WO2023160394A1

WO2023160394A1 - Communication method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2023160394A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/075016
Authority: WO
Inventors: 朱方园; 李岩
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2022-02-28
Filing date: 2023-02-08
Publication date: 2023-08-31
Also published as: CN116709291A

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and apparatus. The method may comprise: a session management network element in a home network receives first information corresponding to a terminal device from a session management network element in a visited network, the first information being used for indicating a deployment position of an edge application server (EAS) in the visited network; and the session management network element in the home network obtains EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information. In the present application, the EAS deployment information of a VPLMN is open to an HPLMN by means of the VPLMN, such that the discovery of EAS in the VPLMN in the HR roaming scene is realized.

Description

Communication method and device

This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application with application number 202210187084.9 and application title "Method and Device for Communication" submitted to the China Patent Office on February 28, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application.

technical field

The present application relates to the communication field, and more specifically, to a communication method and device.

Background technique

In an edge computing (edge computing, EC) deployment scenario, certain services may be served by multiple edge application servers (edge application server, EAS) deployed at the edge of the network. The multiple EASs can provide the same service and content, and most of them have different Internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) addresses. When a user equipment (user equipment, UE) requests to access the service, the EC scenario requires it to access an available EAS that is close to the UE. Therefore, a suitable IP address of the EAS is more important.

In some cases, the UE may leave the coverage area of the home public land mobile network (PLMN) (home PLMN, HPLMN) and access the public land mobile network (PLMN) through home routed (HR) roaming. A land mobile network (visited PLMN, VPLMN), and the VPLMN provides services for the UE.

Contents of the invention

The present application provides a communication method and device, which open the EAS deployment information of the VPLMN to the HPLMN through the VPLMN, so as to realize the discovery of the EAS in the VPLMN in the HR roaming scenario.

In the first aspect, a communication method is provided, and the method may be executed by a session management network element, or may also be executed by a component (such as a chip or a circuit) of a session management network element, which is not limited, and for ease of description , which is executed by the session management network element in the home network as an example below.

The method may include: the session management network element in the home network receives first information corresponding to the terminal device from the session management network element in the visited network, and the first information is used to indicate the deployment location of the edge application server EAS in the visited network; The session management network element in the network acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information.

Exemplarily, the session management network element in the home network and the session management network element in the visited network serve the session of the terminal device. Exemplarily, the session type of the terminal device is HR type.

Wherein, the first information corresponding to the terminal device may be understood as that the first information is determined according to the terminal device.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the home network receives the first information corresponding to the terminal device from the session management network element in the visited network. The first information can be used to indicate the deployment location of the EAS in the visited network. The session management network element obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information. In this way, the session management network element in the home network can know the EAS deployment information of the visited network based on the obtained EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information. Which locations in the network are deployed with edge application servers that the terminal device may access (or can access). When a terminal device accesses the visited network through HR roaming, since the session management network element in the home network knows which locations in the visited network are deployed edge application servers that the terminal device may access (or can access), it can assist The terminal device accesses the edge application service in the visited network, improves the success rate of the terminal device accessing the edge application service in the visited network, and realizes the discovery of the local EAS (that is, the EAS in the VPLMN) in the HR roaming scenario. In addition, what the session management network element in the home network receives is the first information corresponding to the terminal device, so the session management network element in the home network does not need to receive other terminal devices (such as terminals not served by the session management network element in the home network) The first information corresponding to the device) can not only reduce the signaling overhead caused by transmitting the first information, but also improve the security of the EAS deployment information sent to the session management network element in the home network.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the first information corresponding to the terminal device includes: the first information is determined according to a location of the terminal device.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the home network can determine the first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device. In this way, by considering the location of the terminal device, it is possible to prevent the session management network element in the visited network from sending some first information that the terminal device does not need to the session management network element in the home network (for example, the first information is used to indicate the deployment of the EAS location, which is the deployment location of EAS that is almost impossible for terminal equipment to access), or avoid sending the first information corresponding to other terminal equipment to the session management network element in the home network, which can not only assist terminal equipment to access edge application services in the visited network , can also save signaling overhead, and improve the security of the EAS deployment information sent to the session management network element in the home network.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the first information is determined according to the location of the terminal device, including: the first information is used to indicate: in the deployment location of the EAS determined according to the location of the terminal device, Deployment location of EAS that allows terminal devices to access.

Based on the above technical solution, the first information corresponding to the terminal device is used to indicate the deployment position of the EAS that is allowed to be accessed by the terminal device among the deployment positions of the EAS determined according to the position of the terminal device. In this way, not only the location of the terminal equipment is considered, thereby saving signaling overhead and improving the security of the EAS deployment information sent to the session management network element in the home network, but also considering the authorization of the visited network (such as sending a message to the home network The session management network element in the network provides the first information allowed by the visited network), so that the requirements of the visited network itself can be taken into account, and network security can be improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the session management network element in the home network obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information, including: sending the session management network element in the home network to The data management network element in the visited network sends a request message, the request message includes the first information, and the request message is used to request to obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information; the session management network element in the home network sends the request message from the data management network element in the visited network The unit receives EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the home network can obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information from the data management network element in the visited network, so that not only can the session management network element in the home network obtain the corresponding EAS deployment information, and the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information is stored by the data management network element in the visited network, which has high security. For example, the session management NE in the home network may request the data management NE in the visited network for the second The EAS deployment information corresponding to the information.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the session management network element in the home network obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information, including: sending the session management network element in the home network to Home network The data management network element in the home network sends a request message, the request message includes the first information, and the request message is used to request to obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information; EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information is received.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the home network can obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information from the data management network element in the home network, so that the data management network element in the home network can store the EAS corresponding to the first information Deployment information, so that the session management network element in the home network can directly obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information from the network element in the home network directly, which can save signaling overhead. For example, the session management network element in the home network may request the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information from the data management network element in the home network through the network opening network element in the home network.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the request message further includes the identifier of the visited network.

Based on the above technical solution, when the session management network element in the home network requests the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information, it can carry the identifier of the visited network, which is convenient for identifying the visited network or network elements in the visited network, and knowing which visiting network is requesting. EAS deployment information on the network.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the session management network element in the home network determines the Domain Name System DNS processing rule according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information, and the DNS processing rule is used for Handle DNS messages.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the home network determines the DNS processing rule according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information, and the DNS processing rule can be used to process the DNS message.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: the session management network element in the home network receives the identifier of the visited network from the session management network element in the visited network.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the home network may also receive the identifier of the visited network from the session management network element in the visited network, and the identifier of the visited network and the first information may be carried in the same signaling, or may It is carried in different signaling and is not limited.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the session management network element in the home network receives the IP address corresponding to the EAS and/or the domain name corresponding to the EAS from the edge application server discovery network element, where , the IP address corresponding to the EAS is the IP address of the EAS accessed by the terminal device in the visited network, and the domain name corresponding to the EAS is the domain name of the EAS accessed by the terminal device in the visited network; The session management network element sends the IP address corresponding to the EAS and/or the domain name corresponding to the EAS.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the home network sends the IP address corresponding to the EAS and/or the domain name corresponding to the EAS to the session management network element in the visited network, thereby triggering the session management network element in the visited network to roam to Traffic steering is performed for sessions visiting end devices in the network.

In the second aspect, a communication method is provided, and the method may be executed by a session management network element, or may also be executed by a component (such as a chip or a circuit) of a session management network element, which is not limited, for the convenience of description , which is executed by the session management network element in the visited network as an example below.

The method may include: the session management network element in the visited network determines first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device, and the first information is used to indicate the deployment location of the edge application server EAS in the visited network; The session management network element sends the first information to the session management network element in the home network.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the visited network sends the first information corresponding to the terminal device to the session management network element in the home network, and the first information may be used to indicate the deployment location of the EAS in the visited network. visit net The session management network element in the home network sends the first information corresponding to the terminal device to the session management network element in the home network, so the session management network element in the visited network does not need to send other terminal information to the session management network element in the home network The first information corresponding to the device (such as the terminal device not served by the session management network element in the home network) can not only reduce the signaling overhead caused by transmitting the first information, but also improve the transmission rate to the session management network element in the home network. The security of EAS deployment information. In addition, by sending the first information to the session management network element in the home network, if necessary, the session management network element in the home network can obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information. Therefore, the session management network element in the home network can know, based on the obtained EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information, which locations in the visited network are deployed edge application servers that the terminal device may access (or can access). When a terminal device accesses the visited network through HR roaming, since the session management network element in the home network knows which locations in the visited network are deployed edge application servers that the terminal device may access (or can access), it can assist The terminal device accesses the edge application service in the visited network, improves the success rate of the terminal device accessing the edge application service in the visited network, and realizes the discovery of local EAS in the HR roaming scenario.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementation manners of the second aspect, the first information is used to acquire EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the home network can obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information. Therefore, the session management network element in the home network can learn which locations in the visited network are deployed with edge application servers based on the acquired EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information, so as to assist terminal devices in accessing edge application services in the visited network, and realize Local EAS discovery in HR roaming scenarios.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first information is used to indicate: among the EAS deployment locations determined according to the location of the terminal device, the deployment location of the EAS that the terminal device is allowed to access; The session management network element determines the first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device, including: the session management network element in the visited network determines the first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device and policy information, wherein the policy The information is used to indicate the deployment position of the EAS that the visited network is allowed to send to the home network.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first information is used to indicate: among the EAS deployment locations determined according to the location of the terminal device, the deployment location of the EAS that the terminal device is allowed to access; The session management network element determines the first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device, including: the session management network element in the visited network determines the second information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device; session management in the visited network The network element sends a request message to the policy control network element in the visited network, the request message includes the second information, and the request message is used to request the deployment location of the EAS that the visited network is allowed to send to the home network; A policy control network element in the network receives the first information, and the first information is determined according to the second information.

Wherein, the second information may be the same as the first information, or the first information may be a subset of the second information.

Exemplarily, the request message includes the identifier of the home network.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementation manners of the second aspect, the method further includes: the session management network element in the visited network sends the identifier of the visited network to the session management network element in the home network.

For the beneficial effects of the second aspect and various possible designs, reference may be made to the related description of the first aspect, and details are not repeated here.

In the third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be executed by a data management network element, or may also be executed by a component (such as a chip or a circuit) of a data management network element. This is not limited, and for ease of description , the following takes the data management network element in the home network as an example to illustrate.

The method may include: the data management network element in the home network receives a request message from the session management network element in the home network, the request message includes first information corresponding to the terminal device, and the first information is used to indicate the edge application in the visited network The deployment position of the server EAS, the request message is used to request to obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information; the data management network element in the home network sends the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information to the session management network element in the home network.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the home network can obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information from the data management network element in the home network, so that the data management network element in the home network can store (or manage, or can After obtaining the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information, the session management network element in the home network can directly obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information from the network element in the home network quickly, which can save signaling overhead. For example, the session management network element in the home network may request the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information from the data management network element in the home network through the network opening network element in the home network.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the request message further includes the identifier of the visited network, and the method further includes: the data management network element in the home network determines the first EAS deployment information corresponding to the information.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the method further includes: the data management network element in the home network locally stores the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.

Based on the above technical solution, the data management network element in the home network can store the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information, so that the session management network element in the home network can directly obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information directly from the network element in the home network. EAS deployment information.

In the fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be executed by a network element of the core network, or may also be executed by a component (such as a chip or a circuit) of the network element of the core network. This is not limited. For the convenience of description , and the execution by the policy control network element in the visited network is taken as an example for description below.

The method may include: the policy control network element in the visited network receives a request message from the session management network element in the visited network, the request message includes the second information corresponding to the terminal device, and the request message is used to request permission from the visited network to send the message to the home network The deployment location of the EAS in the visited network; the policy control network element in the visited network determines the first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the second information; the policy control network element in the visited network sends the session management network element in the visited network from the The policy controls the network element to send the first information.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the visited network can determine the second information corresponding to the terminal device, and inquire (or request, or query) the first information corresponding to the terminal device from the policy control network element in the visited network; The policy control network element in the network can determine the first information according to the second information (for example, the second information is the same as the first information, or the first information is a subset of the second information). In this way, not only the location of the terminal equipment is taken into account, thereby saving signaling overhead and improving the security of EAS deployment information, but also considering the authorization of the visited network, so that the requirements of the visited network itself can be taken into account, and network security can be improved. In addition, the session management network element in the visited network can dynamically send the request first information to the policy control network element in the visited network according to the actual situation, and the scheme is flexible.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the first information is used to acquire EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the first information is used to indicate: among the EAS deployment locations determined according to the location of the terminal device, the deployment location of the EAS that is allowed to be accessed by the terminal device.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the request message includes the identifier of the home network.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, and the device is configured to execute the method in any possible implementation manner of the foregoing first aspect to the fourth aspect. Specifically, the apparatus may include a unit and/or module for executing the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, such as a processing unit and/or a communication unit.

