Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and apparatus. A first UCA provides a service for a communication object of a first user, wherein the communication object of the first user includes a first communication object; a second UCA provides a service for a communication object of a second user, wherein the communication object of the second user includes a second communication object; the first UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object on the basis of a request of the first user or the second user; the first UCA receives a first information message from the first communication object, and sends the first information message to the second UCA on the basis of the mutual trust relationship; or the first UCA receives a second information message from the second UCA, and sends the second information message to the first communication object on the basis of the mutual trust relationship. In the design, the mutual trust relationship is established by a user, and the user can determine the communication objects between which the mutual trust relationship can be established, thereby implementing communication management and control of the communication objects by the user.

Description

Communication method and apparatus

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202411297324.6, filed on September 14, 2024, and entitled “A communication method and apparatus”, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0004] Mobile networks have evolved from the 1th generation (1G) to the 5th generation (5G), including mobile phone networks, packet networks, internet protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem (IMS) networks, and Internet of Things (IoT) networks. Each network system carries different demands.

[0005] In the era of artificial general intelligence (AGI), intelligent agents will become new communication objects. The communication between intelligent agents is different from the communication between the existing communication objects in the above network systems. For example, the communication between the existing communication objects is triggered by users, such as user-initiated or user-set trigger rules. The communication between the communication objects can be regarded as the communication between people, and people can bear legal responsibility. However, intelligent agents have autonomous behavior based on AI technology and can communicate autonomously without user triggering. Intelligent agents cannot bear legal responsibility. Therefore, it is necessary to control the communication of intelligent agents. SUMMARY

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for controlling the communication of intelligent agents.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be performed by a first user communication agent (UCA), or by a device having the function of the first UCA, or by a chip system (or a chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the function of the first UCA, or other functional module, which is, for example, arranged in the first UCA. The method is described by taking the first UCA as an example: the first UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between a first communication object and a second communication object based on a request of a first user or a second user; the first UCA provides services for communication objects of the first user, and the communication objects of the first user include the first communication object; a second UCA provides services for communication objects of the second user, and the communication objects of the second user include the second communication object; the first UCA receives a first information message from the first communication object, and sends the first information message to the second UCA based on the mutual trust relationship, wherein the destination communication object of the first information message is the second communication object; or the first UCA receives a second information message from the second UCA, and sends the second information message to the first communication object based on the mutual trust relationship, wherein the destination communication object of the second information message is the first communication object.

[0008] In the design, the UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between a communication object belonging to itself and a communication object belonging to another UCA based on a request of a user, and transmits information messages exchanged between the communication objects belonging to different UCAs based on the mutual trust relationship, thereby realizing communication between the communication objects belonging to different UCAs. The mutual trust relationship is established based on a request of the user, and can also be considered to be established with the permission or intention of the user. The user determines which communication objects can establish a mutual trust relationship, thereby realizing communication management and control of the communication objects.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the first UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between a first communication object and a second communication object based on a request of a first user, and the method comprises the following steps: the first UCA receives a first request from the first user, and the first request is used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship; the first UCA sends a first message to the second UCA according to the first request, and the first message is used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship; the first UCA receives a first response from the second UCA; and the mutual trust relationship is established in a case where the first response indicates that the second UCA agrees to establish the mutual trust relationship. Optionally, the first message includes information of the first communication object, and does not include information of the second communication object.

[0010] In the implementation, the first UCA initiates the establishment of the mutual trust relationship, and establishes the mutual trust relationship after obtaining the indication that the second UCA agrees to establish the mutual trust relationship. It should be understood that if the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship first, but the second UCA does not agree to establish the mutual trust relationship, the mutual trust relationship established by the first UCA is useless. The implementation can effectively prevent this situation from occurring, and avoid the waste of processing resources caused by the first UCA establishing the useless mutual trust relationship.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the first UCA can further send information about the type of the mutual trust relationship to the second UCA; and the type is temporary or fixed.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the first request includes the identifier of the second communication object; before the first UCA sends the first message to the second UCA, the first UCA sends the identifier of the second communication object to a data management network element in response to the first request; and the first UCA receives the identifier of the second UCA from the data management network element; wherein the data management network element is configured to manage a second table, and the second table includes an association between the identifier of a communication object and the identifier of a UCA serving the communication object.

[0013] For example, the first UCA sends a message for requesting to verify the identity of the second communication object to an identity management network element, and the message includes the identifier of the second communication object; the first UCA receives the result of the verification from the identity management network element; and in a case where the result indicates that the identity of the second communication object is verified, the first UCA sends the first message to the second UCA.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the establishing of the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on the request of the second user includes: the first UCA receives a second message from the second UCA, and the second message is used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship; the sending of the second message is based on the request of the second user received by the second UCA; and the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship according to the second message, and sends a second response to the second UCA, wherein the second response is used to indicate that the establishment of the mutual trust relationship is agreed. Optionally, the second message includes the information of the second communication object, and does not include the information of the first communication object.

[0015] In the implementation, in a case where the second UCA initiates the establishment of the mutual trust relationship, the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship, and sends an indication to the second UCA, so that the second UCA determines that the first UCA agrees to establish the mutual trust relationship, thereby promoting the establishment of the mutual trust relationship at the second UCA.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship, including: the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship in a case that the identity of the second communication object is authenticated; and the identity of the second communication object is authenticated by associating the identity of the second communication object with the identity of the second user.

[0017] In this implementation, the security is improved by authenticating the identity of the second communication object.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the first UCA sends a message for authenticating the identity of the second communication object to an identity management network element, and the message includes the identity of the second communication object; the first UCA receives a result of the authentication from the identity management network element; and the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship in a case that the result indicates that the identity of the second communication object is authenticated.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on a request of the first user or the second user, including: the first UCA receives a third message from a control plane network element, and the third message is used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship; the third message is sent based on a request received by the control plane network element from the first user or the second user; and the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship according to the third message. Optionally, the third message includes information of the second communication object and does not include information of the first communication object.

[0020] In this implementation, the control plane network element initiates the establishment of the mutual trust relationship, and the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship after receiving the third message from the control plane network element.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the first UCA receives information of a type of the mutual trust relationship, and the type is temporary or fixed.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship according to the second message or the third message, including: the first UCA sends a fourth message to the first user according to the second message or the third message, and the fourth message is used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship; the first UCA receives a fourth response from the first user; and the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship in a case that the fourth response is used to indicate that the first user agrees to establish the mutual trust relationship.

[0023] In this implementation, the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship in a case that the first user agrees after receiving the third message from the control plane network element, and the mutual trust relationship is established based on the user.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the establishing of the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object comprises: saving information of the second communication object.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the saving of the information of the second communication object comprises: saving the information of the second communication object in a first table, the first table comprising information of communication objects having a mutual trust relationship with a communication object connected to the first UCA.

[0026] In this implementation, the first table is used to save information of communication objects having established a mutual trust relationship, which facilitates the first UCA to subsequently find information of communication objects having established a mutual trust relationship.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the information of the second communication object comprises an association relationship between an identifier of the second communication object and an identifier of the second UCA.

[0028] In this implementation, by saving the association relationship between the identifier of the communication object and the identifier of the UCA serving the communication object, the first UCA can find which UCA serves the communication object based on the identifier of the communication object, and can also find which communication object the UCA serves based on the identifier of the UCA.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the first information message comprises an identifier of the second communication object; and the sending of the first information message to the second UCA based on the mutual trust relationship comprises: determining an identifier of the second UCA based on the identifier of the second communication object in the first information message and the association relationship; and sending the first information message to the second UCA according to the identifier of the second UCA.

[0030] In a possible implementation, after the establishing of the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, the method further comprises: the first UCA releasing the mutual trust relationship based on a request of the first user or the second user.

[0031] In this implementation, the release of the mutual trust relationship is triggered based on the request of the user, and user communication control is implemented.

[0032] In a possible implementation, when the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is established, the method further comprises: starting a timer.

[0033] The method further comprises: releasing the mutual trust relationship in a case where the timer expires.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the starting of the timer comprises: starting the timer in a case where a type of the mutual trust relationship is temporary.

[0035] In this implementation, a temporary mutual trust relationship is established, and information messages can be conveniently transmitted between the first communication object and the second communication object within a preset time length.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the canceling the mutual trust relationship includes deleting the saved information of the second communication object.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the deleting the saved information of the second communication object includes deleting the saved information of the second communication object in a first table, the first table including information of communication objects having a mutual trust relationship with a communication object connected to the first UCA. The information of the second communication object includes an association relationship between an identifier of the second communication object and an identifier of the second UCA.

[0038] In a possible implementation, the first UCA sends a fifth message to the second UCA after the mutual trust relationship is canceled, the fifth message being used to request canceling the mutual trust relationship. Optionally, the fifth message includes the information of the first communication object and does not include the information of the second communication object.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the establishing the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object includes establishing the mutual trust relationship when the first communication object has connected to the first UCA.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the first communication object having connected to the first UCA includes having saved the information of the first communication object.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the having saved the information of the first communication object includes having saved the information of the first communication object in a third table, the third table including information of communication objects connected to the first UCA.

[0042] In this implementation, the third table is used to save information of communication objects accessing the UCA, and the first UCA can conveniently find information of communication objects connected to the first UCA in the future.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the first UCA receives a message used to request deleting the information of the first communication object or a message used to request disconnecting the first communication object from the first UCA, and the first UCA deletes the saved information of the first communication object. For example, the first UCA deletes the saved information of the first communication object in the third table.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the first UCA sends a message for requesting deletion of information of the first communication object to a third UCA; and / or, sends a message for requesting deletion of information of the first communication object saved in the third UCA to a control plane network element; wherein the first communication object has a mutual trust relationship with one or more communication objects connected with the third UCA.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the first application service is configured to proxy the first communication object, and the first UCA receives the first information message from the first communication object, including: receiving the first information message from the first application service; or the first UCA sends the second information message to the first communication object, including: sending the second information message to the first application service.

[0046] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a control plane function network element, or by other devices with the function of the control plane function network element, or by a chip system (which can also be replaced by a chip) or other functional modules, which can realize the function of the control plane function network element, such as being arranged in the control plane function network element. The method comprises: based on a request of a first user or a second user, sending a message for requesting establishment of a mutual trust relationship between a first communication object and a second communication object to a first user communication agent (UCA) and a second UCA; wherein the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is used for the first UCA and the second UCA to transmit a first information message; one of a source communication object of the first information message and a destination communication object of the first information message is the first communication object, and the other is the second communication object; the first UCA provides a service for communication objects of the first user, and the communication objects of the first user include the first communication object; the second UCA provides a service for communication objects of the second user, and the communication objects of the second user include the second communication object.

[0047] In this design, the control plane network element sends a request message for establishing a mutual trust relationship between communication objects belonging to different UCAs to the UCA based on a request of a user, so that the UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between a communication object belonging to itself and a communication object belonging to another UCA, and transmits information messages exchanged between the communication objects belonging to different UCAs based on the mutual trust relationship, to realize communication between the communication objects belonging to different UCAs. The mutual trust relationship is established based on a request of the user, and can also be considered to be established with permission or at the suggestion of the user, and which communication objects can establish the mutual trust relationship is determined by the user, thereby realizing communication management and control of the communication objects.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending information about the type of the mutual trust relationship to the first UCA and the second UCA; and wherein the type is temporary or fixed.

[0049] In a possible implementation, the message sent to the first UCA for requesting to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object includes information about the second communication object and does not include information about the first communication object; and the message sent to the second UCA for requesting to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object includes information about the first communication object and does not include information about the second communication object.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the message sent to the first user communication agent (UCA) and the second UCA for requesting to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object includes:

[0051] In a case where the identity of the first communication object is authenticated, the message for requesting to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is sent to the first UCA; and the identity of the first communication object is authenticated, including that the identity of the first communication object is associated with the identity of the first user.

[0052] In a case where the identity of the second communication object is authenticated, the message for requesting to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is sent to the second UCA; and the identity of the second communication object is authenticated, including that the identity of the second communication object is associated with the identity of the second user.

[0053] In this implementation, the identity of the communication object is authenticated before the mutual trust relationship is established, which can improve security.

[0054] In a possible implementation, the message for authenticating the identity of the first communication object and the second communication object is sent to an identity management network element; the result of the authentication is received from the identity management network element; and in a case where the result indicates that the identity of the first communication object and the second communication object is authenticated, the message for requesting to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is sent to the first UCA and the second UCA respectively.

[0055] In a possible implementation, after the message for requesting to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is sent to the first user communication agent (UCA) and the second UCA, the method further includes:

[0056] based on a request of the first user or the second user, sending a message for requesting to release the mutual trust relationship to the first UCA and / or the second UCA.

[0057] In this implementation, the mutual trust relationship is released based on the request of the user, and the user is enabled to control communication.

[0058] In a possible implementation, the message for requesting to release the mutual trust relationship sent to the first UCA includes information of the second communication object and does not include information of the first communication object; the message for requesting to release the mutual trust relationship sent to the second UCA includes information of the first communication object and does not include information of the second communication object.

[0059] In a possible implementation, before the message for requesting to establish the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object is sent to the first UCA and the second UCA, the method further includes: receiving a message for requesting to connect the UCA from the first communication object; sending information of the first communication object to the first UCA, the information of the first communication object being used to establish a connection between the first UCA and the first communication object; and sending information of the first UCA to the first communication object, the information of the first UCA being used to establish a connection between the first communication object and the first UCA.

[0060] In this implementation, before the mutual trust relationship is established, the communication object should first access the UCA.

[0061] In a possible implementation, after the message for requesting to connect the UCA is received from the first communication object, before the information of the first communication object is sent to the first UCA, the method further includes: determining an identity of the first user to which the first communication object belongs, and determining the first UCA based on the identity of the first user.

[0062] In a possible implementation, the determining the first UCA based on the identity of the first user includes: sending the identity of the first user to a data management network element; and receiving an identity of the first UCA from the data management network element; wherein the data management network element is used to manage a fourth table, and the fourth table includes an association relationship between an identity of a user and an identity of a UCA that provides a service for a communication object of the user.

[0063] In this implementation, the fourth table saves the association relationship between the identity of the user and the identity of the UCA, and facilitates the data management network element to find the UCA belonging to the user based on the identity of the user, and to determine the user to which the UCA belongs based on the identity of the UCA.

[0064] In a possible implementation, after the first UCA is determined, the method further includes: sending information of the first communication object and information of the first UCA to a data management network element, the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA being used to add an association relationship between the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA in a second table, the data management network element being configured to manage the second table, and the second table including an association relationship between an identifier of a communication object and an identifier of a UCA serving the communication object.

[0065] In this implementation, the second table stores the association relationship between the identifier of the communication object and the identifier of the UCA, facilitating the data management network element to find the UCA serving the communication object based on the identifier of the communication object, or to find the communication object accessing the UCA based on the identifier of the UCA.

[0066] In a possible implementation, after the message for requesting to connect the UCA is received from the first communication object, the method further includes:

[0067] allocating address information for the first communication object; when the source communication object of the first information message is the first communication object, the source address information of the first information message is the address information; and when the destination communication object of the first information message is the first communication object, the destination address information of the first information message is the address information.

[0068] In a possible implementation, after the address information is allocated for the first communication object, the method further includes: establishing a first session between the first communication object and the first UCA, and transmitting the first information message over the first session.

[0069] In a possible implementation, after the message for requesting to connect the UCA is received from the first communication object, the method further includes: sending a sixth message to a first network element (for example, an IIF) where the first UCA is located, the sixth message being used to request to install a first application service for proxying the first communication object; and the first application service being used to transmit the first information message between the first communication object and the first UCA.

[0070] In a possible implementation, a seventh message is received from a data management network element (or other network element), the seventh message being used to request to create a UCA for the first user, the seventh message comprising the identity of the first user; in response to the seventh message, an eighth message is sent to a first network element, the eighth message being used to request to create a UCA for the first user, the eighth message comprising the identity of the first user; an eighth response is received from the first network element, the eighth response comprising the identity of the first user and information of the first UCA; in response to the eighth response, a ninth response is sent to the data management network element, the ninth response comprising the identity of the first user and information of the first UCA.

[0071] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a first UCA, or by other devices with the functions of the specific first UCA, or by a chip system (or a chip) or other functional modules capable of implementing the functions of the first UCA, such as being arranged in the first UCA. Take the example of the method being executed by the first UCA: the first UCA receives a first information message from a source communication object; wherein the first UCA provides services for communication objects of a first user, the communication objects of the first user include the source communication object, and the source communication object does not establish a mutual trust relationship with a destination communication object of the first information message; if the first user allows the source communication object to transmit information messages to the destination communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, the first UCA sends the first information message to a second UCA, the second UCA provides services for communication objects of a second user, and the communication objects of the second user include the destination communication object.

[0072] In this example, the UCA enables communication between communication objects belonging to different UCAs under the control of a user, based on the permission of the user, to transmit information messages between communication objects that do not establish a mutual trust relationship.

[0073] In a possible implementation, the source communication object does not establish a mutual trust relationship with the destination communication object, including that the information of the communication objects saved by the first UCA does not include information of the destination communication object.

[0074] In a possible implementation, the first user allows the source communication object to transmit information messages to the destination communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, including that the subscription information of the first UCA comprises permission to transmit information messages between communication objects that access the first UCA and communication objects that do not establish a mutual trust relationship.

[0075] In a possible implementation, the first information message comprises an identifier of a destination communication object; before sending the first information message to the second UCA, the first UCA comprises: the first UCA determines the second UCA based on the identifier of the destination communication object in the first information message.

[0076] In a possible implementation, the first UCA determines the second UCA based on the identifier of the destination communication object in the first information message, comprising: the first UCA sends the identifier of the destination communication object to a data management network element; the first UCA receives the identifier of the second UCA from the data management network element; wherein the data management network element is configured to manage a fifth table, and the fifth table comprises an association relationship between an identifier of a communication object and an identifier of a UCA serving the communication object.

[0077] In a possible implementation, the first UCA sends the first information message to the second UCA, comprising: in a case where the identity authentication of the destination communication object is passed, the first UCA sends the first information message to the second UCA; wherein the identifier of the destination communication object is associated with the identity identifier of the second user.

