN, that is, the DN is on the VPLMN. Among them, the VPLMN and the HPLMN communicate through a visited security edge protection proxy (vSEPP) and a home security edge protection proxy (hSEPP).

Among them, as shown in Figure 2A, in the VPLMN, the UE accesses the 5G network through the (R)AN, and the UE communicates with the AMF through the N1 interface (N1 for short); the (R)AN network element communicates with the AMF through the N2 interface (N2 for short). ; (R)AN network element communicates with the UPF through the N3 interface (N3 for short); the SMF communicates with the UPF through the N4 interface (N4 for short), and the UPF accesses the DN through the N6 interface (N6 for short). In addition, control plane functions such as NSSF, NEF, AMF, SMF, NRF, PCF, or AF of the VPLMN shown in FIG. 2A use a service-based interface for interaction. For example, the service interface provided by AMF is Namf; the service interface provided by SMF is Nsmf; the service interface provided by NSSF is Nnssf; the service interface provided by NEF is Nnef; the service interface provided by NRF is Nnrf; the service interface provided by PCF is Npcf; the service interface provided by AF is Naf. Control plane functions such as UDM, AUSF, PCF, NRF, NSSF, or NEF of the HPLMN shown in FIG. 2A also use a service interface for interaction. For example, the service interface provided by AUSF is Nausf; the service interface provided by UDM is Nudm.

In addition, please refer to FIG. 2B , which is a schematic diagram of another network architecture applied in the embodiment of the present application, and the network architecture is a roaming network architecture, such as an LBO roaming scenario. The 5G network includes HPLMN and VPLMN. In this network architecture, the NSSF, UE, (R)AN, SMF in the VPLMN, and the AUSF and UDM in the HPLMN can communicate with the AMF in the VPLMN. The SMF in the VPLMN can also communicate with the UPF, the PCF (also called vPCF) in the VPLMN and the UDM in the HPLMN. The PCF in the VPLMN can also communicate with the AF in the VPLMN and the PCF (also called hPCF) in the HPLMN. The UPF in the VPLMN can also communicate with the (R)AN and the DN in the VPLMN. In FIG. 2B, "Nxx" between two network elements indicates an interface between these two network elements.

Please refer to FIG. 3A , which is a schematic diagram of another network architecture applied in the embodiment of the present application. The network architecture is, for example, a service-based architecture of a 5G network. The network architecture is a roaming network architecture, such as a home routed (HR) roaming scenario. The 5G network includes HPLMN and VPLMN. HPLMN is the home network of UE, and VPLMN is the roaming network of UE. VPLMN and HPLMN communicate through vSEPP and hSEPP. Different from the network architecture shown in FIG. 2A , in the scenario shown in FIG. 3A , services need to be offloaded at the HPLMN, that is, the DN is at the HPLMN.

Among them, as shown in Figure 3A, in VPLMN, the UE accesses the 5G network through the (R)AN network element, and the UE communicates with the AMF through the N1 interface (N1 for short); the (R)AN network element communicates with the AMF through the N2 interface (N2 for short) Communicate with AMF; (R)AN network element communicates with UPF through N3 interface (referred to as N3); SMF communicates with UPF through N4 interface (referred to as N4). In the HPLMN, the UPF accesses the DN through the N6 interface (N6 for short); the UPF communicates with the SMF through the N4 interface (N4 for short). In addition, the UPF in the VPLMN communicates with the UPF in the HPLMN through the N9 interface (N2 for short). In addition, control plane functions such as NSSF, NEF, AMF, SMF, NRF, or PCF of the VPLMN shown in FIG. 3A use a service interface for interaction. For example, the service interface provided by AMF is Namf; the service interface provided by SMF is Nsmf; the service interface provided by NSSF is Nnssf; the service interface provided by NEF is Nnef; the service interface provided by NRF is Nnrf; the service interface provided by the PCF is Npcf. As shown in Figure 3A, the control plane functions of UDM, AUSF, PCF, NRF, NSSF, AF, or NEF of the HPLMN also use the service interface to interact. For example, the service interface provided by AUSF is Nausf; the service interface provided by UDM is Nudm; the service interface provided by AF is Naf.

In addition, please refer to FIG. 3B , which is a schematic diagram of another network architecture applied in the embodiment of the present application, and the network architecture is a roaming network architecture, such as an HR roaming scenario. The 5G network includes HPLMN and VPLMN. In this network architecture, NSSF, UE, (R)AN, SMF, PCF in VPLMN, AUSF and UDM in HPLMN can communicate with AMF in VPLMN. The SMF in the VPLMN can also communicate with the UPF in the VPLMN and the SMF in the HPLMN. The PCF in the VPLMN can also communicate with the PCF in the HPLMN. The UPF in the VPLMN can also communicate with the (R)AN in the VPLMN and the UPF in the HPLMN. The NSSF in the VPLMN can also communicate with the NSSF in the HPLMN. The SMF in the HPLMN can also communicate with the UPF, UDM and PCF in the HPLMN. The UDM within the HPLMN can also communicate with the AUSF within the HPLMN. The PCF in the HPLMN can also communicate with the AF in the HPLMN. The UPF in the HPLMN can also access the DN in the VPLMN. In FIG. 3B, "Nxx" between two network elements indicates the interface between these two network elements.

The functions of some of the above-mentioned network elements are introduced below.

The AMF network element, referred to as AMF for short, is mainly responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as user location update, user registration network, user handover, etc.

The SMF network element, referred to as SMF for short, is mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification, and release. Specific functions such as assigning Internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) addresses to users, selecting UPF that provides message forwarding functions, etc.

The UPF network element, referred to as UPF for short, is responsible for forwarding and receiving user data in the UE. User data can be received from the data network and transmitted to the UE through the access network device; user data can also be received from the UE through the access network device and forwarded to the data network. The transmission resources and scheduling functions that provide services for UE in UPF are managed and controlled by SMF.

The PCF network element, referred to as PCF, mainly supports the provision of a unified policy framework to control network behavior, provides policy rules to the control layer network functions, and is responsible for obtaining user subscription information related to policy decisions.

The UDM network element, referred to as UDM, is used to generate authentication credentials, user identification processing (such as storing and managing user permanent identities, etc.), access authorization control, and subscription data management.

DN refers to a service network that provides data transmission services for users, such as IP multimedia service (IP multi-media service, IMS) or Internet (internet). The UE can access the DN through the session established between the UE and the DN. Optionally, the session in this embodiment of the present application takes a protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session as an example.

It should be noted that the access network element, policy control network element, session management network element, user plane network element, and unified data storage network element involved in the embodiment of the present application are only a name, and the name refers to the device does not constitute a limitation in itself. Taking the 5G system as an example, the access network element is RAN, the policy control network element is PCF, the session management network element is SMF, the user plane network element is UPF, and the unified data storage network element is unified data storage. Library (unified data repository, UDR). In non-5G systems, such as other communication systems in the future, policy control network elements, session management network elements, user plane network elements, or unified data storage network elements, etc., can also correspond to other network elements. The embodiment of this application This is not specifically limited.

The technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a 5G system, for example, to the network architecture shown in any of the drawings in FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3A or FIG. 3B. Alternatively, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application may also be applied to the next generation mobile communication system or other similar communication systems, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In order to provide a method of controlling the transmission rate of the UE in a slice according to the maximum bit rate, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, in which a handover (handover) occurs in the UE (handover, for example, from the first access After the network element of the second access network is handed over to the second access network element), if the first network element determines that the switched access network element (for example, the second access network element) is suitable for the first event (that is, according to the maximum bit rate limit the transmission rate of the UE in the slice) is different from the execution state of the first access network element for the first event, then the first network element can send the first information to the policy control network element, and the policy control network element It can perceive the change of the execution state of the network element of the access network for the first event, so as to timely adjust the execution state of the policy control network element for the first event, so as to realize more reasonable rate control for the UE.