In an implementation manner, the device is a core network element (such as a session management network element, or a data management network element, or a network open network element, or a policy control network element). When the device is a core network element, the communication unit may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface; the processing unit may be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In another implementation, the device is a chip or chip system used for a core network element (such as a session management network element, another example of a data management network element, another example of a network open network element, and another example of a policy control network element) or circuit. When the device is a chip, chip system or circuit for core network elements, the communication unit may be an input/output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin or related circuits, etc.; the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit, or logic circuit, etc.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a communication device, which includes: at least one processor, configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in a memory, so as to execute the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect to the fourth aspect above . Optionally, the apparatus further includes a memory for storing computer programs or instructions. Optionally, the device further includes a communication interface, through which the processor reads the computer program or instructions stored in the memory.

In an implementation manner, the device is a core network element (such as a session management network element, or a data management network element, or a network open network element, or a policy control network element).

In another implementation, the device is a chip or chip system used for a core network element (such as a session management network element, another example of a data management network element, another example of a network open network element, and another example of a policy control network element) or circuit.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a processor configured to execute the methods provided in the above aspects.

For the sending and obtaining/receiving operations involved in the processor, if there is no special description, or if it does not conflict with its actual function or internal logic in the relevant description, it can be understood as the processor's output and reception, input and other operations , can also be understood as the sending and receiving operations performed by the radio frequency circuit and the antenna, which is not limited in this application.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium, where the computer-readable medium stores program code for execution by a device, and the program code includes any one of the possible implementation manners for performing the above-mentioned first aspect to the fourth aspect. method.

In a ninth aspect, a computer program product including instructions is provided, and when the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is made to execute the method in any possible implementation manner of the above first aspect to the fourth aspect.

In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, including the aforementioned session management network element in the home network, the session management network element in the visited network, the policy control network element in the visited network, the network open network element in the home network, or One or more of the data management network elements (such as the data management network element in the home network, or the data management network element in the visited network).

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 300 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to scheme A provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to solution B provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another communication method 600 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 700 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method 800 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method 900 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 1000 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of another communication device 1100 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 1200 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical solution provided by this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: the fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) or new radio (new radio, NR) system, long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, LTE frequency division Duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD) system, etc. The technical solution provided by this application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as the sixth generation mobile communication system. The technical solution provided by this application can also be applied to device to device (device to device, D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (vehicle-to-everything, V2X) communication, machine to machine (machine to machine, M2M) communication, machine type Communication (machine type communication, MTC), and Internet of things (internet of things, IoT) communication system or other communication systems.

Firstly, the network architecture applicable to this application is briefly introduced in combination with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , as follows.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the network architecture takes home routed (HR) roaming as an example.

A cellular mobile communication network of a certain standard of an operator may be called a public land mobile network (PLMN). The PLMN subscribed by the user equipment (user equipment, UE) may be called a home public land mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN) (home PLMN, HPLMN), representing the home operator of the subscriber. When the UE leaves the coverage of the HPLMN due to movement or other reasons, if there is a PLMN that meets the following conditions: 1) it can cover the current location of the UE, 2) its operator has signed a roaming agreement with the operator of the HPLMN of the UE ( A roaming agreement refers to a certain agreement between operators, and the content may include, for example, the services and billing methods provided for the subscribers of the other operator's network, which are not limited), then the UE can access The PLMN, and the PLMN may be called a visited public land mobile network (visited PLMN, VPLMN). The behavior of the UE accessing the VPLMN may be called roaming. Generally, roaming scenarios can be divided into local breakout (LBO) roaming and home routed (HR) roaming. The difference between the two mainly lies in whether the session is connected to the user plane function (UPF) of the home network. ). In the HR roaming scenario, the session (eg called HR session) is connected to the UPF of the home network. The HR session refers to the session established when the user is in the visited network and connected to the UPF of the home network. The traffic carried in the HR session is sent from the UE to the UPF of the home network, and then sent to the receiving end .

As shown in Figure 1, the network architecture may include but not limited to: specific authentication and authorization functions based on network slicing (network slice specific authentication and authorization function, NSSAAF), network slice selection function (network slice selection function, NSSF), authentication server function (authentication server function, AUSF), unified data management (unified data management, UDM), policy control function (policy control function, PCF), application function (application function, AF), access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF), session management function (session management function, SMF), UE, wireless access network equipment, UPF, data network (data network, DN), etc.

Each network element shown in FIG. 1 is briefly introduced below.

1. UE: can be called terminal equipment, access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device.

A terminal device may be a device that provides voice/data to a user, for example, a handheld device with a wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, and the like. At present, examples of some terminals are: mobile phone (mobile phone), tablet computer, notebook computer, palmtop computer, mobile internet device (mobile internet device, MID), wearable device, virtual reality (virtual reality, VR) device, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) equipment, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, smart grid Wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart city, wireless terminals in smart home, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol , SIP) phones, wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (personal digital assistant, PDA), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, Wearable devices, terminal devices in a 5G network, or terminal devices in a future evolving public land mobile network (PLMN), etc., are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

As an example but not a limitation, in this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices can also be called wearable smart devices, which is a general term for the application of wearable technology to intelligently design daily wear and develop wearable devices, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not only a hardware device, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Generalized wearable smart devices include full-featured, large-sized, complete or partial functions without relying on smart phones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, etc., and only focus on a certain type of application functions, and need to cooperate with other devices such as smart phones Use, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for physical sign monitoring.

In addition, in this embodiment of the application, the terminal device can also be the terminal device in the IoT system. IoT is an important part of the development of information technology in the future. Its main technical feature is to connect items to the network through communication technology, so as to realize Interconnection, an intelligent network that interconnects things.

It should be pointed out that a certain air interface technology (such as NR or LTE technology) may be used to communicate with each other between the terminal device and the access network device. A certain air interface technology (such as NR or LTE technology, etc.) may also be used to communicate with each other between terminal devices.

In the embodiment of the present application, the device for realizing the function of the terminal device may be the terminal device, or may be a device capable of supporting the terminal device to realize the function, such as a chip system or a chip, and the device may be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiment of the present application, the system-on-a-chip may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

2. (wireless) access network ((radio) access network, (R) AN) equipment: can be a specific area The authorized user provides the function of accessing the communication network, which specifically may include wireless network equipment in a third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project, 3GPP) network or may include an access point in a non-3GPP (non-3GPP) network. For the convenience of description, AN equipment is used below.

AN devices may use different wireless access technologies. There are currently two types of wireless access technologies: 3GPP access technologies (for example, wireless access technologies used in third generation (3rd generation, 3G), fourth generation (4th generation, 4G) or 5G systems) and non- 3GPP (non-3GPP) access technology. The 3GPP access technology refers to the access technology that complies with the 3GPP standard specifications. For example, the access network equipment in the 5G system is called the next generation Node Base station (gNB) or RAN equipment. Non-3GPP access technologies may include air interface technology represented by access point (AP) in wireless fidelity (WiFi), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), code Multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA), etc. The AN device may allow non-3GPP technology interconnection and intercommunication between the terminal device and the 3GPP core network.

The AN device can be responsible for functions such as wireless resource management, quality of service (QoS) management, data compression and encryption on the air interface side. The AN equipment provides access services for the terminal equipment, and then completes the forwarding of control signals and user data between the terminal equipment and the core network.

AN equipment may include, but not limited to, for example: a macro base station, a micro base station (also called a small station), a radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), a node B (Node B, NB), a base station controller (base station controller) , BSC), base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), home base station (for example, home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (baseband unit, BBU), AP in WiFi system, wireless relay Node, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (transmission point, TP) or transmission and reception point (transmission and reception point, TRP), etc., can also be gNB or transmission point (TRP or TP) in the 5G (eg, NR) system , one or a group (including multiple antenna panels) antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system, or it can also be a network node that constitutes a gNB or a transmission point, such as a distributed unit (DU), or a next-generation communication Base stations in 6G systems, etc. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the AN device.

3. AMF: mainly used for functions such as access control, mobility management, attachment and detachment.

4. SMF: mainly used for user plane network element selection, user plane network element redirection, Internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) address allocation of terminal equipment, and session management in mobile networks, such as session establishment, modification and release And service quality (quality of service, QoS) control.

In this application, in order to distinguish, the SMF in the HPLMN is recorded as the home SMF (home SMF, H-SMF), and the SMF in the VPLMN is recorded as the visited SMF (visited SMF, V-SMF).

5. UPF: mainly used for receiving and forwarding user plane data. For example, the UPF can receive user plane data from the DN, and send the user plane data to the terminal device through the AN device. UPF can also receive user plane data from terminal equipment through AN equipment and forward it to DN. The UPF directly connected to the DN through the N6 interface in the session can be called a protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session anchor (PDU session anchor, PSA).

In this application, for distinction, the UPF in the HPLMN is recorded as the home UPF (home UPF, H-UPF), and the UPF in the VPLMN is recorded as the visited UPF (visited UPF, V-UPF). In addition, in order to distinguish, the PSA in the HPLMN is recorded as the home PSA (home PSA, H-PSA), and the PSA in the VPLMN is recorded as the visited PSA (visited PSA, V-PSA) (or local PSA (local PSA, L-PSA)).

6. PCF: A unified policy framework mainly used to guide network behavior, and provide policy rule information for control plane network elements (such as AMF, SMF, etc.).

7. AF: It is mainly used to provide services to the 3GPP network, such as interacting with the PCF for policy control.

8. Network slice selection function (network slice selection function, NSSF): mainly used for network slice selection.

9. UDM: mainly used for UE subscription data management, including storage and management of UE ID, UE access authorization, etc.

10. DN: It is mainly used for the operator network that provides data services for the UE. For example, the Internet (Internet), a third-party service network, an IP multimedia service (IP multi-media service, IMS) network, and the like.

11. AUSF: mainly used for user authentication, etc.

As shown in Figure 2, the network architecture may include but not limited to: SMF (such as V-SMF and H-SMF), UE, UPF (such as V-UPF and H-UPF), PSA (such as L-PSA), domain name System (domain name system, DNS), PCF (such as H-PCF), edge application server discovery function (EASDF). In this architecture, domain name system (domain name system, DNS) messages can be terminated in EASDF of HPLMN. Wherein, the DNS message can be terminated in the EASDF of the HPLMN, which can indicate that the EASDF of the HPLMN processes the DNS message, or can indicate that the destination address of the DNS message is the EASDF of the HPLMN, or can indicate that the EASDF of the HPLMN receives the DNS message. Wherein, the edge application server discovers network elements, for example, may also be called an edge application (service) discovery function, an application instance discovery function, an edge application instance discovery function, a multi-access edge computing (multi-access edge computing, MEC) application (server ) discovery function, etc., without limitation.

EASDF is mainly used to assist edge application server (edge application server, EAS) discovery, and its main functions include: processing DNS messages according to the instructions of SMF. Among them, processing DNS messages may include but not limited to: report DNS messages to SMF, add EDNS client subnet option (Edns-client-subnet option, ECS option) in DNS query (DNS query), send DNS server (server) Forward DNS query, forward DNS response (DNS response) to UE, etc. Among them, EDNS is a DNS extension mechanism (extended mechanisms for DNS, EDNS). In this application, in order to distinguish, the centralized DNS server deployed in HPLMN is recorded as C-DNS server (centralize DNS server), and the local DNS server deployed in VPLMN is recorded as L-DNS server (local DNS server) .

For the introduction of other network elements, reference may be made to the description in FIG. 1 , which will not be repeated here.

In the network architecture shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2, various network elements can communicate through interfaces. For example, the UE is connected to the AN device through the radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) protocol, and Uu is used between the UE and the AN device. interface for communication. Alternatively, reference may also be made to the interface shown in FIG. 1 , which will not be repeated here.

It should be understood that the network architecture shown above is only an example, and the network architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto, and any network architecture capable of realizing the functions of the foregoing network elements is applicable to the embodiment of the present application. In addition, the network architecture shown above may also include other more network elements, such as network exposure function (network exposure function, NEF), and unified data storage network element (unified data repository, UDR) is not limited to this. Among them, the NEF is mainly used to securely open the services and capabilities provided by the 3GPP network functions to the outside. In this application, in order to distinguish, the NEF in the HPLMN is recorded as the home NEF (home NEF, H-NEF), and the NEF in the VPLMN is recorded as the visited NEF (visited NEF, V-NEF). In this application, in order to distinguish, UDR in HPLMN It is recorded as the home UDR (home UDR, H-UDR), and the UDR in the VPLMN is recorded as the visited UDR (visited UDR, V-UDR).

It should also be understood that the functions or network elements such as AMF, SMF, UPF, PCF, UDM, NSSF, and AUSF shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2 can be understood as network elements for implementing different functions, for example, they can be combined into Network slicing. These network elements can be independent devices, or can be integrated in the same device to achieve different functions, or can be network elements in hardware devices, or software functions running on dedicated hardware, or platforms (for example, cloud The virtualization function instantiated on the platform), this application does not limit the specific form of the above network elements.

It should also be understood that the above names are only defined for the convenience of distinguishing different functions, and shall not constitute any limitation to the present application. This application does not exclude the possibility of adopting other names in the 6G network and other networks in the future. For example, in a 6G network, some or all of the above network elements may use the terms in 5G, or may use other names.