[0078] In this implementation, by authenticating the identity of the destination communication object, the security of communication can be improved.

[0079] In a possible implementation, the first UCA sends a message for authenticating the identity of the destination communication object to an identity management network element; the first UCA receives a result of the authentication from the identity management network element; in a case where the result indicates that the identity authentication of the destination communication object is passed, the first UCA sends the first information message to the second UCA.

[0080] In a possible implementation, after the first UCA sends the first information message to the second UCA, the first UCA acquires information of the destination communication object and saves the information of the destination communication object.

[0081] In this implementation, the first UCA saves the information of the destination communication object, which is equivalent to establishing a mutual trust relationship with the destination communication object, and can facilitate the transmission of information messages between the first UCA and the destination communication object in the future.

[0082] In a possible implementation, the saving of the information of the second communication object comprises: saving the information of the destination communication object in a sixth table, and the sixth table comprises information of a communication object allowed to transmit information messages with the first UCA.

[0083] In this implementation, a special table is designed to save the information of the communication object establishing a mutual trust relationship, which can facilitate subsequent searching.

[0084] In a possible implementation, the information of the destination communication object comprises an association relationship between an identity of the destination communication object and an identity of the second UCA.

[0085] In this implementation, by saving the association relationship between the identity of the communication object and the identity of the UCA serving the communication object, it is convenient to find which UCA provides service for the communication object based on the identity of the communication object, and it is also convenient to find which communication object the UCA provides service for based on the identity of the UCA.

[0086] In a possible implementation, after saving the information of the destination communication object, if the first UCA receives a second information message from the source communication object, the second information message comprising the identity of the destination communication object, then the identity of the second UCA can be determined based on the identity of the destination communication object in the second information message and the association relationship, and then the second information message is sent to the second UCA according to the identity of the second UCA.

[0087] In a possible implementation, when saving the information of the destination communication object, the first UCA starts timing, and the method further comprises: when a preset time length is reached, deleting the saved information of the destination communication object.

[0088] In this implementation, based on the sending of the information message, a temporary mutual trust relationship is established, and it is convenient to perform transmission of information messages between the destination communication object and the source communication object within a preset time length.

[0089] In a possible implementation, the starting timing comprises starting a timer, and the reaching of the preset time length comprises the timeout of the timer.

[0090] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a second UCA, or by other equipment including the functions of the second UCA, or by a chip system (which can also be replaced by a chip) or other functional module capable of realizing the functions of the second UCA, such as being arranged in the second UCA. Taking the method executed by the second UCA as an example, the first UCA receives a first information message from the first UCA; the first UCA provides services for communication objects of a first user, the communication objects of the first user include a source communication object of the first information message, the source communication object does not establish a mutual trust relationship with a destination communication object of the first information message, the second UCA provides services for communication objects of a second user, the communication objects of the second user include the destination communication object, and if the second user allows the destination communication object to transmit information messages to the source communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, the second UCA sends the first information message to the destination communication object.

[0091] In this example, the UCA enables communication between communication objects belonging to different UCAs based on the permission of the user and the transmission of information messages between communication objects that do not establish a mutual trust relationship, and also enables the user to control the communication of the communication objects.

[0092] In a possible implementation, the source communication object does not establish a mutual trust relationship with the destination communication object, including that the information of the communication objects saved by the first UCA does not include the information of the source communication object.

[0093] In a possible implementation, the second user allows the destination communication object to transmit information messages to the source communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, including that the subscription information of the second UCA includes permission to access the communication objects of the second UCA to transmit information messages to the communication objects that do not establish a mutual trust relationship.

[0094] In a possible implementation, the second UCA sends the first information message to the destination communication object, including that the second UCA sends the first information message to the destination communication object if the identity authentication of the source communication object is passed, and the identity authentication of the source communication object is passed, including that the identity of the source communication object is associated with the identity of the first user.

[0095] In this implementation, the security of communication can be improved by authenticating the identity of the source communication object.

[0096] In a possible implementation, the second UCA sends a message for verifying the identity of the source communication object to an identity management network element; the second UCA receives a result of the verification from the identity management network element; and in a case where the result indicates that the identity of the source communication object is verified, the second UCA sends the first information message to the destination communication object.

[0097] In a possible implementation, after sending the first information message to the destination communication object, the second UCA further comprises: obtaining information of the source communication object, and saving the information of the source communication object.

[0098] In this implementation, the second UCA saves the information of the source communication object, which is equivalent to establishing a mutual trust relationship with the source communication object, and can facilitate the transmission of information messages between the source communication object and the destination communication object.

[0099] In a possible implementation, the saving of the information of the source communication object comprises: saving the information of the source communication object and the information of the first UCA in a seventh table, wherein the seventh table comprises information of communication objects having a mutual trust relationship with a communication object connected to the second UCA.

[0100] In this implementation, a special table is designed to save the information of the communication objects establishing the mutual trust relationship, which can facilitate subsequent searching.

[0101] In a possible implementation, the information of the source communication object comprises: an association relationship between an identifier of the source communication object and an identifier of the first UCA.

[0102] In this implementation, by saving the association relationship between the identifier of the communication object and the identifier of the UCA serving the communication object, it can be convenient to find which UCA serves the communication object based on the identifier of the communication object, and it can also be convenient to find which communication object the UCA serves based on the identifier of the UCA.

[0103] In a possible implementation, after saving the information of the source communication object, the second UCA receives a second information message from the first UCA; and based on the saved information of the source communication object, the second UCA sends the second information message to the destination communication object.

[0104] In a possible implementation, when saving the information of the source communication object, the second UCA starts timing, and the method further comprises: deleting the saved information of the source communication object when a preset time is reached.

[0105] In this implementation, a temporary mutual trust relationship is established based on the sending of the information message, which can facilitate the transmission of information messages between the destination communication object and the source communication object within a preset time length.

[0106] In a possible implementation, the starting the timing includes starting a timer, and the reaching the preset time length includes the timer timing out.

[0107] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be the first UCA in the first aspect or the third aspect. The communication apparatus has the functions of the first UCA. The communication apparatus is, for example, a functional module in the first UCA, such as a baseband device or a chip system. Alternatively, the communication apparatus can be the control plane function network element in the second aspect. The communication apparatus has the functions of the control plane function network element. The communication apparatus is, for example, a functional module in the control plane function network element, such as a baseband device or a chip system. Alternatively, the communication apparatus can be the second UCA in the fourth aspect. The communication apparatus has the functions of the second UCA. The communication apparatus is, for example, a functional module in the second UCA, such as a baseband device or a chip system.

[0108] In an optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (also referred to as a transceiver module). The transceiver unit can implement the sending function and the receiving function. When the transceiver unit implements the sending function, it can be referred to as a sending unit (also referred to as a sending module). When the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be referred to as a receiving unit (also referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is referred to as a transceiver unit and can implement the sending function and the receiving function. Alternatively, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a general term for these functional modules.

[0109] In an optional implementation, the communication apparatus further includes a storage unit (also referred to as a storage module). The processing unit is coupled to the storage unit and executes programs or instructions in the storage unit, so that the communication apparatus can implement the functions of the first UCA in the first aspect or the third aspect, or implement the functions of the control plane function network element in the second aspect, or implement the functions of the second UCA in the fourth aspect.

[0110] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises an interface circuit and a processor, and optionally a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the interface circuit. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions, the communication apparatus performs the method performed by the first UCA in the first aspect or the third aspect, or performs the method performed by the control plane function network element in the second aspect, or performs the method performed by the second UCA in the fourth aspect. The interface circuit is configured to receive a signal from another communication apparatus and transmit the signal to the processor, or send a signal from the processor to another communication apparatus. The processor is configured to implement the method performed by the first UCA, or the second UCA, or the control plane function network element in the respective aspects by means of logic circuit or execution of code instructions.

[0111] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus is a chip or a chip system. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0112] In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises a processor, and optionally a memory. The processor and the memory are coupled. The memory is configured to store a computer program or instructions. The processor is configured to execute part or all of the computer program or instructions in the memory, so as to implement the functions of the first UCA in the first aspect or the third aspect, or implement the functions of the control plane function network element in the second aspect, or implement the functions of the second UCA in the fourth aspect.

[0113] In a possible implementation, the apparatus can further comprise a transceiver. The transceiver is configured to send a signal processed by the processor, or receive a signal input to the processor. The transceiver can perform the sending action or the receiving action performed by the first UCA in the first aspect or the third aspect, or performed by the control plane function network element in the second aspect, or performed by the second UCA in the fourth aspect.

[0114] In a possible implementation, the processing unit in the seventh aspect can be implemented by means of the processor, the storage unit in the seventh aspect can be implemented by means of the memory, and the transceiving unit in the seventh aspect can be implemented by means of the transceiver.

[0115] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus is a chip or a chip system. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0116] In an eighth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the method in any of the aspects above to be implemented.

[0117] In a ninth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor for implementing the method in any possible implementation of any of the first aspect to the fourth aspect when the processor executes a computer program or instructions. Optionally, the chip can further include a memory, and the chip can be constituted by the chip or include the chip and other discrete devices. The memory is configured to store the computer program or instructions.

[0118] In a tenth aspect, a circuit is provided for implementing the method in any possible implementation of any of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, and the circuit can include a chip circuit. Optionally, the circuit can be coupled with a memory.

[0119] In an eleventh aspect, a computer program product including instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the method in any of the aspects above to be implemented is provided.

[0120] In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the first UCA in the first aspect and the first UCA, and the second UCA is configured to receive the first information message from the first UCA or send the second information message to the first UCA, and further optionally includes the control plane function network element in the second aspect. For example, the first UCA and the control plane function network element can be implemented by the communication device in the fifth aspect, or the sixth aspect, or the seventh aspect.

[0121] In a thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the first UCA in the third aspect and the second UCA in the fourth aspect. For example, the first UCA and the second UCA can be implemented by the communication device in the fifth aspect, or the sixth aspect, or the seventh aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0122] FIG. 1a is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0123] FIG. 1b is a schematic diagram of a communication architecture within a sub-network and across sub-networks provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0124] FIG. 1c is a schematic diagram of a relationship among a user, a UCA and a CO provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0125] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a flow of transmitting an information message provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0126] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a flow of creating a UCA provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0127] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of various information tables provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0128] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a process for a communication object to access a UCA according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0129] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a process for a communication object to access a UCA according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0130] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a process for a communication object to access a UCA according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0131] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a process for a communication object to establish a mutual trust relationship with another communication object according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0132] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a process for a communication object to establish a mutual trust relationship with another communication object according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0133] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a process for a communication object to establish a mutual trust relationship with another communication object according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0134] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a process for a communication object to transmit an information packet based on a mutual trust relationship according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0135] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a process for a communication object to transmit an information packet within a UCA according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0136] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a process for a communication object to transmit an information packet without establishing a mutual trust relationship according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0137] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a process for a communication object to transmit an information packet without establishing a mutual trust relationship according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0138] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a process for deleting a communication object according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0139] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a process for deleting a communication object according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0140] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a process for logging out of a UCA according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0141] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0142] FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application; DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0143] The technical solutions of the present application can be applied to various wireless communication systems, which can include but are not limited to the fourth generation (4G) mobile communication technology system (also known as the long term evolution (LTE) system), the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication technology system (also known as the new radio (NR) system), or can also be applied to future mobile communication systems, etc., and the specific application is not limited.

[0144] In addition, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to device-to-device (D2D) scenarios, such as NR-D2D scenarios, or can be applied to vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication scenarios, such as NR-V2X scenarios. For example, it can be used in the fields of intelligent driving, auxiliary driving, or intelligent networked vehicles, etc. For another example, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to factory manufacturing scenarios, etc.

[0145] In addition, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to scenarios including but not limited to: ground cellular communication, non-terrestrial network (NTN), satellite communication, high altitude platform station (HAPS) communication, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) communication, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) communication, etc.

[0146] As shown in FIG. 1a, a communication system diagram suitable for the embodiments of the present application is introduced. The communication system can be called an intelligent agent communication network. Two types of network elements are introduced in the system: one is a control plane network element, which can be called an intelligent communication management function (ICMF) network element or other names; the other is a user plane network element, which can be called an intelligent interaction function (IIF) network element or other names. The "network element" in "** network element" can also be called "function", "functional network element", "network function", etc., for example, the control plane network element can be called a control plane network function, and the user plane network element can be called a user plane network function.

[0147] The control plane network element includes but is not limited to the following functions: 1) selecting a user plane function and instructing the user plane function to create and configure a user communication agent (UCA) instance for a subscribed user to establish a user agent subnetwork; 2) establishing a session connection between a communication object (CO) and a UCA for an accessed CO; 3) verifying the digital identity of the CO by interacting with a digital identity management (IDM) network element; and 4) interacting with a unified data management (UDM) network element to record and query a global communication information table for managing interactive sessions between COs.

[0148] The user plane function network element includes but is not limited to the following functions: 1) creating and maintaining a UCA instance for a subscribed user to implement information interaction between different COs within the UCA or across UCA; and 2) providing an application service (AS) running environment, and optionally, a media processing service, a local artificial intelligence (AI) model running environment, etc.

[0149] The communication object (CO) in the agent communication network includes, but is not limited to, a user terminal or an agent. The user can perform certain operations on the user terminal, trigger the user terminal to send a message, or the user terminal receives a message and performs certain prompts to the user based on the message, and the user confirms, etc. The communication between the user terminal and other devices is triggered by the user, for example, the user actively triggers, or the user sets the triggering rule in advance, and the user terminal has no autonomous behavior. The user terminal includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: a mobile phone, a satellite mobile terminal, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palm computer, a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device (such as a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a pedometer, smart glasses, etc.), a vehicle-mounted device (such as a car, a bicycle, an electric vehicle, an airplane, a ship, a train, a high-speed rail, etc.), a satellite terminal, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device. The agent is further divided into a physical agent and a virtual agent. The physical agent includes, but is not limited to, a physical robot, a robotic dog, a smart car, a smart drone, etc. that accesses through a wireless cellular network or WiFi. Optionally, the user terminal can also be classified into a physical agent, for example, the user terminal is installed with an agent-related application program, and when the communication is based on the application program, the user terminal can be classified into a physical agent. The virtual agent includes, but is not limited to, a digital intelligent assistant, a digital person, a personal digital assistant (PDA), etc. deployed in the cloud or network. The agent can be further divided into a high-end agent, a middle-end agent, and a low-end agent according to the ability.

[0150] The control plane function network element can communicate with a physical agent, a virtual agent, a user terminal, an access management network element, a RAN, a UPF, a UCA, other ICMF, other network functions of the control plane, etc.

[0151] Optionally, the control plane function network element includes but is not limited to four interfaces, namely interface 1, interface 2, interface 3 and interface 8. The user plane function network element includes but is not limited to four interfaces, namely interface 4, interface 5, interface 6 and interface 7. The interface 1 of the control plane function network element is used for signaling interaction between the physical intelligent agent and the user terminal and the control plane function network element, the interface 2 of the control plane function network element is used for signaling interaction between the virtual intelligent agent and the control plane function network element, the interface 3 of the control plane function network element is used for signaling interaction with the interface 7 of the user plane function network element, and the interface 8 of the control plane function network element is used for signaling interaction with other network functions in the control plane, including but not limited to: digital identity management function (IDM), user unified data management function (UDM), large model, model warehouse, AS mirror warehouse, etc. The interface 4 of the user plane function network element is used for signaling interaction between the physical intelligent agent and the user terminal via the RAN and the UPF and the user communication agent UCA, the interface 5 of the user plane function network element is used for signaling interaction between the virtual intelligent agent and the UCA, the interface 6 of the user plane function network element is used for signaling interaction between UCAs located in different user plane function network elements, and the interface 7 of the user plane function network element is used for signaling interaction with the interface 3 of the control plane function network element. It can be understood that the numbers / names of these interfaces are only for the convenience of description, and do not limit the functions of the interfaces. These numbers / names can also be replaced by other numbers / names, for example, replaced by interface a, interface b, interface c, etc. Alternatively, the functions of multiple interfaces among these interfaces can be combined and implemented by one interface. For example, a certain interface of the control plane function network element can be used for signaling interaction with the physical intelligent agent and the virtual intelligent agent. For example, a certain interface of the user plane function network element can be used for signaling interaction between the UCA and the control plane function and signaling interaction between UCAs located in different user plane function network elements.

[0152] The intelligent agent communication network connects various communication objects of the subscribed user through the user communication agent UCA, each UCA constructs a subnetwork (or said, the UCA and the communication objects accessing the UCA form a subnetwork), thereby guaranteeing the communication security and controllability of various communication objects. In FIG. 1a, the user communication agent UCA1 serves the subscribed user 1 and connects the physical intelligent agents CO1-1, CO1-2, CO1-3 and the virtual intelligent agent CO1-4 of the subscribed user 1; the user communication agent UCA2 serves the subscribed user 2 and connects the physical intelligent agents CO2-1, CO2-2 and the virtual intelligent agent CO2-3 of the subscribed user 2.

[0153] As shown in FIG. 1b, the communication between intelligent agents can adopt the following two modes.

[0154] Mode one: UCA subnet communication, i.e. communication between communication objects accessing the same UCA. This mode can be applied to the communication between intelligent agents in a subnet composed of personal, family, enterprise, etc. as management domain. In a subnet, intelligent agents can discover each other, establish session, exchange information, etc.

[0155] Mode two: cross-subnet (cross-user communication agent UCA) communication, i.e. communication between communication objects accessing different UCAs. Mutual trust relationship is established between communication objects accessing different UCAs, and information messages are transmitted based on the established mutual trust relationship. Or mutual trust relationship is not established between communication objects accessing different UCAs, and information messages can be transmitted between communication objects based on user's permission (e.g. permission based on subscription information or user's temporary authorization).

