WO2024012379A1

WO2024012379A1 - Communication method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2024012379A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/106391
Authority: WO
Inventors: 韩之琳; 朱浩仁
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2022-07-13
Filing date: 2023-07-07
Publication date: 2024-01-18
Also published as: CN117440450A

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: acquiring identification information of a satellite where a first access network device is located, wherein a terminal device is switched from accessing a second access network device to accessing the first access network device; determining a first transmission path according to the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located and topological information of a satellite network, the topological information comprising channel information between satellites in the satellite network, the first transmission path being a transmission path of a data stream of the terminal device, and the first transmission path comprising the first access network device; and sending, to the first access network device, information used for indicating the first transmission path. By using the design, the inter-satellite link can be updated when the access network device accessed by the terminal device is switched.

Description

A communication method and device

Cross-references to related applications

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application submitted to the China Patent Office on July 13, 2022, with application number 202210826197.9 and the application title "A communication method and device", the entire content of which is incorporated into this application by reference.

Technical field

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

Background technique

In a scenario where the inter-satellite link is a single hop (onehop), the satellite serves as a transparent forwarding channel, and most of the transmission links are located on the ground network. In a multi-hop scenario where inter-satellite links exist, access network equipment can be deployed on satellites. For example, if the regeneration mode is used for satellite access, the satellite, as a next generation base station (next generation NodeB, gNB) or gNB-distributed unit (DU) in the 5G mobile communication system, has the ability to process data on the satellite.

During user plane data transmission, uplink and downlink data from access network equipment to user plane network elements may need to pass through multi-hop inter-satellite links. In a multi-hop inter-satellite link scenario, unlike a relatively static terrestrial bearer network, since the status of the inter-satellite link is greatly affected by the topology of the satellite network, when the access network equipment connected to the terminal device is switched, How to synchronously update inter-satellite links is an issue worthy of attention.

Contents of the invention

This application provides a communication method and device to update the inter-satellite link when the access network equipment accessed by the terminal equipment is switched.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method. The method includes: obtaining the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located, wherein the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device. Access network equipment; determine the first transmission path according to the identification information of the satellite where the first access network equipment is located and the topology information of the satellite network, where the topology information includes channel information between satellites in the satellite network, so The first transmission path is a transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device and the first transmission path includes the first access network device; sending an instruction to the first access network device to indicate the first Transmission path information.

In another possible design, the identification information of the first access network device is obtained, wherein the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device; according to the first The identification information of the access network device and the topology information of the satellite network determine a first transmission path. The topology information includes channel information between satellites in the satellite network. The first transmission path is the data of the terminal device. A transmission path of the flow and the first transmission path includes the first access network device; sending information indicating the first transmission path to the first access network device.

Using the above design, when the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device, the session management network element can use the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located and the satellite network to The topology information determines the new transmission path and updates the inter-satellite link when the access network device connected to the terminal device switches.

In a possible design, the method further includes: obtaining the topology information.

In a possible design, when obtaining the topology information, the first access network device receives the topology information.

Using the above design, topology information can be obtained from the access network device. The access network device here can be the first access network device or other access network devices, which is not limited in this application.

In a possible design, when obtaining the topology information, a subscription request message is sent to the network capability opening network element. The subscription request message is used to request notification of the topology information of the new satellite network. From the network capability opening The network element receives a subscription response message, where the subscription response message includes the topology information.

Using the above design, you can subscribe to topology information.

In one possible design, first indication information is received, and the first indication information is used to trigger acquisition of the topology information; when acquiring the topology information, the control plane network is controlled from the bearer network according to the first indication information. element to obtain the topological information.

Using the above design, triggering the acquisition of topology information can be achieved.

In one possible design, when obtaining the identification information of the satellite where the first access network equipment is located, the identification information of the first access network equipment is received; according to the identification information of the access network equipment and the identification of the satellite The corresponding relationship between the information and the identification information of the first access network device determines the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located.

The above design can be used to determine the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located based on the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the access network device and the identification information of the satellite, as well as the identification information of the first access network device.

In a possible design, the information used to indicate the first transmission path includes identification information of the first transmission path, and/or the identification information of the satellite node through which the data flow passes on the first transmission path. Identification information.

In a possible design, the method further includes: sending information indicating the first transmission path and a first label to the user plane network element, where the first label is used to determine the location of the data flow in the terminal device. A link between any two adjacent satellite nodes in a transmission path.

The above design can be used to notify user plane network elements of the latest transmission path information and the corresponding relationship between labels.

In a possible design, the method further includes: sending a first label to the first access network device, where the first label is used to determine any two phases in the transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device. links between adjacent satellite nodes.

In a possible design, the channel information includes one or more of the following: identification information of satellites of the satellite network, identification information of channels between satellites of the satellite network, satellites of the satellite network The channel delay between them, the channel bandwidth between satellites of the satellite network, and the channel overhead between satellites of the satellite network.

In a second aspect, this application provides a communication method. The method includes: a first network element sending identification information of a first access network device to a session management network element, wherein the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device. to access the first access network device; the first network element receives information indicating a first transmission path from the session management network element, and the first transmission path is the data flow of the terminal device transmission path and the first transmission path includes the first access network device.

Using the above design, the first network element can obtain the updated transmission path information from the session management network element, thereby updating the inter-satellite link when the access network device connected to the terminal device is switched.

In a possible design, the method further includes: the first network element sending first indication information to the session management network element, the first indication information being used to trigger the session management network element to obtain the topology of the satellite network Information, the topology information includes channel information between satellites in the satellite network.

The above design is used to trigger the acquisition of topology information of the satellite network.

In a possible design, the first network element is the first access network device; before sending the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element, the first The access network device receives a first label from the second access network device, and the first label is used to determine a link between any two adjacent satellite nodes in the transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device. path; the first access network device caches the uplink data packet of the data flow of the terminal device; after receiving information indicating the first transmission path from the session management network element, the first access network device The network access device adds the header of the uplink data packet to the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path to obtain the processed uplink data packet. The first access network device provides the user with The network element sends the processed uplink data packet.

Using the above design, the first access network device can obtain the first label from the second access network device, and add the header of the cached uplink data packet to the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path, thereby ensuring QoS performance of data packet transmission on inter-satellite links.

In a possible design, the method further includes: the first access network device receiving second indication information from the second access network device, the second indication information being used to instruct the first access network The device caches the uplink data packet of the data flow of the terminal device; when the first access network device caches the uplink data packet of the data flow of the terminal device, the first access network device caches the uplink data packet of the data flow of the terminal device according to the first access network device. Instruct information to cache the uplink data packet.

Using the above design, it is possible to cache uplink data packets according to the second instruction information from the second access network device.

In a possible design, the method further includes: the first access network device receiving third indication information from the second access network device, the third indication information being used to instruct the first access network The device adds the header of the uplink data packet of the data flow of the terminal device to the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path; the first access network device adds the uplink data The first label and the information indicating the first transmission path are added to the header of the packet. When obtaining the processed uplink data packet, the first access network device converts the processed uplink data packet according to the third indication information. The first label and the information indicating the first transmission path are added to the header of the uplink data packet to obtain the processed uplink data packet.

The above design can be used to add the header of the cached uplink data packet to the first label and the information used to indicate the first transmission path according to the third instruction information from the second access network device, thereby ensuring that the data packet is transmitted between satellites. QoS performance of link transmission.

In a possible design, before the first network element receives information indicating the first transmission path from the session management network element, the first access network device sends a message to the session management network element. Topology information of the satellite network, the topology information includes channel information between satellites in the satellite network.

Using the above design, the first access network device can provide topology information for the session management network element.

