WO2024208017A1 - Communication method, communication apparatus, and communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication method, a communication apparatus, and a communication system. In the method, a first policy control network element subscribes, from a fist network element, a second policy control network element corresponding to RSD attribute information, the RSD attribute information corresponding to a first data connection session, and then subscribes, from the second policy control network element, a connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session; and then the second policy control network element sends to the first policy control network element the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session, so that the first policy control network element obtains the connection capability, and can determine a policy for a terminal device according to the connection capability, thereby facilitating the configuration of a suitable policy for the terminal device.

Description

Communication method, communication device and communication system

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on April 7, 2023, with application number 202310413568.5 and application name “Communication Method, Communication Device and Communication System”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application.

Technical Field

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

Background Art

As terminal devices become more and more intelligent, more and more applications are configured on the terminal devices, and the connection capabilities of different applications may also be different. Among them, the connection capability is used to indicate the network connection function required by the application.

In order to configure appropriate policies for terminal devices, such as user routing selection policy (UE routing selection policy, URSP), the network side needs to obtain the connection capability of the application. How to enable the network side to accurately obtain the connection capability of the application remains to be solved.

Summary of the invention

The present application provides a communication method, a communication device and a communication system for enabling a network side to accurately obtain the connection capability of an application.

In the first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first policy control network element or a module (such as a chip) in the first policy control network element. The method includes: sending a first subscription request to the first network element, the first subscription request including RSD attribute information; receiving identification information of a second policy control network element corresponding to the RSD attribute information from the first network element; sending a second subscription request to the second policy control network element, the second subscription request including information for determining a first data connection session of a terminal device, the first data connection session corresponding to the RSD attribute information; receiving a connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session from the second policy control network element, the connection capability being used by the first policy control network element to make a policy decision for the terminal device.

In the above scheme, the first policy control network element subscribes to the second policy control network element corresponding to the RSD attribute information to the first network element, and the RSD attribute information corresponds to the first data connection session. The first policy control network element then subscribes to the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the second policy control network element. The second policy control network element sends the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the first policy control network element, so that the first policy control network element obtains the connection capability and can make policy decisions for the terminal device based on the connection capability, which helps to configure appropriate policies for the terminal device.

In a possible implementation method, the method further includes: determining whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability.

In the above solution, the first policy control network element determines whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability, so as to decide whether the UPSP rule needs to be updated, which helps to configure appropriate URSP rules for the terminal device.

In a possible implementation method, the determining whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability includes: if there is a user routing selection policy URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, determining that the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability; or, if there is no URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, determining that the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability.

In a possible implementation method, the method further includes: if the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability, generating a first URSP rule, the first URSP rule including the RSD attribute information and the connection capability; and sending the first URSP rule to the terminal device.

In the above solution, when the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability, an updated first UPSP rule is sent to the terminal device, which helps to configure a suitable URSP rule for the terminal device.

In one possible implementation method, the RSD attribute information includes at least one of the following: session and service continuity mode, access type, redundant sequence number, session pair identifier, data network name or slice identifier.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a second policy control network element or a module (such as a chip) in the second policy control network element. The method includes: sending a registration request to a first network element, the registration request including RSD attribute information and identification information of the second policy control network element, the RSD attribute information corresponding to a first data connection session of a terminal device; receiving a second subscription request from the first policy control network element, the second subscription request including information for determining the first data connection session; The second subscription request is sent according to the identification information of the second policy control network element obtained from the first network element; the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session is sent to the first policy control network element, and the connection capability is used by the first policy control network element to make a policy decision for the terminal device.

In the above scheme, the second policy control network element registers the identification information and RSD attribute information of the second policy control network element to the first network element, the first policy control network element subscribes to the second policy control network element corresponding to the RSD attribute information from the first network element, and then the first network element sends the identification information of the second policy control network element to the first policy control network element, the first policy control network element subscribes to the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session from the second policy control network element, and the second policy control network element sends the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the first policy control network element, so that the first policy control network element obtains the connection capability and can make policy decisions for the terminal device based on the connection capability, which helps to configure appropriate policies for the terminal device.

In a possible implementation method, the method further includes: receiving the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session from a session management network element.

In a possible implementation method, the method further includes: receiving capability information of the terminal device from a session management network element, wherein the capability information is used to indicate support for reporting the execution of a user routing policy URSP rule to the network.

In a possible implementation method, sending the registration request to the first network element includes: sending the registration request to the first network element according to the capability information.

In one possible implementation method, the RSD attribute information includes at least one of the following: session and service continuity mode, access type, redundant sequence number, session pair identifier, data network name or slice identifier.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first policy control network element or a module (such as a chip) in the first policy control network element. The method includes: sending a first request to a mobility management network element, the first request including identification information of the first policy control network element, the first request being used to request connection capability and/or RSD attribute information reported by a terminal device; receiving connection capability and/or RSD attribute information from a second policy control network element, the connection capability and/or the RSD attribute information corresponding to a first data connection session of the terminal device.