The method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings corresponding to the various embodiments of the present application, all steps indicated by dotted lines are optional steps. And, in the introduction process of each embodiment of the present application, the technical solution of each embodiment of the present application is applied to the 5G system as an example, so each network element is described as a corresponding network element in the 5G system. For example, the PCF described in each embodiment of the present application can be replaced by a policy control function network element; the SMF described in each embodiment of the present application can be replaced by a session management function network element; The RAN can be replaced by a radio access network element or an access network element, and the AMF described in various embodiments of the present application can be replaced by an access and mobility management network element. However, if the technical solutions provided by the various embodiments of the present application are applied to other communication systems, the names and/or functions of the network elements may change, which is not limited.

Please refer to FIG. 4 , which is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. It should be noted that the communication method shown in FIG. 4 can be applied to any network architecture in FIG. 1A , FIG. 1B , FIG. 2A , FIG. 2B , FIG. 3A or FIG. 3B. The first network element in this embodiment of the present application is, for example, a RAN, an SMF, or an AMF. Among them, in the embodiment of the present application, the UE is switched from the first RAN to the second RAN as an example for introduction. In this case, the first RAN can also be called the source (source) RAN of the UE, and the second RAN can also be called is the target RAN of the UE.

S401. The first network element determines that the execution state of the second RAN for the first event is different from the execution state of the first RAN for the first event.

Wherein, the meaning of the first event and the meaning of the execution status of the first event can be referred to above, and will not be repeated here. The following describes the manner in which the first network element determines whether the execution state of the second RAN for the first event is different from the execution state of the first RAN for the first event.

1. Determine method one.

The first network element determines the execution state of the second RAN for the first event and the execution state of the first RAN for the first event according to the execution state of the first RAN for the first event and the execution state of the second RAN for the first event Is it different.

For example, the first network element may obtain the execution state of the first RAN for the first event, and the execution state of the second RAN for the first event, so as to determine the execution state of the second RAN for the first event and the execution state of the first RAN for the first event. Whether the execution state of the event is different.

2. Determine the second method.

The first network element determines, according to the information about the at least one session, that the slice corresponding to the at least one session will execute the first event.

The session in this embodiment of the present application is, for example, a PDU session. The information of the at least one session is used to indicate the at least one session, for example, includes an identifier of the at least one session. The at least one session refers to the session corresponding to the UE on the side of the first RAN, which is successfully handed over to the session of the second RAN. In order to better understand at least one session, an example is given below. For example, the sessions corresponding to the UE on the first RAN side include PDU session 1, PDU session 2, and PDU session 3, and after the UE switches from the first RAN to the second RAN, PDU session 1 and PDU session 2 are also successfully switched to the second RAN. On the RAN side, then PDU session 1 and PDU session 2 are at least one session.

During the handover process from the first RAN to the second RAN, if the second RAN cannot control the transmission rate of the UE in a certain slice according to UE-Slice-MBR, or the second RAN chooses not to perform control according to UE-Slice-MBR The transmission rate of the UE in a certain slice, or the second RAN cannot accurately control the transmission rate of the UE in a certain slice according to UE-Slice-MBR, then the second RAN can reject the session corresponding to the slice; if the second RAN The RAN can control the transmission rate of the UE in a certain slice according to the UE-Slice-MBR, and then the second RAN can accept the session corresponding to the slice. Therefore, if the first network element determines that at least one session is handed over successfully, it means that the second RAN can execute the first event for the slice corresponding to the at least one session.

Optionally, if the slice corresponding to the at least one session belongs to the slice that needs to execute the first event, then the first network element determines that the second RAN will execute the first event for the slice corresponding to the at least one session. If the slice corresponding to at least one session does not belong to the slice that needs to execute the first event, then the first network element determines that the second RAN will not execute the first event on the slice corresponding to the at least one session. Wherein, the information of the slice that needs to execute the first event may be acquired by the first network element from the second RAN.

The first network element may pre-store the execution state of the first RAN for the first event, or obtain the execution state of the first RAN for the first event from the first RAN, and then determine the difference between the execution state of the first RAN for the first event and Whether the execution status of the second RAN for the second event is the same.

If the first network element determines that the execution state of the first RAN for the first event is different from the execution state of the second RAN for the first event, then generate the first information. The first information may indicate that the execution state of the RAN for the first event changes. The first information may explicitly or implicitly indicate that the execution state of the RAN for the first event changes. For example, the first information includes a field, which may directly indicate that the execution state of the RAN for the first event changes.

As an example, the first information indicates that the state of the RAN for the first event has changed, which may mean that the execution state of the first event of the slice (for example, the slice corresponding to the S-NSSAI) on the RAN side has changed. The execution state of a specific RAN for the first event has changed.

Optionally, the execution state of the RAN accessed by the UE for the first event changes, and the UE switches from one RAN to another RAN, and the execution state of the one RAN is different from the other RAN for the first event, These two situations can be regarded as the execution state of the first event has changed.

Optionally, the first information may also include a changed execution state of the RAN for the first event.

S402. The first network element sends first information to the PCF. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the first information from the first network element. The first information is used to indicate that the execution state of the RAN for the first event changes.

The first network element may directly send the first information to the PCF, or send the first information to the PCF through other network elements, and the other network elements refer to AMF or SMF. It should be noted that the process of the first network element sending the determination result to the PCF through other network elements may be transparent transmission or non-transparent transmission, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S403. The PCF determines an execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the first information.

If the RAN and the PCF are not aware of whether the other party can control the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR, this may cause the RAN and/or the PCF to make wrong or inaccurate decisions. Moreover, PCF generally controls UE-Slice-MBR by limiting the AMBR of the PDU session, and the GBR and/or MBR of the GBR QoS Flow, and there can be multiple PDU sessions, so the PCF controls the UE according to the UE-slice-MBR. The transmission rate within the slice itself has certain limitations (for example, it is possible that some PDU sessions have reached the limit of the session AMBR, and the actual bit rate of other PDU sessions has only reached a fraction of the AMBR), which further increases the RAN and/or the possibility of the PCF making a wrong decision. For example, the NE of the access network controls the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR, and the NE of the policy control cannot perceive that the NE of the access network controls the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR. The control network element will also control the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR. As mentioned above, the policy control network element may not be able to accurately control the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR. The policy control network This element is equivalent to unnecessary control, which makes the UE-Slice-MBR, which can be accurately controlled, perform inaccurate control. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, once the execution state of the first event of the RAN accessed by the UE changes, the PCF can be notified in time, which is beneficial for the PCF to make a more reasonable decision.

After the PCF receives the first information, the PCF may determine that the execution state of the network element of the access network for the first event has changed. Furthermore, the execution state of the PCF for the first event may be determined according to the first information.

Example 1, the PCF may determine the execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the prestored execution state of the first event. It should be noted that the state of the first event pre-stored in the PCF may be the execution state of the first event corresponding to the UE, not necessarily the execution state of a specific RAN for the first event.

The execution state of the first event pre-stored by the PCF is that the RAN executes the first event, then the PCF may determine that the execution state of the PCF for the first event is to execute the first event according to the first information. If the prestored execution state of the first event is that the RAN does not execute the first event, then the PCF may determine, according to the first information, that the execution state of the PCF for the first event is not to execute the first event.