To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, several basic concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application are briefly described. It should be understood that the basic concepts described below are simply described by taking the basic concepts stipulated in the current protocol as examples, but this does not limit that the embodiments of the present application can only be applied to existing systems. Therefore, the names that appear when describing the existing systems as examples are all functional descriptions, and the specific names are not limited. They only represent functions and can be extended to other systems, such as 6G or future communication systems.

1. EAS: can represent an application, or an instance of a server application (eg, social media software, AR, VR, etc.) deployed and running on a data network. The EAS may also be referred to as any of the following: edge application (server), application instance, edge application instance, MEC application (server), or EAS function.

In an edge computing (EC) deployment scenario, certain services may be served by multiple EASs deployed at the edge of the network. The multiple EASs can provide the same service and content, and most of them have different IP addresses. In the EC scenario, when the UE accesses the service, it can request it to access an available EAS that is close to the UE.

EAS can be deployed on the local data network (local DN). The network establishes a transmission path for the UE by selecting a UPF that is closer to the local DN to ensure that the UE can normally access edge services.

2. EAS deployment information (EAS deployment information): includes information about the deployment of EAS in the edge network.

As an example, the EAS deployment information may include one or more of the following information: DNN, single-network slice selection assistance information (single-network slice selection assistance information, S-NSSAI), external group identifier (external group identifier)/internal group Identifier (internal group identifier), application ID (application ID, AppID), full qualified domain name (full qualified domain name, FQDN), DNS server information (DNS Server Information), EAS IP address range information (EAS IP address range information). For the description of each parameter, please refer to Table 1.

Table 1

The terms involved in this application are briefly described above, and will not be repeated in the following embodiments.

As mentioned above, the UE may access the VPLMN through HR roaming, and the VPLMN provides services for the UE. If the UE accesses through HR roaming, for edge application services, on the one hand, since the session anchor point is in HPLMN, use the application server (application server, AS) IP (such as EAS IP) and H-UPF returned by the DNS server deployed in HPLMN The distance to the UE is short, but the distance to the UE may be relatively long, resulting in a circuitous path for the UE to access EAS and poor user experience; It is difficult to obtain the EAS information deployed in the VPLMN.

This application proposes a solution, through which the VPLMN opens the EAS deployment information of the VPLMN to the HPLMN (or, the V-SMF to the H-SMF), so as to realize the discovery of the EAS in the VPLMN in the HR roaming scenario. For example, the session management network element in the HPLMN receives first information corresponding to the terminal device from the VPLMN, where the first information is used to indicate the deployment location of the EAS in the VPLMN; the HPLMN obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information, In this way, the HPLMN can learn which locations in the VPLMN are deployed with edge application servers. Based on the first information corresponding to the terminal device, the HPLMN obtains the deployment information of the EAS that the terminal device may access (or can access). Therefore, when the terminal device accesses the VPLMN through HR roaming, the session in the HPLMN The management network element knows where in the VPLMN the edge application server that the terminal device may access is deployed, so it can assist the terminal device to access the edge application service in the VPLMN, and realize the discovery of the local EAS (that is, the EAS in the VPLMN) in the HR roaming scenario. In addition, what the HPLMN receives is the first information corresponding to the terminal device, and it does not need to receive the first information corresponding to other terminal devices (such as the terminal device not served by the session management network element in the HPLMN), which can not only reduce the transmission of the first information. The signaling overhead can also improve the security of the EAS deployment information sent to the session management network element in the home network. Therefore, this application can be used to solve the local EAS discovery in the HR roaming scenario.

In the embodiment of the present application, the local EAS discovery is mentioned several times, and it can be understood that unless otherwise specified, the local EAS discovery refers to the discovery of the EAS of the visited network (such as the VPLMN).

It can be understood that the term "and/or" in this article is only a description of the relationship between associated objects, which means that There are three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" in this article generally indicates that the contextual objects are an "or" relationship.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments provided in this application may be applied to the network architecture shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 above, without limitation.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 300 provided by an embodiment of the present application. Method 300 may include the following steps.

310. The session management network element in the home network receives first information corresponding to the terminal device from the session management network element in the visited network, where the first information is used to indicate the deployment location of the EAS in the visited network.

The visited network refers to the network that the terminal device accesses after leaving the home network, such as VPLMN. The home network indicates the network to which the terminal equipment subscribes, such as HPLMN. The following mainly takes the visited network as the VPLMN and the home network as the HPLMN as an example for illustration.

The session management network element in the home network refers to the session management network element deployed in the home network, such as the session management network element deployed in the HPLMN. Similarly, the session management network element in the visited network refers to the session management network element deployed in the visited network, such as the session management network element deployed in the VPLMN. For brevity and ease of understanding, the session management network element in the home network is H-SMF, and the session management network element in the visited network is V-SMF as an example for illustration.

Wherein, the first information corresponding to the terminal device may be used to indicate: the deployment location of the EAS accessed by the terminal device in the visited network. As an example, the form of the first information may be a data network access identifier (DN access identifier, DNAI). For example, the first information corresponding to the terminal device is N DNAIs, where N is an integer greater than 1 or equal to 1. For example, in step 310, the H-SMF receives N DNAIs from the V-SMF. The manner of determining the first information corresponding to the terminal device will be described in detail later.

320. The session management network element in the home network acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information.

For example, in step 310, the H-SMF receives N DNAIs from the V-SMF, then in step 320, the H-SMF acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs according to the N DNAIs.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element in the home network receives the first information corresponding to the terminal device from the session management network element in the visited network. The session management network element in the network acquires the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information based on the first information. In this way, the session management network element in the home network can know which locations in the visited network are deployed with edge application servers that the terminal device may access (or can access). After a terminal device accesses the visited network through HR roaming, since the session management network element in the home network knows where edge application servers that the terminal device may access are deployed in the visited network, it can assist the terminal device to access the edge of the visited network. Application services, improve the success rate of terminal equipment accessing edge application services in the visited network, and realize local EAS discovery in HR roaming scenarios. In addition, the session management network element in the home network does not need to receive the first information corresponding to other terminal devices (such as terminal devices not served by the session management network element in the home network), which not only reduces the signaling caused by the transmission of the first information The overhead can also improve the security of the EAS deployment information sent to the session management network element in the home network.

For brevity and convenience of description, the first information corresponding to the terminal device is denoted as information #A below.

As mentioned above, the information #A can be used to indicate the deployment location of the EAS accessed by the terminal device in the visited network. In a possible implementation manner, the information #A is determined according to the location of the terminal device. Wherein, the position of the terminal device is used to reflect the position of the terminal device. For example, the location of the terminal device can be identified by a tracking area (tracking area identify, TAI) said. For another example, the location of the terminal device may be represented by a cell identifier (cell ID). For another example, the location of the terminal device may be represented by the geographic location of the terminal device (such as represented by a coordinate system such as latitude and longitude). For ease of understanding and description, the following mainly uses TAI as an example to illustrate the position of the terminal device. It can be understood that the TAI hereinafter may be replaced with other information that can reflect the location of the terminal device.

Optionally, before step 310, the method 300 further includes: the session management network element in the visited network determines information #A. In a possible implementation manner, the V-SMF determines information #A according to the location of the terminal device. For example, the information #A is N DNAIs, and the V-SMF can determine the N DNAIs according to the location of the terminal equipment (such as TAI).

Assuming that the session management network element in the visited network is the V-SMF, and the information #A is N DNAIs, optionally, the manner in which the V-SMF determines the N DNAIs may include the following implementations.

In a first possible implementation manner, the V-SMF determines N DNAIs according to the location of the terminal device.

For example, the V-SMF may judge that the DNAIs that can (or can, or will, or may) be accessed at the current location of the terminal device are N DNAIs according to the S-NSSAI and DNN corresponding to the session. The V-SMF determines the N DNAIs, and sends the N DNAIs to the H-SMF.

Based on the first possible implementation manner above, the V-SMF can determine information #A (that is, N DNAIs) according to the location of the terminal device. In this way, by considering the location of the terminal device, it is possible to avoid sending some unnecessary information #A to the H-SMF (such as the deployment location of the EAS which is almost impossible for the terminal device to access), or to avoid sending other terminal devices to the H-SMF The corresponding information #A can not only save signaling overhead, but also improve the security of the EAS deployment information sent to the H-SMF.

In a second possible implementation manner, the V-SMF determines N DNAIs according to the location and policy information of the terminal device.

For example, the V-SMF can configure and store the policy information, and when using the policy information, the V-SMF can directly read the policy information locally; for another example, the V-SMF can configure the policy information, and other cores in the VPLMN A network element (such as V-PCF) stores the policy information, and when using the policy information, the V-SMF can obtain the policy information from other core network elements.

Wherein, the policy information may be used to indicate the deployment location of the EAS that is allowed to be sent from the VPLMN to the HPLMN. For example, policy information can be used to indicate which DNAIs within a VPLMN can be opened (or can be sent) to other PLMNs. Specifically, it may be embodied in the form of a DNAI list (list) and/or a PLMN list, or in other ways, which are not limited.

In a possible situation, the policy information includes the DNAI that the VPLMN allows (or authorizes) to open to other PLMNs. Through the policy information, it is possible to directly know which DNAIs in the VPLMN can be opened to other PLMNs. As an example, Table 2 and Table 3 show the form of policy information applicable to this situation.

Table 2

table 3

Taking Table 2 as an example, VPLMN can open DNAI#1 and DNAI#2 to PLMN#1, VPLMN can open DNAI#2 and DNAI#3 to PLMN#2, and VPLMN can open DNAI#1 to PLMN#3. For example, the PLMN ID in Table 2 may be the ID of the HPLMN. For example, if the V-SMF knows that the HPLMN is PLMN#1, it can be known based on Table 2 that the VPLMN can open DNAI#1 and DNAI#2 to the HPLMN, that is, the N DNAIs include DNAI#1 and DNAI#2.

Taking Table 3 as an example, the VPLMN can be opened to PLMN#1, PLMN#2, and PLMN#3: DNAI#1, DNAI#2, and DNAI#3. For example, the PLMN ID in Table 3 may be the ID of the HPLMN. For example, if the V-SMF knows that the HPLMN is PLMN#3, based on Table 3, it can be known that the VPLMN can open to the HPLMN: DNAI#1, DNAI#2, and DNAI#3, that is, the N DNAIs include: DNAI#1, DNAI #2, and DNAI #3.

This application does not limit the way the V-SMF determines the HPLMN. As an example, the V-SMF may identify the HPLMN according to the identifier of the network element deployed in the HPLMN (such as the identifier of the H-SMF or the identifier of other network elements). A possible manner, V-SMF receives the identification of H-SMF from AMF (such as H-SMF ID, this application does not limit), V-SMF determines the identification of HPLMN according to the identification of this H-SMF, promptly determines HPLMN . In this regard, no further details will be given below.

It can be understood that Table 2 and Table 3 are only illustrative and not limiting, and any modification belonging to Table 2 or Table 3 is applicable to this application. For example, the PLMN ID in above-mentioned table 2 or table 3 also can be replaced with SMF ID, as PLMN#1 can be replaced with one or more SMF IDs (that is, the ID of one or more SMFs corresponding to this PLMN#1). For another example, the PLMN ID in the above Table 2 or Table 3 corresponds to a larger number of DNAIs.

It can also be understood that the above description mainly takes the policy information including the DNAI that the VPLMN allows to be opened to other PLMNs as an example for illustration, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. For example, the policy information includes the DNAI that the VPLMN is forbidden to open to other PLMNs, so that through the policy information, it can be known which DNAI in the VPLMN is forbidden to be opened to other PLMNs, and then it can be known that the DNAI in the VPLMN other than the above-mentioned forbidden DNAI can be opened to other PLMNs.

Based on the second possible implementation manner, the V-SMF may determine the second information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device, and then determine the first information according to the second information and the above policy information. For brevity and convenience of description, the second information corresponding to the terminal device is denoted as information #B below.

Information #B is used to indicate the deployment location of the EAS that the determined terminal device can (or can, or will, or possibly) visit in the visited network based on the location of the terminal device. As an example, the form of information #B may be DNAI. For example, information #B is M DNAIs, M is an integer greater than 1 or equal to 1, and M is greater than N or equal to N. Wherein, the N DNAIs may be all the DNAIs in the M DNAIs (ie, M is equal to N), or the N DNAIs may be part of the DNAIs in the M DNAIs (ie, M is greater than N).

The following takes the information #A and the information #B in the form of DNAI as an example for illustration.

For example, according to the S-NSSAI and DNN corresponding to the session, the V-SMF can judge that the DNAIs that can be accessed by the current location of the terminal device are M DNAIs; further, the V-SMF can determine N from the M DNAIs according to the above policy information. A DNAI.