[0156] As shown in FIG. 1c, the relationship between a subscribed user, a UCA, an IIF and a CO is introduced. Each subscribed user can create one or more UCAs, and one UCA can only belong to one subscribed user. As shown in FIG. 1c, subscribed user 1 creates UCA 1 and UCA 2, and subscribed user 3 creates UCA 3. Multiple UCAs can be created in each IIF, and each UCA instance can only exist in one IIF. As shown in FIG. 1c, UCA 1 is located in IIF 1, and UCA 2 and UCA 3 are located in IIF 2. Multiple UCAs of the same subscribed user can be located in one IIF or multiple IIFs. As shown in FIG. 1c, UCA 1 of subscribed user 1 is located in IIF 1, and UCA 2 is located in IIF 2. Each UCA can be connected to one or more COs, and each CO can only be connected to one UCA. As shown in FIG. 1c, CO 1 and CO 2 are connected to UCA 1, CO 3 and CO 4 are connected to UCA 2, and CO 5 and CO 6 are connected to UCA 3. It should be noted that the UCA connected by a communication object of a user is the UCA of the user, e.g. CO 1, CO 2, CO 3 and CO 4 are all communication objects of subscribed user 1, and CO 5 and CO 6 are both communication objects of subscribed user 2.

[0157] In the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the first UCA provides services for communication objects of a first user, and the second UCA provides services for communication objects of a second user, the communication objects of the first user include a first communication object, and the communication objects of the second user include a second communication object. The first UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on a request of the first user or the second user. Based on the mutual trust relationship, information messages from the second UCA (the information messages are sent by the second communication object to the second UCA) are sent to the first communication object, or information messages from the first communication object are sent to the second UCA (the second UCA sends the information messages to the second communication object again). Similarly, the second UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on a request of the first user or the second user. Based on the mutual trust relationship, information messages from the first UCA (the information messages are sent by the first communication object to the first UCA) are sent to the second communication object, or information messages from the second communication object are sent to the first UCA (the first UCA sends the information messages to the first communication object again).

[0158] In the method, the UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between a communication object belonging to itself and a communication object belonging to another UCA based on a request of a user, and subsequently transmits information messages exchanged between the communication objects belonging to different UCAs based on the mutual trust relationship, to realize communication between the communication objects belonging to different UCAs. The mutual trust relationship is established based on a request of the user, and can also be considered to be established with permission or at the suggestion of the user. The user determines which communication objects can establish a mutual trust relationship, thereby realizing communication management and control of the communication objects.

[0159] Hereinafter, some terms or concepts in the embodiments of the present application are explained and described, to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0160] 1), U_ID represents a user identity of a user, and can be replaced by "an identifier of a user", "an identity of a user", etc. CO_DID represents a digital identity of a communication object CO_DID, and can be replaced by "an identifier of a communication object", "an identity of a communication object", "a digital identifier of a communication object", etc.

[0161] 2), the IP address in the embodiments of the present application can be replaced by "address information", the IP address is one specific example of the address information, and the address information can also be a new network layer protocol address. In addition, the IP address mentioned in the embodiments of the present application refers to an IP address in an agent communication network.

[0162] The "UCA serving a communication object" in the embodiments of the present application can be replaced by "UCA accessed by a communication object" and "UCA belonging to a communication object".

[0163] The "UCA" and "UCA instance" in the embodiments of the present application can be replaced with each other.

[0164] 3) Any two UCAs in the embodiments of the present application can directly interact or interact through ICMF. Similarly, in the embodiments of the present application, A can send a message to B directly or send the message to B through an intermediate device.

[0165] 4) In each flowchart introduced in the embodiments of the present application, if a message carries multiple information, this is only one possible implementation, and in another possible implementation, the multiple information can be carried in multiple messages. In addition, the order of transmitting each information can not be limited without affecting the logic of the context.

[0166] 5) In each flowchart introduced in the embodiments of the present application, the control plane function network element in the intelligent communication network is taken as ICMF, and the user plane function network element in the intelligent communication network is taken as IIF. It can be understood that ICMF can be replaced with other names, such as intelligent agent communication network control plane function network element, and IIF can be replaced with other names, such as intelligent agent communication network user plane function network element.

[0167] 6) Each embodiment of the present application is decoupled from each other, each embodiment can exist independently, or can be combined with other embodiments as one embodiment. In addition, the technical details of each embodiment can be referred to each other.

[0168] 7) The first UCA maintains a first table, and the first table includes information of a communication object having a mutual trust relationship with a communication object connected to the first UCA. The "first UCA" here is only illustrative, and a similar table as the first table can also be maintained in the second UCA to save information of a communication object having a mutual trust relationship with a communication object connected to the second UCA. The first table can be a UCA communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4 maintained by the first UCA, or a part of the UCA communication object information table, or the first table includes the UCA communication object information table, and optionally, further includes an information cache table.

[0169] The first UCA maintains a third table, which includes information of the communication object accessing the first UCA. The "second UCA" here is only an example, and the second UCA can also maintain a table similar to the third table to store information of the communication object accessing the first UCA. The third table can be the UCA communication object information table maintained by the first UCA as shown in FIG. 4, or the first table is a part of the UCA communication object information table, or the first table includes the UCA communication object information table, and optionally, further includes the information cache table.

[0170] The data management network element maintains a second table, which includes the identification of the communication object and the identification of the UCA accessed by the communication object (i.e., the UCA providing service for the communication object), and optionally, the second table can further include other information of the second communication object, such as the IP address, type, etc. of the second communication object. The second table can be the global communication object information table maintained by the data management network element as shown in FIG. 4, or the second table is a part of the global communication object information table, or the global communication object information table is a part of the second table.

[0171] The data management network element maintains a fourth table, which includes the identification of the user and the identification of the UCA providing service for the communication object of the user, and optionally, the second table further includes the IP address, subscription information, etc. of the UCA. The fourth table can be the global UCA information table maintained by the data management network element as shown in FIG. 4, or the fourth table is a part of the global UCA information table, or the global UCA information table is a part of the fourth table.

[0172] In order to better introduce the embodiments of the present application, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is introduced below in combination with the drawings. In the drawings corresponding to the embodiments of the present application, the steps represented by the dashed lines are optional steps, unless otherwise specified.

[0173] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application, including the following steps:

[0174] Step 21: The first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on the request of the first user or the second user.

[0175] Step 22: The second UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on the request of the first user or the second user.

[0176] The order between step 21 and step 22 is not limited.

[0177] The first UCA provides service for the communication object of the first user, and the communication object of the first user includes the first communication object; and the second UCA provides service for the communication object of the second user, and the communication object of the second user includes the second communication object.

[0178] Two examples of information message transmission based on mutual trust relationship are introduced as follows:

[0179] Example 1: the first communication object sends an information message to the second communication object. Example 2: the second communication object sends an information message to the first communication object. For the convenience of distinction, the information message sent by the first communication object to the second communication object is referred to as the first information message, and the information message sent by the second communication object to the first communication object is referred to as the second information message.

[0180] Example 1 (the first communication object sends an information message to the second communication object) is introduced as follows:

[0181] Step 23a: the first communication object sends the first information message to the first UCA, and correspondingly, the first UCA receives the first information message from the first communication object.

[0182] The source communication object of the first information message is the first communication object, and the destination communication object of the first information message is the second communication object. Illustratively, the first information message includes the identity of the source communication object, the identity of the destination communication object, and the content (also referred to as the payload) of the information message. The specific content can be any information, such as text, audio / video, API call, semantic vector, model or parameter, etc., and the first information message can be a request message or a response message.

[0183] Step 24a: the first UCA sends the first information message to the second UCA based on the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, and correspondingly, the second UCA receives the first information message.

[0184] In one example, in the case where the first communication object and the second communication object have established a mutual trust relationship, the first UCA sends the first information message to the second UCA; in the case where the first communication object and the second communication object have not established a mutual trust relationship, the first UCA does not send the first information message to the second UCA, for example, discarding the first information message.

[0185] Step 25a: the second UCA sends the first information message to the second communication object based on the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, and correspondingly, the second communication object receives the first information message.

[0186] In one example, in the case where the first communication object and the second communication object have established a mutual trust relationship, the first UCA sends the first information message to the second communication object; in the case where the first communication object and the second communication object have not established a mutual trust relationship, the first UCA does not send the first information message to the second communication object, for example, discarding the first information message.

[0187] In step 24a, the first UCA judges whether to establish the mutual trust relationship. In step 25a, the second UCA also judges whether to establish the mutual trust relationship. The two times of judgment can be performed or only one of them can be performed. For example, the first UCA does not need to judge, and step 24a can be replaced by: the first UCA sends the first information message to the second UCA. For another example, the second UCA does not need to judge, and step 25a can be replaced by: the second UCA sends the first information message to the second communication object.

[0188] The following describes example 2 (the second communication object sends the information message to the first communication object):

[0189] In step 23b, the second communication object sends the second information message to the second UCA, and the second UCA receives the second information message from the second communication object.

[0190] The source communication object of the second information message is the second communication object, and the destination communication object of the second information message is the first communication object. The second information message includes, for example, the identity of the source communication object, the identity of the destination communication object, and the content (also referred to as the payload) of the information message. The specific content can be any information, such as text, audio and video, API call, semantic vector, model or parameter, etc. The second information message can be a request message or a response message.

[0191] In step 24b, the second UCA sends the second information message to the first UCA based on the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, and the first UCA receives the second information message.

[0192] In one example, when the first communication object and the second communication object have established the mutual trust relationship, the second UCA sends the second information message to the first UCA; when the first communication object and the second communication object have not established the mutual trust relationship, the second UCA does not send the second information message to the first UCA, for example, discarding the second information message.

[0193] In step 25b, the first UCA sends the second information message to the first communication object based on the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, and the first communication object receives the second information message.

[0194] In one example, when the first communication object and the second communication object have established the mutual trust relationship, the first UCA sends the second information message to the first communication object; when the first communication object and the second communication object have not established the mutual trust relationship, the first UCA does not send the second information message to the first communication object, for example, discarding the second information message.

[0195] In step 24b, the second UCA judges whether to establish the mutual trust relationship; in step 25b, the first UCA also judges whether to establish the mutual trust relationship, and the two times of judgment can be performed or only one of them can be performed. For example, the second UCA does not need to judge, and step 24b can be replaced by: the second UCA sends the second information message to the first UCA. For another example, the first UCA does not need to judge, and step 25b can be replaced by: the first UCA sends the second information message to the first communication object.

[0196] In this design, the control plane network element sends a request message for establishing a mutual trust relationship between communication objects belonging to different UCAs to the UCA based on the request of the user, so that the UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between the communication object belonging to itself and the communication object belonging to another UCA, and transmits information messages exchanged between the communication objects belonging to different UCAs based on the mutual trust relationship, to realize communication between the communication objects belonging to different UCAs. The mutual trust relationship is established at the request of the user, and can also be considered to be established with the permission or intention of the user, and which communication objects can establish the mutual trust relationship is determined by the user, so that the communication of the communication objects is controlled.

[0197] Before step 21, the method further includes a process that the first user creates the first UCA. Before step 22, the method further includes a process that the second user creates the second UCA. FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a process of creating a UCA for a user according to an embodiment of the present application. It should be noted that the process of creating a UCA for a user shown in FIG. 3 is decoupled from other processes provided by the embodiments of the present application, including but not limited to: a communication object accessing a UCA, establishing a mutual trust relationship between communication objects, and transmitting information messages based on the mutual trust relationship. Here, only a possible example is taken as an example for illustration in consideration of the relevance of the context.

[0198] When creating a UCA for a user, the UDM requests the ICMF to create a UCA for the user, the ICMF selects a suitable IIF, sends a message for creating a UCA to the IIF, the IIF creates the UCA based on the message, and optionally, informs the UDM of the information of the created UCA.

[0199] As shown in FIG. 3, creating a UCA for a user includes the following steps.

[0200] Step 101: The user subscribes to the service of the intelligent agent communication network through a business operation support system (BOSS).

[0201] A possible scenario, a user goes to an offline business hall, an operator of the business hall subscribes the user to the service of the agent communication network through the BOSS. Another possible scenario, the user logs in an online business hall through a user terminal, the online business hall subscribes the user to the service of the agent communication network through the BOSS.

[0202] After subscribing the user to the service of the agent communication network, the BOSS records the user identity U_ID of the subscribed user and the subscription information.

[0203] The subscription information of the user includes but is not limited to at least one of the following: the maximum number of allowed communication objects connected by the UCA, and whether to allow the local communication object to autonomously communicate with the outside. For example, whether to allow the local communication object to send information messages to the external communication object without establishing a mutual trust relationship with the external communication object, or whether to allow the local communication object to receive information messages from the external communication object without establishing a mutual trust relationship with the external communication object.

[0204] Step 102: The BOSS system sends a message to the UDM, and correspondingly, the UDM receives the message.

[0205] The message is used to request to create a UCA. The message includes the user identity U_ID of the user and the subscription information of the user.

[0206] Step 103: The UDM sends a message to the ICMF, and correspondingly, the ICMF receives the message.

[0207] The message is used to request to create a UCA. The message includes the user identity U_ID of the user. Further optionally, the message also includes the subscription information of the user, or the UDM sends the subscription information of the user to the ICMF in other messages different from the message.

[0208] After receiving the user identity and the subscription information, the UDM can save the association between the user identity U_ID and the subscription information.

[0209] One trigger condition for the UDM to send the message for requesting to create a UCA to the ICMF can be that the ICMF subscribes a first event to the UDM, the first event is used to indicate to create a UCA, and when the UDM receives the message for requesting to create a UCA from the BOSS, the UDM sends the message for requesting to create a UCA to the ICMF based on the subscription. Another trigger condition can be that the UDM receives a message for querying whether the first event occurs from the ICMF, and if the first event occurs, i.e., the UDM receives the message for requesting to create a UCA from the BOSS system, the UDM sends the message for requesting to create a UCA to the ICMF. Wherein, the ICMF can periodically or non-periodically send the message for querying whether the first event occurs to the UDM.

[0210] Step 104: The ICMF selects an intelligent interaction function IIF.

[0211] For example, the ICMF records the identity of the IIF and the location of the IIF or the service range of the IIF, and the ICMF can select a suitable IIF based on the location where the user subscribes and the location of the IIF. For example, the ICMF selects an IIF whose service range includes the location where the user subscribes. Wherein, the ICMF can obtain the location where the user subscribes from the UDM.

[0212] For example, the ICMF can select the IIF under the trigger of a message from the UDM for requesting to create a UCA.

[0213] Step 105: The ICMF sends a message to the selected IIF; correspondingly, the IIF receives the message.

[0214] The message is used to request to create a UCA, and the message includes the identity of the user U_ID.

[0215] The ICMF can record the association between the identity of the IIF and the IP address of the IIF, the ICMF finds the IP address of the IIF based on the identity of the selected IIF, and sends the message to the IIF based on the IP address of the IIF. Alternatively, the UDM records the association between the identity of the IIF and the IP address of the IIF, the ICMF sends the identity of the selected IIF to the UDM, the UDM finds the interface IP address of the IIF based on the identity of the IIF, and sends it to the ICMF.

[0216] In a possible implementation, multiple interfaces are provided in the IIF, each IIF interface has a corresponding identity and IP address, different IIF interfaces have different functions, or different IIF interfaces are used to communicate with different devices / apparatuses / network elements. In this case, the ICMF can record the association between the identity of the IIF, the interface identity of the IIF and the interface IP address of the IIF, the ICMF finds the interface identity of the IIF and the interface IP address of the IIF used for communication with the ICMF based on the identity of the selected IIF, and sends the message to the IIF based on the interface identity of the IIF and the interface IP address of the IIF. When applied to the communication system shown in FIG. 1a, the interface used for communication with the ICMF in the IIF is interface 7.

[0217] Alternatively, the UDM records the association between the identity of the IIF, the interface identity of the IIF and the interface IP address of the IIF, the ICMF sends the identity of the selected IIF to the UDM, the UDM finds the interface identity of the IIF and the interface IP address of the IIF based on the identity of the IIF, and sends them to the ICMF.

[0218] In a possible implementation, the global IIF information table shown in FIG. 4 can be maintained in the ICMF and / or the UDM, and the global IIF information table includes but is not limited to one or more of the following: IIF identifier, IIF interface identifier, and IIF interface IP address. For example, the IIF interface includes: an interface for communicating with the ICMF (for example, interface 7 in FIG. 1a), an interface for interacting between UCAs (for example, interface 6 in FIG. 1a), an interface for interacting with a user terminal and a physical intelligent entity (for example, interface 4 in FIG. 1a), and an interface for interacting with a virtual intelligent entity (for example, interface 5 in FIG. 1a). The IIF identifier can be used to index all interface identifiers and IP addresses of the IIF.

[0219] It should be noted that the IIF information table in FIG. 4 is introduced by way of example, in which multiple interfaces are provided in the IIF, each IIF interface has a corresponding identifier and IP address, and different IIF interfaces have different functions. If the interfaces in the IIF do not distinguish different functions, or in other words, any device / apparatus / network element outside the IIF can communicate with the IIF through the same interface, the IIF interface identifier is equivalent to the IIF identifier, and the IIF interface IP address is equivalent to the IP address of the IIF. Therefore, the global IIF information table can include the IIF identifier and the IP address of the IIF.

[0220] It should be noted that in other embodiments of the present application, if the IIF interface identifier and the IIF interface IP address are involved, the IIF identifier and the IP address of the IIF can be replaced.

[0221] Step 106: After receiving the message for requesting to create a UCA, the IIF creates a UCA instance, and allocates an identifier UCA_ID and an IP address UCA_IP to the created UCA.

[0222] The IIF can also save the association between the identifier and the IP address of the UCA.

[0223] It should be noted that the UCA and the IIF can be located in the same device / apparatus, or can be located in different devices / apparatuses. In the embodiments of the present application, the “IIF where the UCA is located, or the IIF to which the UCA belongs” means that the IIF can manage the UCA, and does not limit the UCA to be located in the device / apparatus of the IIF.

[0224] Step 106a: The UCA initializes the local communication information table.

[0225] One possible implementation of initializing the local communication information table is to create an empty local communication information table, and set the values of these fields in the table to be empty or preset values.

[0226] The local communication information table is created and maintained in the UCA instance, and is used to record information of communication objects capable of communicating with the UCA; wherein the communication objects capable of communicating with the UCA include: a communication object accessing the UCA, and a communication object having a trust relationship with the communication object accessing the UCA.