Example 2, the first information may also include a changed execution state of the RAN for the first event. Then the PCF can determine the execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the changed execution state of the RAN for the first event and the first information.

For example, if the execution status of the changed RAN for the first event is to execute the first event, then the PCF determines not to execute the first event; if the execution status of the changed RAN for the first event is not to execute the first event, then the PCF Make sure to execute the first event.

Example 3, in the foregoing manner, the PCF determines the execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the content indicated by the first information. Or, after receiving the first information, the PCF may determine the subsequent execution status of the PCF for executing the first event according to the execution status of the PCF for the first event before receiving the first information. In this manner, the PCF does not need to pre-store the execution state of the RAN after the change for the first event, or the execution state of the RAN before the change for the first event.

For example, if the execution state of the PCF for the first event is executing the first event before receiving the first information, the PCF determines that the execution state of the PCF for the first event is not executing the first event after receiving the first information. If the execution state of the PCF for the first event is not executing the first event before the PCF receives the first information, the PCF determines that the execution state of the PCF for the first event is executing the first event after receiving the first information.

In this embodiment of the application, the first network element may determine whether the first RAN and the second RAN have the same execution state for the first event, and when the first RAN and the second RAN have different execution states for the first event, The PCF is notified in time, so that the PCF can determine the execution state of the PCF for the first event in time, and a mechanism for executing the first event is provided. Moreover, when the execution state of the second RAN for the first event changes, the PCF can be notified in time, so that the PCF can also timely determine the execution state of the PCF for the first event.

As mentioned above, the first network element may have multiple implementation manners, and there are also multiple manners for the first network element to execute the step of S401. An implementation manner of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is introduced below. Please refer to FIG. 5 , which is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. In the method shown in FIG. 5 , the first network element is used as the RAN, and the first network element determines that the execution state of the second RAN for the first event is different from the execution state of the first RAN for the first event according to the above determination method: Examples are introduced. In addition, in FIG. 5 , the network element of the access network is RAN, the network element of policy control is PCF, and the network element of session management is SMF as an example.

S501. The first RAN sends third information to the second RAN. Correspondingly, the second RAN receives the third information from the first RAN. The third information indicates the execution status of the first RAN for the first event.

The UE performs cell handover from the first RAN to the second RAN. For example, the first RAN may send third information to the second RAN during the handover process. Exemplarily, the third information may be carried in a handover request (handover request).

The execution state of the first event by the first RAN may be preconfigured in the first RAN, or predefined by a protocol, or may be determined by the first RAN itself. If the execution status of the first event by the first RAN is determined by the first RAN itself, there may be multiple determination methods, which are described below with examples.

1. Mode 1, the first RAN determines whether the first RAN executes the first event according to its own structure.

Specifically, if the architecture of the first RAN adopts the separated architecture of DU and CU, then the first RAN determines that the first RAN does not execute the first event. Since the first RAN adopts a separate structure, the first RAN can be regarded as a network element including multiple functional units such as DU and CU, and it is impossible to accurately determine which functional unit is used to limit the transmission rate of the UE in all slices. , in this case, the first RAN cannot accurately limit the transmission rate of the UE in all slices according to the UE-slice-MBR, so in this case, the first RAN determines that the first RAN does not execute the first event. The meaning of not executing the first event can refer to the content discussed above, and will not be repeated here.

2. Mode 2, the first RAN determines whether the first RAN executes the first event according to the information of the link mechanism. The link mechanism refers to the communication mechanism used between the first RAN and the session corresponding to the slice accessed by the UE, for example, a dual link mechanism or a non-dual link mechanism (the non-dual link mechanism refers to a mechanism other than the dual link mechanism). To simplify the expression, the session corresponding to the slice accessed by the UE is referred to as the first session, and there may be one or more first sessions.

Specifically, the first RAN adopts a dual link mechanism, and the downlink (downlink, DL) user plane traffic of the QoS flows of the first session is distributed and directed to the master RAN and the slave RAN. In this case, the first RAN may determine whether Execute the first event. Wherein, the master RAN or the slave RAN is the first RAN. Distributed orientation can be understood as: the DL user plane traffic of a part of QoS flows of the first session is configured to be distributed and directed to the master RAN, and the DL user plane traffic of another part of QoS in the first session is configured to be distributed and directed to the slave RAN. In this case, regardless of the number of QoS flows, there are two N3 tunnel endpoints on the first RAN for the first session communication, which makes it impossible for the first RAN to accurately restrict the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR Therefore, the first RAN may determine not to perform the first event.

Alternatively, the first RAN adopts a dual-link mechanism, and the downlink (downlink, DL) user plane traffic of QoS flows of the first session is directed to the first RAN, wherein the first RAN may be a master RAN or a slave RAN, and the first RAN may be a master RAN or a slave RAN. A RAN determines to perform the first event. In this case there is a single N3 tunnel endpoint on the first RAN for communicating with the first session, in which case the first RAN may execute the first event.

It should be noted that the first RAN may use the above two methods in combination to determine the execution status of the first event by the first RAN, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

For example, the first RAN may use one or more of the above methods 1 and 2 to determine the execution status of the first RAN for the first event, or the first RAN may also use other methods besides the above methods The execution state of the first RAN for the first event is determined, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The first RAN may send the third information to the second RAN according to the execution state of the first event by the first RAN. The third information indicates the execution status of the first RAN for the first event. Wherein, the third information may explicitly or implicitly indicate the execution status of the first RAN for the first event.

For example, if direct communication between the first RAN and the second RAN is possible (for example, the first RAN performs handover based on the Xn interface), then the first RAN may directly send the execution status of the first event to the second RAN. Two ran. Correspondingly, the second RAN receives from the first RAN the execution status of the first event for the first event.

Or for example, if the first RAN and the second RAN cannot communicate directly (for example, the first RAN performs handover based on the N2 interface), the second RAN may receive the execution status of the first RAN for the first event from other network elements, The other network element is, for example, the target AMF of the UE, which may be referred to as the second AMF for short in this embodiment of the present application.

Specifically, the first RAN may send the execution status of the first RAN for the first event to the source AMF of the UE (the AMF interacting with the first RAN). This embodiment of the present application is referred to as the first AMF for short. A RAN sends the execution state of the first event to the second AMF, and the second AMF sends the execution state of the first RAN to the second RAN.

After the UE switches from the first RAN to the second RAN, the architecture of the second RAN may be different from that of the first RAN, or the slices accessed by the UE may change, or the linking mechanism adopted by the second RAN may be Different from the linking mechanism adopted by the first RAN, etc., these may cause the execution state of the first event of the second RAN to be different from that of the first RAN. Accordingly, after the UE is handed over from the first RAN to the second RAN, the second RAN may determine the execution status of the second RAN for the first event.

After determining the execution state of the first event by the first RAN, the first RAN may send the third information to the second RAN, where the third information indicates the execution state of the first event by the first RAN. Optionally, the third information may further indicate the slice, for example, the third information includes the identifier of the slice, and the slice may be indicated by the identifier of the first slice.

Optionally, if the slice includes multiple slices, the third information may indicate the multiple slices, for example, the third information includes identifiers of the multiple slices.

In this case, the third information may respectively indicate execution states of the first RAN executing the first event for the plurality of slices. Alternatively, if multiple slices have the same execution status for the first event, the third information may only indicate the execution status of one first event.