Assuming that V-SMF knows that HPLMN is PLMN#1, V-SMF determines that M DNAIs are: DNAI#1, DNAI#2, and DNAI #3. For example, take Table 2 as an example. The PLMN ID in Table 2 can be the ID of HPLMN. Based on Table 2, it can be known that VPLMN can open DNAI#1 and DNAI#2 to PLMN#1. Therefore, V-SMF determines N DNAI Part of the DNAI in the M DNAI is included, that is, the N DNAI includes DNAI#1 and DNAI#2, and does not include the DNAI#3 in the M DNAI. For another example, taking Table 3 as an example, the PLMN ID in Table 3 can be the ID of HPLMN. Based on Table 3, it can be known that VPLMN can be opened to PLMN#1: DNAI#1, DNAI#2, DNAI#3, therefore, V - The SMF determines that the N DNAIs are the M DNAIs, that is, the N DNAIs include: DNAI#1, DNAI#2, and DNAI#3.

Based on the second possible implementation manner above, the V-SMF can determine information #A (that is, N DNAIs) according to the location and policy information of the terminal device. In this way, not only the location of the terminal equipment is considered, thereby saving signaling overhead and improving the security of the EAS deployment information sent to the H-SMF, but also considering the authorization of the VPLMN (such as providing the H-SMF with the DNAI allowed by the VPLMN ), so as to take into account the requirements of the VPLMN itself and improve network security.

In a third possible implementation manner, the V-SMF determines M DNAIs (that is, information #B) according to the location of the terminal device, and queries N DNAIs from the V-PCF based on the M DNAIs.

For example, V-PCF can store DNAI that is allowed to be opened to other PLMNs (such as stored in the form shown in Table 2 or Table 3), and when needed, V-PCF can be directly read locally; for another example, other cores in VPLMN Network elements (such as V-UDR) store DNAI that is allowed to be opened to other PLMNs. When needed, V-PCF can be obtained from other core network elements.

For example, the V-SMF determines M DNAIs based on the location of the terminal device; the V-SMF sends a request message to the V-PCF, the request message includes M DNAIs, and the request message is used to request permission for the VPLMN to send the EAS to the HPLMN deployment location. Specifically, the request message is used to request the DNAI that can be opened to the HPLMN (or H-SMF) among the M DNAIs.

Assuming that HPLMN is PLMN#1, V-SMF determines that M DNAIs are: DNAI#1, DNAI#2, and DNAI#3, V-SMF sends a request message to V-PCF, and the request message includes M DNAIs (namely, DNAI #1, DNAI#2, and DNAI#3). For example, take Table 2 as an example. The PLMN ID in Table 2 can be the ID of HPLMN. Based on Table 2, it can be known that VPLMN can open DNAI#1 and DNAI#2 to PLMN#1. Therefore, V-PCF determines N DNAI Including part of the DNAI in the M DNAIs, that is, the N DNAIs include DNAI#1 and DNAI#2, excluding DNAI#3 in the M DNAIs; the V-PCF can send the DNAI#1 and DNAI#2 to the V-SMF. For another example, taking Table 3 as an example, the PLMN ID in Table 3 can be the ID of HPLMN. Based on Table 3, it can be known that VPLMN can be opened to PLMN#1: DNAI#1, DNAI#2, DNAI#3, therefore, V -PCF determines that N DNAIs are the M DNAIs, that is, N DNAIs include: DNAI#1, DNAI#2, DNAI#3; V-PCF can send to V-SMF: DNAI#1, DNAI#2, DNAI# 3. Alternatively, the V-PCF may send confirmation information to the V-SMF, where the confirmation information is used to indicate that all M DNAIs in the request message are allowed to be opened (that is, N DNAIs are M DNAIs). As an example, if the N DNAIs are the same as the M DNAIs, the V-PCF may send smaller-bit acknowledgment information (such as 1-bit acknowledgment information) to the V-SMF, thereby saving signaling overhead.

Optionally, the query message further includes an HPLMN ID (or H-SMF ID), and the HPLMN ID (or H-SMF ID) is used to identify the HPLMN. In a possible situation, V-PCF stores the DNAI that is allowed to be opened to other PLMNs, and the DNAI that is allowed to be opened to other PLMNs is the same (as shown in the example in Table 3); V-PCF receives a request message from V-SMF , and the request message includes M DNAIs, the V-PCF determines the DNAIs allowed to be opened to other PLMNs (that is, N DNAIs) among the M DNAIs, and sends the N DNAIs to the V-SMF. In another possible situation, V-PCF stores DNAI that is allowed to be opened to other PLMNs, and is allowed to be opened to other PLMNs The DNAIs are not exactly the same (the example shown in Table 2); V-PCF receives a request message from V-SMF, and the request message includes M DNAI and HPLMN ID; V-PCF according to the HPLMN ID in the request message ID, determine the HPLMN, and determine the DNAI (that is, N DNAIs) that are allowed to be opened to the HPLMN among the M DNAIs, and send the N DNAIs to the V-SMF.

Based on the above third possible implementation, the V-SMF can determine information #B (that is, M DNAIs) according to the location of the terminal device, and ask (or request, or query) which of the M DNAIs to the V-PCF DNAI can be opened (or can be sent) to HPLMN. In this way, not only the location of the terminal equipment is considered, thereby saving signaling overhead and improving the security of the EAS deployment information sent to the H-SMF, but also considering the authorization of the VPLMN (such as providing the H-SMF with the DNAI allowed by the VPLMN ), so as to take into account the requirements of the VPLMN itself and improve network security. In addition, the V-SMF can dynamically send a request to the V-PCF which DNAIs among the M DNAIs can be opened (or can be sent) to the HPLMN according to the actual situation, and the scheme is flexible.

The above describes how the V-SMF determines N DNAIs in combination with the three implementation manners. It can be understood that the above implementation manners are illustrative, and any modification belonging to the above three implementation manners is applicable to the embodiment of the present application. The solution for the H-SMF to obtain the deployment information of the EAS corresponding to the information #A is introduced below.

Taking the session management network element in the home network as the H-SMF, optionally, the H-SMF obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to information #A, which may include the following two solutions:

Solution A: H-SMF acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to information #A from VPLMN;

Solution B: The H-SMF obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to information #A from the HPLMN.

Both options are described in detail below.

In scheme A, the H-SMF obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to information #A from the VPLMN.

Under the scheme A, in a possible situation, the data management network element in the VPLMN stores the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN (EAS deployment information in the VPLMN). In this way, after the H-SMF receives the information #A, it can query and obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the information #A from the data management network element in the VPLMN.

In this embodiment of the present application, the data management network element refers to a network element that can manage and/or store EAS deployment information corresponding to information #A, or a network element that can provide EAS deployment information corresponding to information #A. As an example, the data management network element includes, for example, UDR and/or UDM. It can be understood that the name of the data management network element does not limit the protection scope of the embodiment of the present application. For example, when the data management network element is a UDR, the data management network element may also be called a data storage network element or a unified data storage network element. The data management network element in the VPLMN refers to the data management network element deployed in the VPLMN, such as a UDR (ie, V-UDR) deployed in the VPLMN and/or a UDM (ie, V-UDM) deployed in the VPLMN.

Taking information #A in the form of DNAI as an example, the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN (such as the data management network element in the VPLMN) may exist in the form of Table 4.

Table 4

Taking Table 4 as an example, the DNAI in Table 4 is the DNAI in VPLMN. For example, information #A includes DNAI#1, DNAI#2, and DNAI#3. It can be known from Table 4 that the EAS deployment information of DNAI#1 is EAS deployment information #1, and the EAS deployment information of DNAI#2 is EAS Deployment information #2, EAS deployment information of DNAI#3 is EAS deployment information #3.

It should be understood that Table 4 is only an illustration and is not limited thereto, and any modification belonging to Table 4 is applicable to this application. For example, a column of PLMN ID can also be added in the above Table 4, which is used to indicate the PLMN corresponding to DANI. For another example, Table 4 may also include more numbers of DNAI.

Based on solution A, a possible implementation manner, the H-SMF can query and obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to information #A from the data management network element in the VPLMN through the interaction between the H-NEF and the V-NEF.

Taking the data management network element in VPLMN as V-UDR, for example, after H-SMF receives N DNAI, it can send a request message to H-NEF, and the request message includes N DNAI; H-NEF sends V -NEF forwards the request message; V-UDR stores the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN (as shown in Table 4), and V-NEF queries the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from V-UDR; further, V-NEF sends H- NEF sends the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs; H-NEF forwards the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs to H-SMF, and then H-SMF obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the V-UDR query information.

Optionally, the request message also includes a VPLMN ID, and the VPLMN ID can be used to identify the VPLMN, or can be used to determine and identify the NEF (that is, the V-NEF) in the VPLMN. For example, after the H-NEF receives the request message from the H-SMF, it can identify the VPLMN based on the VPLMN ID in the request message, and then determine the V-NEF of the VPLMN, thereby forwarding the request message to the V-NEF. It can be understood that when the H-NEF sends the request message to the V-NEF, it may not need to carry the VPLMN ID, so as to save signaling overhead.

It can be understood that, the foregoing implementation manner is illustrative, and this embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. For example, the H-SMF can query and obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to information #A from the data management network element in the VPLMN through other network elements, or the H-SMF can directly query and obtain the information corresponding to #A from the data management network element in the VPLMN EAS deployment information.

In scheme B, the H-SMF obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to information #A from the HPLMN.

Under the solution B, in a possible situation, the data management network element in the HPLMN stores the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN. In this way, after the H-SMF receives the information #A, it can query the H-UDR to obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the information #A. The data management network element in the HPLMN refers to the data management network element deployed in the HPLMN, such as a UDR (ie, H-UDR) deployed on the HPLMN and/or a UDM (ie, H-UDM) deployed on the HPLMN.

Taking information #A in the form of DNAI as an example, the EAS deployment information in the HPLMN (such as the data management network element in the HPLMN) may exist in the form of Table 5.

table 5

Taking Table 5 as an example, the PLMN ID in Table 5 may be the ID of the VPLMN, and the DNAI may be the DNAI in the corresponding VPLMN. For example, information #A includes DNAI#1, DNAI#2, and DNAI#3. It can be known from Table 5 that the EAS deployment information of DNAI#1 is EAS deployment information #1, and the EAS deployment information of DNAI#2 is EAS deployment information #2, the EAS deployment information of DNAI#3 is EAS deployment information #3. For another example, information #A includes DNAI#4, DNAI#5, And DNAI#6, as can be known from Table 5, the EAS deployment information of DNAI#4 is EAS deployment information #4, the EAS deployment information of DNAI#5 is EAS deployment information #5, and the EAS deployment information of DNAI#6 is EAS deployment information #6.

It should be understood that Table 5 is only an illustration and is not limited thereto, and any modification belonging to Table 5 is applicable to this application. For example, the DNAI in the above Table 5 may be the DNAI that the corresponding PLMN allows to open to other PLMNs. For example, the DNAI that PLMN#1 allows to open to other PLMNs includes: DNAI#1, DNAI#2, and DNAI#3. For another example, Table 5 may also include more numbers of DNAI. For another example, Table 5 may also include adding a column of PLMN IDs, which is used to indicate which PLMNs the corresponding PLMN is allowed to open to DNAI.

Based on scheme B, a possible implementation manner, the H-SMF can query and obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to information #A from the data management network element in the HPLMN through the H-NEF.

Taking the data management network element in HPLMN as H-UDR, for example, after H-SMF receives N DNAI, it can send a request message to H-NEF, and the request message includes N DNAI; H-UDR stores N EAS deployment information corresponding to each DNAI (as shown in Table 5), H-NEF queries the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the H-UDR; further, H-NEF returns the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs to the H-SMF information, and then the H-SMF obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the H-UDR query.

Optionally, the request message also includes a VPLMN ID, which can be used to identify the VPLMN. For example, the EAS deployment information in multiple PLMNs is stored in the H-UDR (as shown in Table 5), and the H-UDR can identify the VPLMN based on the VPLMN ID in the request message, and then determine the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs in the VPLMN.

It can be understood that, the foregoing implementation manner is illustrative, and this embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. For example, the H-SMF can query and obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to information #A from the data management network element in the HPLMN through other network elements, or the H-SMF can directly query and obtain the information corresponding to #A from the data management network element in the HPLMN EAS deployment information.

As an example, scheme B can be used in a scenario where there is a strong trust relationship between the HPLMN and the VPLMN.

Combining the above two schemes, the relevant schemes for the H-SMF to obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the information #A are introduced.

Optionally, the method 300 further includes: the H-SMF determines a DNS handling rule (DNS handling rule) based on the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information (such as N DNAIs).

Wherein, the DNS processing rules may be used to process DNS messages, such as DNS messages related to terminal equipment. For example, DNS processing rules can be used to process DNS query messages.

As an example, the DNS processing rule may include one or more of the following information: FQDN range, ECS option, local DNS (local DNS, L-DNS) server address, DNS forwarding rules.

Among them, the ECS option can be used to represent the location information of the UE.

Wherein, the DNS forwarding rule, or also referred to as a forwarding rule, or a data plane forwarding rule, can be used by the EASDF to process the DNS message from the UE accordingly. For example, when the FQDN contained in the DNS query sent by the UE matches the FQDN range in the DNS processing rule, based on the DNS forwarding rule, EASDF adds the ECS option to the DNS query. For another example, when the FQDN contained in the DNS query sent by the UE matches the FQDN range in the DNS processing rule, based on the DNS forwarding rule, EASDF forwards the DNS query (such as the DNS query after adding the ECS option) to the DNS server.