In the above scheme, the first policy control network element receives connection capability and/or RSD attribute information from the second policy control network element, so that the first policy control network element obtains the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information, and can make policy decisions for the terminal device based on the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information, which helps to configure appropriate policies for the terminal device.

In a possible implementation method, the method also includes: receiving capability information of the terminal device, the capability information is used to indicate support for the execution of user routing selection policy URSP rules reported to the network; sending a first request to the mobility management network element includes: sending the first request to the mobility management network element according to the capability information.

In a possible implementation method, the method further includes: determining whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability.

In the above solution, the first policy control network element determines whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability, so as to decide whether the UPSP rule needs to be updated, which helps to configure appropriate URSP rules for the terminal device.

In a possible implementation method, the determining whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability includes: if there is a user routing selection policy URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, determining that the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability; or, if there is no URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, determining that the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability.

In a possible implementation method, the method further includes: if the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability, generating a first URSP rule, the first URSP rule including the RSD attribute information and the connection capability; and sending the first URSP rule to the terminal device.

In the above solution, when the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability, an updated first UPSP rule is sent to the terminal device, which helps to configure a suitable URSP rule for the terminal device.

In one possible implementation method, the RSD attribute information includes at least one of the following: session and service continuity mode, access type, redundant sequence number, session pair identifier, data network name or slice identifier.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be a first policy control network element, or a module (such as a chip) in the first policy control network element. The device has the function of implementing any implementation method of the first aspect and the third aspect above. The function may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be a second policy control network element, or a module (such as a chip) in the second policy control network element. The device has the function of implementing any implementation method of the second aspect. This function can be achieved by Hardware implementation can also be implemented by executing corresponding software through hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising a unit or means for executing each step of any implementation method in the first to third aspects above.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute any implementation method in the first to third aspects above. The processor includes one or more.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor coupled to a memory, the processor being used to call a program stored in the memory to execute any implementation method in the first to third aspects above. The memory may be located inside the device or outside the device. And the processor may be one or more.

In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, and when the device is running, the processor executes the computer instructions stored in the memory to enable the device to execute any implementation method in the above-mentioned first to third aspects.

In the tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, which, when executed on a communication device, enables any implementation method in the above-mentioned first to third aspects to be executed.

In the eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, any implementation method in the above-mentioned first to third aspects is executed.

In the twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, including: a processor, used to execute any implementation method in the above-mentioned first to third aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, comprising a first policy control network element for executing any method described in the first aspect, and a second policy control network element for executing any method described in the second aspect.

In the fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, wherein a first policy control network element sends a first subscription request to a first network element, and the first subscription request includes RSD attribute information; a second policy control network element sends a registration request to the first network element, and the registration request includes the RSD attribute information and identification information of the second policy control network element, and the RSD attribute information corresponds to a first data connection session of a terminal device; the first network element sends the identification information of the second policy control network element corresponding to the RSD attribute information to the first policy control network element; the first policy control network element sends a second subscription request to the second policy control network element, and the second subscription request includes information for determining the first data connection session; the second policy control network element sends a connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the first policy control network element, and the connection capability is used by the first policy control network element to make policy decisions for the terminal device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service-oriented architecture;

FIG2 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service-oriented architecture. The 5G network architecture shown in Figure 1 may include terminal devices, access networks, and core networks. Terminal devices access data networks (DN) through access networks and core networks.

The terminal device can be a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. In Figure 1, the terminal device is a UE as an example. The terminal device can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, an urban air vehicle (such as a drone, a helicopter, etc.), a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, a smart home device, etc.

The access network is used to implement access-related functions. It can provide network access functions for authorized users in a specific area and determine transmission links of different qualities to transmit user data according to the user level and business requirements. The access network forwards control signals and user data between the terminal device and the core network. The access network may include access network equipment, which may be equipment that provides access to the terminal device and may include It includes radio access network (RAN) equipment and wired access network equipment. RAN equipment is mainly responsible for wireless resource management, quality of service (QoS) management, data compression and encryption and other functions on the air interface side. RAN equipment can include various forms of base stations, such as macro base stations, micro base stations (also called small stations), relay stations, access points, balloon stations, etc. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of devices with base station functions may be different. For example, in 5G systems, they are called RAN or next-generation Node basestation (gNB), and in long-term evolution (LTE) systems, they are called evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB).

The access network equipment and terminal equipment can be fixed or movable. The access network equipment and terminal equipment can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on the water surface; they can also be deployed on airplanes, balloons and artificial satellites in the air. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the access network equipment and terminal equipment.