Please refer to Table 2, a third information may include the second row to the fourth row in the following Table 2.

Table 2

S-NSSAIS-NSSAI	执行状态的取值The value of the execution state
11	11
22	00
33	11

Slice 1, slice 2 and slice 3 in Table 2 are all slices accessed by the UE through the first RAN. Taking the third information as an example from the second line to the fourth line in the above table 2, the third information includes the identifiers of slices (for example, 1, 2, and 3), and the corresponding executions of slice 1, slice 2, and slice 3 respectively. The values of status are 1, 0 and 1. For example, if the value of the execution state corresponding to a slice is 1, it means that the first RAN will not limit the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR; and if the value of the execution state corresponding to a slice is 0, it means that the first RAN will limit the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR. For example, the value of execution state corresponding to slice 1 in Table 2 is 1, indicating that the first RAN will not limit the transmission rate of UE in slice 1 according to UE-slice-MBR. For example, slice 2 in Table 2 corresponds to The value of the execution state of is 0, indicating that the first RAN will limit the transmission rate of the UE in slice 2 according to the UE-slice-MBR.

S502. The second RAN determines that the execution state of the first event by the first RAN is different from the execution state of the first event by the second RAN.

Wherein, the manner in which the second RAN determines the execution state of the first event may refer to the above-mentioned first RAN determining the execution state of the first event, which will not be repeated here. Furthermore, the second RAN may determine whether the execution state of the second RNA for the first event is the same as the execution state of the first RAN for the first event.

If the second RAN determines that the execution status of the first RAN for the first event is to execute the first event, and the execution status of the second RAN for the first event is not to execute the first event, or if the second RAN determines that the first RAN is not executing the first event The execution state of the first event is not executing the first event, and the execution state of the second RAN for the first event is executing the first event, then the second RAN determines that the execution state of the second RAN for the first event is different from that of the first RAN . If both the execution status of the second RAN and the first RAN for the first event are not executing the first event, or both are executing the first event, then the second RAN determines that the execution status of the second RAN for the first event is the same as that of the first event. RAN performs the same state.

If the execution status of the second RAN for the first event is the same as that of the first RAN, it means that the execution status of the two RANs for the first event has not changed. In this case, the second RAN may not perform subsequent steps.

If the execution state of the second RAN for the first event is different from the execution state of the first RAN for the first event, it means that the execution state of the second RAN for the first event has changed compared with the first RAN, so S503 can be executed , that is, the second RAN sends the first information to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the first information from the second RAN. The first information may indicate that the execution status of the first event is different.

Exemplarily, in S503, the second RAN may send the first information to the SMF through the AMF.

S504. The SMF sends the first information to the PCF. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the first information from the SMF.

As an example, the SMF may send the first information to the PCF when a policy control request trigger (policy control request trigger) meets a trigger condition.

Wherein, the trigger condition is, for example, that the execution status of the access network element for the first event changes. Specifically, the PCF may send a policy control request trigger to the SMF. The trigger condition corresponding to the policy control request trigger is, for example, the execution state of the first event indicated by the first information currently received by the SMF and the first event obtained by the SMF before. The execution state of the event is different, that is, the execution state of the first event has changed.

Optionally, the first information includes an execution state of the second RAN for the first event.

S505. The PCF determines an execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the first information.

For the PCF to determine the execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the first information, reference may be made to the foregoing.

Optionally, the PCF adjusts the policy and charging control rules (policy and charging control, PCC) of the session of the UE in the slice. By adjusting the PCC, the guaranteed bit rate or the maximum bit rate of the QoS Flow of the session of the UE in the slice can be adjusted. Alternatively, the PCF may adjust PDU session-related policy information, such as adjusting the aggregate maximum bit rate of the session of the UE in the slice. Wherein, the session may be one or more sessions in all sessions of the slice.

For example, if the PCF determines that the execution state of the PCF for the first event is not executing the first event, it means that the possibility that the PCF has reduced the aggregate bit rate of the session of the UE in the slice before this is relatively high, and it is determined that the PCF for the first event The execution state of the first event is not executing the first event, which means that the PCF is controlling the aggregate bit rate of the session of the UE in the slice or the guaranteed bit rate or maximum bit rate of the QoS Flow, and is no longer limited by the UE-Slice-MBR. Therefore, the PCF It can increase the aggregated bit rate of the session of the UE in the slice, the guaranteed bit rate of QoS Flow, or the maximum bit rate.

Further, the PCF sends a policy update response (Npcf_SMPolicyControlUpdate response) message to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the policy update response message from the PCF. The policy update response message indicates that the PCF has adjusted the corresponding control policy.

S506. The second RAN determines that the execution state of the second RAN for the first event changes.

During the communication process, the execution state of the second RAN for the first event may change. For example, the link mechanism between the second RAN and the session corresponding to the slice accessed by the UE may change, which may lead to a change in the execution state of the first event by the second RAN. Of course, there are other factors that may cause the second RAN to change the execution state of the first event, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S507. The second RAN sends fourth information to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives fourth information from the second RAN. The fourth information indicates that the state of execution of the first event by the network element of the second access network has changed.

Optionally, the fourth information indicates the changed execution state of the second RAN for the first event.

S508. The SMF sends fourth information to the PCF. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the fourth information from the SMF.

Optionally, the SMF may send the first information to the PCF when the policy control request trigger meets a trigger condition. The content of the trigger conditions can refer to the above.

S509, the PCF determines the execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the fourth information.

If the fourth information does not indicate the changed execution state of the second RAN for the first event, the PCF may determine the subsequent execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the execution state of the PCF for the first event before receiving the fourth information.

Specifically, if the execution state of the PCF for the first event is to execute the first event before the PCF receives the fourth information, then the PCF determines that the PCF does not execute the first event after receiving the fourth information. If the execution state of the PCF for the first event is not executing the first event before the PCF receives the fourth information, then the PCF determines that the execution state of the PCF for the first event is executing the first event after receiving the fourth information.

Alternatively, if the fourth information includes the changed execution state of the second RAN for the first event, the PCF may obtain the changed execution state of the second RAN for the first event after receiving the fourth information. If the changed execution state of the second RAN is to execute the first event, the PCF determines not to execute the first event. If the changed execution state of the second RAN is not to execute the first event, the PCF determines to execute the first event.

It should be noted that the execution state of the second RAN for the first event may not change, and in this case, S506-S509 does not need to be executed, that is, S506-S509 is optional.

In this embodiment of the application, the second RAN may determine whether the execution status of the first event is the same between the first RAN and the second RAN, and when the execution status of the first event is different between the first RAN and the second RAN, timely Notifying the PCF so that the PCF can determine the execution status of the PCF for the first event in time provides a mechanism for executing the first event. Moreover, when the execution state of the second RAN for the first event changes, the PCF can be notified in time, so that the PCF can also timely determine the execution state of the PCF for the first event.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 , in S501, the first RAN directly sends the third information to the second RAN as an example. In fact, the first RAN sends the third information to the second RAN. There are many kinds. The following uses the flow chart of sending the third information shown in FIG. 6 as an example to introduce.

It should be noted that in Figure 6, the first RAN is based on the N2 interface as an example. In this case, the AMF interacting with the first RAN may be different from the AMF interacting with the second RAN. Description, in the embodiment of the present application, the AMF interacting with the first RAN is the first AMF, which can also be called the source AMF of the UE, and the AMF corresponding to the second RAN is the second AMF, which can also be called the target AMF of the UE. .