Regarding solutions related to DNS processing rules, reference may be made to the prior art, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the method 300 further includes: the H-SMF sends the IP address and/or domain name (such as FQDN) to the V-SMF, thereby triggering the V-SMF to perform traffic steering (traffic steering) on the HR session in the VPLMN. Wherein, the IP address is the IP address corresponding to the EAS, indicating the IP address of the EAS accessed by the terminal device in the VPLMN. domain name, is the domain name corresponding to the EAS, indicating the domain name of the EAS accessed by the terminal device in the VPLMN.

For example, H-SMF receives EAS IP address and/or FQDN from EASDF; H-SMF sends this EAS IP address and/or FQDN to V-SMF; V-SMF according to this EAS IP address and/or FQDN, for terminal The session of the device (such as the HR session of the terminal device) selects the distribution point located in the visited network and/or the anchor point UPF deployed in the VPLMN. Among them, the distribution point can be used to distribute the message to the VPLMN. For example, the service message corresponding to the EAS deployed in the VPLMN is distributed to the VPLMN. In this way, although the session of the current terminal device is an HR session, the terminal accessing the EAS deployed in the VPLMN EAS can no longer go through the UPF of the HPLMN, but directly access it through the UPF deployed in the VPLMN, which greatly improves the efficiency of service access and reduces the delay of service access.

Optionally, the branching point is an uplink classifier (uplink classifier, UL CL) or a branching point (branching point, BP). When a terminal device needs to perform service transmission, multiple PDU sessions (sessions) to the same DN or different DNs can be established through the SMF. SMF can control the data routing of PDU so that this PDU session can have multiple N6 interfaces at the same time. The UPF connected to each N6 interface is called PSA, and each PSA provides a different path to the same DN. Therefore, in a possible way, the V-SMF can determine the UL CL in the VPLMN. For example, for different types of PDU sessions, the SMF can insert a UL CL in the data transmission path of the PDU session. The UL CL function is provided by UPF and is used to forward the data packets meeting the service filtering rules to the specified path. When a UL CL is inserted into a PDU session data channel, this PDU session can have multiple PDU session anchor points, providing multiple different paths to access the same DN. That is to say, the function of UL CL can be to transmit uplink data to different PSAs and combine downlink data to UE. In another possible way, the V-SMF can determine the branch point in the VPLMN. Specifically, the data corresponding to each PSA can be gathered in a common UPF, and this public UPF has the function of the branch point. The branch point forwards uplink data to different PSAs upwards, and merges downlink data from PSAs downwards. It can be understood that the nature of the diversion point can be regarded as UPF. In other words, the diversion point is a diversion function that can be realized by the aforementioned UPF.

It can be understood that, the foregoing is only an exemplary description, and is not limited thereto.

For ease of understanding, the embodiments of the present application are illustrated below with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG. 9 . In the following example, it is assumed that information #A is N DNAIs, and the data management network element in the VPLMN is V-UDR as an example. For details of the steps involved, reference may be made to the above description.

First, combining the architectures shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , briefly introduce the implementation of the above-mentioned scheme A and scheme B.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to scheme A provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4, under this architecture, V-UDR can store EAS deployment information in VPLMN, and H-SMF can obtain EAS deployment information corresponding to N DNAIs from VPLMN (such as V-UDR). As an example, under this architecture, in order to realize the discovery of the local EAS in the HR roaming scenario, the following steps may be included.

401. The V-SMF sends N DNAIs to the H-SMF.

In a possible manner, the V-SMF determines the N DNAIs according to local policy information, and sends the N DNAIs to the H-SMF. In another possible manner, the V-SMF queries the N DNAIs from the V-PCF, and sends the N DNAIs to the H-SMF. For the manner in which the V-SMF determines the N DNAIs, reference may be made to related descriptions in the method 300 , which will not be repeated here.

402. The H-SMF requests the V-UDR for EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs through the H-NEF.

After receiving the N DNAIs, the H-SMF may request the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the H-NEF; further, the H-NEF may request the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the V-UDR.

H-NEF requests from V-UDR the EAS deployment information corresponding to N DNAIs, for example, it may include: H-NEF sends a request message to V-NEF, V-NEF forwards the request message to V-UDR, and the request message includes N DNAI, and the request message is used to request EAS deployment information corresponding to N DNAIs. Optionally, the request message also includes a VPLMN ID, which can be used to identify the VPLMN, that is, to identify the VPLMN where the UE is currently located.

After V-UDR receives the request from H-NEF, V-UDR can query the EAS deployment information corresponding to N DNAIs from the EAS deployment information stored in VPLMN according to the request of H-NEF, and send N EAS deployment information corresponding to each DNAI. Further, the H-NEF sends the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs to the H-SMF, so that the H-SMF obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs.

Through the above steps, the H-SMF can obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the VPLMN (such as the V-UDR).

After receiving the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs, the H-SMF can determine the DNS processing rules, and send the DNS processing rules to the EASDF, ie step 403 .

403. The H-SMF sends the DNS processing rule to the EASDF.

In the architecture shown in Figure 4, the EASDF is located in the HPLMN and can be used to assist EAS discovery in the VPLMN.

Regarding the DNS processing rules, reference may be made to relevant descriptions in the foregoing method 300 , which will not be repeated here. Wherein, the EAS server corresponding to the domain name included in the DNS processing rule may be deployed in the VPLMN.

After the EASDF obtains the DNS processing rule from the H-SMF, it can process the DNS message sent by the UE accordingly. For example, when the UE wants to access a certain edge service, or requests the edge service (or for requesting the address of the edge server), it can initiate a DNS query, wherein the DNS query includes the domain name corresponding to the edge service. Namely step 404 .

404, UE sends DNS query to EASDF.

In a possible implementation, the UE sends the DNS query to the EASDF via the RAN and UPF (ie V-UPF and H-UPF) through the user plane.

After EASDF receives the DNS query from the UE, it can process the DNS query according to the DNS processing rules received from the H-SMF. For example, EASDF detects that the domain name (such as FQDN) included in the DNS query of the UE can match the domain name included in the DNS processing rule according to the DNS processing rules, or it can be understood that the EAS server corresponding to the domain name included in the DNS query is deployed in the VPLMN, then EASDF adds the ECS option to the DNS query according to the DNS processing rules, and then sends the DNS query with the ECS option added to the C-DNS server. Or, when the domain name (such as FQDN) contained in the DNS query sent by the UE matches the domain name in the DNS processing rule, the EASDF determines the address of the L-DNS server located in the VPLMN according to the DNS processing rule, and sends the UE's DNS query Sent to the L-DNS server. As shown in Figure 4, EASDF can determine the L-DNS server according to the DNS processing rules, and then forward the DNS message to the L-DNS server, so that the L-DNS server can determine the EAS.

In this embodiment of the application, assuming that the domain name contained in the DNS query of the UE matches the domain name in the DNS processing rule, after the EASDF adds the ECS option to the DNS query, it can forward the DNS query with the ECS option added to the C-DNS server. Further, the C-DNS server can send a response (response), such as DNS response, to EASDF. The DNS response may contain address information, such as EAS IP address and/or FQDN. After EASDF receives the DNS response, it can report the address information contained in the DNS response to H-SMF, such as EAS IP address and/or FQDN.

405. The EASDF sends a DNS report request to the H-SMF.

Wherein, the DNS report request includes the EAS IP address and/or FQDN. After receiving the DNS report request, the H-SMF can send the EAS IP address and/or FQDN to the V-SMF, so as to trigger the V-SMF to perform traffic steering (traffic steering) on the HR session of the UE.

406. The H-SMF sends a notify (notify) message to the V-SMF.

The notification message carries the EAS IP address and/or FQDN, and the notification message can be used to trigger traffic steering on the HR session of the UE.

It can be understood that the above steps are only illustrative, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. In actual communication, more processing steps may be included. For example, reference may be made to the description of method 600 and method 700 below.

Through the above solution, the H-SMF obtains the N DNAIs that the UE can access from the VPLMN, and further obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the VPLMN, so that the H-SMF can know where the edge application servers are deployed in the VPLMN, and then It can assist EASDF to realize the discovery of local EAS. Further, the H-SMF can determine DNS processing rules according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs, and the EASDF is responsible for processing the DNS query message from the UE, so as to realize the discovery of local EAS in the HR roaming scenario.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to solution B provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, under this architecture, H-UDR can store EAS deployment information in VPLMN, and H-SMF can obtain EAS deployment information corresponding to N DNAIs from HPLMN (such as H-UDR). As an example, under this architecture, in order to realize the discovery of the local EAS in the HR roaming scenario, the following steps may be included.

501. The V-SMF sends N DNAIs to the H-SMF.

502. The H-SMF requests the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the H-UDR through the H-NEF.

After receiving the N DNAIs, the H-SMF may request the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the H-NEF; further, the H-NEF may request the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the H-UDR.

The H-NEF requests the EAS deployment information corresponding to N DNAIs from the H-UDR, for example, it may include: the H-NEF sends a request message to the H-UDR, the request message includes N DNAIs, and the request message is used to request N DNAIs Corresponding EAS deployment information. Optionally, the request message also includes a VPLMN ID, which can be used to identify the VPLMN, that is, to identify the VPLMN where the UE is currently located.

After H-UDR receives the request from H-NEF, H-UDR can query the EAS deployment information corresponding to N DNAIs from the EAS deployment information stored in VPLMN according to the request of H-NEF, and send N EAS deployment information corresponding to each DNAI. Further, the H-NEF sends the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs to the H-SMF, so that the H-SMF obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs.

Through the above steps, the H-SMF can obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the HPLMN (such as the H-UDR).

After receiving the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs, the H-SMF can determine the DNS processing rules, and send the DNS processing rules to the EASDF, ie step 503 .

503. The H-SMF sends the DNS processing rule to the EASDF.

504, the UE sends a DNS query to the EASDF.

505. The EASDF sends a DNS report request to the H-SMF.

506. The H-SMF sends a notification message to the V-SMF.

Wherein, steps 503-506 are similar to steps 403-406, and will not be repeated here.

It can be understood that the above steps are only illustrative, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. In actual communication, more processing steps may be included. For example, reference may be made to the description of method 800 and method 900 below.

Through the above solution, the H-SMF obtains the N DNAIs that the UE can access from the VPLMN, and further obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the HPLMN, so that the H-SMF can know where the edge application servers are deployed in the VPLMN, and then It can assist EASDF to realize the discovery of local EAS. Further, the H-SMF can determine DNS processing rules according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs, and the EASDF is responsible for processing the DNS query message from the UE, so as to realize the discovery of local EAS in the HR roaming scenario.

Next, the above-mentioned possible flow will be introduced with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9 .

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 600 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 600 can be used to implement the solution like the method 300. For example, the method 600 can be used in a scenario where the V-SMF determines N DNAIs according to local policies, and the H-SMF acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the VPLMN. The method 600 can be implemented through the architecture shown in FIG. 4 . As an example, method 600 may include the following steps.

601. The V-SMF configures policy information.

Among them, the policy information can be used to indicate which DNAI in the VPLMN can be opened to other PLMNs. Regarding the policy information, reference may be made to the relevant description in the method 300 above, and details are not repeated here.

602. The V-UDR stores EAS deployment information in the VPLMN.

For EAS deployment information, you can refer to the previous terminology explanation, which will not be repeated here.

In the embodiment of this application, the V-UDR can store the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN, such as the EAS deployment information corresponding to each DNAI in the VPLMN, and the EAS deployment information corresponding to the DNAI that is allowed to be opened to other PLMNs in the VPLMN, without limitation .

603. The UE sends a session establishment request message to the V-SMF.

Optionally, the session establishment request message includes: S-NSSAI, DNN, and PDU session ID.

In the HR roaming scenario, the UE can initiate the HR session establishment procedure. For example, the UE may send a session establishment request message to the V-SMF through the V-AMF. For example, the UE sends a PDU session establishment request (PDU session establishment request) to the V-AMF; the V-AMF sends a Nsmf interface PDU session establishment request (Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Request) to the V-SMF; after the V-SMF receives the Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Request, Establish a session context. For the specific session establishment process, reference may be made to existing technologies or future session establishment methods, which are not limited.

604. The V-SMF determines N DNAIs based on the policy information and the location of the UE.

Among them, N DNAIs represent the DNAIs that VPLMN allows to open to HPLMN.

A possible implementation method, V-SMF judges the M DNAIs that can be accessed by the UE's current location (indicated by TAI) according to the S-NSSAI and DNN corresponding to the session; then based on the policy information, determines from the M DNAIs that can be opened N DNAIs for HPLMN (or H-SMF). Specifically, reference may be made to the second possible implementation manner in the foregoing method 300, which will not be repeated here.