The core network is responsible for maintaining the subscription data of the mobile network and providing functions such as session management, mobility management, policy management and security authentication for terminal devices. The core network includes but is not limited to one or more of the following network elements: application function (AF) network element, unified data management (UDM) network element, unified data repository (UDR) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, session management function (SMF) network element, access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, network repository function (NRF) network element, authentication server function (AUSF) network element, network exposure function (NEF) network element, user plane function (UPF) network element, binding support function (BSF) network element.

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

The SMF network element is mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification, and release. Specific functions include allocating Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to users and selecting UPFs that provide message forwarding functions.

The UPF network element is mainly responsible for forwarding and receiving user data. It can receive user data from the data network and transmit it to the terminal device through the access network device; it can also receive user data from the terminal device through the access network device and forward it to the data network.

UDM network element includes functions such as executing and managing contract data and user access authorization.

The UDR network element includes the storage and access functions of contract data, policy data, application data and other types of data.

NEF network element is mainly used to support the opening of capabilities and events.

AF network element transmits the requirements of the application side to the network side, such as QoS requirements or user status event subscription. AF can be a third-party functional entity or an application service deployed by an operator, such as IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) voice call service.

PCF network elements mainly support providing a unified policy framework to control network behavior, provide policy rules to the control layer network functions, and are responsible for obtaining user subscription information related to policy decisions. PCF network elements can provide policies to AMF network elements and SMF network elements, such as QoS policies and slice selection policies.

NRF network elements can be used to provide network element discovery functions and provide network element information corresponding to the network element type based on requests from other network elements. NRF also provides network element management services, such as network element registration, update, deregistration, and network element status subscription and push.

The AUSF network element is responsible for authenticating the terminal device and verifying the legitimacy of the terminal device.

BSF network element: used to maintain the identification information of the terminal device, the data network name (DNN), the single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), the address of the terminal device (such as the Internet protocol (IP) address), and the correspondence between the information of the PCF network element.

DN, on which a variety of services can be deployed, can provide data and/or voice services to terminal devices. For example, DN is the private network of a smart factory, and the sensors installed in the workshop of the smart factory can be terminal devices. The control server of the sensor is deployed in DN, and the control server can provide services for the sensor. The sensor can communicate with the control server, obtain the instructions of the control server, and transmit the collected sensor data to the control server according to the instructions. For another example, DN is the internal office network of a company, and the mobile phones or computers of the company's employees can be terminal devices. The mobile phones or computers of the employees can access the information, data resources, etc. on the company's internal office network. The DN in the embodiment of the present application includes a local data network (Local Data Network). Among them, the local data network can provide business data to users located in a specific area in order to optimize the access path, and can enable terminal devices to access the business data of applications nearby.

Among them, AF network element, UDM network element, UDR network element, PCF network element, SMF network element, AMF network element, NRF network element, AUSF network element, NEF network element, and UPF network element can also be abbreviated as AF, UDM, UDR, PCF, SMF, AMF, NRF, AUSF, NEF, and UPF respectively.

In Figure 1, Nausf, Nnef, Nnrf, Namf, Npcf, Nsmf, Nudm, Nudr, Naf, and Nbsf are the above-mentioned AUSF, The service-oriented interfaces provided by NEF, NRF, AMF, PCF, SMF, UDM, UDR, AF, and BSF are used to call corresponding service-oriented operations. N1, N2, N3, N4, and N6 are interface serial numbers, and their meanings are as follows:

1) N1: The interface between AMF and terminal devices, which can be used to transmit non-access stratum (NAS) signaling (such as QoS rules from AMF) to terminal devices.

2) N2: The interface between AMF and access network equipment, which can be used to transmit wireless bearer control information from the core network side to the access network equipment.

3) N3: The interface between the access network equipment and UPF, mainly used to transmit uplink and downlink user plane data between the access network equipment and UPF.

4) N4: The interface between SMF and UPF can be used to transmit information between the control plane and the user plane, including controlling the issuance of forwarding rules, QoS rules, traffic statistics rules, etc. for the user plane and reporting information on the user plane.

5) N6: The interface between UPF and DN, used to transmit the uplink and downlink user data flows between UPF and DN.

It is understandable that the above network element or function can be a network element in a hardware device, a software function running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualized function instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). As a possible implementation method, the above network element or function can be implemented by one device, or by multiple devices together, or can be a functional module in one device, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

The solution of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the 5G network architecture shown in Figure 1, and can also be applied to the network architecture of future communications, such as the 6th generation (6G) network, which is not limited by the present application.

The mobility management network element, session management network element, policy control network element, and binding support function network element in this application can be the AMF, SMF, PCF, and BSF in Figure 1, respectively, or can be a network element with the functions of the above-mentioned AMF, SMF, PCF, and BSF in future communications such as 6G networks, and this application is not limited to this. For the convenience of explanation, this application takes the mobility management network element, session management network element, policy control network element, and binding support function network element as the above-mentioned AMF, SMF, PCF, and BSF as an example for explanation.