[0227] The information of each communication object includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the CO, an IP address of the CO, a type of the CO, a capability set of the CO, an identifier of the UCA accessed by the CO, an IP address of the UCA accessed by the CO, an identifier of an IIF in which the UCA accessed by the CO is located, an identifier of an IIF interface associated with the CO, an IP address of the IIF interface associated with the CO, and a type of the trust relationship.

[0228] An example of the local communication information table is introduced in FIG. 4. The local communication information table includes: a UCA communication object information table and an information cache table.

[0229] The UCA communication object information table is used to record information of communication objects capable of communicating with the UCA, including but not limited to one or more of the following: a digital identity identifier of the CO, an identifier of the UCA accessed by the CO, a type of the CO, an identifier of an IIF interface associated with the CO, a capability set of the CO, and a relationship of the CO with the UCA. The other information can be indexed by the digital identity identifier of the CO and / or the identifier of the UCA. The information basically does not change.

[0230] If the identifier of the UCA accessed by the CO in the UCA communication object information table is the identifier of the local UCA, it indicates that the CO is a CO accessing the local UCA; if it is not the identifier of the local UCA, it indicates that the CO is a CO having a trust relationship with a CO accessing the local UCA.

[0231] The type of the CO includes but is not limited to a user terminal, a robot, a robotic dog, a drone, a smart car, a digital assistant, etc.

[0232] The identifier of the IIF interface associated with the CO is used to indicate: through which interface on the IIF the CO accesses the UCA, or through which interface on the IIF the CO can be accessed. For example, the identifier of the IIF interface associated with the CO is related to the type of the CO, for example, as shown in FIG. 1a, the CO is a physical intelligent agent or a user terminal, and the IIF interface associated with the CO is interface 4; the CO is a virtual intelligent agent, and the IIF interface associated with the CO is interface 5. If the interfaces in the IIF do not distinguish different functions, or in other words, any device / apparatus / network element outside the IIF can communicate with the IIF through the same interface, then the identifier of the IIF interface is equivalent to the identifier of the IIF, and the IP address of the IIF interface is equivalent to the IP address of the IIF, so the identifier of the IIF interface associated with the CO can be replaced by the identifier of the IIF, which is also applicable in other embodiments of the present application.

[0233] The CO capability set records the capabilities that are open to the outside and can be invoked by the CO, including but not limited to: capability description, capability API, and invocation method, and the like.

[0234] The type of the mutual trust relationship is fixed (or long-term) or temporary (or short-term). If the type of the mutual trust relationship is fixed (or long-term), the mutual trust relationship is deleted based on the request of the user. If the type of the mutual trust relationship is temporary (or short-term), the mutual trust relationship can be established, and the mutual trust relationship is released when a preset time length is reached or the mutual trust relationship is automatically released after the communication task is completed.

[0235] The information cache table mainly records dynamic variable information, including but not limited to one or more of the following: 1) a mapping table of the digital identity of the CO and the IP address, the IP address of the CO can be re-allocated when the CO reconnects to the UCA; 2) a mapping table of the UCA identifier and the UCA IP address, the UCA instance migrates between different IIFs, or is re-instantiated, and can obtain a new IP address; 3) a mapping relationship between the UCA identifier and the IIF identifier, the UCA instance of the user can migrate between different IIFs, and the relationship between them can be dynamically changed; 4) a relationship between the IIF interface identifier and the interface IP address, the interface IP address can be changed by modifying the management surface. For 4), if the interfaces in the IIF do not distinguish different functions, or in other words, any device / apparatus / network element outside the IIF can communicate with the IIF through the same interface, then the IIF interface identifier is equivalent to the IIF identifier, and the IIF interface IP address is the IP address of the IIF.

[0236] It should be noted that the names of the various tables mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are only for aspect description, and will not limit the functions of the tables, and these names can be replaced by other names, such as first table, second table, third table, fourth table, and the like. In addition, the various tables mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be split, combined, or reorganized. For example, 1 table is split into 2 tables or more tables. For example, 1 table, or 2 tables or more tables are combined into 1 table. For example, 2 tables or more tables are reorganized into 2 tables or more tables. For example, the local communication information table is divided into two tables, one table is used to record the information of the communication object accessing the UCA, and the other table is used to record the information of the communication object having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object accessing the UCA.

[0237] Step 107: The IIF sends a message to the ICMF, and correspondingly, the ICMF receives the message.

[0238] The message is used to indicate that the UCA creation is completed.

[0239] Optionally, the message includes at least one or more of the following: a user identity U ID, an IIF identity IIF ID where the UCA is located, a UCA identity UCA ID, and a UCA IP address UCA IP.

[0240] For example, the message for indicating that the UCA creation is completed can be indicated by a message format, for example, the message format includes one or more of the following: U ID, IIF ID, UCA ID, and UCA IP. For another example, the message includes an indication field, which is used to indicate whether the UCA creation is completed or not, for example, the indication field occupies 1 bit, when the value is a first value (such as 0), it indicates that the UCA creation is not completed; when the value is a second value (such as 1), it indicates that the UCA creation is completed.

[0241] After the IIF creates the UCA, it can trigger sending the message for indicating that the UCA creation is completed to the ICMF. If the IIF does not create the UCA, it can also send indication information to the ICMF, which is used to indicate that the UCA creation is not completed. Optionally, the IIF can also send the reason for not creating the UCA to the ICMF, for example, the network is not good, or the memory is not enough, etc.

[0242] Optionally, after receiving the information, the ICMF can save one or more of the information and the association relationship. For example, the ICMF maintains a global UCA information table as shown in FIG. 4, which is used to record the information of the UCA instance, including but not limited to one or more of the following: a UCA identity UCA ID, a user identity U ID, a UCA IP address UCA IP, an IIF identity IIF ID where the UCA is located, and a subscription information of the UCA (i.e., the user's subscription information mentioned above).

[0243] Optionally, the method further includes the following steps 108 and 109.

[0244] Step 108: The ICMF performs relevant configuration on the UCA. For example, the knowledge base, AI model, etc.

[0245] Step 109: The IIF sends indication information of the UCA configuration completion to the ICMF.

[0246] Step 110: After receiving the message for indicating that the UCA creation is completed from the IIF (step 107), the ICMF sends a message to the UDM, and correspondingly, the UDM receives the message.

[0247] The message is used to indicate that the UCA creation is completed.

[0248] The order of steps 108 and 110 is not limited, and the order of steps 109 and 110 is not limited.

[0249] Optionally, the message includes at least one or more of the following: the identity of the user U_ID, the IIF identity IIF_ID, the UCA identity UCA_ID, or the UCA IP address UCA_IP.

[0250] For example, a message format can be used to indicate that the UCA creation is completed, e.g., the message format includes one or more of the following: U_ID, IIF_ID, UCA_ID, and UCA_IP. For another example, an indication field is included in the response message, and different values of the indication field are used to indicate whether the UCA creation is completed or not.

[0251] The ICMF triggers sending of the message to the UDM based on the received message indicating that the UCA creation is completed. If the UCA creation is not completed, the ICMF can also send an indication message to the UDM to indicate that the UCA creation is not completed, and optionally, a reason for the UCA creation not being completed, e.g., the current network is not good, or the memory is not enough, etc.

[0252] Step 111: The UDM saves the information of the UCA.

[0253] The information of the UCA includes but is not limited to one or more of the following: the identity of the user to which the UCA belongs U_ID, the UCA identity UCA_ID, the UCA IP address UCA_IP, the IIF identity IIF_ID in which the UCA is located, and the subscription information of the UCA (i.e., the subscription information of the user mentioned above).

[0254] The UDM triggers saving of the information after receiving the information message indicating that the UCA creation is completed.

[0255] A global UCA information table (as shown in FIG. 4) is created and maintained in the UDM, and the global UCA information table is used to record the information of the UCA instance. The information of each UCA instance includes but is not limited to one or more of the following: the UCA identity, the identity of the user to which the UCA belongs, the IP address of the UCA, the IIF identity in which the UCA is located, and the subscription information of the UCA (i.e., the subscription information of the user mentioned above). The UCA identity and / or the identity of the user can be used to index to other information of the UCA.

[0256] Step 112: The UDM sends a message to the BOSS, and correspondingly, the BOSS receives the message.

[0257] The message is used to indicate the UCA creation is completed. The message includes the identity of the user U_ID. Further, the message can further include one or more of the following: IIF identity IIF_ID, UCA identity UCA_ID, or UCA IP address UCA_IP. Optionally, the BOSS system can save the information after receiving the information.

[0258] One subscriber can create one or more UCAs. If the subscriber needs two or more UCAs, one possible implementation is to perform the above process again.

[0259] Before step 21 (the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object), the method further includes: the first communication object accesses the first UCA. In other words, the first UCA determines whether the first communication object has connected the first UCA, and then establishes the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object. If the first communication object has not connected the first UCA, the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is not established.

[0260] Similarly, before step 22 (the second UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object), the method further includes: the second communication object accesses the second UCA.

[0261] It should be noted that the embodiment of the communication object accessing the UCA is decoupled from other processes mentioned in the present application, including but not limited to: creating the UCA for the user, establishing the mutual trust relationship between the communication objects, and transmitting the information message based on the mutual trust relationship. Here, only the correlation between the preceding and following texts is considered, and the embodiment is used as a possible example for illustration.

[0262] Taking the first communication object accessing the first UCA as an example:

[0263] The first communication object sends a message to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the message. The message is used for the first communication object to request to connect the UCA.

[0264] The ICMF determines the UCA serving the first communication object as the first UCA. For example, the ICMF determines the identity of the first user to which the first communication object belongs, and determines the first UCA based on the identity of the first user.

[0265] The ICMF sends information of the first communication object to the first UCA, and the first UCA receives the information of the first communication object accordingly. The first UCA establishes a connection between the first UCA and the first communication object based on the information of the first communication object. For example, the first UCA saves the information of the first communication object, i.e., the connection between the first UCA and the first communication object is established. Illustratively, the first UCA saves the information of the first communication object in a third table, and the third table includes information of communication objects connected to the first UCA. The third table saves information of communication objects accessing the first UCA, which facilitates the first UCA to subsequently find which communication objects access the first UCA.

[0266] The first UCA sends information of the first UCA to the first communication object, and the first communication object establishes a connection between the first communication object and the first UCA based on the information of the first UCA. For example, the first communication object saves the information of the first UCA, i.e., the connection between the first communication object and the first UCA is established.

[0267] The following takes a communication object as an example of a user terminal, a physical intelligent agent, and a virtual intelligent agent, and respectively introduces an example of the communication object accessing a UCA.

[0268] FIG. 5 is a possible flowchart of a user terminal accessing a UCA, and FIG. 5 includes the following steps.

[0269] Step 200: The user terminal registers into a network. This process can refer to an existing process of a terminal registering into a network, and will not be introduced in detail.

[0270] Step 201: The user terminal sends a message to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the message accordingly.

[0271] The message is used to request to access a UCA. The message includes a communication object digital identity CO DID and a communication object type CO Type. In this example, the communication object is a user terminal, and the CO Type is UE, indicating a user terminal (e.g., a mobile phone). When the communication object is a user terminal, the CO DID can be an identity U ID of a user to which the user terminal belongs.

[0272] Optionally, the user terminal sends a request message to the ICMF based on a first user's operation.

[0273] Optionally, the message is forwarded to the ICMF via an access management function network element (such as an AMF). The access management function network element receives the request from the user terminal, and if the request of the user terminal is about the cellular network, the message can be sent to the SMF, and if the request of the user terminal is about the agent communication network, the message can be sent to the ICMF. Of course, it is not excluded that the access management function network element is not required for forwarding, and the user terminal can directly send the message to the ICMF, which requires the user terminal to know in advance which ICMF to send the message to, for example, the user terminal obtains the information (such as address information, identification information) of the ICMF in the authentication process, and sends the message to the ICMF based on the obtained ICMF information.

[0274] Step 202: The ICMF obtains the information of the first UCA of the first user to which the user terminal belongs from the UDM.

[0275] For example, the ICMF sends a message to the UDM, and the UDM receives the message accordingly; the message is used to request to obtain the information of the first UCA of the first user to which the user terminal belongs, and the message includes the identity U_ID of the first user to which the user terminal belongs. The UDM searches based on the U_ID and finds the information of the first UCA associated with the U_ID, and the information of the first UCA includes but is not limited to one or more of the following: UCA1_ID, UCA1_IP, the IIF identifier where the first UCA is located, the identifier and IP address of the interface (such as interface 4) of the IIF, and the subscription information of the first UCA. For example, the UDM searches based on the U_ID in the UCA information table as shown in FIG. 4, and can find the information of the first UCA. The UDM sends the information of the first UCA to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the information of the first UCA accordingly.

[0276] If the first user has multiple UCAs, the UDM sends the information of the multiple UCAs to the ICMF. The ICMF can select any one of the UCAs as the first UCA, or the ICMF can obtain the location of the user terminal through the access management function network element, the IIF identifier can implicitly indicate the location of the IIF, and thus implicitly indicate the location of the UCA, and the ICMF can select a suitable UCA as the first UCA based on the location of the UCA and the location of the user terminal.

[0277] The embodiments of the present application do not exclude a possible case that the UDM searches based on the U_ID and cannot find the information of the UCA associated with the U_ID, and then it can be considered that the user terminal does not belong to the user identified by the U_ID, and then the user terminal can be denied access to the UCA.

[0278] After the ICMF learns the first UCA, the ICMF establishes a connection between the user terminal and the first UCA, which can be referred to as a session connection, or a user plane connection, or a user plane session connection.

[0279] For example, the ICMF establishing the connection between the user terminal and the first UCA includes the following steps 203a to 203d.

[0280] Step 203a: The ICMF sends first configuration information of the tunnel to the UPF, or the ICMF sends the first configuration information of the tunnel to the RAN.

[0281] The ICMF can send the first configuration information to the UPF or the RAN through an access management network element.

[0282] The tunnel can be a tunnel between the UPF and the IIF, and the ICMF sends the first configuration information of the tunnel to the UPF.

[0283] The tunnel can also be a tunnel between the RAN and the IIF, and the ICMF sends the first configuration information of the tunnel to the RAN.

[0284] The first configuration information includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: a tunnel ID, and an IP address of an IIF interface (for example, the IIF interface 4 in FIG. 1a) used for interaction with the user terminal. After the UPF / RAN receives an information packet from the user terminal, the UPF / RAN can send the information packet to the IIF according to the IP address.

[0285] The tunnel ID can be determined by the ICMF or by other devices / network elements.

[0286] The information packet transmitted in the tunnel can be encapsulated by a general packet radio service tunneling protocol-user plane (GPRS Tunneling Protocol-User Plane, GTP-U) protocol, or by other protocols.

[0287] Step 203b: The RAN establishes a connection between the user terminal and the radio access network RAN, or the UPF establishes a connection between the user terminal and the UPF.

[0288] In this way, the UPF (or the RAN) can configure the encapsulation and decapsulation rules of the packets transmitted in the tunnel between the UPF (or the RAN) and the IIF according to the first configuration information of the tunnel provided by the ICMF.

[0289] Step 203c: The ICMF sends second configuration information of the tunnel to the IIF.

[0290] The tunnel can be a tunnel between the UPF and the IIF, and the second configuration information includes at least one of the following: a tunnel ID, an IP address of the UPF.

[0291] The tunnel can also be a tunnel between the RAN and the IIF, and the second configuration information includes at least one of the following: a tunnel ID, an IP address of the RAN.

[0292] The order of steps 203a and 203c is not limited.

[0293] Step 203d: The IIF configures the encapsulation and decapsulation rules of the packets transmitted through the tunnel between the UPF (or RAN) and the IIF according to the second configuration information.

[0294] For information packets sent by the user terminal to the first UCA, the IIF (for example, the interface 4 of the IIF) directly forwards the decapsulated packets to the first UCA; for information packets sent by the first UCA to the user terminal, the IIF (for example, the interface 4 of the IIF) performs tunnel encapsulation and forwards the packets to the UPF or RAN.

[0295] In the process of establishing the connection between the user terminal and the first UCA, the IIF serves as a new anchor point UPF.

[0296] In the process of establishing the connection between the user terminal and the first UCA, the ICMF can assign an IP address (referred to as a communication object IP address CO_IP) of the intelligent agent communication network to the user terminal and send the CO_IP to the user terminal. For example, the ICMF sends the CO_IP to an access management function network element; the access management network element sends the CO_IP to the user terminal.

[0297] Step 204: The connection between the user terminal and the first UCA is established.

[0298] After the connection is established, the user terminal and the first UCA can realize bidirectional information interaction based on the connection. For example, the uplink packets sent by the user terminal pass through the RAN, are encapsulated by tunnel (such as GTP-U) and forwarded to the UPF (or RAN), are decapsulated and then encapsulated by next-hop tunnel (such as GTP-U) and forwarded to the IIF (for example, the interface 4 of the IIF), are decapsulated by the IIF (for example, the interface 4 of the IIF) and then forwarded to the first UCA inside the IIF, and vice versa.

[0299] After step 204, the method further includes step 205: the ICMF sends a message to the UDM, and correspondingly, the UDM receives the message.

[0300] The message is used to inform the UDM of the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA. The message includes at least one of the following: a communication object digital identity CO DID (when the communication object is a user terminal, the CO DID is the identity U ID of the first user to which the user terminal belongs), a communication object IP address CO IP, a communication object type CO Type (when the communication object is a user terminal, the type is UE), or an identity UCA1 ID of the first UCA.

[0301] Step 206: The UDM saves the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA.

[0302] For example, a global communication object information table (see FIG. 4) is maintained in the UDM, which includes one or more of the following: a communication object digital identity CO DID, a communication object IP address CO IP, a communication object type CO Type, and an identity UCA ID of the UCA serving the communication object. The communication object digital identity CO DID can be used to index other information. The information of the communication object received by the UDM can be saved in the global communication object information table.

[0303] After step 204, the method further includes step 207: the ICMF sends a message to the first UCA, and correspondingly, the first UCA receives the message.