605. The V-SMF sends N DNAIs to the H-SMF. Optionally, the V-SMF also sends the VPLMN ID or V-SMF ID to the H-SMF, and the VPLMN ID or V-SMF ID can be used to determine the VPLMN where the UE is currently located. specific Specifically, if the V-SMF sends the VPLMN ID to the H-SMF, the H-SMF can directly obtain the VPLMN ID; if the V-SMF sends the V-SMF ID to the H-SMF, the H-SMF can determine the VPLMN ID according to the V-SMF ID. ID. Wherein, the N DNAIs and the VPLMN ID or V-SMF ID can be carried in the same signaling, or can be transmitted separately, which is not limited.

In a possible implementation, the V-SMF sends an Nsmf interface PDU session establishment request (Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Request) to the H-SMF, and the Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Request includes N DNAIs and VPLMN IDs. According to this implementation, the H-SMF can obtain the VPLMN ID directly from the PDU session establishment request.

In another possible implementation, the V-SMF sends a Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Request to the H-SMF, and the Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Request includes N DNAIs and V-SMF IDs, where the V-SMF ID may include a VPLMN ID. According to this implementation, the H-SMF can obtain the VPLMN ID from the V-SMF ID. 606. The H-SMF sends a request message to the H-NEF.

607. The H-NEF sends a request message to the V-NEF.

For example, if the request message in step 606 carries the VPLMN ID, the H-NEF selects the NEF (that is, the V-NEF) in the VPLMN according to the VPLMN ID carried in the request message, and sends a request message to the V-NEF. Wherein, the request message sent by the H-NEF to the V-NEF includes N DNAIs, and is used to trigger the V-NEF to query the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs. Optionally, the request message sent by the H-NEF to the V-NEF also includes the HPLMN ID or the H-NEF ID. Specifically, if the request message sent by the H-NEF to the V-NEF also includes the HPLMN ID, the V-NEF can directly obtain the HPLMN ID; if the request message sent by the H-NEF to the V-NEF also includes the H-NEF ID , then the V-NEF can determine the HPLMN ID according to the H-NEF ID.

In a possible implementation, the H-NEF sends a Nnef_EASDeploymnet_Subscribe Request to the V-NEF, the Nnef_EASDeploymnet_Subscribe Request includes N DNAIs and HPLMN IDs, and the Nnef_EASDeploymnet_Subscribe is used to trigger the V-NEF to query the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs. According to this implementation, the V-NEF can directly obtain the HPLMN ID.

In another possible implementation, the H-NEF sends a Nnef_EASDeploymnet_Subscribe Request to the V-NEF. The Nnef_EASDeploymnet_Subscribe Request includes N DNAIs and H-NEF IDs. The Nnef_EASDeploymnet_Subscribe is used to trigger the V-NEF to query the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs. . Among them, the H-NEF ID may contain the HPLMN ID. According to this implementation, V-NEF can obtain HPLMN ID from H-NEF ID.

608. The V-NEF obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the V-UDR.

For example, the V-NEF uses N DNAIs as index values, queries the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the V-UDR, and obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the V-UDR.

Optionally, the V-NEF can also send the HPLMN ID to the V-UDR, which is used to indicate which PLMN the V-UDR requests to obtain the EAS deployment information. At this time, V-UDR can further decide whether to return the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs according to the HPLMN ID.

609. The V-NEF sends a response message to the H-NEF.

Wherein, the response message includes EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs.

In a possible implementation, the V-NEF sends the Nnef interface EAS deployment notification response (Nnef_EASDeploymnet_Notify response) to the H-NEF, and the Nnef_EASDeploymnet_Notify response includes EAS deployment information corresponding to N DNAIs.

610. The H-NEF forwards the response message to the H-SMF.

In a possible implementation manner, the H-NEF sends a Nnef_EASDeploymnet_Notify response to the H-SMF, and the Nnef_EASDeploymnet_Notify response includes EAS deployment information corresponding to N DNAIs.

611. The H-SMF determines DNS processing rules according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs.

After receiving the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs, the H-SMF may determine DNS processing rules based on the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs.

As an example, the DNS processing rule may include one or more of the following information: FQDN range, ECS option, L-DNS server address, DNS forwarding rule.

Wherein, the DNS forwarding rules, or also called forwarding rules, or data plane forwarding rules, can be used by the H-EASDF to process the DNS messages from the UE accordingly. For example, when the FQDN contained in the DNS query sent by the UE matches the FQDN range in the DNS processing rule, based on the DNS forwarding rule, H-EASDF adds the ECS option to the DNS query. For another example, when the FQDN contained in the DNS query sent by the UE matches the FQDN range in the DNS processing rule, based on the DNS forwarding rule, H-EASDF forwards the DNS query (such as the DNS query after adding the ECS option) to the L-DNS server.

Optionally, the method 600 further includes: the H-SMF selects the H-EASDF, and sends the DNS processing rule to the H-EASDF. Specifically, existing processes may be referred to, without limitation.

After the above steps and other steps (for details, please refer to the existing session establishment process), the UE can complete the session establishment.

612. The UE sends a DNS query to the H-EASDF.

For example, the UE sends the DNS query message to the H-EASDF via the RAN and UPF through the user plane.

Wherein, the DNS query includes the FQDN corresponding to the application that the UE wants to access.

613. The H-EASDF processes the DNS query according to the DNS processing rules.

After H-EASDF receives the DNS query, it can process the DNS query according to the DNS processing rules received from H-SMF. For example, according to the DNS processing rules, H-EASDF detects that the FQDN contained in the DNS query of the UE can match the FQDN contained in the DNS processing rules, or it can be understood that the EAS server corresponding to the FQDN contained in the DNS query is deployed on the VPLMN, then H-EASDF According to the DNS processing rules, after adding the ECS option in the DNS query, send the DNS query with the ECS option added to the C-DNS server. Or, when the FQDN contained in the DNS query sent by the UE matches the FQDN range in the DNS processing rule, the H-EASDF determines the address of the L-DNS server located in the VPLMN according to the DNS processing rule, and sends the DNS query of the UE to to the L-DNS server, so that the L-DNS server can determine the EAS.

In the embodiment of this application, assuming that the FQDN contained in the DNS query of the UE matches the FQDN range in the DNS processing rule, after the H-EASDF adds the ECS option to the DNS query, it can forward the DNS query with the ECS option added to the C- DNS server. Further, the C-DNS server may send a response (response), such as a DNS response, to the H-EASDF. The DNS response may contain address information, such as EAS IP address and/or FQDN. After receiving the DNS response, the H-EASDF can report the address information contained in the DNS response to the H-SMF, such as the EAS IP address and/or FQDN.

614. The H-EASDF sends a DNS reporting request (DNS reporting request) to the H-SMF.

Wherein, the DNS report request includes the EAS IP address and/or FQDN.

615. The H-SMF sends the EAS IP address and/or FQDN to the V-SMF.

In a possible implementation manner, the H-SMF sends a notification message to the V-SMF, and the message carries the EAS IP address and/or FQDN.

616, V-SMF chooses UL CL or BP, and L-PSA.

Taking the EAS IP address as an example, for example, V-SMF can determine the DNAI according to the received EAS IP address, and judge whether the DNAI allows the insertion of UL CL or BP; if the insertion of UL CL or BP is allowed, then V-SMF is The session selects ULCL or BP, and L-PSA.

617. The V-SMF returns a confirmation message to the H-SMF.

In a possible implementation manner, the H-SMF sends a notify ack (notify ack) message to the V-SMF.

618. The H-SMF sends a DNS reporting response (DNS reporting response) to the H-EASDF.

619. The H-EASDF sends the DNS response to the UE.

After H-EASDF receives DNS reporting response from H-SMF, it can send DNS response to UE.

Based on the above method 600, in the HR session establishment process, the V-SMF can determine the DNAI that the current UE can access according to the UE location, and combine the locally configured policy information to determine to open N DNAI to the H-SMF; the H-SMF obtains After the N DNAIs, the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs can be obtained from the V-UDR query through the interaction between the H-NEF and the V-NEF; further, the H-SMF can use the EAS corresponding to the N DNAIs The deployment information determines DNS processing rules, and H-EASDF is responsible for processing DNS query messages from UE. Therefore, local EAS discovery in HR roaming scenarios can be realized. In addition, the information (N DNAIs) transmitted by V-SMF and H-SMF is aimed at UE (per UE), and the interface between SMFs is slightly changed.

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method 700 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 700 can be used to implement the solution like the method 300. For example, the method 700 can be used in a scenario where the V-SMF queries the N DNAIs from the V-PCF, and the H-SMF obtains the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the VPLMN. The method 700 can be implemented through the architecture shown in FIG. 4 . As an example, method 700 may include the following steps.

701. The V-UDR stores EAS deployment information in the VPLMN.

702. The UE sends a session establishment request message to the V-SMF.

Wherein, step 702 is similar to step 603 and will not be repeated here.

703. The V-SMF determines M DNAIs.

In a possible implementation manner, the V-SMF judges the M DNAIs that can be accessed by the UE's current location (indicated by TAI) according to the S-NSSAI and the DNN.

704. The V-SMF sends a query message to the V-PCF.

Wherein, the query message includes M DNAIs, and the query message is used to query the DNAI that can be opened to the HPLMN (or H-SMF) among the M DNAIs. Optionally, the query message also includes an HPLMN ID, which is used to identify the HPLMN.

In a possible implementation, the V-SMF sends an EAS Policy Request (EAS Policy Request) to the V-PCF. The EAS Policy Request includes the HPLMN ID and M DNAIs. The EAS Policy Request is used to request V-PCF judges which DNAI can be opened to HPLMN. Specifically, reference may be made to the description of the third possible implementation manner in the method 300, and details are not repeated here.

705. The V-PCF sends a query response message to the V-SMF.

In a possible implementation, the V-PCF sends an EAS Policy Response (EAS Policy Response) to the V-SMF. The EAS Policy Response includes N DNAIs, and the N DNAIs are DNAIs open to the HPLMN among the M DNAIs.

706. The V-SMF sends N DNAIs to the H-SMF.

707. The H-SMF sends a request message to the H-NEF.

708. The H-NEF sends a request message to the V-NEF.

709. The V-NEF acquires the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the V-UDR.

710. The V-NEF sends a response message to the H-NEF.

711. The H-NEF forwards the response message to the H-SMF.

712. The H-SMF determines DNS processing rules according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs.

713. The UE sends a DNS query to the H-EASDF.

714. The H-EASDF processes the DNS query according to the DNS processing rules.

715. The H-EASDF sends a DNS report request to the H-SMF.

716. The H-SMF sends the EAS IP address and/or FQDN to the V-SMF.

717, V-SMF chooses UL CL or BP, and L-PSA.

718. The V-SMF returns a confirmation message to the H-SMF.

719. The H-SMF sends a DNS report response to the H-EASDF.

720. The H-EASDF sends the DNS response to the UE.

Wherein, steps 706-720 are similar to steps 605-619, and will not be repeated here.

Based on the above method 700, in the HR session establishment process, the V-SMF can determine the DNAI that the current UE can access according to the UE location, and request the V-PCF to determine which of the DNAI that the current UE can access can be opened to the H-SMF; H- After SMF acquires N DNAIs, it can query and obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from V-UDR through the interaction between H-NEF and V-NEF; further, H-SMF can correspond to N DNAIs The EAS deployment information determines the DNS processing rules, and the H-EASDF is responsible for processing the DNS query message from the UE, so that the discovery of local EAS in the HR roaming scenario can be realized. In addition, the information (N DNAIs) transmitted by V-SMF and H-SMF is per UE, and the interface between SMFs is slightly changed.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method 800 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 800 can be used to implement the solution like the method 300. For example, the method 800 can be used in a scenario where the V-SMF determines N DNAIs according to local policies, and the H-SMF acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the HPLMN. The method 800 can be implemented through the architecture shown in FIG. 5 . As an example, method 800 may include the following steps.

801. The V-SMF locally configures policy information.

802. The H-UDR stores the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN.

In a possible implementation manner, the AF in the VPLMN sends the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN to the H-UDR; the H-UDR receives the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN and stores the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN. example For example, the AF in the VPLMN sends the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN to the V-NEF; after receiving the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN, the V-NEF sends the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN to the H-NEF; After receiving the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN, the H-UDR sends the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN to the H-UDR; the H-UDR receives the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN and stores the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN

In the embodiment of this application, the H-UDR can store the EAS deployment information in the VPLMN, such as the EAS deployment information corresponding to each DNAI in the VPLMN, and the EAS deployment information corresponding to the DNAI that is allowed to be opened to other PLMNs in the VPLMN, without limitation .

803. The UE sends a session establishment request message to the V-SMF.

804. The V-SMF determines N DNAIs based on the policy information and the location of the UE.

805. The V-SMF sends N DNAIs to the H-SMF.

806. The H-SMF sends a request message to the H-NEF.

Wherein, steps 803-806 are similar to steps 603-606 and will not be repeated here.

807. The H-NEF sends a query message to the H-UDR.

Wherein, the query message includes N DNAIs, and the query message is used to query the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs.

Optionally, the query message also includes a VPLMN ID, and the H-UDR can identify the VPLMN according to the VPLMN ID.