In the embodiment of the present application, the PCF to which the AMF is connected may be referred to as AM PCF, and the AM PCF is selected by the AMF. AM PCF may provide access and mobility management (AM) policies and terminal device policies. AMPCF provides services for terminal devices (PCF for the UE).

In the embodiment of the present application, the PCF to which the SMF is connected may be referred to as an SM PCF, and the SM PCF is selected by the SMF. The SM PCF may provide a session management (SM) strategy. The SMPCF provides services for sessions (such as protocol data unit (PDU) sessions) (PCF for the PDU Session).

In actual deployment, the PCF connected to AMF (i.e. AM PCF) and the PCF connected to SMF (i.e. SM PCF) may be the same PCF or different PCFs.

In the embodiment of the present application, the identification information of AM PCF refers to information used to identify AM PCF, and may include, for example, the address of AM PCF, the identification of AM PCF, etc. The identification information of SM PCF refers to information used to identify SM PCF, and may include, for example, the address of SM PCF, the identification of SM PCF, etc.

FIG2 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method comprises the following steps:

Step 201: Establish terminal device policy association.

This first PCF is also called AM PCF.

The terminal device registers with the network, and the AMF establishes a terminal device policy association with the first PCF. If it is a roaming scenario, the first PCF can be a PCF in a visited domain or a PCF in a home domain.

During this process, the first PCF configures a user routing selection policy (UE routing selection policy, URSP) to the terminal device through the AMF. The URSP includes one or more URSP rules and the priority of the one or more URSP rules. Each URSP rule includes a traffic descriptor (traffic descriptor, TD), one or more route selection descriptors (route selection descriptors, RSD) and the priority of the one or more RSDs.

TD includes the name or logo of one or more applications (APP), as well as the connection capability of each application. The connection capability is used to indicate the network connection function required by the application, such as the Internet protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem (IMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), Internet or standardized traffic categories.

The RSD includes one or more of session and service continuity (SSC) mode, access type (access type), redundancy sequence number (RSN), session pair ID (session pair ID), data network name (DNN) or single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

The access type can be 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) access or non-3GPP access, etc.

RSN is used to indicate that redundant user plane resources should be provided for a given PDU Session via dual connectivity.

The session pair identifier is an indication of redundant session sharing, and is used to identify two mutually redundant sessions. The session is a data connection session, for example, specifically a PDU session, so the session pair identifier specifically can be a PDU session pair identifier.

Step 202: The first PCF sends a first subscription request to the first network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the first subscription request.

The first subscription request includes one or more route selection descriptor (RSD) attribute information, and the one or more RSD attribute information comes from one or more URSP rules on the first PCF. The first subscription request is used to subscribe to a second PCF corresponding to the RSD attribute information, and the second PCF is also called an SM PCF.

The RSD attribute information includes one or more of SSC mode, access type, RSN, session pair identifier, DNN or S-NSSAI. In the embodiment of the present application, RSD attribute information is also referred to as RSD attribute, RSD information or RSD, which is uniformly described here and will not be repeated later.

Assume that the user initiates the first application on the terminal device, triggering the terminal device to determine the URSP rule that matches the first application according to the URSP configured in the above step 201. Specifically, if the TD of a certain URSP rule contains the name or identifier of the first application, it is determined that the URSP rule is the URSP rule that matches the first application. Then the terminal device determines whether there is a data connection session that matches the RSD in the matching URSP rule. The data connection session can be a PDU session or other types of sessions, which are not limited in this application. If the DNN, S-NSSNI, SSC and other information corresponding to a data connection session matches the RSD in the URSP rule, the data connection session matches the RSD in the URSP rule. If there is a data connection session that matches the RSD in the URSP rule, the terminal device initiates the first application on the data connection session. If there is no data connection session that matches the RSD in the URSP rule, the terminal device initiates the establishment of a data connection session corresponding to the RSD, that is, the following step 203 is performed.

Step 203: The terminal device sends a session establishment request to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the session establishment request.

The session establishment request includes RSD attribute information, and the session establishment request is used to request to establish a first data connection session corresponding to the RSD attribute information. The RSD attribute information includes part or all of the information in the RSD within the URSP rule matching the first application. The RSD attribute information includes one or more of the SSC mode, access type, RSN, session pair identifier, DNN or S-NSSAI.

Optionally, the session establishment request also includes the connection capability of the first application and/or capability information of the terminal device. The connection capability is used to indicate the connection capability of the first application that triggers the session establishment request. Since the connection capability is carried in the session establishment request, it can be said that the connection capability is associated or corresponds to the first data connection session.

The capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports reporting the execution of URSP rules to the network (support to report URSP rule enforcement to network), wherein supporting reporting the execution of URSP rules to the network may specifically include: supporting reporting connection capabilities.

The order between the above step 202 and step 203 is not limited.