In a possible design, the first network element is a first access and mobility management network element, and the first access and mobility management network element is a network element that communicates with the first access network device. Access and mobility management network element; before sending the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element, the first access and mobility management network element obtains the information from the second access network element. and the mobility management network element receives the first label and the identification information of the first access network device, wherein the first access and mobility management network element and the second access and mobility management network element Differently, the second access and mobility management network element is an access and mobility management network element that communicates with the second access network device, and the first label is used to determine the data on the terminal device. A link between any two adjacent satellite nodes in the transmission path of the flow; after receiving information indicating the first transmission path from the session management network element, the first access and mobility The management network element sends the first label and information indicating the first transmission path to the first access network device.

Using the above design, the first access and mobility management network element receives the first label from the second access and mobility management network element, and after receiving the information indicating the first transmission path, sends the first label to the first access and mobility management network element. The network device sends the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path, thereby enabling the first access network device to add the header of the uplink data packet to the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path, thereby ensuring that the data QoS performance of packet transmission on inter-satellite links.

In a third aspect, this application also provides a communication device. The device can perform the above method design. The device may be a chip or circuit capable of performing the functions corresponding to the above methods, or a device including the chip or circuit.

In a possible implementation, the device includes: a memory for storing computer executable program code; and a processor, the processor is coupled to the memory. The program code stored in the memory includes instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the device or the device installed with the device executes the method in any of the above possible designs.

Wherein, the device may further include a communication interface, which may be a transceiver, or, if the device is a chip or a circuit, the communication interface may be an input/output interface of the chip, such as an input/output pin, etc.

In a possible design, the device includes corresponding functional units, respectively used to implement the steps in the above method. Functions can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. Hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium that stores a computer program. When the computer program is run on a device, the method in any of the above possible designs is executed.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product. The computer program product includes a computer program. When the computer program is run on a device, the method in any of the above possible designs is executed.

Description of drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the mobile communication system applied in this application;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the service-oriented architecture of the core network control plane in this application;

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the transparent mode of satellite as an access technology in this application;

Figure 4A is one of the schematic diagrams of the regeneration mode of satellite as an access technology in this application;

Figure 4B is the second schematic diagram of the regeneration mode of satellite as an access technology in this application;

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the topology of the satellite network in this application;

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of possible application scenarios of the embodiment of the present application;

Figure 7A is a schematic diagram of the bearer network control plane network element as the AF network element in this application when the access network equipment and the user plane network element can both be deployed on the satellite;

Figure 7B is a schematic diagram of the bearer network control plane network as a functional module in OAM when both access network equipment and user plane network elements can be deployed on satellites in this application;

Figure 7C is a schematic diagram of the bearer network control plane network element as the AF network element in this application when the access network equipment is deployed on the satellite and the user plane network element is deployed on the ground;

Figure 7D is a schematic diagram of the bearer network control plane network element as a functional module in OAM when the access network equipment is deployed on the satellite and the user plane network element is deployed on the ground in this application;

Figure 7E is a schematic diagram of the access network device providing topology information when the access network device is deployed on a satellite in this application;

Figure 8 is one of the overview flow charts of a communication method in this application;

Figure 9 is the second overview flow chart of a communication method in this application;

Figure 10 is one of the specific flow charts of inter-planetary link update when the UE switches from -RAN to T-RAN in this application;

Figure 11 is the second specific flow chart of inter-planetary link update when the UE switches from -RAN to T-RAN in this application;

Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of path information and label storage in this application;

Figure 13 is one of the structural schematic diagrams of a communication device in this application;

Figure 14 is the second structural schematic diagram of a communication device in this application.

Detailed ways

The embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, but not all of the embodiments. The terms "first", "second" and corresponding term labels in the description and claims of this application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that The terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and are merely a way of distinguishing objects of the same attributes in the description of the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any of their Variations, intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, such that a process, method, system, product or apparatus comprising a list of elements need not be limited to those elements but may include processes, methods, products or apparatus not expressly listed or specific to such processes, methods, systems, products or apparatus. Inherent other units.

In the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "/" means or, for example, A/B can mean A or B; "and/or" in this application is just an association relationship describing related objects. , indicating that three relationships can exist, for example, A and/or B can represent: A alone exists, A and B exist at the same time, and B alone exists. In addition, in the description of this application, "at least one item" refers to one or more items, and "multiple items" refers to two or more items. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions thereof refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of a single item (items) or a plurality of items (items). For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple .

As shown in Figure 1 below, the third generation partnership project (3GPP) system architecture includes: terminal equipment (for example, user equipment (UE)), access network (AN) ) equipment (e.g., radio access network (RAN) equipment), user plane function (UPF) network elements, data network (DN), access and mobility management functions (access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF) network element, unified data management (UDM) network element, unified data repository (UDR) network element, policy control function (Policy control function, PCF) network element, application function (AF) network element, network slice selection function (NSSF) network element, authentication server function (AUSF) network element, etc.

In addition, Figure 1 also shows the interactive relationship between network functional entities and the corresponding interfaces. For example, UE and AMF can interact through the N1 interface. The interactions between other network functional entities are similar and will not be described again here. .

In addition, some interfaces between network functional entities can also be implemented in the form of service interfaces, as shown in Figure 2. For example, the core network control plane adopts a service-oriented architecture, and the interaction between control plane network elements adopts service invocation to replace the point-to-point communication method in the traditional architecture. In the service-based architecture, control plane network elements will open services to other control plane network elements for calls by other control plane network elements; in point-to-point communication, the communication interfaces between control plane network elements will store a specific set of messages, only It can be used by the control plane network elements at both ends of the interface during communication.

In Figure 1, UE, AN, UPF and DN are generally called user layer network functional entities. User data traffic can pass through the protocol data unit (PDU) session (PDU session) established between UE and DN. For transmission, the transmission paths of UE and DN may also include AN and UPF. In Figure 1, network functional entities other than UE, AN, UPF and DN can be called control layer network functional entities, which are mainly responsible for functions such as authentication and authentication, registration management, session management, mobility management and policy control. , thereby achieving reliable and stable transmission of user layer traffic.

The following is a brief introduction to each network functional entity involved in the system shown in Figures 1 and 2:

The terminal device is the entrance for mobile users to interact with the network. It can provide basic computing capabilities and storage capabilities, display business windows to users, and receive user operation inputs. Next-generation terminal equipment (NextGen UE) can use new air interface technology to establish signal connections and data connections with the RAN to transmit control signals and business data to the mobile network. Terminal devices may include various handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities. equipment, vehicle equipment, wearable devices, computing equipment or other processing equipment connected to wireless modems, as well as various forms of terminals, mobile stations (MS), terminals, soft terminals, etc., such as water meters, Meters, sensors, etc.

AN is deployed close to terminal equipment to provide network access functions for authorized users in specific areas, and can determine transmission tunnels of different qualities to transmit user data based on user levels, business needs, etc. AN can manage its own resources, utilize them rationally, provide access services to terminal devices on demand, and is responsible for forwarding control signals and user data between terminal devices and the core network.

DN is a data network that provides business services to users. Generally, the client is located in the terminal device and the server is located in the data network. The data network can be a private network, such as a local area network, or an external network that is not controlled by the operator, such as the Internet. It can also be a proprietary network deployed by operators, such as an IP multimedia network subsystem. core network subsystem, IMS) service network.

The core network is responsible for maintaining the contract data of the mobile network, managing the network elements of the mobile network, and providing session management, mobility management, policy management, security authentication and other functions for terminal devices. When the terminal device is attached, network access authentication is provided for the terminal device; when the terminal device has a service request, network resources are allocated to the terminal device; when the terminal device moves, network resources are updated for the terminal device; when the terminal device is idle, Provide a quick recovery mechanism for the terminal device; release network resources for the terminal device when the terminal device is detached; when the terminal device has business data, provide data routing functions for the terminal device, such as forwarding uplink data to the data network; or from data The network receives downlink data from the terminal device and forwards it to the RAN, which then sends it to the terminal device. Among them, the core network user plane includes UPF; the core network control plane includes AMF, SMF, network exposure function (NEF), NRF, UDM, NSSF, AUSF, PCF, AF, etc.