In the embodiment of the present application, the H-UDR can store the EAS deployment information of the VPLMN. Therefore, the H-NEF can directly query the H-UDR for the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs.

808. The H-UDR sends a query response message to the H-NEF.

Wherein, the query response message includes EAS deployment information corresponding to N DNAIs.

809. The H-NEF sends the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs to the H-SMF.

810. The H-SMF determines DNS processing rules according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs.

811, UE sends DNS query to H-EASDF.

812. The H-EASDF processes the DNS query according to the DNS processing rules.

813. The H-EASDF sends a DNS report request to the H-SMF.

814. The H-SMF sends the EAS IP address and/or FQDN to the V-SMF.

815, V-SMF chooses UL CL or BP, and L-PSA.

816. The V-SMF returns a confirmation message to the H-SMF.

817. The H-SMF sends a DNS report response to the H-EASDF.

818. The H-EASDF sends the DNS response to the UE.

Wherein, steps 810-818 are similar to steps 611-619, and will not be repeated here.

Based on the above method 800, in the HR session establishment process, the V-SMF can judge the DNAI that the current UE can access according to the UE location, and combine the locally configured policy information to determine to open N DNAI to the H-SMF; the H-SMF obtains After the N DNAIs, the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs can be obtained from the H-UDR query; further, the H-SMF can determine the DNS processing rules according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs, and the H-EASDF is responsible for processing the information from The DNS query message of the UE, so that the local EAS discovery in the HR roaming scenario can be realized. In addition, the information (N DNAIs) transmitted by V-SMF and H-SMF is per UE, and the interface between SMFs is slightly changed.

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method 900 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 900 can For implementing the solution as in method 300, for example, method 900 may be used in a scenario where the V-SMF queries N DNAIs from the V-PCF, and the H-SMF acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the HPLMN. The method 900 can be implemented through the architecture shown in FIG. 5 . Method 900 may include the following steps.

901. The H-UDR stores EAS deployment information in the VPLMN.

902. The UE sends a session establishment request message to the V-SMF.

Wherein, steps 901-902 are similar to steps 802-803 and will not be repeated here.

903. V-SMF determines M DNAIs.

904. The V-SMF sends a query message to the V-PCF.

905. The V-PCF sends a query response message to the V-SMF.

Wherein, steps 904-905 are similar to steps 704-705 and will not be repeated here.

906. The V-SMF sends N DNAIs to the H-SMF.

907. The H-SMF sends a request message to the H-NEF.

908. The H-NEF sends a query message to the H-UDR.

909. The H-UDR sends a query response message to the H-NEF.

910. The H-NEF sends the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs to the H-SMF.

911. The H-SMF determines DNS processing rules according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs.

912, UE sends DNS query to H-EASDF.

913. The H-EASDF processes the DNS query according to the DNS processing rules.

914. The H-EASDF sends a DNS report request to the H-SMF.

915. The H-SMF sends the EAS IP address and/or FQDN to the V-SMF.

916, V-SMF chooses UL CL or BP, and L-PSA.

917. The V-SMF returns a confirmation message to the H-SMF.

918. The H-SMF sends a DNS report response to the H-EASDF.

919. The H-EASDF sends the DNS response to the UE.

Wherein, steps 906-919 are similar to steps 805-818, and will not be repeated here.

Based on the above method 900, in the HR session establishment process, the V-SMF can determine the DNAI that the current UE can access according to the UE location, and request the V-PCF to determine which of the DNAI that the current UE can access can be opened to the H-SMF; H- After the SMF obtains N DNAIs, it can obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs from the H-UDR query; further, the H-SMF can determine the DNS processing rules according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the N DNAIs, and the H-EASDF is responsible for Process the DNS query message from the UE, so as to realize the discovery of the local EAS in the HR roaming scenario. In addition, the information (N DNAIs) transmitted by V-SMF and H-SMF is per UE, and the interface between SMFs is slightly changed.

It can be understood that the examples in FIG. 4 to FIG. 9 in the embodiment of the present application are only for the convenience of those skilled in the art to understand the embodiment of the present application, and are not intended to limit the embodiment of the present application to the illustrated specific scenarios. Those skilled in the art can obviously make various equivalent modifications or changes based on the examples in FIGS. 4 to 9 , and such modifications or changes also fall within the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, the above-mentioned session establishment process in FIG. 6 to FIG. 9 may also be replaced with a session modification process. As another example, the ECS option in Figure 4 to Figure 9 above can also be replaced with the L-DNS server address, correspondingly, in the DNS The action of adding the ECS option to the query can also be replaced by the action of forwarding the DNS query to the L-DNS server. For another example, more network elements or devices may be included in the foregoing FIG. 4 to FIG. 9 .

It can also be understood that in some of the above embodiments, the names of the messages involved, such as Nsmf_PDUSession_Update Request message, Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Request, query message, etc., are only examples and do not limit the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, query messages can also be replaced with request messages.

It can also be understood that in some of the foregoing embodiments, sending a message is mentioned multiple times. Taking A sending a message to B as an example, A sending a message to B may include A sending a message directly to B, or A sending a message to B through other devices or network elements, which is not limited.

It can also be understood that in this embodiment of the present application, local EAS discovery is mentioned several times, and it can be understood that, unless otherwise specified, local EAS discovery means discovery of an EAS of a visited network (such as a VPLMN).

It can also be understood that, in some of the foregoing embodiments, the position of the terminal device is mainly represented by TAI as an example for illustration, which is not limited thereto. The TAI can be replaced by other information that can represent (or reflect) the location of the terminal device.

It can also be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may not depend on other features in some scenarios, or may be combined with other features in some scenarios, which is not limited.

It can also be understood that the solutions in the various embodiments of the present application can be used in a reasonable combination, and explanations or descriptions of various terms appearing in the embodiments can be referred to or interpreted in each embodiment, which is not limited.

It can also be understood that the sizes of the various numbers in the embodiments of the present application do not mean the order of execution, but are only for convenience of description, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

It can also be understood that, in each of the above method embodiments, the methods and operations implemented by the device may also be implemented by components of the device (such as chips or circuits).

Corresponding to the methods provided in the foregoing method embodiments, the embodiments of the present application further provide corresponding devices, and the device includes corresponding modules for executing the foregoing method embodiments. The module can be software, or hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. It can be understood that the technical features described in the above method embodiments are also applicable to the following device embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 1000 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The device 1000 includes a transceiver unit 1010 and a processing unit 1020 . The transceiver unit 1010 may be used to implement corresponding communication functions. The transceiver unit 1010 may also be called a communication interface or a communication unit. The processing unit 1020 may be configured to implement corresponding processing functions, such as determining the first information, or determining the deployment information of the EAS corresponding to the first information.

Optionally, the device 1000 further includes a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and/or data, and the processing unit 1020 can read the instructions and/or data in the storage unit, so that the device implements the foregoing method embodiments Actions of devices or network elements in the network.

In the first design, the device 1000 may be the session management network element (such as H-SMF) in the home network in the foregoing embodiments, or may be a component (such as a chip) of the session management network element in the home network . The device 1000 can implement the steps or processes corresponding to the session management network element in the home network in the above method embodiment, wherein the transceiver unit 1010 can be used to execute the session management network element in the home network in the above method embodiment For operations related to sending and receiving, the processing unit 1020 may be configured to perform operations related to processing of the session management network element in the home network in the above method embodiments.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1010 is configured to receive first information corresponding to the terminal device from a session management network element in the visited network, where the first information is used to indicate the deployment location of the edge application server EAS in the visited network; The receiving unit 1010 is further configured to, according to the first information, acquire EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.

For example, the first information corresponding to the terminal device includes: the first information is determined according to the location of the terminal device.

For example, the first information is determined according to the location of the terminal device, and includes: the first information is used to indicate: among the deployment locations of the EAS determined according to the location of the terminal device, the deployment location of the EAS that is allowed to be accessed by the terminal device.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1010 is specifically configured to send a request message to the data management network element in the home network, the request message includes the first information, and the request message is used to request to obtain EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information; The data management network element receives the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1010 is specifically configured to send a request message to the data management network element in the visited network, the request message includes the first information, and the request message is used to request to obtain EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information; from the visited network The data management network element receives the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.

Exemplarily, the request message also includes the identifier of the visited network.

Optionally, the processing unit 1020 is configured to determine a domain name system DNS processing rule according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information, and the DNS processing rule is used to process the DNS message.

Optionally, the transceiving unit 1010 is further configured to receive the identifier of the visited network from the session management network element in the visited network.

In the second design, the device 1000 may be the session management network element (such as V-SMF) in the visited network in the foregoing embodiments, or it may be a component (such as a chip) of the session management network element in the visited network. . The apparatus 1000 can implement the steps or processes corresponding to the session management network element in the visited network in the above method embodiment, wherein the transceiver unit 1010 can be used to execute the session management network element in the visited network in the above method embodiment For operations related to sending and receiving, the processing unit 1020 may be configured to perform operations related to processing of the session management network element in the visited network in the above method embodiments.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 1020 is configured to determine the first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device, and the first information is used to indicate the deployment location of the edge application server EAS in the visited network; the transceiver unit 1010 uses Therefore, the first information is sent to the session management network element in the home network.

Exemplarily, the first information is used to acquire EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.

Optionally, the first information is used to indicate: among the EAS deployment locations determined according to the location of the terminal device, the deployment location of the EAS that is allowed to be accessed by the terminal device; the processing unit 1020 is specifically configured to, according to the location of the terminal device and policy information, The first information corresponding to the terminal device is determined, where the policy information is used to indicate the deployment location of the EAS that is allowed to be sent from the visited network to the home network.

Optionally, the first information is used to indicate: among the EAS deployment locations determined according to the location of the terminal device, the deployment location of the EAS that is allowed to be accessed by the terminal device; the processing unit 1020 is specifically configured to determine the location of the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device Corresponding second information; the transceiver unit 1010 is further configured to send a request message to the session management network element in the visited network to the policy control network element in the visited network, the request message includes the second information, and the request message is used to request permission of the visited network Sending the deployment location of the EAS to the home network; receiving first information from a policy control network element in the visited network, where the first information is determined according to the second information.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1010 is further configured to send the identifier of the visited network to the session management network element in the home network.

In the third design, the apparatus 1000 may be the data management network element (such as H-UDR) in the home network in the foregoing embodiments, or may be a component of the data management network element in the home network in the visited network (such as chips). The device 1000 can implement the steps or processes corresponding to the data management network element in the home network in the above method embodiment, wherein the transceiver unit 1010 can be used to execute the data management network element in the home network in the above method embodiment of For operations related to sending and receiving, the processing unit 1020 may be configured to perform operations related to processing of the data management network element in the home network in the above method embodiments.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1010 is configured to receive a request message from a session management network element in the home network, the request message includes first information corresponding to the terminal device, and the first information is used to indicate that the edge application in the visited network The deployment location of the server EAS, the request message is used to request to obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information; the transceiver unit 1010 is also used to send the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information to the session management network element in the home network.

Optionally, the request message further includes the identifier of the visited network; the processing unit 1020 is configured to, according to the identifier of the visited network and the first information, determine EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.

Optionally, the processing unit 1020 is configured to locally store EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.

It should be understood that the specific process of each unit performing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and for the sake of brevity, details are not repeated here.

It should also be understood that the apparatus 1000 here is embodied in the form of functional units. The term "unit" here may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor for executing one or more software or firmware programs (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor, or a group processor, etc.) and memory, incorporated logic, and/or other suitable components to support the described functionality. In an optional example, those skilled in the art can understand that the device 1000 may specifically be the session management network element in the foregoing embodiments (such as the session management network element in the home network, or the session management network element in the visited network) , can be used to execute the various processes and/or steps corresponding to the session management network element in the above method embodiments; or, the device 1000 can be specifically the network open network element in the above embodiments (such as the network open network element in the home network element), which can be used to execute the various processes and/or steps corresponding to the network open network elements in the above method embodiments; or, the device 1000 can be specifically the data management network element in the above embodiments (such as the data management network element in the home network The management network element) can be used to execute the various processes and/or steps corresponding to the data management network element in the foregoing method embodiments. In order to avoid repetition, details are not repeated here.

The device 1000 of each of the above-mentioned solutions has a network element (such as a session management network element (such as a session management network element in the home network, or a session management network element in the visited network) for implementing the above-mentioned methods, or a network open network element, or a data The function of the corresponding steps performed by the management network element). The functions described above may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software on the hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the sending unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a receiver computer), and other units, such as a processing unit, may be replaced by a processor to respectively perform the sending and receiving operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

In addition, the above-mentioned transceiver unit 1010 may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, may include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

It should be noted that the apparatus in FIG. 10 may be the network element or device in the foregoing embodiments, or may be a chip or a chip system, for example, a system on chip (system on chip, SoC). Wherein, the transceiver unit may be an input-output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit is a processor or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit integrated on the chip. It is not limited here.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus 1100 for providing another communication according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1100 includes a processor 1110, and the processor 1110 is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 1120, or read data/signaling stored in the memory 1120, so as to execute the methods in the above method embodiments. Optionally, there are one or more processors 1110 .