Step 204: The SMF sends the capability information of the terminal device and/or the connection capability of the first application to the second PCF. Correspondingly, the second PCF receives the capability information of the terminal device and/or the connection capability of the first application.

When the session establishment request includes the capability information of the terminal device, the capability information of the terminal device is sent in step 204. When the session establishment request includes the connection capability of the first application, the connection capability of the first application is sent in step 204. When the session establishment request includes the capability information of the terminal device and the connection capability of the first application, the capability information of the terminal device and the connection capability of the first application are sent in step 204.

In one implementation method, the SMF sends capability information of the terminal device and/or the connection capability of the first application to the second PCF when the session management policy association is established.

In one implementation method, the second PCF may send a trigger to the SMF, which is used to indicate that the SMF reports the changed capability information when the capability information of the terminal device changes. Therefore, if the SMF determines that the capability information of the terminal device has changed, the changed capability information is sent to the second PCF. The change in the capability information of the terminal device refers to the change of the terminal device from supporting the reporting of the connection capability to not supporting the reporting of the connection capability, or the change of the terminal device from not supporting the reporting of the connection capability to supporting the reporting of the connection capability.

In one implementation method, the first PCF may receive the capability information reported by the terminal device when the terminal device is registered, and then the first PCF stores the capability information of the terminal device in the UDR. When the session management policy association is established, the second PCF may obtain the capability information of the terminal device from the UDR.

Step 205: The SMF sends the RSD attribute information to the second PCF. Correspondingly, the second PCF receives the RSD attribute information.

In one implementation method, the SMF sends the RSD attribute information to the first PCF when the session management policy association is established or modified, wherein the SMF obtains the RSD attribute information from the session establishment request.

In another implementation method, the second PCF determines that the terminal device supports reporting the connection capability based on the capability information of the terminal device, and the second PCF sends a trigger to the SMF, which is used to indicate that the SMF reports the changed RSD attribute information when the RSD attribute information changes. Therefore, if the SMF determines that the received RSD attribute information has changed, the changed RSD attribute information is sent to the second PCF.

In one implementation method, the above step 204 and step 205 can be combined into one step.

Step 206: The second PCF sends a registration request to the first network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the registration request.

The first network element may be a BSF network element, a UDR network element, a UDM network element, etc.

The registration request includes the subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) of the terminal device, the identification information of the second PCF and RSD attribute information, and the RSD attribute information is the RSD attribute information in step 205.

Optionally, when the second PCF receives the capability information of the terminal device and/or the connection capability of the first application, it triggers sending the registration request to the first network element.

Step 207: The first network element sends identification information of the second PCF to the first PCF. Correspondingly, the first PCF receives the identification information of the second PCF.

Based on the subscription of the first PCF, the BSF sends the identification information of the second PCF corresponding to the RSD attribute information in the first subscription request to the first PCF.

Optionally, the first network element may also send one or more of the RSD attribute information corresponding to the second PCF, the terminal device identifier, and the terminal device address to the first PCF, so that the first PCF can identify the first data connection session. This is because different data connection sessions may select the same second PCF.

Step 208: The first PCF sends a second subscription request to the second PCF. Correspondingly, the second PCF receives the second subscription request.

The second subscription request includes information for determining the first data connection session of the terminal device, wherein the information for determining the first data connection session of the terminal device includes, for example, an address of the terminal device.

The second subscription request is used to subscribe to the connection capability associated with the first data connection session, or can be understood as being used to subscribe to the connection capability received by the second PCF in the process of establishing or modifying the first data connection session.

Step 209: The second PCF sends the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the first PCF. Correspondingly, the first PCF receives the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session.

After receiving the connection capability, the first PCF can make policy decisions for the terminal device, such as determining whether the URPS rules need to be updated, whether the URSP rules need to be resent to the terminal device, etc.

In one implementation method, the second PCF obtains the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session (such as the connection capability of the first application) in the above step 204. In another implementation method, if the above steps 203 and 204 do not carry the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session, the terminal device may send a session modification request to the SMF after step 203 and before step 209, and the session modification request includes the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session (such as the connection capability of the first application), and then the SMF sends the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the second PCF.

Optionally, step 209 also carries RSD attribute information corresponding to the first data connection session.

Step 210: The first PCF determines whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability.

This step is optional.

The RSD attribute information here is the RSD attribute information corresponding to the first data connection session, and the connection capability is the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session.

In one implementation method, the first PCF determines whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability, specifically including: if there is a URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, then it is determined that the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability; if there is no URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, then it is determined that the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability. For example, if there is a URSP rule 1 on the first PCF, the TD of the URSP rule 1 includes the connection capability, and a certain RSD of the URSP rule 1 includes the RSD attribute information, then it is determined that the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability.

Step 211: The first PCF sends the URSP rule to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the URSP rule.

This step is optional.