The following is a brief introduction to the functions of network functional entities in the core network:

1. Session management network element: Mainly used for session management, IP address allocation and management of terminal equipment, selecting endpoints that can manage user equipment plane functions, policy control, or charging function interfaces, and downlink data notifications. In 5G communications, the session management network element can be an SMF network element. In future communications such as 6G communications, the session management function network element can still be an SMF network element, or have other names. This application does not limit this. Nsmf is a service-based interface provided by SMF. SMF can communicate with other network functions through Nsmf.

2. Access management network element, also known as access and mobility management network element: mainly used for mobility management and access management, etc., for example, it can be a mobility management entity (MME) in a 4G communication network ) function or the AMF network element in the 5G network. In future communications such as 6G communications, the access management network element can still be an AMF network element, or have other names, which is not limited in this application. Namf is a service-based interface provided by AMF. AMF can communicate with other network functions through Namf.

3. Network capability opening network element: used to securely open services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions to the outside world. In 5G communications, network capability opening network elements can be NEF network elements. In future communications such as 6G communications, network capability opening network elements can still be NEF network elements, or have other names. This application does not limit this. Nnef is a service-based interface provided by NEF. NEF can communicate with other network functions through Nnef.

4. Network storage network element: used to provide service registration, discovery and authorization, and maintain available network function (NF) instance information, which can realize on-demand configuration of network functions and services and interconnection between NFs. In 5G communications, network storage network elements can be NRF network elements. In future communications such as 6G communications, network storage function network elements can still be NRF network elements, or have other names. This application does not limit this. Nnrf is a service-based interface provided by NRF. NRF can communicate with other network functions through Nnrf.

5. Policy control network element: A unified policy framework used to guide network behavior, providing policy rule information for control plane functional network elements (such as AMF, SMF, etc.). In 5G communications, the policy control network element can be a PCF network element. In future communications such as 6G communications, the policy control network element can still be a PCF network element, or have other names. This application does not limit this. Npcf is a service-based interface provided by PCF. PCF can communicate with other network functions through Npcf.

6. Data management network element: used to process user identification, subscription, access authentication, registration, or mobility management, etc. In 5G communication, the data management network element can be a UDM network element. In future communications such as 6G communication, the data management network element can still be a UDM network element, or have other names. This application does not limit this. Nudm is a service-based interface provided by UDM. UDM can communicate with other network functions through Nudm.

7. Application network element: used for data routing affected by applications, access to network open functions, or interaction with the policy framework for policy control, etc. In 5G communication, the application network element can be an AF network element. In future communications such as 6G communication, the application network element can still be an AF network element, or have other names. This application does not limit this. Naf is a service-based interface provided by AF. AF can communicate with other network functions through Naf.

8. User plane network element: used for packet routing and forwarding, or quality of service (QoS) processing of user plane data. In 5G communications, user plane network elements can be UPF network elements. In future communications such as 6G communications, user plane network elements can still be UPF network elements, or have other names. This application does not limit this.

9. Authentication service network element: mainly used for user authentication, etc. In 5G communications, the authentication service network element can be an AUSF network element. In future communications such as 6G communication, the authentication service network element can still be an AUSF network element, or have other names. This application does not limit this. Nausf is a service-based interface provided by AUSF. AUSF can communicate with other network functions through Nausf.

10. Network slicing selection function network element: used to select network slicing for terminal equipment. In 5G communication, the network slicing selection function network element can be an NSSF network element. In future communications such as 6G communication, the network slicing selection function network element will still be It may be an NSSF network element or have other names, which is not limited in this application.

It can be understood that the core network may also include other network functional entities, which is not limited in this application.

The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application can be applied to various communication systems. For example: it can be applied to 5G systems, and it can also be applied to other new future-oriented systems, such as 6G systems. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this. Additionally, the term "system" is interchangeable with "network."

In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, several basic concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application are briefly explained.

1. Integration of air, space and ground

The integrated air, space and ground network consists of three parts: a space-based network composed of various orbiting satellites, a space-based network composed of aircraft, and a traditional ground-based network. The ground-based network includes cellular wireless networks, satellite ground networks Stations and mobile satellite terminals as well as ground data and processing centers, etc.

It is understandable that the satellite-ground network can be an integrated network of space, space and ground, which is equivalent to the integration of space-based networks and ground-based networks. The architecture of the satellite-to-ground network can be divided into three types: sky-to-star network, space-based network, and sky-to-ground network.

Among them, in the Tianxing-Ground network, satellites serve as transparent forwarding channels to transmit data to the ground network for processing. Since data is transmitted to the ground network for processing, the Tianxing Ground Network requires ground gateway stations to be deployed densely enough.

In space-based networks, data exchange, data processing, and network control capabilities are placed on satellites, weakening the requirements for ground networks. Since data exchange, data processing, and network control capabilities are placed on satellites, space-based networks have higher requirements for satellite processing capabilities.

In the Skynet and Ground network, Skynet uses inter-satellite links to form a network, and most network management and control functions are completed on the ground network. Skynet and groundnet using inter-satellite links is a more likely research direction in the future.

In terms of business requirements, the air, space and ground integrated network is also designed to meet the demand scenarios of different business types, including:

Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) (for example, in areas where 5G is difficult to cover (such as cruise ships, polar regions));

Ultra-reliable low-latency communication (uRLLC) (for example, for long-distance ultra-low-latency scenarios (such as international financial institution transactions));

Massive machine-type communications (mMTC) (for example, for IoT application scenarios with low latency requirements such as oceans and deserts).

Therefore, relevant strategies need to be provided to ensure that the air, space and ground integrated network can meet the QoS requirements of different services.

At present, the research on 5GS China-Africa terrestrial networks in the standards is as follows:

There are three use cases for satellite access networks, namely:

Business continuity: Solve the problem of continuous access to the 5G system when users move between satellite and terrestrial networks;

Business universality: aimed at obtaining 5G services in unserved or underserved areas;

Business expandability: Utilize the wide coverage properties of satellites to broadcast non-time-sensitive data to reduce the burden on ground networks.

2. Satellite as the transparent mode of access technology and satellite as the regeneration mode of access technology

If the transparent mode is used for satellite access, the satellite only serves as a transparent forwarding channel and does not have on-board data processing capabilities. This avoids the pressure of signaling interaction between interfaces when the satellite moves at high speed, as shown in Figure 3.

If the regeneration mode is used during satellite access, the satellite serves as a gNB or gNB-DU in the 5G mobile communication system and has the ability to process data on the satellite. At the same time, more core network elements may also be deployed on satellites. As shown in Figure 4A, gNB-DU is deployed on the satellite, and as shown in Figure 4B, gNB-DU is deployed on the satellite.

In a scenario where the inter-satellite link is a single hop, the satellite serves as a transparent forwarding channel, and most of the transmission links are located on the ground network. Therefore, in terms of ensuring different services, the quality of server (QoS) slicing assurance technology of the bearer network can be used to achieve resource optimization. Reserved effects. but Yes, this method requires a long pre-configuration time and is only suitable for some high-value businesses.

In a multi-hop scenario where the inter-satellite link exists, unlike the relatively static terrestrial bearer network, the status of the inter-satellite link is greatly affected by the topology of the satellite network.

For example, in the topology of the satellite network shown on the left side of Figure 5, multiple satellites in the satellite network may be located in different layers, where the satellites range from low-earth orbit (LEO) to medium-earth orbit The single-hop transmission delay of the satellite (medium Earth orbit, MEO) is 18.3ms to 82.3ms, and the single-hop transmission delay of the satellite from MEO to the geostationary earth orbit (GEO) is 36.0ms to 96.0ms.