S601. The first RAN sends a handover requirement request to the first AMF. Correspondingly, the first AMF receives the handover requirement request from the first RAN.

The Handover Required Request indicates that a handover to the second RAN is requested. Optionally, the switching requirement request includes a source to target transparent container (source to target transparent container), and the third information may be carried in the source to target transparent container. The source-to-target transparent container can be understood as a cell. For the specific meaning of the third information, refer to the foregoing.

S602. The first AMF sends a UE context creation request (Namf_communication_createUEconrext request) to the second AMF. Correspondingly, the second AMF receives the UE context creation request from the first AMF network element. The UE context creation request includes third information.

The UE context creation request is used to request the second AMF to create a UE context. The UE context includes, for example, when the UE accesses the first RAN, the information of the slice accessed and the information of the PDU session of the slice accessed. In the embodiment of the present application, the session is taken as a PDU session as an example.

Optionally, the UE context creation request includes a source-to-target transparent container, and the third information may be carried in the source-to-target transparent container.

S603. The second AMF sends a handover request (handover request) to the second RAN. Correspondingly, the second RAN receives the handover request from the second AMF. The handover request includes third information.

The handover request is used to request the second RAN to reserve handover resources for the UE. Optionally, the switching request includes a source-to-target transparent container, and the third information may be carried in the source-to-target transparent container.

As mentioned above, the first network element may have multiple implementation manners, and there are also multiple manners for the first network element to execute the step of S401. An implementation manner of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is introduced below. Please refer to FIG. 7 , which is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. In Fig. 7, the first network element is SMF as an example, and the SMF uses the above-mentioned determination method one to execute S401 as an example. In Fig. 7, the access network element is RAN, the policy control network element is PCF, and the session management network Meta for SMF as an example.

S701. The first RAN sends third information to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the third information from the first RAN. The third information indicates the execution status of the first RAN for the first event.

For example, after the UE accesses the first RAN, or after the first RAN's execution state of the first event changes, the first RAN may determine the first RAN's execution state of the first event, and the determination method may refer to the foregoing. The first RAN may generate third information according to the execution status of the first event by the first RAN, and send the third information to the SMF. Optionally, the third information includes the execution state of the first event by the first RAN. The third information may also include an identification of the slice.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of this application, the execution status of the first RAN for the first event received by the SMF from the first RAN is taken as an example. In fact, the way for the SMF to obtain the execution status of the first RAN for the first event may be different Various, for example, the SMF receives from the second RAN the execution status of the first RAN for the first event, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the SMF caches the third information.

S702. The SMF sends third information to the PCF. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the third information from the SMF.

The SMF may send the third information to the PCF, so that the PCF determines the execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the execution state of the first RAN for the first event.

Optionally, the SMF may send the third information to the PCF when the policy control request trigger meets the trigger condition. In this case, the content of the trigger condition can refer to the above.

It should be noted that S701-S702 are steps executed when the UE accesses the first RAN.

S703. After the UE is handed over to the second RAN, the second RAN sends the second information to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the second information from the second RAN. The second information indicates the execution status of the second RAN for the first event.

In the embodiment of the present application, the second RAN sends the second information to the SMF after determining that the UE is handed over from the first RAN to the second RAN. Due to the handover of the UE, in this case, it is easy for the PCF and the like to be unable to determine the execution status of the second RAN for the execution of the first event. Therefore, the second RAN can report the second information to the SMF to inform the SMF in time that the second RAN is responsible for the execution of the first event. The execution state of the first event.

As an example, the second RAN sends the second information to the SMF for the slice on which the first event needs to be executed. Wherein, the meaning of the slice that needs to execute the first event can refer to the above.

Wherein, the meaning of the second information and the manner in which the second RAN determines the execution status of the second RAN for the first event can be referred to above.

S704. The SMF determines that the execution status of the first event by the first RAN is different from the execution status of the first event by the second RAN.

After the SMF obtains the execution status of the first RAN for the first event and the execution status of the second RAN for the first event, it can determine the execution status of the first RAN for the first event and the execution status of the second RAN for the first event Is it different.

If the SMF determines that both the execution status of the first RAN and the second RAN for the first event are executing the first event, or that both the first RAN and the second RAN are not executing the first event for the execution status of the first event, then the SMF It is determined that the execution state of the first RAN for the first event is the same as that of the second RAN, in this case, the SMF may not process it.

If the SMF determines that the execution state of the first RAN for the first event is to execute the first event, and the execution state of the second RAN for the first event is not to execute the first event, or the execution state of the first RAN for the first event is The first event is not executed, but the execution state of the second RAN for the first event is to execute the first event, then the SMF determines that the execution state of the first RAN for the first event is different from that of the second RAN, then S705 can be executed, that is, the SMF sends The PCF sends first information. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the first information from the SMF. Wherein, the meaning of the first information can refer to the foregoing.

Optionally, the SMF may send the first information to the PCF when the policy control request trigger meets a trigger condition. For the content of the trigger condition, please refer to the above.

S706, the PCF determines the execution state of the PCF for the first event.

For the manner in which the PCF determines the execution state of the PCF for the first event, reference may be made to the foregoing.

As an example, if the execution status of the first event by the second RAN changes, the second RAN may send fourth information to the PCF. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the fourth information from the second RAN. The PCF may determine the execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the fourth information.

Wherein, the meaning of the fourth information, the way the second RAN sends the fourth information to the PCF, and the content that the PCF can determine the execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the fourth information can refer to the content discussed above, and will not be repeated here repeat.

In this embodiment of the application, the SMF network element can determine whether the first RAN and the second RAN have the same execution state for the first event, and when the first RAN and the second RAN have different execution states for the first event, timely Notifying the PCF so that the PCF can determine the execution status of the PCF for the first event in time provides a mechanism for executing the first event. Moreover, since the interaction between the RAN and the PCF is generally implemented through the SMF, and generally the SMF will cache the information during the interaction between the RAN and the PCF, the SMF determines the first RAN and the second RAN for the first event Whether the execution states are the same can relatively reduce the processing amount of the PCF to maintain the execution state of the first event, and there is no need to upgrade the hardware of the SMF.

Please refer to FIG. 8 , which is a schematic flowchart of a method provided in the embodiment of the present application. In FIG. 8 , the communication method in the embodiment of the present application is executed by the PCF as an example for introduction.

S801. The first RAN sends third information to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the third information from the first RAN. The third information includes the execution status of the second RAN for the first event.

For the manner in which the second RAN obtains the third information and the meaning of the third information, refer to the foregoing.

S802. The SMF sends third information to the PCF. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the third information from the SMF.

It should be noted that S801 and S802 may be performed when the UE accesses the first RAN. In this embodiment of the present application, the first RAN sends the third information to the SMF as an example, and the manner in which the SMF acquires the third information is not actually limited.

S803. The second RAN sends second information to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the second information from the second RAN. The second information includes the execution status of the first RAN for the first event.

S804. The SMF sends the second information to the PCF. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the second information from the SMF. The second information indicates the execution status of the first RAN for the first event. Wherein, the meaning of the second information can refer to the foregoing.

It should be noted that S803 and S804 may be performed when the UE accesses the second RAN. In this embodiment of the present application, the second RAN sends the second information to the SMF as an example, and the manner in which the SMF acquires the second information is not actually limited.

S805. The PCF determines first information. For the meaning of the first information, refer to the foregoing.

The PCF may determine the first information according to the first determination manner described above.

S806, the PCF determines the execution state of the PCF for the first event.