In one implementation method, if the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability, the first PCF generates a first URSP rule, which includes the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, and then the first PCF sends the first URSP rule to the terminal device.

In another implementation method, if the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability, for example, the second URSP rule includes the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, but the first PCF does not configure the second URSP rule for the terminal device, the first PCF can send the second URSP rule to the terminal device.

In the above scheme, the first PCF subscribes to the second PCF corresponding to the RSD attribute information to the first network element, and the RSD attribute information corresponds to the first data connection session. The first PCF then subscribes to the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the second PCF. The second PCF then sends the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the first PCF, so that the first PCF obtains the connection capability and can make policy decisions for the terminal device based on the connection capability, which helps to configure appropriate policies for the terminal device.

FIG3 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method comprises the following steps:

Step 301: Establish terminal device policy association.

The specific implementation of step 301 is the same as step 201 in the embodiment of FIG. 2 .

Step 302: The first PCF sends a first request to the AMF. Correspondingly, the AMF receives the first request.

The first request includes identification information of the first PCF, and the first request can be used to request connection capability and/or RSD attribute information reported by the terminal device.

The RSD attribute information includes one or more of SSC mode, access type, RSN, session pair identifier, DNN or S-NSSAI. In the embodiment of the present application, RSD attribute information is also referred to as RSD attribute, RSD information or RSD, which is uniformly described here and will not be repeated later.

In one implementation method, in the registration process of the terminal device, the first PCF receives the capability information of the terminal device reported by the terminal device, and the capability information is used to indicate support for the execution of reporting URSP rules to the network. The first PCF sends the above-mentioned first request to the AMF based on the capability information. If it supports reporting the connection capability, the first PCF sends the above-mentioned first request to the AMF.

Step 303: AMF sends a second request to SMF. Correspondingly, SMF receives the second request.

The second request includes identification information of the first PCF, and the second request can be used to request to send the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information reported by the terminal device to the first PCF.

Step 304: The SMF sends a third request to the second PCF. Correspondingly, the second PCF receives the third request.

The third request includes identification information of the first PCF, and the third request can be used to request to send the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information reported by the terminal device to the first PCF.

Assume that the user initiates the first application on the terminal device, triggering the terminal device to determine the URSP rule that matches the first application according to the URSP configured in the above step 301. Specifically, if the TD of a certain URSP rule contains the name or identifier of the first application, it is determined that the URSP rule is the URSP rule that matches the first application. Then the terminal device determines whether there is a data connection session that matches the RSD in the matching URSP rule. The data connection session can be a PDU session or other types of sessions, which are not limited in this application. If the DNN, S-NSSNI, SSC and other information corresponding to a data connection session matches the RSD in the URSP rule, the data connection session matches the RSD in the URSP rule. If there is a data connection session that matches the RSD in the URSP rule, the terminal device initiates the first application on the data connection session. If there is no data connection session that matches the RSD in the URSP rule, the terminal device initiates the establishment of a data connection session corresponding to the RSD, that is, the following step 305 is executed.

Step 305: The terminal device sends a session establishment request to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the session establishment request.

The specific implementation of step 305 is the same as step 203 of the embodiment of FIG. 2 .

Step 306: The SMF sends the capability information of the terminal device and/or the connection capability of the first application to the second PCF. Correspondingly, the second PCF receives the capability information of the terminal device and/or the connection capability of the first application.

The specific implementation of step 306 is the same as step 204 of the embodiment of FIG. 2 .

Step 307: The SMF sends the RSD attribute information to the second PCF. Correspondingly, the second PCF receives the RSD attribute information.

The specific implementation of step 307 is the same as step 205 of the embodiment of FIG. 2 .

Step 308: The second PCF sends the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information corresponding to the first data connection session to the first PCF. Correspondingly, the first PCF receives the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information corresponding to the first data connection session.

After receiving the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information, the first PCF can make a policy decision for the terminal device.

The second PCF triggers execution of step 308 based on the second request in step 303 .

In one implementation method, the second PCF obtains the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session (such as the connection capability of the first application) in the above step 306. In another implementation method, if the above steps 305 and 306 do not carry the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session, the terminal device may send a session modification request to the SMF after step 305 and before step 308. The session modification request includes the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session (such as the connection capability of the first application), and then the SMF sends the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the second PCF.

Step 309: The first PCF determines whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability.

This step is optional.

The specific implementation of step 309 is the same as step 210 in the embodiment of FIG. 2 .

Step 310: The first PCF sends the URSP rules to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the URSP rules.

This step is optional.

The specific implementation of step 310 is the same as step 211 of the embodiment of FIG. 2 .

In the above scheme, the first PCF receives the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information from the second PCF, so that the first PCF obtains the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information, and can make policy decisions for the terminal device based on the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information, which helps to configure appropriate policies for the terminal device.