For another example, in the topology of the satellite network shown on the right side of Figure 5, multiple satellites in the satellite network may be in different orbits, or in the same orbit, and the heads-up transmission time of two satellites in the same orbit The delay is less than the head-on transmission delay of two satellites in different orbits.

As can be seen from Figure 5, the topology of the satellite network has a greater impact on the transmission delay of the inter-satellite link.

At the same time, the current 5G QoS identifier (5QI) parameter for satellite links is set to Non-guarantee bit rate (Non-GBR), which means that the current standard can only guarantee that the link is basically operational. It cannot meet more complex business needs.

The possible application scenarios of the embodiments of this application are described below:

As shown in Figure 6, in this embodiment of the present application, the access network equipment can be deployed on the satellite, and the user plane network elements can be deployed on the ground, or the access network equipment and user plane network elements can be deployed on the satellite at the same time, that is to say , access network equipment and user plane network elements can both be deployed on satellites.

During the process of user plane data transmission, the uplink and downlink data from the access network equipment to the user plane network elements need to pass through multi-hop inter-satellite links. In other words, the transmission path between the access network equipment and the user plane network elements may Including one or more satellites, as can be seen from the satellites within the range shown by the circle in Figure 6, multiple paths can be included from satellite 1 to satellite 3. There may also be multiple links between any two adjacent satellites in each path, where different links correspond to different QoS requirements. As shown in Figure 6, there are three links between satellite 4 and satellite 5.

In addition, during the user plane data transmission process, if the user plane network elements are deployed on satellites, the uplink and downlink data from the user plane network elements to the data network may also need to pass through multi-hop inter-satellite links.

For example, the following are schematic diagrams of several possible application scenarios of this application:

As shown in Figure 7A and Figure 7B, access network equipment and user plane network elements can both be deployed on satellites. In Figures 7A and 7B, the access network equipment is represented by a satellite base station, and the user plane network element is represented by an on-satellite UPF.

Among them, the bearer network control plane network element can be a software-defined network controller (SDN-controller). Among them, the bearer network control plane network element can be a separate AF network element, communicating with the 5G core network control plane (5G Core control plane, 5GC-CP) network element (for example, session management network element) through the network capability opening network element. As shown in Figure 7A. Alternatively, the control plane element of the bearer network can be a functional module in the network management (Operation, Administration and Maintenance, OAM), as shown in Figure 7B. For example, the OAM can directly communicate with the 5GC-CP network element (for example, the session management network element) .

Among them, the gateway station is the gateway station that connects the satellite network with the ground core network and other control modules. Gateway station a is the bearer network control plane element that connects satellites in the sky and the ground. Gateway station b is the 5G Core control plane (5GC-CP) network element that connects satellites in the sky and the ground.

As shown in Figure 7C, Figure 7D, and Figure 7E, access network equipment can be deployed on satellites, and user plane network elements can be deployed on the ground. In Figure 7C, Figure 7D and Figure 7E, the access network equipment is represented by a satellite base station, and the user plane network element is represented by a UPF.

The bearer network control plane network element can be a separate AF network element, communicating with the 5GC-CP network element (for example, session management network element) through the network capability opening network element, as shown in Figure 7C. Alternatively, the bearer network control plane network element can be a functional module in OAM, as shown in Figure 7D. OAM can directly communicate with the 5GC-CP network element (for example, session management network element).

Gateway station a is a user plane network element that connects satellites in the sky and the ground. Gateway station b is the bearer network control plane element that connects satellites in the sky and the ground.

In the above-mentioned Figures 7A to 7D, the bearer network control plane network element can provide the topology information of the satellite network for the 5GC-CP network element (for example, the session management network element).

In the above-mentioned Figure 7E, the satellite base station can provide the topology information of the satellite network for the 5GC-CP network element (for example, the session management network element). Gateway station a is a user plane network element that connects satellites in the sky and the ground. Gateway station b is the 5GC-CP network element that connects satellites in the sky and the ground.

In this application, the topology information of the satellite network includes channel information between satellites in the satellite network, where the channel information includes one or more of the following:

Identification information of satellites in the satellite network, identification information of the channels between satellites in the satellite network, channel delay between satellites in the satellite network, channel bandwidth between satellites in the satellite network, channel overhead between satellites in the satellite network .

Based on this, this application provides a communication method to update the inter-satellite link when the access network device accessed by the terminal device is switched.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 8, the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device. And no handover occurs between access and mobility management network elements and user plane network elements.

Step 800: The first access network device receives a first label from the second access network device. The first label is used to determine a link between any two adjacent satellite nodes in the transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device. .

Illustratively, the first tag may be carried by the handover request message.

The first label may be sent by the session management network element to the second access network device during the session establishment process, and the first label may be determined based on the data flow characteristics of the terminal device. For example, the characteristic information of the data flow includes the resource type of the data flow and/or the priority of the data flow. Among them, resource types include video streams, audio streams, etc., and the priority can be characterized by 5G QoS identifier (5G QoS identifier, 5QI).

Step 810: The first access network device caches the uplink data packets of the data flow of the terminal device.

In an example, after receiving the first label, the first access network device caches the uplink data packet, that is, the first access network device can be implicitly instructed to cache the uplink data through the first label or a message carrying the first label. Bag.

In another example, the first access network device may also receive second indication information from the second access network device. The second indication information is used to instruct the first access network device to cache the uplink data packet of the data flow of the terminal device. . At this time, the first access network device caches the uplink data packet according to the first indication information. The first label and the second indication information may be sent separately or carried by the same message.

Step 820: The first access network device sends the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element.

For example, the first access network device may send the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element through the access and mobility management network element.

Step 830: The session management network element determines the first transmission path based on the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located and the topology information of the satellite network. The first transmission path is the transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device and the first transmission path includes The first access network equipment.

Further, after the session management network element receives the identification information of the first access network device, the session management network element may use the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the access network device and the identification information of the satellite, and the first access network device to The identification information determines the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located. Among them, the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the access network device and the identification information of the satellite can be configured in advance on the session management network element, or included in the topology information.

It can be understood that, in order to determine the first transmission path based on the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located and the topology information of the satellite network, the session management network element also needs to obtain the topology information.

In a possible implementation manner, the session management network element may receive topology information from the first access network device.

In a possible implementation, the session management network element can send a subscription request message to the network capability opening network element. The subscription request message is used to request notification of the topology information of the new satellite network, and receive a subscription response message from the network capability opening network element. , the subscription response message includes topology information.

In a possible implementation manner, the session management network element may also receive first indication information, and the first indication information is used to trigger acquisition of topology information. The session management network element may obtain the topology information from the bearer network control plane network element according to the first indication information.

For example, when the session management network element periodically obtains topology information, the session management network element obtains the latest topology information from the bearer network control plane network element according to the first indication information.

For example, if every time the topology information of the satellite network changes, the control plane network element of the bearer network actively sends the latest topology information to the session management network element, then the session management network element does not need to obtain the latest topology information from the bearer network again according to the first indication information. Control plane network elements obtain topology information.

Further, when the session management network element determines the first transmission path based on the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located and the topology information of the satellite network, the following methods may be used, but are not limited to:

In one possible design, the session management network element uses the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located, the identification information of the satellite where the user plane network element is located, the identification information of the gateway station, the topology information of the satellite network and the data flow. The characteristic information determines the first transmission path. At this time, user plane network elements are also deployed on the satellite.

In another possible design, the session management network element determines the first access network device based on the identification information of the first access network device, the identification information of the user plane network element, the identification information of the gateway station, the topology information of the satellite network, and the characteristic information of the data flow. a transmission path. At this time, user plane network elements are also deployed on the satellite.