[0304] The message is used to inform the first UCA of the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA. The message includes at least one of the following: an identity UCA1 ID of the first UCA, a communication object digital identity CO DID (when the communication object is a user terminal, the CO DID is the identity U ID of the first user to which the user terminal belongs), a communication object IP address CO IP, a communication object type CO Type (when the communication object is a user terminal, the type is UE), an IIF interface identity IIF If ID (such as the identity of interface 4 shown in FIG. 1a) associated with the CO, a type of the association relationship between the communication object and the first UCA, and a set of capability information of the communication object.

[0305] The order of steps 205 and 207 is not limited.

[0306] Step 208: The first UCA saves the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA.

[0307] For example, the first UCA maintains a UCA communication object information table (see FIG. 4) in which one or more of the following are included, but not limited to: a communication object digital identity CO DID, a communication object IP address CO IP, a communication object type CO Type, an identity of a UCA serving the communication object UCA ID, an IIF interface identity IIF If ID associated with the CO, a type of association between the communication object and the UCA being fixed or temporary, a set of capability information of the communication object. The first UCA can save information of the communication object accessing the first UCA in the UCA communication object information table.

[0308] For example, the first UCA maintains an information cache table (see FIG. 4) in which the first UCA can save corresponding information.

[0309] Step 209: the ICMF sends a message to the user terminal, and correspondingly, the user terminal receives the message.

[0310] The message is used to indicate that the user terminal successfully accesses the first UCA. The message includes at least one of the following: a communication object digital identity CO DID (when the communication object is a user terminal, the CO DID is an identity U ID of a first user to which the user terminal belongs), an identity UCA1 ID of the first UCA (i.e., the first UCA of the first user to which the user terminal belongs) accessed by the user terminal and an IP address UCA1 IP of the first UCA. Alternatively, one or more of these information can be sent to the user terminal in other messages different from the message.

[0311] Optionally, the message can be forwarded to the user terminal via an access management function network element (such as an AMF).

[0312] Optionally, the user terminal prompts the first user that the user terminal successfully accesses the first UCA.

[0313] FIG. 6 is a possible flowchart of a physical intelligent agent accessing a UCA, which includes the following steps.

[0314] Step 300a: the physical intelligent agent registers into the network and obtains a digital identity CO DID through a user terminal.

[0315] For example, the digital identity of the physical intelligent agent is derived based on an identity of a first user (to which the physical intelligent agent belongs), and the method of obtaining the digital identity of the physical intelligent agent is not described in the embodiments of the present application.

[0316] Step 300b: an intelligent agent configuration information table is stored in the UDM.

[0317] The agent configuration information includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: capability set information, whether the application service needs to install an agent. The capability set information includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: what actions the agent can take, what type of tasks the agent can complete, what functions the agent can provide that can be called by other agents, such as cameras, sensors, etc., and what calling methods the agent can support. The UDM can communicate the object type CO_Type and / or the device type code index to the agent configuration information.

[0318] Step 300c: The physical agent accesses the network based on the digital identity identifier.

[0319] Step 301: The physical agent sends a message to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the message accordingly.

[0320] The message is used to request access to the UCA. The message includes a communication object digital identity identifier CO_DID and a communication object type CO_Type. In this example, the communication object is a physical agent, and the CO_Type is a robot, a robotic dog, a drone, an intelligent vehicle, etc. Further optionally, the message also includes a device type code, which is the manufacturer code of the physical agent.

[0321] One trigger condition for the physical agent to send the message to the ICMF to request access to the UCA is that the physical agent accesses the network based on the digital identity identifier, and then triggers the sending of the message to the ICMF to request access to the UCA. Another trigger condition is that the physical agent sends the message to the ICMF to request access to the UCA based on the request of the first user. One example of the physical agent based on the request of the first user is that the user terminal sends indication information to the physical agent based on the operation of the first user, the indication information is used to instruct the physical agent to access the UCA, and the physical agent receives the indication information from the user terminal accordingly.

[0322] Optionally, the message is forwarded to the ICMF via an access management function network element (such as AMF). The access management function network element receives the request from the user terminal, and if the request of the user terminal is about the cellular network, the message can be sent to the SMF, and if the request of the user terminal is about the agent communication network, the message can be sent to the ICMF. Of course, it is also not excluded that the access management function network element does not need to forward, and the user terminal can directly send the message to the ICMF, which requires the user terminal to know in advance which ICMF to send the message to, for example, the user terminal obtains the ICMF information (such as address information, identifier information) in the authentication process, and sends the message to the ICMF based on the obtained ICMF information.

[0323] Step 302: The ICMF obtains the identity U_ID of the first user to which the communication object belongs based on the communication object digital identity CO_DID.

[0324] For example, the ICMF sends a message to the digital identity management function IDM, and the IDM receives the message, which is used to obtain the identity U_ID of the first user to which the communication object belongs. The message includes the communication object digital identity CO_DID. The IDM stores a plurality of correspondence relationships between a plurality of communication object digital identities CO_DID and a plurality of user identities U_ID, and can index to the U_ID based on the CO_DID. The IDM sends the U_ID corresponding to the CO_DID to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the U_ID corresponding to the CO_DID.

[0325] Step 303: The ICMF obtains the information of the first UCA of the user to which the physical agent belongs from the UDM.

[0326] For example, the ICMF sends a message to the UDM, and the UDM receives the message; the message is used to request to obtain the information of the first UCA of the first user to which the physical agent belongs, and the message includes the identity U_ID of the first user to which the physical agent belongs. The UDM searches based on the U_ID to find the information of the first UCA associated with the U_ID, and the information of the first UCA includes but is not limited to one or more of the following: UCA1_ID, UCA1_IP, IIF identifier where the first UCA is located, identifier and IP address of the interface (for example, interface 4) of the IIF, and subscription information of the first UCA. For example, the UDM searches in the UCA information table as shown in FIG. 4 based on the U_ID to find the information of the first UCA. The UDM sends the information of the first UCA to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the information of the first UCA.

[0327] If the first user has a plurality of UCAs, the UDM sends the information of the plurality of UCAs to the ICMF. The ICMF can select any one of the UCAs as the first UCA, or the ICMF can obtain the location of the physical agent / user terminal through the access management function network element, the IIF identifier can implicitly indicate the location of the IIF, and thus implicitly indicate the location of the UCA. The ICMF can select a suitable UCA as the first UCA based on the location of the UCA and the location of the physical agent / user terminal.

[0328] The embodiments of the present application do not exclude a possible case: the UDM searches based on the U_ID and cannot find the information of the UCA associated with the U_ID, and then it can be considered that the physical agent does not belong to the user of the U_ID, and the physical agent can be rejected to access the UCA.

[0329] Step 304: The ICMF obtains the configuration information of the agent from the UDM.

[0330] For example, the ICMF sends a message to the UDM, and the UDM receives the message, which is used to obtain the configuration information of the agent. The message includes the type CO-type of the communication object and / or the device type code. The UDM can index the type CO-type of the communication object and / or the device type code to the configuration information of the agent and send it to the ICMF.

[0331] Optionally, the ICMF can determine whether to obtain the configuration information of the agent based on the device type. For example, when the device type is UE, the configuration information of the agent is not obtained, and when the device type is the type of physical agents such as robots, robotic dogs, drones, and smart cars, or the type of virtual agents such as digital people and digital assistants, the configuration information of the agent is obtained. Alternatively, the ICMF does not consider the device type and obtains the configuration information of the agent after receiving the message for requesting access to the UCA. There may be a case where the configuration information of the agent cannot be obtained if the device type is UE.

[0332] Optionally, step 305: The ICMF sends indication information for rejecting access to the UCA to the physical agent.

[0333] Further optionally, the ICMF sends the reason for rejecting access to the UCA to the physical agent.

[0334] If the subscription information and the configuration information of the physical agent do not match, the ICMF can send indication information for rejecting access to the UCA to the physical agent. For example, the agent configuration information records that the application service requires the installation of a proxy physical agent, but the subscription information records that the application service does not require the installation of a proxy physical agent, so the two information do not match.

[0335] In addition, the UDM searches based on the U_ID in step 303 described above, and if the information of the UCA associated with the U_ID cannot be found, it can be considered that the physical agent does not belong to the user of the U_ID, and the physical agent can be rejected to access the UCA.

[0336] If step 305 is performed, the subsequent steps will not be performed.

[0337] Optionally, step 306: After step 304, the ICMF sends a message to the IIF, and the IIF receives the message accordingly.

[0338] The message is used to request the installation of the AS image package, and the message contains the download information of the AS image package.

[0339] If it is determined, based on the physical intelligent entity configuration information obtained in step 304, that the communication object (i.e., the physical intelligent entity) needs to install an application service of the agent intelligent entity (i.e., the physical intelligent entity is an end-network collaborative intelligent entity (such as a drone)), the application service AS (such as a flight control agent of a drone) can be installed at the network side (i.e., in the IIF), and the ICMF sends a message for installing the AS to the IIF.

[0340] Optionally, step 307: The IIF downloads an AS image package from an AS image library based on the download information.

[0341] Optionally, step 308: The IIF installs an AS instance in an AS running environment based on the AS image package, allocates an IP address for the AS instance, and connects the AS instance to the UCA.

[0342] Optionally, step 309: The IIF sends a message to the ICMF, and correspondingly, the ICMF receives the message.

[0343] The message is used to indicate that the AS installation is completed, and the message includes the IP address of the AS instance.

[0344] After the ICMF learns the first UCA (i.e., step 303, which is for the case that steps 306 to 309 are not performed), or after the AS installation is completed (i.e., step 309), the ICMF then establishes a connection (which can be referred to as a session connection, or a user plane connection, or a user plane session connection) between the physical intelligent entity and the first UCA.

[0345] For example, the ICMF establishing the connection between the physical intelligent entity and the first UCA includes the following steps 310a to 310d:

[0346] Step 310a: The ICMF sends first configuration information of a tunnel to a UPF, or the ICMF sends first configuration information of a tunnel to a RAN.

[0347] The ICMF can send the first configuration information to the UPF or the RAN through an access management network element.

[0348] The tunnel can be a tunnel between the UPF and the IIF, and the ICMF sends the first configuration information of the tunnel to the UPF.

[0349] The tunnel can also be a tunnel between the RAN and the IIF, and the ICMF sends the first configuration information of the tunnel to the RAN.

[0350] The first configuration information includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: a tunnel ID, and an IP address of an IIF interface (such as the IIF interface 4 shown in FIG. 1a) used for communication with the physical intelligent entity. After the UPF / RAN receives an information packet from a user terminal, the UPF / RAN can send the information packet to the IIF according to the IP address.

[0351] The tunnel ID can be determined by the ICMF or determined by other devices / network elements.

[0352] The information message transmitted in the tunnel can be encapsulated by the GTP-U protocol or encapsulated by other protocols.

[0353] Step 310b: The RAN establishes a connection between the user terminal and the RAN, or the UPF establishes a connection between the user terminal and the UPF.

[0354] In this way, the UPF (or the RAN) can configure the encapsulation and decapsulation rules of the message transmitted in the tunnel between the UPF (or the RAN) and the IIF according to the first configuration information of the tunnel provided by the ICMF.

[0355] Step 310c: The ICMF sends second configuration information of the tunnel to the IIF.

[0356] The tunnel can be a tunnel between the UPF and the IIF, and the second configuration information includes at least one of the following: a tunnel ID, an IP address of the UPF.

[0357] The tunnel can also be a tunnel between the RAN and the IIF, and the second configuration information includes at least one of the following: a tunnel ID, an IP address of the RAN.

[0358] The order of steps 310a and 310c is not limited.

[0359] Step 310d: The IIF configures the encapsulation and decapsulation rules of the message transmitted in the tunnel between the UPF (or the RAN) and the IIF according to the second configuration information.

[0360] For the uplink information message of the physical intelligent agent to the first UCA, the IIF (for example, the interface 4 of the IIF) directly forwards the decapsulated message to the first UCA; for the downlink information message of the first UCA to the physical intelligent agent, the IIF (for example, the interface 4 of the IIF) performs tunnel encapsulation and forwards to the UPF or the RAN. If the physical intelligent agent is a communication object that needs end-network cooperation (for example, a drone), the IIF (for example, the interface 4 of the IIF) needs to forward the uplink information message of the physical intelligent agent to the corresponding AS instance, and then forward the message to the first UCA by the AS instance. The intelligent agent seen by the first UCA is the AS instance, so the downlink information message of the first UCA to the physical intelligent agent is first sent to the AS instance, and then forwarded to the IIF (for example, the interface 4 of the IIF) by the AS instance, and then encapsulated and forwarded to the UPF (or the RAN).

[0361] In the process of establishing the connection between the physical intelligent entity and the first UCA, the IIF serves as a new anchor point UPF.

[0362] In the process of establishing the connection between the physical intelligent entity and the UCA, the ICMF can assign an IP address (referred to as a communication object IP address CO_IP) of the intelligent entity communication network to the physical intelligent entity and send the CO_IP to the physical intelligent entity through the access management function network element. For example, the ICMF sends the CO_IP to the access management function network element; the access management network element sends the CO_IP to the user terminal.

[0363] Step 311: The connection between the physical intelligent entity and the first UCA is established.

[0364] After the connection is established, the physical intelligent entity and the first UCA can realize bidirectional information interaction based on the connection. For example, the uplink message sent by the physical intelligent entity passes through the RAN, is forwarded to the UPF (or the RAN) through tunnel encapsulation (such as GTP-U), is decapsulated and then is forwarded to the next hop tunnel encapsulation (such as GTP-U) to the first UCA inside the IIF (for example, the interface 4 of the IIF), and the IIF (for example, the interface 4 of the IIF) is decapsulated and then is forwarded to the first UCA inside the IIF, and vice versa.

[0365] After step 311, the method further includes step 312: the ICMF sends a message to the UDM, and correspondingly, the UDM receives the message.

[0366] The message is used to notify the UDM of the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA. The message includes at least one of the following: a communication object digital identity CO_DID, a communication object IP address CO_IP (if an AS is installed, the CO_IP is the IP address of the AS), a communication object type CO_Type, and an identifier UCA1_ID of the first UCA.

[0367] Step 313: The UDM saves the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA.

[0368] For example, a global communication object information table (see FIG. 4) is maintained in the UDM, and the global communication object information table includes but is not limited to one or more of the following: a communication object digital identity CO_DID, a communication object IP address CO_IP (if an AS is installed, the CO_IP is the IP address of the AS), a communication object type CO_Type, and an identifier UCA_ID of the UCA serving the communication object. The communication object digital ID can be indexed to other information. The information of the communication object received by the UDM can be saved in the global communication object information table.

[0369] After step 311, the method further comprises step 314: the ICMF sends a message to the first UCA, and correspondingly, the first UCA receives the message.

[0370] The message is used to inform the first UCA to save the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA. The message comprises at least one of the following: the identity of the first UCA UCA1_ID, the digital identity of the communication object CO_DID, the IP address of the communication object CO_IP (if an AS is installed, the IP address of the AS), the type of the communication object CO_Type, the interface identifier of the IIF associated with the communication object IIF_If_ID (for example, the identifier of interface 4, if an AS is installed, the identifier of the internal interface between the first UCA and the AS), the capability set information of the communication object, and the type of the association between the communication object and the first UCA is fixed or temporary.

[0371] The order of step 312 and step 314 is not limited.

[0372] Step 315: the first UCA saves the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA.

[0373] For example, a UCA communication object information table is maintained in the first UCA (see FIG. 4), which comprises one or more of the following: the digital identity of the communication object CO_DID, the IP address of the communication object CO_IP, the type of the communication object CO_Type, the identifier of the UCA serving the communication object UCA_ID, the interface identifier of the IIF associated with the communication object IIF_If_ID, the type of the association between the communication object and the UCA is fixed or temporary, and the capability set information of the communication object. The first UCA can save the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA in the UCA communication object information table.

[0374] For example, an information cache table is maintained in the first UCA (see FIG. 4), and the first UCA can save the corresponding information in the information cache table.

[0375] Step 316: the ICMF sends a message to the physical agent, and correspondingly, the physical agent receives the message.

[0376] The message is used to instruct the physical agent to successfully access the first UCA. The message comprises at least one of the following: the digital identity of the communication object CO_DID, the identifier of the first UCA UCA1_ID accessed by the physical agent, and the IP address of the first UCA UCA1_IP. For the physical agent in the end-to-network collaboration, the IP address of the first UCA is replaced by the IP address of the AS. Alternatively, one or more of these information can be sent to the physical agent in other messages different from the message.

[0377] Optionally, the message can be forwarded to a physical agent via an access management function (such as an AMF).

[0378] FIG. 7 is a possible flowchart of virtual agent accessing a UCA, which includes the following steps.

[0379] Step 400a: The virtual agent obtains a digital identity CO DID through a user terminal. The method of obtaining the digital identity is not described in this application.

[0380] Step 400b: The UDM stores an agent configuration information table.

[0381] The agent configuration information includes but is not limited to one or more of the following: capability set information, whether the application service needs to install an agent. The capability set information includes but is not limited to at least one of the following: what actions the agent can take, what type of tasks it can complete, what functions it can provide that can be called by other agents, such as cameras, sensors, etc., and what calling methods it can support. The UDM can communicate object type CO_Type and / or device type code index to agent configuration information.

[0382] Step 400c: The virtual agent is interconnected with the IIF through a private data network to achieve IP reachability. The virtual agent is in the cloud or in the operator network.

[0383] Step 401: The virtual agent sends a message to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the message accordingly.

[0384] The message is used to request access to the UCA. The message includes the communication object digital identity CO DID, and the communication object type CO_Type. In this example, the communication object is a virtual agent, and the CO_Type is a digital assistant, a digital person, etc. Further optionally, the message also includes a device type code.

[0385] Step 402: The ICMF obtains the identity U ID of the first user to which the communication object belongs based on the communication object digital identity CO DID.

[0386] This process can refer to step 302, which will not be described in detail here.

[0387] Step 403: The ICMF obtains information of the first UCA of the first user to which the virtual agent belongs from the UDM.

[0388] This process can refer to step 303, which will not be described in detail here.

[0389] Optionally, step 404: The ICMF obtains the configuration information of the agent from the UDM.