It is understandable that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the first policy control network element or the second policy control network element includes hardware structures and/or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

Figures 4 and 5 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided by embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the first policy control network element or the second policy control network element in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be the first policy control network element or the second policy control network element, or it can be a module (such as a chip) applied to the first policy control network element or the second policy control network element.

The communication device 400 shown in Fig. 4 includes a processing unit 410 and a transceiver unit 420. The communication device 400 is used to implement the function of the first policy control network element or the second policy control network element in the above method embodiment.

When the communication device 400 is used to implement the function of the first policy control network element (i.e., the first PCF) in the embodiment of Figure 2 of the above method embodiment, the processing unit 410 is used to control the transceiver unit 420 to send a first subscription request to the first network element, wherein the first subscription request includes RSD attribute information; receive identification information of a second policy control network element corresponding to the RSD attribute information from the first network element; send a second subscription request to the second policy control network element, wherein the second subscription request includes information for determining a first data connection session of a terminal device, wherein the first data connection session corresponds to the RSD attribute information; receive a connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session from the second policy control network element, wherein the connection capability is used by the first policy control network element to make a policy decision for the terminal device.

In a possible implementation method, the processing unit 410 is further configured to determine whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability.

In one possible implementation method, the processing unit 410 is used to determine whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability, specifically including: if there is a user routing selection policy URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, determining that the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability; or, if there is no URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, determining that the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability.

In a possible implementation method, the processing unit 410 is further used to generate a first URSP rule if the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability, and the first URSP rule includes the RSD attribute information and the connection capability; and control the transceiver unit 420 to send the first URSP rule to the terminal device.

When the communication device 400 is used to implement the function of the second policy control network element (i.e., the second PCF) in the embodiment of Figure 2 in the above method embodiment, the processing unit 410 is used to control the transceiver unit 420 to send a registration request to the first network element, the registration request includes RSD attribute information and identification information of the second policy control network element, and the RSD attribute information corresponds to the first data connection session of the terminal device; receive a second subscription request from the first policy control network element, the second subscription request includes information for determining the first data connection session, and the second subscription request is sent based on the identification information of the second policy control network element obtained from the first network element; send a connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the first policy control network element, and the connection capability is used by the first policy control network element to make a policy decision for the terminal device.

In a possible implementation method, the processing unit 410 is further configured to control the transceiver unit 420 to receive the connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session from the session management network element.

In a possible implementation method, the processing unit 410 is further used to control the transceiver unit 420 to receive capability information of the terminal device from the session management network element, where the capability information is used to indicate support for reporting the execution of the URSP rule to the network.

In a possible implementation method, the processing unit 410 is used to control the transceiver unit 420 to send a registration request to the first network element, specifically including: sending the registration request to the first network element according to the capability information.

When the communication device 400 is used to implement the function of the first policy control network element (i.e., the first PCF) in the embodiment of Figure 3 of the above method embodiment, the processing unit 410 is used to control the transceiver unit 420 to send a first request to the mobility management network element, wherein the first request includes identification information of the first policy control network element, and the first request is used to request the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information reported by the terminal device; receive the connection capability and/or RSD attribute information from the second policy control network element, and the connection capability and/or the RSD attribute information corresponds to the first data connection session of the terminal device.

In a possible implementation method, the transceiver unit 420 is also used to receive capability information of the terminal device, and the capability information is used to indicate support for reporting the execution of URSP rules to the network; the transceiver unit 420 is used to send a first request to the mobility management network element, specifically including: sending the first request to the mobility management network element according to the capability information.

In a possible implementation method, the processing unit 410 is further configured to determine whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability.

In one possible implementation method, the processing unit 410 is used to determine whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability, specifically including: if there is a user routing selection policy URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, determining that the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability; or, if there is no URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, determining that the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability.

In a possible implementation method, the processing unit 410 is further used to generate a first URSP rule if the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability, and the first URSP rule includes the RSD attribute information and the connection capability; and control the transceiver unit 420 to send the first URSP rule to the terminal device.

A more detailed description of the processing unit 410 and the transceiver unit 420 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant description in the above method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

The communication device 500 shown in FIG5 includes a processor 510 and an interface circuit 520. The processor 510 and the interface circuit 520 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 520 can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 500 may also include a memory 530 for storing instructions executed by the processor 510 or storing input data required by the processor 510 to execute instructions or storing data generated after the processor 510 executes instructions.

When the communication device 500 is used to implement the above method embodiment, the processor 510 is used to implement the function of the above processing unit 410, and the interface circuit 520 is used to implement the function of the above transceiver unit 420.

It is understandable that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

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

In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instruction is loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is executed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network or other programmable device. The computer program or instruction may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer program or instruction may be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center by wire or wireless. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape; it may also be an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; it may also be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state hard disk. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or it may be There are two types of storage media: volatile and non-volatile.