In another possible design, the session management network element uses the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located and the identification information of the user plane network element to The first transmission path is determined based on the identification information, the identification information of the gateway station, the topology information of the satellite network and the characteristic information of the data flow. At this time, the user plane network elements are not deployed on the satellite, that is, the user plane network elements are deployed on the ground.

In another possible design, the session management network element is determined based on the identification information of the first access network device, the identification information of the user plane network element, the identification information of the gateway station, the topology information of the satellite network, and the characteristic information of the data flow. first transmission path. At this time, the user plane network elements are not deployed on the satellite, that is, the user plane network elements are deployed on the ground.

The first transmission path is a transmission path between the first access network device and the gateway station.

For example, the characteristic information of the data flow includes the resource type of the data flow and/or the priority of the data flow. Among them, resource types include video streams, audio streams, etc., and priorities can be characterized by 5G QoS identifier (5G QoS identifier, 5QI) and QoS requirement information.

Step 840: The session management network element sends information indicating the first transmission path to the first access network device.

For example, the session management network element may send information indicating the first transmission path to the first access network device through the access and mobility management network element.

The information used to indicate the first transmission path includes identification information of the first transmission path, such as path ID, and/or identification information of the satellite node through which the data flow passes on the first transmission path. For example, the first transmission path includes If there are 5 satellite nodes, the information used to indicate the first transmission path includes the identification information of these 5 satellite nodes.

In addition, when the information used to indicate the first transmission path only includes the identification information of the first transmission path, the session management network element also sends to the bearer network control plane network element the identification of the satellite node through which the data flow passes on the first transmission path. information.

It can be understood that before the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device, the session management network element saves the corresponding relationship between the first label and the second transmission path, where the second The transmission path includes a second access network device, and the second transmission path is a transmission path of the data flow before the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device. After the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device, and after the session management network element determines the first transmission path, the session management network element may save the first label and the first transmission path. The corresponding relationship of the paths, that is, updating the transmission path corresponding to the first label. Optionally, the session management network element may also send the first label to the first access network device.

Step 850: The first access network device adds the first label and information indicating the first transmission path to the header of the uplink data packet to obtain the processed uplink data packet.

Exemplarily, the first access network device may also receive third indication information from the second access network device. The third indication information is used to instruct the first access network device to change the header of the uplink data packet of the data flow of the terminal device. The first label and the information of the transmission path corresponding to the first label are added, that is, the information used to indicate the first transmission path. Therefore, the first access network device can add the first label and the information used to indicate the first transmission path to the header of the uplink data packet according to the third indication information to obtain the processed uplink data packet.

The first label and the third indication information may be sent separately or carried by the same message.

Step 860: The first access network device sends the processed uplink data packet to the user plane network element.

In addition, the session management network element may also send information indicating the first transmission path and the first label to the user plane network element. For details, please refer to the relevant description in Figure 10 below.

Using the above design, when the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device, the first access network device can obtain the first label from the second access network device, and from the session The management network element obtains the updated information about the transmission path corresponding to the first label, and then ensures that the data packet is transmitted on the inter-satellite link by carrying the first label and the information about the transmission path corresponding to the first label in the uplink data packet. QoS performance.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 9, the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device. And the first access network device communicates with the first access and mobility management network element, the second access network device communicates with the second access and mobility management network element, and the first access and mobility management network element communicates with Unlike the second access and mobility management network elements, handover does not occur in user plane network elements.

Step 900: The first access and mobility management network element receives the first label and the identification information of the first access network device from the second access and mobility management network element. The first label is used to determine the data on the terminal device. A link between any two adjacent satellite nodes in the transmission path of a stream.

Exemplarily, the second access and mobility management network element obtains the first label from the second access network device.

For relevant description of the first tag, please refer to the above-mentioned step 800.

Step 910: The first access and mobility management network element sends the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element.

Step 920: The session management network element determines the first transmission path based on the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located and the topology information of the satellite network. The first transmission path is the transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device and the first transmission path includes The first access network equipment.

For details, please refer to the relevant description in step 830 above.

Step 930: The session management network element sends information indicating the first transmission path to the first access and mobility management network element.

It can be understood that before the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device, the session management network element saves the corresponding relationship between the first label and the second transmission path, where the second The transmission path includes a second access network device, and the second transmission path is a transmission path of the data flow before the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device. After the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device, and after the session management network element determines the first transmission path, the session management network element can save the first label and the first transmission path. The corresponding relationship of the paths, that is, updating the transmission path corresponding to the first label. Optionally, the session management network element may also send the first label to the first access and mobility management network element.

Step 940: The first access and mobility management network element sends the first label and information indicating the first transmission path to the first access network device.

For example, the first access and mobility management network element may obtain the first label through step 900, or may obtain the first label through step 930.

Step 950: The first access network device adds the first label and information indicating the first transmission path to the header of the received uplink data packet to obtain the processed uplink data packet.

Step 960: The first access network device sends the processed uplink data packet to the user plane network element.

In addition, the session management network element may also send information indicating the first transmission path and the first label to the user plane network element. For details, please refer to the relevant description in Figure 11 below.

Using the above design, when the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device, the first access and mobility management network element can obtain the first label from the second access network device , and obtain updated transmission path information corresponding to the first label from the session management network element, and send the first label and the transmission path information corresponding to the first label to the first access network device, and then use the An access network device carries the first label and the transmission path information corresponding to the first label in the uplink data packet to ensure the QoS performance of the data packet transmitted on the inter-satellite link.

As shown in FIG. 10 , the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 will be further described. The source access network device (sourceRAN, S-RAN) corresponds to the above-mentioned second access network device, and the target access network device (targetRAN, T-RAN) corresponds to the above-mentioned first access network device. The session management network element is represented by SMF, and the access and mobility management network element is represented by AMF.

Step 1: S-RAN sends a handover request message to T-RAN.

Exemplarily, the handover request message includes the first tag. The first label is used to determine the link between any two adjacent satellite nodes in the transmission path of the UE's data stream. The first label may be a parameter sent by the SMF to the S-RAN during the establishment of a PDU session in which the S-RAN participates.

Optionally, the handover request message may also include indication information #1. The indication information #1 is used to indicate that the T-RAN buffer has received the uplink data packet from the UE. Instruction information #1 may correspond to the above-mentioned second instruction information.

Step 2: T-RAN sends a handover request ACK message to S-RAN.

For example, after T-RAN receives the handover request message from S-RAN, T-RAN performs admission control to determine whether to accept the handover request. If it is determined that the handover request is accepted, step 2 is performed.

Step 3: The UE sends the uplink data packet to the T-RAN.

Step 4: T-RAN caches the received uplink data packets.

At this time, since T-RAN has not yet learned the transmission path from T-RAN to UPF, T-RAN does not forward the received uplink data packet to UPF.

For example, if the handover request message in step 1 also includes indication information #1, the T-RAN caches the received uplink data packet according to the indication information #1.

Step 5: T-RAN sends T-RAN identification information to AMF.

For example, the identification information of T-RAN may be carried by an N2 path switch request (N2 path switch request) message.

In addition, the T-RAN may also send indication information #2 to the AMF, where the indication information #2 is used to trigger the SMF to obtain the topology information of the satellite network. Alternatively, T-RAN can also send the topology information of the satellite network to the AMF. For example, the indication information #2 or the topology information of the satellite network may also be carried by the N2 path conversion request message. Among them, the indication information #2 may correspond to the above-mentioned first indication information.

Step 6: AMF sends T-RAN identification information to SMF.

The identification information of T-RAN may be carried by the PDU session update session management context request (Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext_Request) message.

If step 5 also includes indication information #2 or the topology information of the satellite network, the indication information #2 or the topology information of the satellite network can also be carried by the PDU session update session management context request message.