For the manner in which the PCF executes S806, reference may be made to the foregoing.

In this embodiment of the application, the PCF network element can directly determine whether the first RAN and the second RAN have the same execution state for the first event, and when the first RAN and the second RAN have different execution states for the first event, Determining the execution state of the PCF for the first event in time provides a mechanism for executing the first event.

In the following, the first network element is an SMF, and the SMF determines that the execution status of the first RAN and the second RAN are different for the first event by the second determination method above as an example, and the introduction will be made.

As mentioned above, the first network element may have multiple implementation manners, and there are also multiple manners for the first network element to execute the step of S401. An implementation manner of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is introduced below. Please refer to FIG. 9 , which is a communication method provided by the embodiment of this application. For the communication method shown in Figure 9, in Figure 9, the first network element is the SMF, and the SMF uses the above determination method 2 to execute S401 as an example. In Figure 9, the access network element is the RAN, and the policy control network element is the PCF , the session management network element is an SMF, and the access and mobility management network element is an AMF as an example.

S901. The second RAN sends a handover indication (handover indication) to the AMF. Correspondingly, the AMF receives the handover instruction from the second RAN.

The handover indication indicates information of at least one PDU session. It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the application, the session is taken as an example of a PDU session.

For the meaning of the information of at least one PDU session, refer to the foregoing.

S902. The AMF sends a handover instruction to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the handover instruction from the AMF.

As an example, the information of at least one PDU session can be carried in the PDU session context update request (Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext), and the AMF sends the PDU session update context message to the SMF, which is equivalent to sending the information of at least one PDU session.

S903. The SMF determines that the second RAN will execute the first event for the slice corresponding to at least one PDU session.

The SMF determines that the second RAN will perform the first event on the slice corresponding to the at least one PDU session according to the information of the at least one PDU session, and the slice corresponding to the at least one PDU session belongs to the slice that needs to execute the first event. Wherein, the identifier of the slice that needs to execute the first event may be obtained by the SMF from the RAN.

If the slice corresponding to at least one PDU session includes a slice, then the SMF determines that the second RAN will execute the first event. If the slice corresponding to at least one PDU session does not include a slice, the SMF determines that the second RAN will not perform the first event.

S904. The SMF determines that the execution state of the second RAN for the first event is different from the execution state of the first RAN for the first event.

The SMF may pre-store the execution state of the first RAN for the first event. The execution status of the first event by the first RAN may be received by the SMF from the first RAN or from the second RAN, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The SMF can determine whether the execution status of the second RAN for the first event and the execution status of the first RAN for the first event are based on the execution status of the first RAN for the first event and the execution status of the second RAN for the first event. Same, wherein, the specific content of determining whether they are the same can refer to the foregoing.

S905. The SMF sends the first information to the PCF. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the first information from the SMF.

Optionally, the SMF may send the first information to the PCF when the policy control request trigger meets a trigger condition. For the content of the trigger condition, please refer to the above. For the meaning of the first information, refer to the foregoing.

S906, the PCF determines the execution state of the PCF for the first event.

In the embodiment of this application, the SMF can determine whether the second RAN executes the first event according to the PDU session successfully switched after the first RAN is switched to the second RAN, without the need for the second RAN to determine whether it can execute the first event itself, reducing The interaction between the second RAN and the SMF is reduced, and the processing amount of the second RAN is reduced.

It should be noted that the communication method in the embodiment of the present application can also be executed cooperatively by AMF and PCF. In this case, the SMF in the above embodiment can be replaced by AMF. The manner of the steps will not be repeated here.

Please refer to FIG. 10 , which is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. In FIG. 10 , the PCF is used as an example to execute the communication method in the embodiment of the present application. It should be noted that the communication method shown in FIG. 10 can be applied to any of the network architectures in FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3A or FIG. 3B. The network access network element is RAN, the policy control network element is PCF, and the session management network element is SMF as an example.

S1001. The second RAN sends a handover instruction to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the handover instruction from the second RAN. Wherein, the meaning of the handover instruction can refer to the foregoing.

S1002. The SMF sends a handover instruction to the PCF. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the handover instruction from the SMF.

Optionally, the PCF can set a policy control trigger on the SMF, and the SMF sends a handover instruction to the PCF when the condition is met.

A policy control trigger can be set as shown in Table 3 below.

table 3

Exemplarily, when the PCF determines that the first RAN can execute the first event, the PCF sets the policy control trigger, and can also set the policy control trigger after the SMF has sent the first RAN not to execute the first event to the first RAN. The trigger is not limited in the embodiment of this application.

S1003. The PCF determines that the slice corresponding to at least one PDU session will execute the first event.

For the steps performed by the PCF in S1003, reference may be made to the process performed by the SMF discussed in FIG. 9 above, which will not be repeated here.

S1004. The PCF determines that at least one slice corresponding to the PDU session will execute the first event.

S1005. The PCF determines the execution state of the PCF for the first event.

The steps for the PCF to execute S1005 can be referred to above.

In this embodiment of the present application, the PCF can determine the execution status of the second RAN for the first event according to the successfully handed over PDU session, which provides a way for the PCF to autonomously determine the execution status of the second RAN for the first event. Further, the interaction between the SMF and the PCF can follow the trigger mechanism, so that there is no need to upgrade the hardware of the SMF or the PCF.

The embodiment of the present application also provides another communication method. In this communication method, when a UE accesses a network element of an access network, if the network element of the access network responds to the first event (that is, according to the UE- slice-MBR to limit the transmission rate of the UE in the slice) has changed, then the fourth information may be sent to the policy control network element (the fourth information indicates and/or includes the access network element's response to the first event The execution state has changed), so that the policy control network element can determine the execution state of the policy control network element for the first event according to the first information, thereby providing a mechanism for executing the first event. Moreover, when the execution state of the access network element for the first event changes, actively report the execution state of the access network element for the first event to the policy control network element, so that the policy control network element can adjust the policy in time An execution state of the network element for the first event is controlled.

Please refer to FIG. 11 , which is a flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication method can be executed cooperatively by the RAN and the PCF. It should be noted that the communication method shown in FIG. 11 can be applied to any of the network architectures in FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3A or FIG. 3B, and in FIG. The NE of the access network is the RAN, the NE of the policy control is the PCF, and the NE of the session management is the SMF as an example.

S1101. The RAN determines that the execution state of the RAN for the first event changes.

For the manner in which the RAN executes S1101, reference may be made to the foregoing, and details will not be repeated here. The RAN in this embodiment of the present application is the RAN currently accessed by the UE.

S1102. The RAN sends fourth information to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the fourth information from the RAN. The fourth information indicates and/or includes the changed execution state of the RAN for the first event.

S1103. The SMF sends fourth information to the PCF. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the fourth information from the SMF network element.

S1104, the PCF determines the execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the fourth information.

For the manner in which the PCF executes S1104, reference may be made to the content discussed above, which will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment of the present application, when the RAN determines that its execution state for the first event has changed, it can report to the PCF in time, so that the PCF can sense the change of the execution state of the RAN for the first event in a timely manner, providing a method for executing the first event. The mechanism of events reduces the situation of PCF making wrong decisions.