[0390] The process can refer to step 304, which will not be described in detail here.

[0391] Optionally, step 405: the ICMF sends an indication information of rejecting the access to the UCA to the virtual intelligent entity.

[0392] Further optionally, the ICMF sends a reason of rejecting the access to the UCA to the virtual intelligent entity.

[0393] The process can refer to step 305, which will not be described in detail here.

[0394] Step 406: the ICMF sends a message to the UDM, and correspondingly, the UDM receives the message.

[0395] The message is used to notify the UDM of the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA. The message includes at least one of the following: a communication object digital identity CO_DID, a communication object IP address CO_IP, a communication object type CO_Type, and an identifier UCA1_ID of the first UCA.

[0396] Step 407: the UDM saves the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA.

[0397] For example, a global communication object information table (refer to FIG. 4) is maintained in the UDM, and the global communication object information table includes one or more of the following: a communication object digital identity CO_DID, a communication object IP address CO_IP, a communication object type CO_Type, and an identifier UCA_ID of the UCA serving the communication object. The communication object digital ID can be indexed to other information. The information of the communication object received by the UDM can be saved in the global communication object information table.

[0398] Step 408: the ICMF sends a message to the first UCA, and correspondingly, the first UCA receives the message.

[0399] The message is used to notify the first UCA to save the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA. The message includes at least one of the following: an identifier UCA1_ID of the first UCA, a communication object digital identity CO_DID, a communication object IP address CO_IP, a communication object type CO_Type, an IIF interface identifier IIF_If_ID (such as an identifier of interface 5) associated with the CO, a capability set information of the communication object, and a type of the association relationship between the communication object and the first UCA, which is fixed or temporary.

[0400] The sequence of step 406 and step 408 is not limited.

[0401] Step 409: the first UCA saves the information of the communication object accessing the first UCA.

[0402] For example, the first UCA maintains a UCA communication object information table (see FIG. 4) in which one or more of the following are included, but not limited to: a communication object digital identity CO DID, a communication object IP address CO IP, a communication object type CO Type, an identity of a UCA serving the communication object UCA ID, a CO associated IIF interface identity IIF If ID, a type of association between the communication object and the UCA being fixed or temporary, a set of capability information of the communication object. The first UCA can save information of a communication object accessing the first UCA in the UCA communication object information table.

[0403] For example, the first UCA maintains an information cache table (see FIG. 4) in which the first UCA can save corresponding information.

[0404] Step 410: the ICMF sends a message to the virtual agent, and correspondingly, the virtual agent receives the message.

[0405] The message is used to indicate that the virtual agent successfully accesses the first UCA. The message includes at least one of the following: a communication object digital identity CO DID, an identity of the first UCA UCA1 ID accessed by the virtual agent, and an IP address of the first UCA UCA1 IP. Alternatively, one or more of these information can be sent to the virtual agent in other messages different from the message.

[0406] Steps 21 and 22 above describe that the first UCA / second UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on a request of the first user or the second user. The process of establishing a mutual trust relationship between communication objects is described in detail as follows.

[0407] One possible implementation of the first UCA establishing a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is that the first UCA saves information of the second communication object. The information of the second communication object at least includes a digital identity of the second communication object and an identity of a UCA serving the second communication object (i.e. an identity of the second UCA), and optionally, a type of the second communication object, a set of capabilities of the second communication object, an interface of an IIF associated with the second communication object, etc. Another possible implementation is that the first UCA saves information of the second communication object for the first communication object, and records an association between an identity of the first communication object and an identity of the second communication object. Further, the first UCA maintains a first table in which the first UCA saves information of the second communication object, and the first table includes information of a communication object having a mutual trust relationship with a communication object connected to the first UCA.

[0408] Similarly, a possible implementation for the second UCA to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is that the second UCA stores the information of the first communication object, or the second UCA stores the information of the first communication object for the second communication object. Further, the second UCA stores the information of the first communication object in a certain table.

[0409] When the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on the request of the first user or the second user, the first UCA can send a request to the second UCA to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0410] In the above steps 21 and 22, the first UCA / second UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship (the mutual trust relationship can also be referred to as a binding relationship) between the first communication object and the second communication object based on the request of the first user or the second user. The process of the first UCA / second UCA establishing the mutual trust relationship between the communication objects is described in detail as follows.

[0411] A possible implementation for the first UCA to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is that the first UCA stores the related information of the second communication object. The related information of the second communication object at least includes the digital identity of the second communication object and the identifier of the UCA serving the second communication object (i.e. the identifier of the second UCA), and optionally includes the type of the second communication object, the capability set of the second communication object, the interface of the IIF associated with the second communication object, etc. Another possible implementation is that the first UCA stores the related information of the second communication object for the first communication object, and records the association relationship between the identifier of the first communication object and the identifier of the second communication object based on the storage of the related information of the second communication object. Further, the first UCA maintains a first table, and the first UCA stores the related information of the second communication object in the first table, and the first table is used to record the information of the communication object having the mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the first UCA.

[0412] Similarly, a possible implementation for the second UCA to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is that the second UCA stores the related information of the first communication object, or the second UCA stores the related information of the first communication object for the second communication object. Further, the second UCA stores the related information of the first communication object in a certain table, and the table is used to record the information of the communication object having the mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the second UCA. It is convenient for the second UCA to find which communication objects establish the mutual trust relationship with the communication object of the second UCA.

[0413] When the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on the request of the first user or the second user, the first UCA can send a request to the second UCA to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0414] Example 1: The first UCA and the second UCA each establish a trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on a message from the ICMF.

[0415] For example, in step 21, the first UCA establishes the trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on a request from the first user or the second user, which includes: the first UCA receives a third message from the control plane network element, the third message being used to request to establish the trust relationship; the sending of the third message is based on a request received by the control plane network element from the first user or the second user; and the first UCA establishes the trust relationship according to the third message. Optionally, the third message includes information of the second communication object and does not include information of the first communication object. In this implementation, the ICMF is the party that initiates the establishment of the trust relationship, and the first UCA establishes the trust relationship after receiving the message. In a possible implementation, the first UCA receives information of a type of the trust relationship; and the type is temporary or fixed.

[0416] Example 2: The first UCA and the second UCA communicate to establish a trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0417] Example 3: The UCA establishes a trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object by means of an Internet platform (for example, an OTT (over the top) platform).

[0418] In Examples 2 and 3, the first UCA can actively initiate the establishment of the trust relationship based on a request from the first user. In a possible implementation, in step 21, the first UCA establishes the trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on a request from the first user, which includes: the first UCA receives a first request from the first user, the first request being used to request to establish the trust relationship; the first UCA sends a first message to the second UCA according to the first request, the first message being used to request to establish the trust relationship; the first UCA receives a first response from the second UCA; and the trust relationship is established in a case where the first response indicates that the second UCA agrees to establish the trust relationship. Optionally, the first message includes information of the first communication object and does not include information of the second communication object.

[0419] In this implementation, the first UCA initiates the establishment of the mutual trust relationship, and only after obtaining the indication of the second UCA's consent to establish the mutual trust relationship, the mutual trust relationship is established. It should be understood that if the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship first, but the second UCA does not agree to establish the mutual trust relationship, the mutual trust relationship established by the first UCA is useless. The present implementation can effectively prevent this situation from occurring, and avoid the waste of processing resources caused by the first UCA establishing a useless mutual trust relationship.

[0420] In Examples 2 and 3, the second UCA can actively initiate the establishment of the mutual trust relationship based on the request of the second user. In one possible implementation, the step 21 in which the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on the request of the second user comprises: the first UCA receives a second message from the second UCA, the second message being used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship; the sending of the second message is based on the request received by the second UCA from the second user; the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship according to the second message, and sends a second response to the second UCA, the second response being used to indicate the consent to establish the mutual trust relationship. Optionally, the second message comprises the information of the second communication object, and does not comprise the information of the first communication object.

[0421] In this implementation, in the case where the second UCA initiates the establishment of the mutual trust relationship, the first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship and sends an indication to the second UCA, so that the second UCA determines that the first UCA agrees to establish the mutual trust relationship, thereby promoting the establishment of the mutual trust relationship at the second UCA side.

[0422] The following is described with respect to the three examples respectively.

[0423] FIG. 8 is a possible flow diagram suitable for Example 1 (the UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object based on the message from the ICMF), and FIG. 8 comprises the following steps.

[0424] Step 500a: The first communication object of the first user has accessed the first UCA of the first user, and the first communication object and the IIF-A where the first UCA is located have established a session connection.

[0425] If the first communication object is a user terminal, the process of the user terminal accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 5.

[0426] If the first communication object is a physical intelligent agent, the process of the physical intelligent agent accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 6.

[0427] If the first communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, the process of the virtual intelligent agent accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 7.

[0428] Step 500b: A second communication object of the second user has accessed the second UCA of the second user, and the second communication object has established a session connection with the IIF-B where the second UCA is located.

[0429] If the second communication object is a user terminal, the process of the user terminal accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 5.

[0430] If the second communication object is a physical intelligent entity, the process of the physical intelligent entity accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 6.

[0431] If the second communication object is a virtual intelligent entity, the process of the virtual intelligent entity accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 7.

[0432] Step 502: The first UE receives an indication of the first user, and the indication is used to select the first communication object and the second communication object to establish a mutual trust relationship.

[0433] For example, the first user can select the digital identity of the communication object establishing the mutual trust relationship on the first UE, i.e., CO1_DID and CO2_DID.

[0434] Step 503: The first UE sends a message to the ICMF, and correspondingly, the ICMF receives the message.

[0435] The message is used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object, and the message includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID.

[0436] Before the first UE sends the message to the ICMF, the method further includes: the first UE acquires the digital identity CO2_DID of the second communication object (step 501). The acquisition manner can be informed by the second user, scanning a two-dimensional code, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the application.

[0437] Since the first UE sends the message to the ICMF based on the indication of the first user, the process can be understood as that the ICMF receives a request from the first user, and the request is used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0438] The steps 501 to 503 described above introduce that the first user triggers to establish the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object. In another example, the second user can also trigger to establish the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object through the second UE.

[0439] Optionally, step 504: The ICMF performs identity authentication on the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0440] For example, the ICMF sends a message to the IDM for verifying the identity of the first communication object and the second communication object, the message including the CO1_DID and the CO2_DID. The IDM verifies the identity of the first communication object based on the CO1_DID and sends a result of the verification to the ICMF, the result indicating that the identity verification of the first communication object passes or fails. One way of verification is to determine whether the CO1_DID is associated with the identity of a subscription user, and if the CO1_DID is associated with the identity of a subscription user, the verification passes, otherwise, the verification fails. Similarly, the IDM verifies the identity of the second communication object based on the CO2_DID and sends a result of the verification to the ICMF, the result indicating that the identity verification of the second communication object passes or fails. One way of verification is to determine whether the CO2_DID is associated with the identity of a subscription user, and if the CO2_DID is associated with the identity of a subscription user, the verification passes, otherwise, the verification fails. The embodiments of the present application are described by way of example with the identity verification passing.

[0441] In addition, the embodiments of the present application can not need to verify the digital identity of the first communication object and / or the second communication object, and can default that the digital identity of the first communication object and / or the second communication object is reasonable and legal.

[0442] Optionally, the method further includes the following steps 505a and 505b.

[0443] Step 505a: The ICMF sends a message to the second UE of the second user, the message being used for indicating a request for establishing a mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object. The message includes the CO1_DID and the CO2_DID.

[0444] The second UE can output prompt information, and the second user performs an operation on the second UE based on the prompt information to accept the request.

[0445] Step 505b: The second UE sends a message to the ICMF, the message being used for indicating that the second user allows to establish the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0446] The steps 505a and 505b are regarded as an integral step, and the steps 511a and 511b are regarded as an integral step, and the two integral steps can be one of the following: only one of the two integral steps is executed, both of the two integral steps are executed, or none of the two integral steps is executed.

[0447] Step 506: The ICMF acquires the following multiple information: the information of the first communication object, the information of the second communication object, the information of the first UCA, and the information of the second UCA.

[0448] The information of the first UCA can be part of the information of the first communication object, or the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are independent of each other. Similarly, the information of the second UCA can be part of the information of the second communication object, or the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA are independent of each other.

[0449] For example, the ICMF sends a message to the UDM for obtaining the information of the first communication object, the information of the second communication object, the information of the first UCA, and the information of the second UCA, which includes the digital identity of the first communication object CO1_DID and the digital identity of the second communication object CO2_DID. These pieces of information can be obtained in multiple times or by one message.

[0450] The UDM finds the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA through CO1_DID and sends them to the ICMF. For example, the UDM queries the global communication information table (see FIG. 4) based on CO1_DID to obtain the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA, including but not limited to at least one of the following: the IP address of the first communication object CO1_IP, the type of the first communication object CO1_Type, the identifier of the first UCA serving the first communication object UCA1_ID, the identifier of the IIF-A where the first UCA is located, the identifier and IP address of the interface 6 (i.e., the interface for interaction between UCAs) of the IIF-A, the identifier and IP address of the interface 7 (i.e., the interface for interaction between the UCA and the ICMF) of the IIF-A, etc.

[0451] The UDM finds the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA through CO2_DID and sends them to the ICMF. For example, the UDM queries the global communication information table (see FIG. 4) based on CO2_DID to obtain the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA, including but not limited to at least one of the following: the IP address of the second communication object CO2_IP, the type of the second communication object CO2_Type, the identifier of the second UCA serving the second communication object UCA2_ID, the identifier of the IIF-B where the second UCA is located, the identifier and IP address of the interface 6 of the IIF-B, the identifier and IP address of the interface 7 of the IIF-B, etc.

[0452] After step 506, step 507: the ICMF sends a message to the first UCA, and the first UCA receives the message accordingly.

[0453] The message is used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object. The message includes the digital identity of the second communication object CO2_DID. Further optionally, the message further includes the digital identity of the first communication object CO1_DID, the information of the type of the mutual trust relationship, such as fixed or temporary. Further optionally, the message further includes the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA obtained in the step 506, or the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA obtained in the step 506 are sent to the first UCA in another message, for example, after the first UCA feeds back the consent to establish the mutual trust relationship to the ICMF, the ICMF sends the obtained information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA to the first UCA.

[0454] For example, the message is sent to the first UCA through the interface 7 of the IIF-A. For example, the ICMF sends the message to the first UCA based on the IP address of the interface 7 of the IIF-A obtained in the step 506.

[0455] The step 508: the first UCA saves the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA.

[0456] The information of the second UCA can be part of the information of the second communication object; or the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA are independent of each other and are saved separately.

[0457] For example, the first UCA saves the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA in the UCA communication object information table (refer to FIG. 4) and the address cache table (refer to FIG. 4). Optionally, the type of the mutual trust relationship, such as fixed or temporary, can also be saved.

[0458] Up to now, the first UCA has established the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0459] If the mutual trust relationship is temporary, further optionally, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e. when the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA are saved, the first UCA starts timing (for example, starts a timer), and when the preset time length is reached (for example, the timer reaches the set threshold), the first UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e. deletes the saved information. Or, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e. when the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA are saved, the first UCA starts a timer, and when the timer is timed out, the first UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e. deletes the saved information.

[0460] Optionally, step 509a: the first UCA sends a message to the ICMF, the message is used to indicate that the first UCA has established the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object. Optionally, the message includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID.

[0461] Optionally, step 509b: the first UCA sends a message to the first communication object, the message is used to indicate that the first UCA has established the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object or adds the communication object allowed to communicate. The message includes CO2_DID, and optionally, the type of the second communication object and other information.

[0462] Optionally, step 509c: the first UCA sends a message to the first UE, or the first communication object sends a message to the first UE, the message is used to indicate that the first UCA has established the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object or adds the communication object allowed to communicate. The message includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID, and optionally, the type of the second communication object and other related information.

[0463] After the first UE obtains the message, the first UE can prompt the first user to know that the first communication object and the second communication object have established the mutual trust relationship.

[0464] After step 506, step 510: the ICMF sends a message to the second UCA, and correspondingly, the second UCA receives the message.

[0465] The message is used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object. The message includes the digital identity of the first communication object CO1_DID. Further optionally, the message further includes one or more of the following: the digital identity of the second communication object CO2_DID, the type of the mutual trust relationship, such as fixed or temporary. Further optionally, the message further includes the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA obtained in step 506, or the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA obtained in step 506 are sent to the second UCA in another message. For example, after the second UCA feeds back to the ICMF that it agrees to establish the mutual trust relationship, the ICMF sends the obtained information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA to the second UCA.

[0466] For example, the request message is forwarded to the second UCA through the interface 7 of the IIF-B. For example, the ICMF sends the message to the second UCA based on the IP address of the interface 7 of the IIF-B obtained in step 506.

[0467] Optionally, the method further includes steps 511a and 511b.

[0468] Step 511a: The second UCA sends a message to the second UE, which is used to indicate a request for establishing a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object. The message includes COl DID and CO2 DID.

[0469] The second UE can output prompt information, and the second user performs an operation on the second UE based on the prompt information to accept the request.

[0470] Step 511b: The second UE sends a message to the second UCA, which is used to indicate whether the second user allows to establish a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0471] The second UE sends the message to the second UCA based on the indication of the second user.

[0472] Steps 505a and 505b are regarded as an integral step, and steps 511a and 511b are regarded as an integral step. The two integral steps can be executed alternatively, only one of them is executed, or both of them are executed.

[0473] If the second user allows to establish a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, step 512 is executed. If the second user does not allow to establish a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, steps 512 and subsequent steps are not executed, for example, the second UCA can send indication information of not allowing to establish a mutual trust relationship to the ICMF.

[0474] Step 512: The second UCA saves the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA.

[0475] The information of the first UCA can be part of the information of the first communication object; or the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are independent of each other and are saved separately.

[0476] For example, the second UCA saves the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA in the UCA communication object information table (refer to FIG. 4) and the address cache table (refer to FIG. 4). Optionally, the type of the mutual trust relationship, for example, fixed or temporary, can also be saved.