Step 7: The SMF determines the first path information based on the topology information of the satellite network and the identification information of the T-RAN.

If the SMF does not obtain the topology information of the satellite network from step 6, that is, the T-RAN does not send the topology information of the satellite network to the AMF, then the SMF needs to obtain the topology information of the satellite network.

In a possible implementation, every time the topology information of the satellite network changes, the bearer network control plane network element (SDN-controller) can send the updated topology information of the satellite network to the SMF through NEF. After the SMF receives the updated topology information of the satellite network, the SMF saves the updated topology information of the satellite network. Therefore, when the SMF receives the identification information of the T-RAN, the SMF does not need to obtain the topology information of the satellite network and directly determines the first path information based on the saved topology information of the satellite network and the identification information of the T-RAN.

In a possible implementation, if the SMF periodically subscribes to the NEF for the topology information of the satellite network, then when the SMF receives the identification information of the T-RAN, the SMF can re-acquire the topology information of the satellite network, and according to the re-acquisition The topology information of the satellite network and the identification information of the T-RAN determine the first path information.

For example, when the SMF determines the first path information, the SMF may determine the identification information of the satellite where the T-RAN is located based on the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the RAN and the identification information of the satellite where the RAN is located, and the identification information of the T-RAN. Among them, the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the RAN and the identification information of the satellite where the RAN is located can be configured in the SMF in advance, or the topology information of the satellite network includes the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the RAN and the identification information of the satellite where the RAN is located. Further, the SMF determines the first path information based on the identification information of the satellite where the T-RAN is located and the topology information of the satellite network. That is to say, the SMF replaces the identification information of the satellite where the S-RAN is located with the identification information of the satellite where the T-RAN is located, and determines the first path information in combination with the latest topology information of the satellite network. For example, the SMF determines the first path information based on the topology information of the satellite network, the identification information of the T-RAN, the identification information of the gateway station, and the characteristic information of the data flow.

The transmission path indicated by the first path information is the transmission path of the UE's data flow between the T-RAN and the gateway station. The first path information may include identification information of the transmission path and/or identification information of satellite nodes that the data flow passes through on the transmission path.

In addition, the SMF can send the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the satellite nodes on the transmission path and the identification information of the transmission path to the SDN-controller through NEF. For example, SMF can send the above content through session management calculation information.

Step 8: SMF sends the first path information and the first identifier to UPF.

For example, SMF sends an N4 Session Modification Request (N4 Session Modification Request) message to UPF. The N4 session establishment modification message carries the first path information and the first label.

Optionally, the SMF may also send instruction information #3 to the UPF. The instruction information #3 instructs the UPF to add the header of the downlink data packet to the first path information and the first label.

In addition, UPF can also send N4 Session Modification Response (N4 Session Modification Response) message to SMF, which is not shown in the figure.

Step 9: UPF receives the downlink data packet sent to the UE.

Step 10: UPF adds the first path information and the first label to the header of the downlink data packet.

In addition, optionally, UPF can also add a timestamp to the header of the downlink data packet.

Step 11: The UPF sends the downlink data packet including the first path information and the first label to the T-RAN.

Further, after T-RAN receives the downlink data packet, T-RAN may send the downlink data packet to the UE.

Step 12: SMF sends the first path information to AMF.

Exemplarily, the first path information may be responded by PDU session update session management context

(Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext_Response) message carries.

Step 13: AMF sends the first path information to T-RAN.

For example, the first path information may be carried by an N2 path switch request ACK message.

Step 14: T-RAN adds the header of the cached uplink data packet to the first path information and the first label.

In addition, optionally, T-RAN can also add a timestamp to the header of the uplink data packet.

Step 15: T-RAN sends the uplink data packet including the first path information and the first label to the UPF.

Using the above design, during the process of switching from S-RAN to T-RAN, T-RAN obtains the first label from S-RAN, and obtains the updated path information corresponding to the first label (i.e., the first path) from SMF. information), T-RAN adds the cached uplink data packet to the updated path information corresponding to the first label and the first label, thereby ensuring QoS performance of data packet transmission on the inter-satellite link.

As shown in FIG. 11 , the above embodiment shown in FIG. 9 will be further described. Wherein, S-RAN corresponds to the above-mentioned second access network device, and T-RAN corresponds to the above-mentioned first access network device. The session management network element is represented by SMF, the source access and mobility management network element (sourceAMF, S-AMF) corresponds to the above-mentioned second access and mobility management network element, and the target access and mobility management network element (targetAMF, T -AMF) corresponds to the above-mentioned first access and mobility management network element. Among them, S-RAN can communicate with S-AMF, T-RAN can communicate with T-AMF, and S-AMF can communicate with T-AMF.

Step 1: S-RAN sends a handover request message to S-AMF.

Step 2: S-AMF select T-AMF.

Step 3: S-AMF sends the first label and T-RAN identification information to T-AMF.

Optionally, the S-AMF may also send indication information A to the T-AMF, where the indication information A is used to trigger the SMF to obtain the topology information of the satellite network. Instruction information A corresponds to the above-mentioned first instruction information.

Step 4: T-AMF sends T-RAN identification information to SMF.

For example, the identification information of T-RAN may be carried by the PDU session update session management context request message.

Step 5: The SMF determines the first path information based on the topology information of the satellite network and the identification information of the T-RAN.

For the specific content of step 5, please refer to step 5 above.

Step 6: SMF sends the first path information to T-AMF.

The first path information may be carried by a PDU session update session management context request message.

Step 7: T-AMF sends the first label and first path information to T-RAN.

The first label and the first path information may be carried by the handover request message.

In addition, T-RAN can also send a Handover request ACK message to T-AMF.

Step 8: The UE sends the uplink data packet to the T-RAN.

Step 9: T-RAN adds the first path information and the first label to the header of the received uplink data packet.

Step 10: T-RAN sends the uplink data packet including the first path information and the first label to the UPF.

Steps 11 to 14 may refer to steps 8 to 11 in Figure 10 above.

Using the above method, during the handover from S-RAN to T-RAN and the handover from S-AMF to T-AMF, T-AMF obtains the first label from S-AMF and obtains the updated label corresponding to the first label from SMF. path information (i.e., first path information), T-AMF sends the first label and first path information to T-RAN, so that T-RAN adds the received uplink data packet to the first path information and first label, This ensures the QoS performance of data packet transmission on inter-satellite links.

It should be noted that adding labels and path information to the header of the data packet can be implemented in but is not limited to the following two ways, as shown in Figure 12:

Method 1: Store label and path information in the layer 3 header.

Method 2: Store label and path information in the layer 2 header.

Figure 13 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of a communication device involved in the embodiment of the present application. The device 1300 includes: a transceiver module 1320 and a processing module 1310. The transceiver module 1320 may include a receiving unit and a sending unit. The processing module 1310 is used to control and manage the actions of the device 1300 . The transceiver module 1320 is used to support communication between the device 1300 and other network entities. Optionally, the device 1300 may also include a storage unit used to store program codes and data of the device 1300 .

Optionally, each module in the device 1300 may be implemented by software.

Optionally, the processing module 1310 may be a processor or a controller, such as a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processing (DSP), or an application-specific integrated circuit (Application Specification). specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. It may implement or execute various exemplary logical blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of the embodiments of this application. The processor may also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, and so on. The transceiver module 1320 may be a communication interface, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit, etc., where the communication interface is a general term. In a specific implementation, the communication interface may include multiple interfaces, and the storage unit may be a memory.

When the device 1300 is a session management network element or a chip in the session management network element, the processing module 1310 in the device 1300 can support the device 1300 to perform the actions of the session management network element in the above method examples. For example, it can support the device 1300 to perform the actions of the session management network element in the above method examples. Step 830 in Figure 8, or step 920 in Figure 9.