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 11 , the apparatus 1100 further includes a memory 1120 for storing computer programs or instructions and/or data. The memory 1120 can be integrated with the processor 1110, or can also be set separately. Optionally, there are one or more memories 1120 .

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 11 , the apparatus 1100 further includes a transceiver 1130, and the transceiver 1130 is used for receiving and/or sending signals. For example, the processor 1110 is configured to control the transceiver 1130 to receive and/or send signals.

As a solution, the apparatus 1100 is used to implement the operations performed by the session management network element in the above method embodiments.

For example, the processor 1110 is configured to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 1120, so as to implement related operations of the session management network element in the home network in the various method embodiments above. For example, the method performed by the session management network element in the home network in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , or the method performed by the H-SMF in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 9 .

In another example, the processor 1110 is configured to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 1120, so as to implement related operations of the session management network element in the visited network in each method embodiment above. For example, the method performed by the session management network element in the visited network in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , or the method performed by the V-SMF in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 9 .

As another solution, the apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the operations performed by the network open network element in each method embodiment above.

For example, the processor 1110 is configured to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 1120, so as to implement related operations of the network open network element in the home network in each method embodiment above. For example, the method performed by the network opening network element in the home network in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , or the method performed by the H-NEF in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 9 .

As another solution, the apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the operations performed by the data management network element in the foregoing method embodiments.

For example, the processor 1110 is configured to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 1120, so as to implement related operations of the data management network element in the home network in the various method embodiments above. For example, the method performed by the data management network element in the home network in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , or the method performed by the H-UDR in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 9 .

It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiment of the present application may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), and may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits ( application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), off-the-shelf programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor, or the like.

It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory and/or a nonvolatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (read-only memory, ROM), programmable read-only memory (programmable ROM, PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (erasable PROM, EPROM), electrically programmable Erases programmable read-only memory (electrically EPROM, EEPROM) or flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM includes the following various forms: static random access memory (static RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (double data rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced Synchronous dynamic random access memory (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous connection dynamic random access memory (synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM) and direct memory bus random access memory (direct rambus RAM, DR RAM).

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

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

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 1200 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The chip system 1200 (or also called a processing system) includes a logic circuit 1210 and an input/output interface (input/output interface) 1220 .

Wherein, the logic circuit 1210 may be a processing circuit in the chip system 1200 . The logic circuit 1210 may be coupled to the storage unit, and invoke instructions in the storage unit, so that the chip system 1200 can implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application. The input/output interface 1220 may be an input/output circuit in the system on chip 1200, which outputs information processed by the system on chip 1200, or inputs data or signaling information to be processed to the system on chip 1200 for processing.

Specifically, for example, if the system-on-a-chip 1200 is installed in the H-SMF, the logic circuit 1210 is coupled to the input/output interface 1220, and the logic circuit 1210 can send a request message through the input/output interface 1220, and the request message can be used by the logic circuit 1210 according to First information generation; or the input/output interface 1220 can input the first information from the V-SMF to the logic circuit 1210 for processing. For another example, if the system-on-a-chip 1200 is installed in the V-SMF, the logic circuit 1210 is coupled to the input/output interface 1220, the logic circuit 1210 can send the first information to the H-SMF through the input/output interface 1220, and the first information can be logic circuit 1210 generated.

As a solution, the chip system 1200 is used to implement the operations performed by the session management network element in the above method embodiments.

For example, the logic circuit 1210 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the session management network element in the home network in the above method embodiment, for example, the session management network element in the home network in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 Processing-related operations, or processing-related operations performed by the H-SMF in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. The sending and/or receiving related operations performed by the management network element, for example, the sending and/or receiving related operations performed by the session management network element in the home network in the embodiment shown in FIG. Operations related to sending and/or receiving performed by the H-SMF in any one of the illustrated embodiments.

As another example, the logic circuit 1210 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the session management network element in the visited network in the above method embodiment, for example, the session management network element in the visited network in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 performs processing-related operations, or processing-related operations performed by the V-SMF in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 9; the input/output interface 1220 is used to implement The sending and/or receiving related operations performed by the session management network element, for example, the sending and/or receiving related operations performed by the session management network element in the visited network in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , or FIG. 4 to FIG. 9 Operations related to sending and/or receiving performed by the V-SMF in any one of the illustrated embodiments.

As another solution, the system-on-a-chip 1200 is used to realize the open network element by the network in each method embodiment above. The action to perform.

For example, the logic circuit 1210 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the network open network element in the home network in the above method embodiment, for example, the operation performed by the network open network element in the home network in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 Processing-related operations, or processing-related operations performed by the H-NEF in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 9; the input/output interface 1220 is used to implement the network The sending and/or receiving related operations performed by the open network element, for example, the sending and/or receiving related operations performed by the network open network element in the home network in the embodiment shown in FIG. Operations related to sending and/or receiving performed by the H-NEF in any one of the illustrated embodiments.

As another solution, the chip system 1200 is configured to implement the operations performed by the data management network element in the foregoing method embodiments.

For example, the logic circuit 1210 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the data management network element in the home network in the above method embodiment, for example, the data management network element in the home network in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 Processing-related operations, or processing-related operations performed by the H-UDR in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. The sending and/or receiving related operations performed by the management network element, for example, the sending and/or receiving related operations performed by the data management network element in the home network in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , or the sending and/or receiving related operations performed by the data management network element in the embodiment shown in FIG. Operations related to sending and/or receiving performed by the H-UDR in any one of the illustrated embodiments.

The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium, on which computer instructions for implementing the methods executed by the network element in the foregoing method embodiments are stored.

For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the steps performed by the session management network element (such as the session management network element in the home network, or the session management network element in the visited network) in each embodiment of the above method. method.

In another example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the methods performed by the open network element (such as the open network element in the home network) in each embodiment of the above method.

As another example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the methods performed by the data management network element (such as the data management network element in the home network) in each embodiment of the above method.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including instructions, and when the instructions are executed by a computer, the network elements (such as session management network elements (such as session management network elements in the home network, and For example, a session management network element in the visited network), or a network opening network element, or a data management network element).

The embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including the aforementioned session management network element in the home network, the session management network element in the visited network, the network open network element in the visited network, and the network open network element in the home network One or more of a policy control network element, or a data management network element (such as a data management network element in a home network, or a data management network element in a visited network). Optionally, the system further includes a device for communicating with the foregoing one or more network elements. For example, the system may further include at least one of the following: terminal equipment, EASDF (such as the EASDF in the home network), and the like.

For explanations and beneficial effects of relevant content in any of the devices provided above, reference may be made to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and details are not repeated here.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only illustrative, for example, the division of the units, only It is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation, for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not implemented. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

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 includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on the computer, the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application will be generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. For example, the computer may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server or data center Transmission to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wired (eg, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (eg, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). 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 integrated with one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, DVD), or a semiconductor medium (for example, a solid state disk (SSD), etc. For example, the aforementioned available medium includes but Not limited to: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (read-only memory, ROM), random access memory (random access memory, RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk and other media that can store program codes.

The above is only a specific implementation of the application, but the scope of protection of the application is not limited thereto. Anyone familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the application. Should be covered within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be determined by the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A communication method, characterized by comprising:

The session management network element in the home network receives first information corresponding to the terminal device from the session management network element in the visited network, where the first information is used to indicate the deployment location of the edge application server EAS in the visited network;

The session management network element in the home network acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the first information corresponding to the terminal device includes: the first information is determined according to the location of the terminal device.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the first information is determined according to the location of the terminal device, including: the first information is used to indicate: the EAS determined according to the location of the terminal device Among the deployment locations, the deployment location of the EAS that is allowed to be accessed by the terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the session management network element in the home network acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information, including:

The session management network element in the home network sends a request message to the data management network element in the home network, the request message includes the first information, and the request message is used to request to obtain the first information corresponding to EAS deployment information;

The session management network element in the home network receives the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information from the data management network element in the home network.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the session management network element in the home network acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information, including:

The session management network element in the home network sends a request message to the data management network element in the visited network, the request message includes the first information, and the request message is used to request to obtain the first information corresponding to EAS deployment information;

The session management network element in the home network receives the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information from the data management network element in the visited network.
The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the request message further includes the identifier of the visited network.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

The session management network element in the home network determines a domain name system DNS processing rule according to the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information, and the DNS processing rule is used for processing DNS messages.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:

The session management network element in the home network receives the identifier of the visited network from the session management network element in the visited network.
A communication method, characterized by comprising:

The session management network element in the visited network determines first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device, where the first information is used to indicate the deployment location of the edge application server EAS in the visited network;

The session management network element in the visited network sends the first information to the session management network element in the home network.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the first information is used to obtain EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.
The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the first information is used to indicate: among the EAS deployment locations determined according to the location of the terminal device, the deployment location of the EAS that is allowed to be accessed by the terminal device ;

The session management network element in the visited network determines the first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device, including:

The session management network element in the visited network determines the first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device and policy information, where the policy information is used to indicate that the visited network is allowed to send information to the home Deployment location of the EAS sent by the network.
The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the first information is used to indicate: among the EAS deployment locations determined according to the location of the terminal device, the deployment location of the EAS that is allowed to be accessed by the terminal device ;

The session management network element in the visited network determines the first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device, including:

The session management network element in the visited network determines the second information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device;

The session management network element in the visited network sends a request message to the policy control network element in the visited network, where the request message includes the second information, and the request message is used to request that the visited network allow the Describe the deployment location of the EAS sent by the home network;

The session management network element in the visited network receives the first information from the policy control network element in the visited network, and the first information is determined according to the second information.
The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, further comprising:

The session management network element in the visited network sends the identifier of the visited network to the session management network element in the home network.
A communication method, characterized by comprising:

The data management network element in the home network receives a request message from the session management network element in the home network, where the request message includes first information corresponding to the terminal device, and the first information is used to indicate that the edge in the visited network The deployment location of the application server EAS, the request message is used to request to obtain the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information;

The data management network element in the home network sends the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information to the session management network element in the home network.
The method according to claim 14, wherein the request message further includes the identifier of the visited network, and the method further comprises:

The data management network element in the home network determines EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the identifier of the visited network and the first information.
The method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the method further comprises:

The data management network element in the home network locally stores the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information.
A communication method, characterized by comprising:

The session management network element in the visited network determines the first information corresponding to the terminal device according to the location of the terminal device. information, the first information is used to indicate the deployment location of the edge application server EAS in the visited network;

The session management network element in the visited network sends the first information to the session management network element in the home network;

The session management network element in the home network acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information.
The method according to claim 17, wherein the session management network element in the home network acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information, including:

The session management network element in the home network sends a request message to the data management network element in the home network, the request message includes the first information, and the request message is used to request to obtain the first information corresponding to EAS deployment information;

The data management network element in the home network sends the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information to the session management network element in the home network.
The method according to claim 18, wherein the request message further includes the identifier of the visited network, and the method further comprises:

The data management network element in the home network determines EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the identifier of the visited network and the first information.
The method according to claim 17, wherein the session management network element in the home network acquires EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information according to the first information, including:

The session management network element in the home network sends a request message to the data management network element in the visited network, the request message includes the first information, and the request message is used to request to obtain the first information corresponding to EAS deployment information;

The data management network element in the visited network sends the EAS deployment information corresponding to the first information to the session management network element in the home network.
The method according to any one of claims 17 to 20, further comprising:

The session management network element in the visited network sends the identifier of the visited network to the session management network element in the home network.
A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises: a unit for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, or a unit for performing the method according to any one of claims 9 to 13 The unit of the method described above, or the unit for performing the method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, or the unit for performing the method according to any one of claims 17 to 21.
A communication device, characterized in that it includes:

A processor, configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, or makes the device execute any one of claims 9 to 13 The method described in item 1, or causing the device to perform the method described in any one of claims 14 to 16, or causing the device to perform the method described in any one of claims 17 to 21.
The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising the memory.
The device according to claim 23 or 24, characterized in that the device further comprises a communication interface, the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the communication interface is used for inputting and/or outputting information.
The device according to any one of claims 23 to 25, wherein the device is a chip.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer A computer program, when the computer program is run on a computer, it makes the computer execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, or makes the computer execute the method according to any one of claims 9 to 13. The method described in item 1, or causing the computer to execute the method described in any one of claims 14 to 16, or causing the computer to execute the method described in any one of claims 17 to 21.
A computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product includes instructions for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, or the computer program product includes instructions for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 9 to 13, or the computer program product includes instructions for performing the method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, or, the computer program product includes Instructions for performing a method as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 21.
A communication system, characterized in that it includes any of the following:

A session management network element in the home network, and one or more of the following for communicating with the session management network element in the home network: a data management network element in the home network, a session management network element in the visited network A network element, a data management network element in the visited network; or,

A session management network element in the visited network, and one or more of the following for communicating with the session management network element in the visited network: a session management network element in the home network, policy control in the visited network network element;

Wherein, the session management network element in the home network is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, and the session management network element in the visited network is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 9 to 13. According to any one of the methods, the data management network element in the home network is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 14 to 16.