[0477] Up to now, the second UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0478] If the mutual trust relationship is temporary, further optionally, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e. when the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are saved, the second UCA starts timing (e.g. starts a timer), and when a preset time length is reached (e.g. the timer reaches a set threshold), the second UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e. deletes the saved information. Alternatively, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e. when the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are saved, the second UCA starts a timer, and when the timer expires, the second UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e. deletes the saved information.

[0479] Optionally, step 513a: the second UCA sends a message to the ICMF, the message being used to indicate that the second UCA has established the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object. Optionally, the message includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID.

[0480] Optionally, step 513b: the second UCA sends a message to the second communication object, the message being used to indicate that the second UCA has established the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object or added a communication-allowed communication object. The message includes CO1_DID, and optionally, the type of the first communication object and other related information.

[0481] Optionally, step 513c: the second UCA sends a message to the second UE, or the second communication object sends a message to the second UE, the message being used to indicate that the second UCA has established the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object or added a communication-allowed communication object. The message includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID, and optionally, the type of the first communication object and other related information.

[0482] After obtaining the message, the second UE can prompt the second user to know that the first communication object and the second communication object have established the mutual trust relationship.

[0483] FIG. 9 is a possible flow diagram suitable for example 2 (the first UCA communicates with the second UCA to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object), and FIG. 9 includes the following steps.

[0484] Step 600a: the first communication object of the first user has accessed the first UCA of the first user, and the first communication object has established a session connection with the IIF-A where the first UCA is located.

[0485] If the first communication object is a user terminal, the process of the user terminal accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 5.

[0486] If the first communication object is a physical intelligent agent, the process of the physical intelligent agent accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 6.

[0487] If the first communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, the process that the virtual intelligent agent accesses the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 7.

[0488] Step 600b: The second communication object of the second user has accessed the second UCA of the second user, and the second communication object has established a session connection with the IIF-B where the second UCA is located.

[0489] If the second communication object is a user terminal, the process that the user terminal accesses the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 5.

[0490] If the second communication object is a physical intelligent agent, the process that the physical intelligent agent accesses the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 6.

[0491] If the second communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, the process that the virtual intelligent agent accesses the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 7.

[0492] Step 601: The first UE acquires the digital identity CO2_DID of the second communication object.

[0493] The acquisition manner can be informed by the second user, scanned by a two-dimensional code, etc., which is not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

[0494] The first user wants the first communication object to establish a mutual trust relationship with the second communication object for information interaction.

[0495] Step 602: The first UE receives an indication of the first user, which is used to select the communication objects for which the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e., the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0496] For example, the first user can select the digital identity of the communication object for which the mutual trust relationship is established on the first UE, i.e., CO1_DID and CO2_DID.

[0497] Step 603: The first UE sends a message to the first UCA, and correspondingly, the first UCA receives the message.

[0498] The message is used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object, and the message includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID.

[0499] Since the first UE sends the message to the first UCA based on the indication of the first user, the process can be understood as that the first UCA receives a request from the first user for requesting to establish the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0500] Step 603 can also be replaced by the first UE sending a message to the first communication object for requesting to establish a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, wherein the message includes the CO2_DID, and further optionally, the message can also include the CO1_DID. Further, the first communication object sends a message to the first UCA for requesting to establish a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, wherein the message includes the CO2_DID, and optionally, the message can also include the CO1_DID.

[0501] Optionally, step 604: the first UCA verifies the identity of the second communication object.

[0502] For example, the first UCA verifies the identity of the second communication object through the IDM. For example, the first UCA interacts with the IDM through the ICMF. Illustratively, the first UCA sends a message to the ICMF, and correspondingly, the ICMF receives the message; the message is used for verifying the identity of the second communication object, and the message includes the CO2_DID. The ICMF sends a message to the IDM, and correspondingly, the IDM receives the message; the message is used for verifying the identity of the second communication object, and the message includes the CO2_DID. The IDM verifies the identity of the second communication object based on the CO2_DID, and sends the verification result to the ICMF, and the ICMF sends the verification result to the first UCA. The verification result indicates that the identity verification of the second communication object is passed or failed. The verification result includes the CO2_DID, and optionally, also includes indication information for indicating that the verification is passed or failed, for example, 1 bit of different values is used to indicate that the verification is passed or failed.

[0503] Alternatively, the first UCA directly communicates with the IDM without going through the ICMF. For example, the first UCA sends a message to the IDM, and correspondingly, the IDM receives the message; the message is used for verifying the identity of the second communication object, and the message includes the CO2_DID. The IDM sends the verification result to the first UCA.

[0504] One verification manner is to determine whether the CO2_DID is associated with the identity of a subscription user, if the CO2_DID is associated with the identity of a subscription user, the verification is passed, otherwise, the verification is failed. The embodiments of the present application are introduced by taking the verification passed as an example.

[0505] In addition, the embodiments of the present application can also not need to verify the digital identity of the second communication object, and can default that the digital identity of the second communication object is reasonable and legal.

[0506] Step 605: the first UCA acquires the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA.

[0507] The information of the second UCA can be part of the information of the second communication object; or the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA are independent of each other.

[0508] The first UCA obtains the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA through the UDM.

[0509] For example, the first UCA sends a message to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the message, which is used to request to obtain the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA, and the message includes the CO2_DID. The ICMF sends a message to the UDM to obtain the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA, and the message includes the CO2_DID. The UDM finds the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA through the CO2_DID, and sends them to the ICMF, and the ICMF sends the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA to the first UCA.

[0510] Alternatively, the first UCA directly communicates with the UDM without going through the ICMF. For example, the first UCA sends a message to the UDM, and the UDM receives the message; the message is used to request to obtain the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA, and the message includes the CO2_DID. The UDM sends the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA to the first UCA.

[0511] An example of the UDM finding the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA through the CO2_DID is that the UDM queries a global communication information table (see FIG. 4) based on the CO2_DID to obtain the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA, including but not limited to at least one of the following: the IP address CO2_IP of the second communication object, the type CO2_Type of the second communication object, the identifier UCA2_ID of the second UCA serving the second communication object, the identifier of the IIF-B where the second UCA is located, the identifier and IP address of the interface 6 (the interface for interaction between UCAs) of the IIF-B, the identifier and IP address of the interface 7 (the interface for interaction between the UCA and the ICMF) of the IIF-B, etc.

[0512] Step 606: The first UCA sends a message to the second UCA, and the second UCA receives the message.

[0513] The message is used to request to establish a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object. The message includes the digital identity identifier CO1_DID of the first communication object. Further optionally, the message can also include: the digital identity identifier CO2_DID of the second communication object, and / or the information of the type of the mutual trust relationship, where the type of the mutual trust relationship is, for example, fixed or temporary.

[0514] For example, the first UCA sends a message to the second UCA based on the IP address of interface 6 of the IIF-B acquired in step 605.

[0515] Optionally, step 607: the second UCA learns that the second UE allows to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0516] For example, the second UCA sends a message to the second UE, the message is used to indicate the request of establishing the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object. The message includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID. The second UE can output prompt information, and the second user performs an operation on the second UE based on the prompt information to accept the request. The second UE sends a message to the second UCA based on the indication of the second user, the message is used to indicate that the second user allows to establish the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0517] Optionally, step 608: the second UCA verifies the identity of the first communication object. The process can refer to the process of verifying the identity of the second communication object by the first UCA in step 604, and will not be described in detail.

[0518] Step 609: the second UCA acquires the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA. The sequence of steps 607, 608 and 609 is not limited.

[0519] The information of the first UCA can be part of the information of the first communication object; or the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are independent of each other.

[0520] The second UCA can acquire the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA through the UDM.

[0521] For example, the second UCA sends a message to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the message, the message is used to request to acquire the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA, and the message includes CO1_DID. The ICMF sends a message to the UDM to acquire the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA, and the message includes CO1_DID. The UDM finds the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA through CO1_DID, and sends them to the ICMF, and the ICMF sends the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA to the second UCA.

[0522] Alternatively, the second UCA does not communicate with the UDM via the ICMF directly. For example, the second UCA sends a message to the UDM, and the UDM receives the message accordingly; the message is used to request the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA, and the message includes the CO1_DID. The UDM sends the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA to the second UCA.

[0523] An example of the UDM finding the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA via the CO1_DID is that the UDM queries a global communication information table (see FIG. 4) based on the CO1_DID to obtain the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA, including but not limited to at least one of the following: the IP address CO1_IP of the first communication object, the type CO1_Type of the first communication object, the identifier UCA1_ID of the first UCA serving the first communication object, the identifier of the IIF-A where the first UCA is located, the identifier and IP address of the interface 6 of the IIF-A, the identifier and IP address of the interface 7 of the IIF-A, etc.

[0524] Step 610: The second UCA saves the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA.

[0525] The information of the first UCA can be part of the information of the first communication object; or the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are independent of each other and are saved separately.

[0526] For example, the second UCA saves the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA in a UCA communication object information table (see FIG. 4) and an address cache table (see FIG. 4). Optionally, the type of the mutual trust relationship can also be saved, for example, as fixed or temporary.

[0527] At this point, the second UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0528] If the mutual trust relationship is temporary, further optionally, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e., when the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are saved, the second UCA starts timing (e.g., starts a timer), and when a preset time length is reached (e.g., the timer reaches a set threshold), the second UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e., deletes the saved information. Alternatively, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e., when the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are saved, the second UCA starts a timer, and when the timer expires, the second UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e., deletes the saved information.

[0529] Optionally, step 611a: the second UCA sends a message to the second communication object, the message indicating that the second UCA has established the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object or added the communication-allowed communication object. The message includes CO1_DID, and optionally, the type of the first communication object and other related information.

[0530] Optionally, step 611b: the second UCA sends a message to the second UE, or the second communication object sends a message to the second UE, the message indicating that the second UCA has established the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object or added the communication-allowed communication object. The message includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID, and optionally, the type of the first communication object and other related information.

[0531] After obtaining the message, the second UE can prompt the second user that the first communication object and the second communication object have established the mutual trust relationship.

[0532] Step 612: the second UCA sends a message to the first UCA, and correspondingly, the first UCA receives the message.

[0533] The message indicates that the second UCA has established (or agrees to establish) the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object. The message includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID, or the message includes the associated information of the request message of step 606, so that CO1_DID and CO2_DID do not need to be carried.

[0534] Step 613: the first UCA saves the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA.

[0535] The first UCA saves the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA based on the message of step 612.

[0536] The information of the second UCA can be part of the information of the second communication object; or the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA are independent of each other and are saved separately.

[0537] For example, the first UCA saves the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA in the UCA communication object information table (see FIG. 4) and the address cache table (see FIG. 4). Optionally, the type of the mutual trust relationship, such as fixed or temporary, can also be saved.

[0538] At this point, the first UCA has established the mutual trust relationship of the first communication object and the second communication object.

[0539] If the mutual trust relationship is temporary, further optionally, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e., when the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA are saved, the first UCA starts timing (e.g., starts a timer), and when a preset time length is reached (e.g., the timer reaches a set threshold), the first UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e., deletes the saved information. Alternatively, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e., when the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA are saved, the first UCA starts a timer, and when the timer expires, the first UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e., deletes the saved information.

[0540] Optionally, step 614a: the first UCA sends a message to the first communication object, the message being used to indicate that the first UCA has established a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object or added a communication object allowed to communicate. The message includes CO2_DID, and optionally, CO1_DI, the type of the second communication object, and other related information.

[0541] Optionally, step 614b: the first UCA sends a message to the first UE, or the first communication object sends a message to the first UE, the message being used to indicate that the first UCA has established a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object or added a communication object allowed to communicate. The message includes CO2_DID, and optionally, CO1_DI, the type of the second communication object, and other related information.

[0542] After obtaining the message, the first UE can prompt the first user to know that the first communication object and the second communication object have established a mutual trust relationship.

[0543] FIG. 10 is a possible flow diagram suitable for example 3 (the UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object by means of an Internet platform), and FIG. 10 includes the following steps.

[0544] Step 700a: the first communication object of the first user has accessed the first UCA of the first user, and the first communication object has established a session connection with the IIF-A where the first UCA is located.

[0545] If the first communication object is a user terminal, the process of the user terminal accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 5.

[0546] If the first communication object is a physical intelligent agent, the process of the physical intelligent agent accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 6.

[0547] If the first communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, the process of the virtual intelligent agent accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 7.

[0548] Step 700b: The second communication object of the second user has accessed the second UCA of the second user, and the second communication object has established a session connection with the IIF-B where the second UCA is located.

[0549] If the second communication object is a user terminal, the process of the user terminal accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 5.

[0550] If the second communication object is a physical intelligent agent, the process of the physical intelligent agent accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 6.

[0551] If the second communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, the process of the virtual intelligent agent accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 7.

[0552] Step 701: The Internet platform receives the digital identity CO2_DID of the second communication object registered by the second user.

[0553] Taking the Internet platform as a take-out platform, the second user places an order on the take-out platform, and the contact person fills in the digital identity CO2_DID of the second communication object. The second user is a personal user.

[0554] Step 702: The Internet platform sends the digital identity CO2_DID of the second communication object to the first UCA.

[0555] The Internet platform sends the digital identity CO2_DID of the second communication object to the first UCA through the capability exposure function NEF of the mobile network. The specific implementation is not limited in the present application.

[0556] In one possible scenario, the Internet platform belongs to the first user, and the first user can be an enterprise user, and the first UCA provides services for the communication object of the first user.

[0557] Step 703: The first UCA selects the first communication object (such as a take-out drone) to communicate with the second communication object.

[0558] For example, the first UCA selects the first communication object (such as a take-out drone) to deliver food for the second user.

[0559] Next, the first communication object and the second communication object establish a mutual trust relationship.

[0560] Steps 704 to 714a can refer to steps 604 to 614a, which will not be repeated here.

[0561] In the example of FIG. 2, it is introduced that the first UCA and the second UCA transmit information messages (e.g., the first information message and the second information message) interacted between the first communication object and the second communication object based on the trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object. The following takes an example of the first communication object sending an information message to the second communication object to further introduce the process of the first UCA and the second UCA transmitting information messages based on the trust relationship.

[0562] FIG. 11 is a possible flow diagram of information interaction between communication objects connected to different UCAs, and FIG. 11 includes the following steps.

[0563] Step 800a: The first communication object of the first user has accessed the first UCA of the first user, and the first communication object has established a session connection with the IIF-A where the first UCA is located.

[0564] If the first communication object is a user terminal, the process of the user terminal accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 5.

[0565] If the first communication object is a physical intelligent agent, the process of the physical intelligent agent accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 6.

[0566] If the first communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, the process of the virtual intelligent agent accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 7.

[0567] Step 800b: The second communication object of the second user has accessed the second UCA of the second user, and the second communication object has established a session connection with the IIF-B where the second UCA is located.

[0568] If the second communication object is a user terminal, the process of the user terminal accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 5.

[0569] If the second communication object is a physical intelligent agent, the process of the physical intelligent agent accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 6.

[0570] If the second communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, the process of the virtual intelligent agent accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 7.

[0571] Step 801: The source communication object (i.e., the first communication object) sends an information message to the first UCA.

[0572] The source communication object of the information message is the first communication object, and the destination communication object of the information message is the second communication object. Exemplarily, the information message includes an identity of the source communication object, an identity of the destination communication object, and content (which can also be referred to as a payload) of the information message. The specific content can be any information such as text, audio / video, API call, semantic vector, model or parameter, etc. The information message can be a request message or a response message.

[0573] Before sending the information message, the source communication object can optionally determine the information message.

[0574] The source communication object stores an identity and / or an IP address of the first UCA to which the source communication object accesses, and the source communication object sends the information message to the first UCA based on the identity and / or the IP address of the UCA.

[0575] The information message is carried on a session connection established between the first communication object and the IIF-A. The source communication object sends the information message to the IIF-A in which the first UCA is located, and the IIF-A sends the information message to the first UCA. The following describes different IIF interfaces corresponding to different types of source communication objects:

[0576] In one case, the source communication object is a physical intelligent agent or a user terminal, and the source communication object sends the information message to the interface 4 of the IIF-A.

[0577] If the source communication object does not install an application service, the information message is sent to the first UCA through the interface 4 of the IIF-A. If the source communication object installs an application service, the information message is sent to the application service of the source communication object through the interface 4 of the IIF-A, and the application service sends the information message to the first UCA through an internal interface with the first UCA.

[0578] In another case, the source communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, and the source communication object sends the information message to the interface 5 of the IIF-A. The information message is sent to the first UCA through the interface 5 of the IIF-A.

[0579] The information message is carried as a payload on an IP message, the source IP address of the IP message is the IP address of the source communication object, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the first UCA. When the application service of the communication object participates in the forwarding of the information message, the source IP address is the IP address of the application service, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the first UCA when the application service sends the information message to the first UCA.

[0580] The source communication object can send the information message based on a request of a user, or send the information message based on autonomous judgment. The destination communication object can be informed by the source communication object or autonomously determined by the source communication object.

[0581] Optionally, step 802: the first UCA performs modal conversion on the information message.

[0582] For example, the first UCA performs modal conversion on the information message to match the format or processing capability of the receiving information message of the destination communication object based on the difference between the source communication object and the destination communication object capabilities. For example, the natural language sent by the source object is converted into a domain specific language (DSL) recognizable by the destination object through a local knowledge base, or the picture sent by the source object is semantically extracted through a media processing unit.

[0583] Step 803: the first UCA sends the information message to the second UCA, and correspondingly, the second UCA receives the information message.

[0584] The first UCA determines that the destination communication object is connected to the second UCA, and further determines that the interface for forwarding the information message is the interface 6 of the IIF-A, i.e., the interface for communication between the UCA and the UCA.

[0585] For example, the first UCA sends the information message to the interface 6 of the IIF-A, and the IIF-A forwards the information message to the interface 6 of the IIF-B through the interface 6 of the IIF-A. The IIF-A performs tunnel encapsulation on the IP message. For example, the source address of the inner IP header of the information message is the IP address of the first UCA, and the destination address is the IP address of the second UCA; the source address of the outer IP header of the information message is the interface 6 address of the IIF-A, and the destination address is the interface 6 address of the IIF-B. The interface 6 of the IIF-B receives the message, and the IIF-B decapsulates the outer IP header and forwards the inner IP message to the second UCA.