The transceiver module 1320 can support the device 1300 to communicate with the terminal device. For example, it can support the device 1300 to perform step 820 or step 840 in Figure 8, or step 920 or step 930 in Figure 9.

For example, the processing module 1310 is used to obtain the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located, wherein the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device; according to the The identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located and the topology information of the satellite network determine a first transmission path. The topology information includes channel information between satellites in the satellite network. The first transmission path is the The transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device and the first transmission path includes the first access network device;

The transceiver module 1320 is configured to send information indicating the first transmission path to the first access network device.

In a possible design, the processing module 1310 is used to obtain the topology information.

In a possible design, the transceiver module 1320 is configured to receive the topology information from the first access network device when obtaining the topology information.

In a possible design, the transceiver module 1320 is configured to send a subscription request message to the network capability opening network element when obtaining the topology information. The subscription request message is used to request notification of the topology of the new satellite network. Information: receiving a subscription response message from the network capability opening network element, where the subscription response message includes the topology information.

In a possible design, the transceiver module 1320 is configured to receive first indication information, and the first indication information is used to trigger acquisition of the topology information.

The processing module 1310 is configured to obtain the topology information from the bearer network control plane network element according to the first indication information when obtaining the topology information.

In one possible design, the transceiver module 1320 is configured to receive the identification information of the first access network device when obtaining the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located;

The processing module 1310 is configured to determine the identity of the satellite where the first access network device is located based on the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the access network device and the identification information of the satellite, and the identification information of the first access network device. information.

In a possible design, the transceiver module 1320 is configured to send information indicating the first transmission path and a first label to the user plane network element, where the first label is used to determine whether the terminal A link between any two adjacent satellite nodes in the transmission path of the device's data stream.

In a possible design, the transceiver module 1320 is configured to send a first label to the first access network device, where the first label is used to determine the transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device. The link between any two adjacent satellite nodes.

It should be understood that the device 1300 according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and the operations and/or functions of each module in the device 1300 are respectively to implement the session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment. The corresponding steps of the method can also achieve the beneficial effects in the foregoing method embodiments. For the sake of simplicity, they will not be described again here.

When the device 1300 is the first network element or a chip in the first network element, the processing module 1310 in the device 1300 can support the device 1300 to perform the first access network equipment or the first access and mobility in the above method examples. The action of managing the network element may, for example, support the device 1300 to perform step 810 or step 850 in FIG. 8 .

The transceiver module 1320 can support the device 1300 to communicate with the session management network element, etc., for example, can support the device 1300 to perform step 800 in Figure 8, or step 820, or step 840, or step 860, or step 900 in Figure 9, or Step 910, or step 930, or step 940.

For example, the processing module 1310 calls the transceiver module 1320 to send the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element, where the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device. Network equipment; receiving information indicating a first transmission path from the session management network element, the first transmission path being a transmission path of the data flow of the terminal device and the first transmission path including the first transmission path. Access network equipment.

In a possible design, the transceiver module 1320 is configured to send first indication information to the session management network element, and the first indication information is used to trigger the session management network element to obtain the topology information of the satellite network, so The topology information includes channel information between satellites in the satellite network.

In a possible design, the first network element is the first access network device;

Transceiver module 1320, configured to receive a first label from the second access network device before sending the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element, where the first label is used to determine A link between any two adjacent satellite nodes in the transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device;

The processing module 1310 is configured to cache the uplink data packet of the data flow of the terminal device; after receiving the information indicating the first transmission path from the session management network element, add the header of the uplink data packet to The first label and the information indicating the first transmission path are used to obtain a processed uplink data packet;

The transceiver module 1320 is configured to send the processed uplink data packet to the user plane network element.

In a possible design, the transceiver module 1320 is configured to receive second indication information from the second access network device, where the second indication information is used to instruct the first access network device to cache the terminal The upstream data packet of the device's data flow;

The processing module 1310 is configured to cache the uplink data packet according to the first indication information when buffering the uplink data packet of the data flow of the terminal device.

In a possible design, the transceiver module 1320 is configured to receive third indication information from the second access network device, where the third indication information is used to instruct the first access network device to send the terminal Add the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path to the header of the upstream data packet of the device's data flow;

The processing module 1310 is configured to add the header of the uplink data packet to the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path to obtain the processed uplink data packet, according to the second The instruction information adds the header of the uplink data packet to the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path to obtain the processed uplink data packet.

In a possible design, the transceiver module 1320 is configured to send a satellite network signal to the session management network element before the first network element receives information indicating the first transmission path from the session management network element. The topology information includes channel information between satellites in the satellite network.

In a possible design, the first network element is a first access and mobility management network element, and the first access and mobility management network element is a network element that communicates with the first access network device. Access and mobility management network elements;

Transceiver module 1320, configured to receive the first label and the first label from the second access and mobility management network element before sending the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element. Identification information of access network equipment, wherein the first access and mobility management network element is different from the second access and mobility management network element, and the second access and mobility management network element is An access and mobility management network element that communicates with the second access network device, and the first label is used to determine the distance between any two adjacent satellite nodes in the transmission path of the data flow of the terminal device. link; after receiving information indicating the first transmission path from the session management network element, sending the first label and indicating the first transmission to the first access network device Path information.

It should be understood that the device 1300 according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the first network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and the operations and/or functions of each module in the device 1300 are respectively to implement the first network element in the foregoing method embodiment. The corresponding steps of the method can also achieve the beneficial effects in the foregoing method embodiments. For the sake of simplicity, they will not be described again here.

Figure 14 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1400 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 14, the device 1400 includes: a processor 1401.

When the device 1400 is a session management network element or a chip in a session management network element, in a possible implementation, when the processor 1401 is used to call an interface to perform the following actions:

Obtain the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located, wherein the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device; according to the satellite where the first access network device is located The identification information and the topology information of the satellite network determine a first transmission path. The topology information includes channel information between satellites in the satellite network. The first transmission path is the transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device. And the first transmission path includes the first access network device; sending information indicating the first transmission path to the first access network device.

It should be understood that the device 1400 can also be used to perform other steps and/or operations on the session management network element side in the previous embodiments. For the sake of brevity, they will not be described again here.

When the device 1400 is the first network element or a chip in the first network element, in a possible implementation, when the processor 1401 is used to call an interface to perform the following actions:

Send the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element, wherein the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device; receiving from the session management network element Information used to indicate a first transmission path, where the first transmission path is a transmission path of a data stream of the terminal device and the first transmission path includes the first access network device.

It should be understood that the device 1400 can also be used to perform other steps and/or operations on the network element side of the bearer network control plane in the previous embodiments. For the sake of brevity, they will not be described again here.

It should be understood that the processor 1401 can call an interface to perform the above transceiver action, where the called interface can be a logical interface or a physical interface, which is not limited. Optionally, the physical interface can be implemented via transceivers. Optionally, the device 1400 further includes a transceiver 1403.

Optionally, the device 1400 also includes a memory 1402, in which the program code in the above method embodiment can be stored, so that the processor 1401 can call it.

Specifically, if the device 1400 includes a processor 1401, a memory 1402, and a transceiver 1403, the processor 1401, the memory 1402, and the transceiver 1403 communicate with each other through internal connection paths to transmit control and/or data signals. In a possible design, the processor 1401, the memory 1402 and the transceiver 1403 can be implemented on a chip. The processor 1401, the memory 1402 and the transceiver 1403 can be implemented in the same chip, or they can be implemented in different chips. Or any two functions can be combined in one chip. The memory 1402 can store program codes, and the processor 1401 calls the program codes stored in the memory 1402 to implement corresponding functions of the device 1400 .