In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or provided in a logical conflict, the terms and/or descriptions between the different embodiments are consistent and may be referenced to each other, and the technical features in the different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And/or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and/or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of this application, the character "/" generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of this application, the character "/" indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship.

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

Claims (21)

A communication method, characterized in that it is applied to a first policy control network element, the method comprising: Sending a first subscription request to a first network element, wherein the first subscription request includes routing descriptor RSD attribute information; receiving identification information of a second policy control network element corresponding to the RSD attribute information from the first network element; Sending a second subscription request to the second policy control network element, where the second subscription request includes information for determining a first data connection session of the terminal device, where the first data connection session corresponds to the RSD attribute information; Receive connection capabilities corresponding to the first data connection session from the second policy control network element, where the connection capabilities are used by the first policy control network element to make policy decisions for the terminal device. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method further comprises: Determine whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability. The method according to claim 2, wherein the step of determining whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability comprises: If there is a user routing selection policy URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, determining that the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability; or, If there is no URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, it is determined that the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the method further comprises: If the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability, generating a first URSP rule, wherein the first URSP rule includes the RSD attribute information and the connection capability; The first URSP rule is sent to the terminal device. The method as described in any one of claims 1 to 4 is characterized in that the RSD attribute information includes at least one of the following: session and service continuity mode, access type, redundant sequence number, session pair identifier, data network name or slice identifier. A communication method, characterized in that it is applied to a second policy control network element, the method comprising: Sending a registration request to the first network element, the registration request including routing descriptor RSD attribute information and identification information of the second policy control network element, the RSD attribute information corresponding to the first data connection session of the terminal device; receiving a second subscription request from a first policy control network element, where the second subscription request includes information for determining the first data connection session, and the second subscription request is sent according to identification information of the second policy control network element obtained from the first network element; Sending a connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the first policy control network element, where the connection capability is used by the first policy control network element to make a policy decision for the terminal device. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the method further comprises: The connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session is received from a session management network element. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the method further comprises: Receive capability information of the terminal device from a session management network element, where the capability information is used to indicate support for reporting the execution of a user routing policy URSP rule to the network. The method according to claim 8, wherein sending the registration request to the first network element comprises: Send the registration request to the first network element according to the capability information. The method as described in any one of claims 6 to 9 is characterized in that the RSD attribute information includes at least one of the following: session and service continuity mode, access type, redundant sequence number, session pair identifier, data network name or slice identifier. A communication method, characterized in that it is applied to a first policy control network element, the method comprising: Sending a first request to a mobility management network element, wherein the first request includes identification information of a first policy control network element; Receive connection capability and/or RSD attribute information from a second policy control network element, where the connection capability and/or the RSD attribute information corresponds to a first data connection session of the terminal device. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the method further comprises: Receiving capability information of the terminal device, the capability information being used to indicate support for reporting the execution of a user routing policy URSP rule to the network; The sending a first request to the mobility management network element includes: Sending the first request to the mobility management network element according to the capability information. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the method further comprises: Determine whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability. The method according to claim 13, wherein the determining whether the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability comprises: If there is a user routing selection policy URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, determining that the RSD attribute information matches the connection capability; or, If there is no URSP rule that includes both the RSD attribute information and the connection capability, it is determined that the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the method further comprises: If the RSD attribute information does not match the connection capability, generating a first URSP rule, wherein the first URSP rule includes the RSD attribute information and the connection capability; The first URSP rule is sent to the terminal device. The method as described in any one of claims 11 to 15 is characterized in that the RSD attribute information includes at least one of the following: session and service continuity mode, access type, redundant sequence number, session pair identifier, data network name or slice identifier. A communication method, characterized by comprising: The first policy control network element sends a first subscription request to the first network element, wherein the first subscription request includes routing descriptor RSD attribute information; The second policy control network element sends a registration request to the first network element, wherein the registration request includes the RSD attribute information and identification information of the second policy control network element, and the RSD attribute information corresponds to the first data connection session of the terminal device; The first network element sends identification information of the second policy control network element corresponding to the RSD attribute information to the first policy control network element; The first policy control network element sends a second subscription request to the second policy control network element, where the second subscription request includes information used to determine the first data connection session; The second policy control network element sends a connection capability corresponding to the first data connection session to the first policy control network element, and the connection capability is used by the first policy control network element to make a policy decision for the terminal device. A communication device, characterized in that it includes a processor and a memory, the memory and the processor are coupled, the memory is used to store program instructions, and the processor is used to execute the program instructions to implement the method described in any one of claims 1 to 5, or 6 to 10, or 11 to 16. A computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product comprises a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are run on a processor, the processor executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, or 6 to 10, or 11 to 16. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that a computer program or instruction is stored in the storage medium, and when the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, or 6 to 10, or 11 to 16 is implemented. A communication system, characterized by comprising a first policy control network element for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, and a second policy control network element for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 10.