The embodiment of the present application also provides another communication method, in which the policy control network element can receive capability information of the network element of the access network, and the capability information indicates whether the network element of the access network can execute the first event, Furthermore, the policy control network element can determine whether the network element of the access network executes the first event according to the capability information, thereby providing a mechanism for executing the first event. The communication scheme can be executed cooperatively by the session management network element and the policy control network element, or by the cooperative execution of the access and mobility management network element and the policy control network element, or by the cooperative execution of the RAN and the policy control network element. The following uses AMF to implement the communication scheme The corresponding communication method is introduced as an example. Please refer to FIG. 12 , which is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. It should be noted that in FIG. 12 , the network element of the access network is RAN, the network element of session management is SMF, the network element of policy control is PCF, and the network element of access and mobility management is AMF.

S1201. The AMF sends capability information to the SMF. The capability information is used to indicate whether the RAN can execute the first event. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the capability information from the AMF.

For example, the AMF may receive capability information from the RAN.

Specifically, the capability information may carry a setup request (NG setup request) message, and when the RAN can establish a connection with the AMF, the RAN sends the NG setup request message to the AMF.

Alternatively, the capability information may be carried in a RAN configuration update (RAN configuration update) message, and after the UE switches to the RAN, the RAN may send a RAN configuration update) message to the AMF.

Or, during the registration process of a certain UE (for example, the first UE), the RAN may send the capability information of the RAN to the AMF.

Further, the AMF may send the capability information to the SMF during the establishment of the PDU session. This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit it.

Wherein, whether the first event can be executed indicates whether the RAN network element has the ability to execute the first event, and the first event refers to limiting the transmission rate of the UE in the slice according to the UE-slice-MBR. The UE in this embodiment of the present application refers to any UE that communicates with the network element of the access network. A slice in this embodiment of the present application refers to one or more slices through which a UE passes through network elements of an access network. For example, it includes that the RAN network element is not capable of executing the first event, or the RAN network element is capable of executing the first event.

In a possible implementation manner, after the AMF determines that the UE is handed over to the RAN, the AMF sends the capability information to the SMF. For example, in the handover preparation stage based on the Xn or N2 interface handover process, AMF can carry the capability information in the SMF session update SM context request (PDU session update SM context request) message sent to the SMF; or, in the Xn or N2 based In the handover preparation phase of the interface handover process, the AMF may send the capability information to the SMF through a dedicated message.

Optionally, the capability information includes the identifier of the RAN, or one or more items of the corresponding S-NSSAI, etc., where the S-NSSAI is used to indicate the slice for which the RAN executes the first event, that is, The RAN may use the capability information to report the capability of the RAN to perform the first event for a certain slice).

S1202. The SMF sends capability information to the PCF. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the capability information from the SMF.

Optionally, the SMF may send the first information to the PCF when the policy control request trigger meets a trigger condition. The trigger condition is, for example, that the capability information of the RAN is different from that of another RAN, where the other RAN is the RAN that the UE accesses before handing over to the RAN.

S1203. The PCF determines the execution state of the PCF for the first event according to the capability information.

According to the capability information, if the PCF determines that the RAN does not have the capability to execute the first event, then the PCF may determine to execute the first event; if it determines that the RAN has the ability to execute the first event, then the PCF may determine not to execute the first event.

Optionally, the PCF adjusts the policy and charging control rules (policy and charging control, PCC) of the session of the UE in the slice. By adjusting the PCC, the guaranteed bit rate or the maximum bit rate of the QoS Flow of the session of the UE in the slice can be adjusted. Alternatively, the PCF may adjust PDU session-related policy information, such as adjusting the aggregate maximum bit rate of the session of the UE in the slice.

In the embodiment of the present application, the information about whether the RAN can execute the first event can be reported at the granularity of the RAN without reporting in units of slices, which relatively reduces the amount of data transmission in the communication system. Moreover, in the embodiment of the present application, the PCF can also perceive whether the RAN can execute the first event, so as to timely adjust the execution state of the PCF for the first event.

It should be noted that the PCF and AMF interaction mechanism is introduced in the 5G system. For the same UE, the PCF that interacts with the AMF serving the UE can be called PCF for a UE, and interacts with the SMF serving the UE. The PCF is called PCF for a PDU Session. If the method in any of the above embodiments (such as any of the embodiments in Figure 4-Figure 12) is applied to the 5G system, and if the PCF (PCF for a UE) serving the UE and the PCF (PCF for a UE) serving the PDU session PCF for a PDU Session) is the same PCF. As an example, the PCF in any of the above embodiments is both PCF for a UE and PCF for a PDU Session. If the PCF for a UE and the PCF for a PDU Session are not the same PCF, as another example, the PCF in any of the above embodiments may also be the PCF for a UE. In this case, the SMF in any of the above embodiments can be replaced by an AMF, and the PCF for a UE can receive the first information from the AMF, and send the first information to the PCF for a PDU Session.

It should be noted that, in any of the above embodiments, the process of A sending information to C through B may be transparent transmission or non-transparent transmission, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, the process of the second RAN sending the first information to the PCF through the SMF may be transparent transmission or non-transparent transmission.

Please refer to FIG. 13 , which is a schematic structural diagram of a possible communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 13 , a communication device 1300 includes a processing module 1301 and a transceiver module 1302 .

In this embodiment of the present application, the communication device 1300 may be used to implement the functions of the first network element, for example, the functions of the first network element in FIG. 4 .

If the first network element is a RAN, for example, the communication device 1300 may be used to realize the function of the second RAN shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 , or realize the function of the second RAN in FIG. 8 . For example, the processing module 1301 is configured to implement the step of S502 above; the transceiver module 1302 is configured to implement the step of S503 above. For another example, the transceiver module 1302 is configured to implement the step of S803 above.

If the first network element is a RAN, for example, the communication device 1300 may be used to realize the function of the second RAN shown in FIG. 7 . For example, the transceiver module 1302 is configured to implement the step of S703 above. Optionally, the processing module 1301 is configured to determine the second information in S703.

If the first network element is an SMF, this embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1300, and the communication device 1300 may be used to realize the function of the SMF shown in FIG. 7, or realize the function of the SMF shown in FIG. For example, the processing module 1301 is configured to implement the step of S704 above; the transceiver module 1302 is configured to implement the step of S703 above. For another example, the processing module 1301 is configured to implement the step of S904 above; the transceiver module 1302 is configured to implement the step of S905 above.

The embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1300, which can be used to implement the functions of the PCF shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6, realize the functions of the PCF shown in FIG. 7, and realize the PCF shown in FIG. function to realize the function of the PCF shown in FIG. 9 , or to realize the function of the PCF shown in FIG. 10 . For example, the processing module 1301 is configured to implement the step S505 above; the transceiver module 1302 is configured to implement the step S504 above. For another example, the processing module 1301 is configured to implement the step of S705 above; the transceiver module 1302 is configured to implement the step of S706 above. For another example, the processing module 1301 is configured to implement the steps of S805 and S806 above; the transceiver module 1302 is configured to implement the steps of S804 above. For another example, the processing module 1301 is configured to implement the step of S906 above; the transceiver module 1302 is configured to implement the step of S905 above. For another example, the processing module 1301 is configured to implement the steps of S1004-S1005 above. Optionally, the communication device 1300 further includes a transceiver module 1302 . For example, the transceiver module 1302 can execute the step of S1002.

An embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1300 that can be used to implement the functions of the RAN shown in FIG. 11 . In this case, the communication device 1300 includes a processing module 1301 and a transceiver module 1302 . For example, the processing module 1301 is configured to implement the step of S1101 above. The transceiver module 1302 is configured to execute the step of S1102.

The embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1300, which can be used to realize the function of the PCF shown in FIG. For example, the processing module 1301 is configured to implement the step of S1104 above. The transceiver module 1302 is configured to execute step S1103.

The embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1300 , which can be used to realize the function of the SMF or AMF shown in FIG. 12 . In this case, the communication device 1300 includes a transceiver module 1302 . For example, the transceiver module 1302 is configured to execute the step of S1201.

The embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1300, which can be used to realize the function of the PCF shown in FIG. For example, the processing module 1301 is configured to implement the steps of S1202 above. The transceiver module 1302 is configured to execute the step of S1203.

More detailed descriptions about the processing module 1301 and the transceiver module 1302 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in any one of FIG. 4-FIG. 12 , and will not be repeated here.

As shown in FIG. 14 , a communication device 1400 includes a processor 1410 and an interface 1420 . The processor 1410 and the interface 1420 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface 1420 may be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Wherein, the processor 1410 and the interface 1420 may implement the communication method described in any one of FIG. 4 to FIG. 12 above.

Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a memory 1430 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1410 or storing input data required by the processor 1410 to execute the instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1410 executes the instructions.

Optionally, the processor 1410 is configured to implement the functions of the aforementioned processing module 1301 , and the interface 1420 is configured to implement the aforementioned functions of the transceiver module 1302 .

An embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, and the chip system includes: a processor and an interface. Wherein, the processor is used to call and execute instructions from the interface, and when the processor executes the instructions, the method described in any one of the above-mentioned Figs. 4-12 is implemented.

An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program or an instruction, and when it is executed, implements the method described in any one of the foregoing FIGS. 4-12 .

An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product including instructions, and when it is run on a computer, implements the method described in any one of the above-mentioned FIGS. 4-12 .

It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor.

The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by means of hardware, or may be implemented by means of a processor executing software instructions. Software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only Memory, registers, hard disk, removable hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can be located in the ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in the base station or the terminal. Certainly, the processor and the storage medium may also exist in the base station or the terminal as discrete components.

In the above embodiments, all or part of them may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product comprises one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on the computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are executed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, network equipment, user equipment, or other programmable devices. The computer program or instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer program or instructions may be downloaded from a website, computer, A server or data center transmits to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired or wireless 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 or a data center integrating one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape; it may also be an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or it may be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid state disk. The computer readable storage medium may be a volatile or a nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

In each embodiment of the present application, if there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and/or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referred to each other, and the technical features in different embodiments are based on their inherent Logical relationships can be combined to form new embodiments.

It can be understood that the various numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its functions and internal logic.

Claims

A communication method, characterized in that, comprising:

After the terminal device switches from the first access network element to the second access network element, determining that the execution state of the second access network element for the first event is different from that of the first access network element , the first event is to limit the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate, and the execution state of the first event includes executing the first event or not executing the first event;

Sending first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the state of execution of the first event by a network element of the access network changes.
The method according to claim 1, wherein determining that the execution state of the second access network element for the first event is different from that of the first access network element comprises:

receiving second information from the second access network element, where the second information is used to indicate an execution state of the second access network element for the first event;

According to the second information and the third information, it is determined that the execution state of the second access network element for the first event is different from that of the first access network element, and the third information is used to indicate the The execution status of the first event by the network element of the first access network.
The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

Receive the third information from the network element of the first access network.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

Determining information about at least one session, where the at least one session includes a session in which the terminal device is successfully handed over to the second access network element in the session corresponding to the first access network element side;

It is determined that the network element of the second access network will execute the first event for the slice corresponding to the at least one session.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the method further comprises:

If the execution status of the first event by the network element of the second access network changes, send fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the network element of the second access network responds to the first event The execution status of has changed.
The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the first event comprises:

Limiting the aggregate bitrate expected to be provided for the quality of service streams of the session comprising non-guaranteed bitrate quality of service streams and/or guaranteed bitrate quality of service streams for the terminal device in the slice Some or all sessions of the service.
The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein not executing the first event includes one of the following:

execution of said first event is not supported; or,

supporting execution of said first event, but not enforcing said first event; or,

The first event cannot be executed exactly.
A communication method, characterized in that, comprising:

Acquiring first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the execution status of the network element of the access network changes for a first event, and the first event is to limit the transmission rate of the terminal device in the first slice according to the maximum bit rate , the execution state of the first event includes executing the first event or not executing the first event;

According to the first information, the execution state of the policy control network element for the first event is determined.
The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the method further comprises:

Determining information about at least one session, where the at least one session includes a session in which the terminal device is successfully handed over to a second access network element in a session corresponding to a network element of the first access network;

It is determined that the network element of the second access network will execute the first event for the slice corresponding to the at least one session.
The method according to claim 8, wherein obtaining the first information comprises:

receiving second information from a session management network element or a second access network element, where the second access network element is an access network element after the terminal device is switched;

Determine the first information according to the second information and third information, where the third information indicates the execution state of the first event by a network element of the first access network, and the first access network The network element is the network element of the access network before the handover of the terminal equipment.
The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the method further comprises:

receiving third information from a network element of the first access network, the third information indicating an execution status of the first event by the network element of the first access network.
The method according to any one of claims 8-11, wherein, according to the first information, determining the execution status of the policy control network element for the first event includes:

If the first information also indicates that the second access network element executes the first event, it is determined that the policy control network element does not execute the first event, and the second access network element is the The network element of the access network after the terminal equipment is switched;

If the first information also indicates that the second access network element does not execute the first event, determine that the policy control network element executes the first event, and the second access network element is the The network element of the access network after the terminal device is handed over.
The method according to any one of claims 8-12, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the execution status of the first event has changed by a network element of the second access network, where the network element of the second access network is the network element of the terminal device after switching access network elements;

According to the fourth information, determine the execution status of the policy control network element for the first event.
The method according to any one of claims 8-13, further comprising:

Adjusting the policy and charging control rules of the session corresponding to the terminal device in the slice; or adjusting the aggregate maximum bit rate of the session corresponding to the terminal device in the slice.
The method according to any one of claims 8-14, wherein the first event comprises:

Limiting the aggregate bitrate expected to be provided for the quality of service streams of the session comprising non-guaranteed bitrate quality of service streams and/or guaranteed bitrate quality of service streams for the terminal device in the slice Some or all sessions of the service.
A communication method, characterized in that, comprising:

After the terminal device switches to the network element of the access network, the second information is sent, wherein the second information is used to indicate the execution status of the network element of the access network for the first event, and the first event is based on the maximum The bit rate limits the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice, and the execution state of the first event includes executing the first event or not executing the first event.
A communication device, characterized by comprising:

A processing module, configured to, after the terminal device switches from a network element of the first access network to a network element of the second access network, determine that the execution state of the network element of the second access network for the first event is consistent with that of the first event. Different network elements that enter the network, the first event is to limit the transmission rate of the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate, and the execution state of the first event includes executing the first event or not executing the second event. an event;

The transceiver module is used to send the first information, and the first information is used to indicate that the execution state of the network element of the access network changes for the first event.
A communication device, characterized by comprising:

The transceiver module is configured to obtain first information, the first information is used to indicate that the execution state of the network element of the access network changes for the first event, and the first event is the limit of the terminal device in the slice according to the maximum bit rate the transmission rate, the execution status of the first event includes execution of the first event or non-execution of the first event;

A processing module, configured to determine the execution status of the policy control network element for the first event according to the first information.
A communication device, characterized in that it includes: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store one or more computer programs, and the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions. When the communication device is running, The processor executes the one or more computer programs stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1-16.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that computer programs or instructions are stored in the storage medium, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed by a communication device, the implementation of any one of claims 1-16 Methods.