The methods disclosed in the above embodiments of the present application can be applied in a processor or implemented by the processor. The processor may be an integrated circuit chip that has signal processing capabilities. During the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed through an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor or instructions in the form of software. The above-mentioned processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA), or other available processors. Programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, system on chip (SoC), central processor unit (CPU), or network processor (network processor, NP), it can also be a digital signal processing circuit (digital signal processor, DSP), it can also be a microcontroller (micro controller unit, MCU), it can also be a programmable logic device (PLD) or other Integrated chip. Each method, step and logical block diagram disclosed in the embodiment of this application can be implemented or executed. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers and other mature storage media in this field. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

It can be understood that the memory in the embodiment of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (erasable PROM, EPROM), electrically removable memory. Erase programmable read-only memory (electrically EPROM, EEPROM) or flash memory. Volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of illustration, but not limitation, many forms RAMs are available, such as 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 Access memory (double data rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM) and direct memory bus random access memory (direct rambus RAM, DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the numbers "first", "second"... are only used to distinguish different objects, such as different parameter information or messages, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The application embodiment is not limited to this.

It should also be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its functions and internal logic. The various numerical numbers or serial numbers involved in the above processes are only for convenience of description and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

It should also be understood that the term "and/or" in this article is only an association relationship describing related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and/or B can mean: A alone exists, and A and A exist simultaneously. B, there are three situations of B alone. In addition, the character "/" in this article generally indicates that the related objects are an "or" relationship.

The meaning of expressions similar to "the project includes one or more of the following: A, B, and C" appearing in this application, unless otherwise specified, usually means that the project can be any one of the following: A; B ;C;A and B;A and C;B and C;A,B and C;A and A;A,A and A;A,A and B;A,A and C,A,B and B;A , C and C; B and B, B, B and B, B, B and C, C and C; C, C and C, and other combinations of A, B and C. The above is an example of three elements A, B and C to illustrate the optional items of the project. When expressed as "the project includes at least one of the following: A, B,..., and X", it is expressed When there are more elements, then the entries to which the project can apply can also be obtained according to the aforementioned rules.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented with electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality using different methods for each specific application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and simplicity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be described again here.

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

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into one processing unit, each unit can exist physically alone, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the existing technology or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including Several instructions are used to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage media include: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory ROM, random access memory RAM, magnetic disk or optical disk and other various media that can store program codes.

Claims

A communication method, characterized in that the method includes:

Obtain the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located, wherein the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device;

The first transmission path is determined according to the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located and the topology information of the satellite network. The topology information includes channel information between satellites in the satellite network. The first transmission path is the transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device and the first transmission path includes the first access network device;

Send information indicating the first transmission path to the first access network device.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

Obtain the topology information.
The method of claim 2, wherein obtaining the topology information includes:

Receive the topology information from the first access network device.
The method of claim 2, wherein obtaining the topology information includes:

Send a subscription request message to the network capability opening network element, where the subscription request message is used to request notification of topology information of the new satellite network;

Receive a subscription response message from the network capability opening network element, where the subscription response message includes the topology information.
The method according to any one of claims 2-4, further comprising:

Receive first indication information, the first indication information being used to trigger acquisition of the topology information;

Obtain the topology information, including:

Obtain the topology information from a bearer network control plane network element according to the first indication information.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that obtaining the identification information of the satellite where the first access network device is located includes:

Receive identification information of the first access network device;

The identification information of the satellite where the first access network equipment is located is determined according to the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the access network equipment and the identification information of the satellite, and the identification information of the first access network equipment.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the information used to indicate the first transmission path includes identification information of the first transmission path, and/or in the first transmission path The identification information of the satellite node through which the above data flow passes.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:

Send information indicating the first transmission path and a first label to the user plane network element, where the first label is used to determine any two adjacent satellite nodes in the transmission path of the data flow of the terminal device. links between.
The method according to any one of claims 1-8, further comprising:

A first label is sent to the first access network device, where the first label is used to determine a link between any two adjacent satellite nodes in a transmission path of a data stream of the terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the channel information includes one or more of the following:

The identification information of the satellites of the satellite network, the identification information of the channels between the satellites of the satellite network, the channel delay between the satellites of the satellite network, the channel bandwidth between the satellites of the satellite network, the The channel overhead between satellites in the satellite network.
A communication method, characterized in that the method includes:

The first network element sends the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element, wherein the terminal device switches from accessing the second access network device to accessing the first access network device;

The first network element receives information indicating a first transmission path from the session management network element. The first transmission path is a transmission path of the data flow of the terminal device and the first transmission path includes the The first access network equipment.
The method of claim 11, further comprising:

The first network element sends first indication information to the session management network element. The first indication information is used to trigger the session management network element to obtain topology information of the satellite network. The topology information includes the satellite network Channel information between satellites in .
The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the first network element is the first access network device;

Before sending the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element, the method further includes:

The first access network device receives a first label from the second access network device, and the first label is used to determine any two adjacent satellite nodes in the transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device. links between;

The first access network device caches uplink data packets of the data flow of the terminal device;

After receiving the information indicating the first transmission path from the session management network element, the method further includes:

The first access network device adds the header of the uplink data packet to the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path to obtain a processed uplink data packet;

The first access network device sends the processed uplink data packet to a user plane network element.
The method of claim 13, further comprising:

The first access network device receives second indication information from the second access network device, and the second indication information is used to instruct the first access network device to cache the uplink data stream of the terminal device. data pack;

The first access network device caches the uplink data packets of the data flow of the terminal device, including:

The first access network device caches the uplink data packet according to the first indication information.
The method of claim 13 or 14, further comprising:

The first access network device receives third indication information from the second access network device, and the third indication information is used to instruct the first access network device to transmit the uplink data flow of the terminal device. Adding the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path to the header of the data packet;

The first access network device adds the header of the uplink data packet to the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path to obtain a processed uplink data packet, including:

The first access network device adds the header of the uplink data packet to the first label and the information indicating the first transmission path according to the second indication information, and obtains the processed Upstream data packet.
The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that, before the first network element receives the information indicating the first transmission path from the session management network element, it further includes:

The first access network device sends topology information of the satellite network to the session management network element, where the topology information includes channel information between satellites in the satellite network.
The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the first network element is a first access and mobility management network element, and the first access and mobility management network element is a network element related to the first access and mobility management network element. - Access and mobility management network elements for access network equipment communications;

Before sending the identification information of the first access network device to the session management network element, the method further includes:

The first access and mobility management network element receives a first label and identification information of the first access network device from the second access and mobility management network element, wherein the first access network element The mobility management network element is different from the second access and mobility management network element. The second access and mobility management network element is an access and mobility network element that communicates with the second access network device. Management network element, the first label is used to determine a link between any two adjacent satellite nodes in the transmission path of the data stream of the terminal device;

After receiving the information indicating the first transmission path from the session management network element, the method further includes:

The first access and mobility management network element sends the first label and information indicating the first transmission path to the first access network device.
The method of claim 12, wherein the channel information includes one or more of the following:

The identification information of the satellites of the satellite network, the identification information of the channels between the satellites of the satellite network, the channel delay between the satellites of the satellite network, the channel bandwidth between the satellites of the satellite network, the The channel overhead between satellites in the satellite network.
The method according to any one of claims 11 to 18, characterized in that the information used to indicate the first transmission path includes identification information of the first transmission path, and/or in the first transmission path The identification information of the satellite node through which the above data flow passes.
A communication device, characterized by including a processor and a memory;

The memory is used to store computer execution instructions;

The processor is configured to execute computer execution instructions stored in the memory, so that the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19.
A communication device, characterized by including a processor and an interface circuit;

The interface circuit is configured to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor; the processor runs the code instructions to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19.
A readable storage medium, characterized in that the readable storage medium is used to store instructions, and when the instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 is implemented.