[0586] Optionally, before step 803, the first UCA can further perform the following steps: the first UCA determines that the destination communication object is connected to the second UCA, and determines that the destination communication object and the source communication object have established a mutual trust relationship.

[0587] For example, the first UCA receives the information message, and determines the UCA connected to the destination communication object and whether the destination communication object and the source communication object have a mutual trust relationship based on the digital identity CO2_DID of the destination communication object in the information message.

[0588] The first UCA records the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object connected to the first UCA, and records the information of other communication objects having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the first UCA, wherein the information of each communication object includes the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object and the identifier of the UCA connected to the communication object.

[0589] A possible recording manner is that the first UCA maintains at least two tables, one of which is used to record information of a communication object connected to the first UCA, wherein the information of the communication object at least includes a digital identity CO DID of the communication object; and the other of which is used to record information of other communication objects having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the first UCA.

[0590] Another possible recording manner is that the first UCA maintains at least one table, which is used to record information of a communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA, wherein the information of the communication object at least includes a digital identity of the communication object and an identifier of a UCA connected to the communication object. The communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA includes the communication object connected to the first UCA and other communication objects having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the first UCA. For example, the table includes a UCA communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4.

[0591] If the CO2 DID is recorded in the first UCA, it can be determined that the destination communication object has established a mutual trust relationship with the source communication object; and if the identifier of the UCA associated with the CO2 DID recorded in the first UCA is the identifier of the second UCA, it can be determined that the destination communication object is connected to the second UCA.

[0592] Optionally, after receiving the information message from the first communication object, the first UCA can determine whether the source communication object is connected to the first UCA based on the digital identity of the source communication object in the information message. For example, the first UCA records the digital identity CO DID of the communication object connected to the first UCA, and if the digital identity CO DID of the communication object connected to the first UCA recorded in the first UCA includes the CO1 DID, it can be determined that the source communication object is connected to the first UCA. If the source communication object is not connected to the first UCA, the information message can be ignored, and the forwarding of the information message can be omitted, or other processing manners can be used.

[0593] Optionally, in step 804, the second UCA performs modal conversion on the information message.

[0594] For example, the second UCA performs modal conversion on the information message to match the format or processing capability of the destination communication object for receiving the information message based on the different capabilities of the source communication object and the destination communication object. For example, a natural language sent by the source object is converted into a domain-specific language DSL recognizable by the destination object through a local knowledge base, or a picture sent by the source object is semantically extracted through a media processing unit.

[0595] Either one of the steps 802 and 804 can be performed, or neither of them is performed, or both of them are performed.

[0596] Step 805: The second UCA sends the information message to the destination communication object.

[0597] The information message includes the source communication object digital identity CO_DID, the destination communication object digital identity CO_DID, and the specific content is unchanged.

[0598] The information message is carried on the session connection established between the second communication object and the IIF-B. The second UCA sends the information message to the IIF-B where the UCA is located, and the IIF-B sends the information message to the second communication object. The following takes different IIF interfaces corresponding to different types of destination communication objects as examples for introduction:

[0599] The second UCA can also determine the identifier of the interface of the IIF-B associated with the destination communication object.

[0600] In one case, the destination communication object is a physical intelligent agent or a user terminal, and the second UCA sends the information message to the interface 4 of the IIF-B. If the destination communication object does not install an application service, the information message is sent to the destination communication object through the interface 4 of the IIF-A; if the destination communication object installs an application service, the information message is sent to the application service of the destination communication object through the internal interface of the second UCA, and the application service sends the information message to the destination communication object through the interface 4 of the IIF-A.

[0601] In another case, the destination communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, and the second UCA sends the information message to the interface 5 of the IIF-B, and the information message is sent to the destination communication object through the interface 4 of the IIF-A.

[0602] The information message is carried as a payload on an IP message, the source IP address of the IP message is the IP address of the second UCA, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the destination communication object. When the application service of the communication object participates in the forwarding of the information message, the second UCA sends the information message to the application service, and the source IP address is the IP address of the second UCA, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the application service.

[0603] Optionally, before step 805, the second UCA can also perform the following steps: the second UCA determines that the destination communication object is connected to the second UCA, and determines that the destination communication object and the source communication object have established a mutual trust relationship.

[0604] For example, after the second UCA receives the information message, the second UCA determines the UCA connected to the destination communication object based on the source communication object digital identity CO1_DID and the destination communication object digital identity CO2_DID in the information message, and determines whether the destination communication object and the source communication object have a mutual trust relationship.

[0605] The second UCA records the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object connected to the second UCA, and also records the digital identity CO_DID of the other communication object having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the second UCA, and the identifier of the UCA connected to the other communication object.

[0606] One possible recording manner is that the second UCA maintains at least two tables, one table is used to record the related information of the communication object connected to the second UCA, wherein the related information of the communication object at least includes the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object; and the other table is used to record the related information of the other communication object having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the second UCA, wherein the related information of the other communication object at least includes the digital identity of the other communication object and the identifier of the UCA connected to the other communication object.

[0607] Another possible recording manner is that the second UCA maintains at least one table, which is used to record the related information of the communication object capable of communicating with the second UCA, wherein the related information of the communication object at least includes the digital identity of the communication object and the identifier of the UCA connected to the communication object. The communication object capable of communicating with the second UCA includes the communication object connected to the second UCA and the other communication object having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the second UCA. For example, the table includes the UCA communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4.

[0608] If the second UCA records the CO2_DID and records the identifier of the UCA associated with the CO2_DID as the identifier of the second UCA, it can be determined that the destination communication object is connected to the second UCA. If the second UCA records the CO1_DID, it can be determined that the destination communication object has established a mutual trust relationship with the source communication object.

[0609] Optionally, after receiving the information message, the second UCA can determine whether the destination communication object is connected to the second UCA based on the digital identity CO2_DID of the destination communication object in the information message. For example, the second UCA records the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object connected to the second UCA, if the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object connected to the second UCA recorded in the second UCA includes the CO2_DID, it can be determined that the destination communication object is connected to the second UCA. If the destination communication object is not connected to the second UCA, the information message can be ignored, and the information message is not forwarded, or other processing manners are adopted.

[0610] It should be noted that the above examples are described with the first UCA and the second UCA located in different IIFs, and in other examples, the first UCA and the second UCA can be located in the same IIF, and the first UCA and the second UCA can communicate through the internal interface of the IIF.

[0611] FIG. 12 is a possible flow diagram of information interaction between communication objects connected to the same UCA.

[0612] Step 900: Each communication object has accessed the UCA and established a session connection with the IIF where the UCA is located.

[0613] The embodiment is described with three communication objects as examples, which are: the first communication object is a user terminal or a physical intelligent agent without installed application services, the second communication object is a physical intelligent agent with installed application services, and the third communication object is a virtual intelligent agent.

[0614] If the communication object is a user terminal, the process of the user terminal accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 5.

[0615] If the communication object is a physical intelligent agent, the process of the physical intelligent agent accessing the UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 6.

[0616] If the communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, the process of the virtual intelligent agent accessing the UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 7.

[0617] Step 901: The source communication object sends an information message to the UCA.

[0618] For example, the information message includes the identity of the source communication object, the identity of the destination communication object, and the content (also referred to as the payload) of the information message. The specific content can be any information, such as text, audio / video, API call, semantic vector, model or parameter, etc. The first information message can be a request message or a response message.

[0619] Before the source communication object sends the information message to the UCA, the source communication object can determine the information message.

[0620] The source communication object stores the identity and / or IP address of the first UCA accessed by itself, and the source communication object sends the information message to the first UCA based on the identity and / or IP address of the UCA.

[0621] The information message is carried on the session connection established between the source communication object and the IIF. The source communication object sends the information message to the IIF where the UCA is located, and the IIF sends the information message to the first UCA. The following examples are described with different IIF interfaces corresponding to different types of source communication objects:

[0622] Case a: the source communication object is the first communication object (a user terminal or a physical intelligent agent without installed application service), the source communication object sends the information message to the interface 4 of the IIF, and the information message is sent to the UCA through the interface 4 of the IIF.

[0623] Case b: the source communication object is the second communication object (a physical intelligent agent with installed application service), the source communication object sends the information message to the interface 4 of the IIF, and the information message is sent to the application service through the interface 4 of the IIF-A, and the application service sends the information message to the UCA through the internal interface of the UCA.

[0624] Case c: the source communication object is the third communication object (a virtual intelligent agent), the source communication object sends the information message to the interface 5 of the IIF, and the information message is sent to the UCA through the interface 5 of the IIF.

[0625] The information message is carried as a payload on an IP message, the source IP address of the IP message is the IP address of the source communication object, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the UCA. When the application service of the communication object participates in the forwarding of the information message, the source IP address is the IP address of the application service when the application service sends the information message to the UCA, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the UCA.

[0626] In the process of transmitting the information message, the IIF determines the destination IP address in the received information message, and sends the information message to the corresponding UCA instance based on the destination IP address.

[0627] The source communication object can send the information message based on the user's request, or the source communication object can send the information message based on autonomous judgment. The destination communication object can be informed to the source communication object by the user, or can be autonomously determined by the source communication object.

[0628] Optionally, step 902: the UCA performs modal conversion on the information message.

[0629] For example, the UCA performs modal conversion on the information message to match the format or processing capability of the received information message of the destination communication object based on the difference in the capabilities of the source communication object and the destination communication object. For example, the natural language sent by the source object is converted into a domain-specific language DSL that can be recognized by the destination object through a local knowledge base, or the picture sent by the source object is semantically extracted through a media processing unit, etc.

[0630] Step 903: the UCA sends the information message to the destination communication object.

[0631] The source communication object digital identity CO_DID, the destination communication object digital identity CO_DID, and the specific content included in the information message remain unchanged.

[0632] The UCA can determine the forwarding interface of the information message based on the destination communication object, for example, the UCA can query the interface associated with the IIF in the UCA communication object information table to determine the interface associated with the destination communication object, and send the information message to the destination communication object through the associated interface.

[0633] Case a: the destination communication object is the first communication object (user terminal or physical intelligent agent without installed application service), the UCA sends the information message to the interface 4 of the IIF, and the information message is sent to the destination communication object through the interface 4 of the IIF.

[0634] Case b: the destination communication object is the second communication object (physical intelligent agent with installed application service), the UCA sends the information message to the application service through the internal interface of the UCA, and the application service sends the information message to the destination communication object through the interface 4 of the IIF.

[0635] Case c: the destination communication object is the third communication object (virtual intelligent agent), the UCA sends the information message to the interface 5 of the IIF, and the information message is sent to the target communication object through the interface 5 of the IIF.

[0636] The information message is carried as a payload on an IP message, and the source IP address of the IP message is the IP address of the UCA, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the destination communication object. When the application service of the communication object participates in the forwarding of the information message, the UCA sends the information message to the application service, and the source IP address is the IP address of the UCA, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the application service.

[0637] Optionally, before step 903, the UCA can further perform the following steps: the UCA determines that the destination communication object is connected to the UCA.

[0638] After the UCA receives the information message, it can determine whether the destination communication object is connected to the UCA or to other UCA based on the digital identity CO_DID of the destination communication object in the information message.

[0639] A recording manner is that the first UCA maintains at least one table in which information of a communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA is recorded, wherein the information of the communication object at least includes a digital identity of the communication object and an identifier of a UCA to which the communication object is connected. The communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA includes a communication object connected to the first UCA and another communication object having a trust relationship with the communication object connected to the first UCA. For example, the table includes a UCA communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4. The UCA can query the UCA communication object information table to determine whether the digital identity of a target communication object is saved in the table, and if yes, determine the identifier of the UCA associated with the digital identity of the target communication object. If the identifier of the associated UCA is the identifier of the UCA, it indicates that the target communication object is connected to the UCA, and if the identifier of the associated UCA is not the identifier of the UCA, it indicates that the target communication object is connected to another UCA. If the digital identity of the target communication object is not saved in the table, it indicates that the target communication object is not connected to the UCA or does not have a trust relationship with the communication object in the UCA. The example is described by taking the target communication object connected to the UCA as an example.

[0640] The UCA can determine a forwarding interface of the information message based on the target communication object, for example, the UCA can query the interface associated with the IIF in the UCA communication object information table to determine the interface associated with the target communication object, and send the information message to the target communication object through the associated interface.

[0641] Optionally, after receiving the information message from the source communication object, the UCA can determine whether the source communication object is connected to the UCA based on the digital identity of the source communication object in the information message. The UCA records the digital identity of the communication object connected to the UCA, and if the digital identity of the communication object connected to the UCA recorded in the UCA includes the identifier of the source communication object, it can be determined that the source communication object is connected to the UCA. If the source communication object is not connected to the UCA, the information message can be ignored, and the forwarding of the information message is not performed, or other processing manners are adopted.

[0642] Before the steps 801 and 901, the source communication object can obtain information of a communication object capable of communicating with the UCA (referring to the UCA accessed by the source communication object). The communication object capable of communicating with the UCA (referring to the UCA accessed by the source communication object) includes a communication object connected to the UCA and a communication object having a trust relationship with the communication object connected to the UCA.

[0643] The information of the communication object includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: a communication object digital identity CO_DID, a communication object IP address CO_IP, a communication object type CO_Type, a UCA identifier UCA_ID accessed by the communication object, and an IP address, etc.

[0644] The source communication object can select a destination communication object from the obtained communication objects, and send an information message to the destination communication object based on the information of the destination communication object.

[0645] The following is an example of a centralized possible example, in which the first communication object obtains the information of the communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA.

[0646] (I) The first communication object obtains through the ICMF.

[0647] The first communication object sends a message to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the message accordingly; the message is used to obtain the information of the communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA, and the message includes the identifier of the first UCA.

[0648] The ICMF sends a message to the UDM, and the UDM receives the message accordingly; the message is used to obtain the information of the communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA, and the message includes the identifier of the first UCA. The UDM searches for the information of the communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA based on the identifier of the first UCA, and sends the information to the ICMF. For example, the UDM maintains a global communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4, and searches for the information of the communication object in the UCA with the identifier based on the UCA identifier query global communication object information table. The communication object information includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: a communication object digital identity CO_DID, a communication object IP address CO_IP, a communication object type CO_Type, and a UCA identifier UCA_ID. Further, the ICMF obtains other information of the communication object from the UCA through the interface 7, such as the capability set information of the communication object.

[0649] The ICMF sends the obtained information of the communication object to the first communication object.

[0650] Alternatively, the ICMF sends the message to the first UCA after receiving the message for obtaining the information of the communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA. The first UCA searches for the information of the communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA, and sends the information to the ICMF. For example, the first UCA maintains a local communication information table as shown in FIG. 4, and the first UCA can send the information maintained in the local communication information table to the ICMF. The ICMF sends the obtained information of the communication object to the first communication object.

[0651] (II) The first communication object subscribes to obtain through the ICMF.

[0652] The first communication object requests the ICMF to subscribe to a communication object information change event. When the ICMF senses that the information of a communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA changes, such as addition or deletion, the ICMF sends the changed information to the first communication object. Optionally, the ICMF obtains other information of the added communication object from the first UCA, such as a capability set. The ICMF informs the first communication object of the communication object change event, such as addition or deletion, and the digital identity CO_DID of the changed communication object, and other related information of the added communication object, such as a type and a capability set.

[0653] (Three) The first communication object obtains, through the UCA

[0654] The first communication object sends a message to the first UCA, and the first UCA receives the message. The message is used to obtain the communication object information in the first UCA. Optionally, the message includes the identifier of the first UCA and / or the identifier of another UCA. The first UCA finds the information of a communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA, or finds the information of a communication object accessing the first UCA and / or another UCA, and sends the information to the first communication object. For example, the first UCA maintains a local communication information table as shown in FIG. 4, and the first UCA can send the information maintained in the local communication information table to the first communication object.

[0655] (Four) The first communication object directly subscribes to obtain through the UCA

[0656] The first communication object subscribes to a communication object information change event to the first UCA. When the first UCA senses that the information of a communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA changes, such as addition or deletion, the first UCA sends the changed information to the first communication object, such as addition or deletion, and the digital identity CO_DID of the changed communication object, and other related information of the added communication object, such as a type and a capability set.

[0657] FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Based on the communication method, a user allows a communication object connected to different UCAs to transmit an information packet without establishing a mutual trust relationship.

[0658] The first UCA provides services for a communication object of a first user, and the communication object of the first user includes a source communication object. The second UCA provides services for a communication object of a second user, and the communication object of the second user includes a destination communication object. The source communication object does not establish a mutual trust relationship with the destination communication object of the first information packet.

[0659] Step 01: The source communication object sends a first information message, and correspondingly, the first UCA receives the first information message from the source communication object.

[0660] Step 02: If the first user allows the source communication object to transmit the information message to the destination communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, the first UCA sends the first information message to the second UCA; correspondingly, the second UCA receives the first information message from the first UCA.

[0661] If not, the first UCA can discard the first information message.

[0662] Step 03: If the second user allows the destination communication object to transmit the information message to the source communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, the second UCA sends the first information message to the destination communication object; correspondingly, the destination communication object receives the first information message.

[0663] If not, the second UCA can discard the first information message.

[0664] In this example, the UCA realizes the communication between the communication objects belonging to different UCA under the control of the user by allowing the transmission of the information message between the communication objects without establishing the mutual trust relationship.

[0665] The process of FIG. 13 is described in detail below in combination with FIG. 14.

[0666] Step 1000a: The first communication object of the first user has accessed the first UCA of the first user, and the first communication object has established a session connection with the IIF-A where the first UCA is located.

[0667] If the first communication object is a user terminal, the process of the user terminal accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 5.

[0668] If the first communication object is a physical intelligent agent, the process of the physical intelligent agent accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 6.

[0669] If the first communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, the process of the virtual intelligent agent accessing the first UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 7.

[0670] Step 1000b: The second communication object of the second user has accessed the second UCA of the second user, and the second communication object has established a session connection with the IIF-B where the second UCA is located.

[0671] If the second communication object is a user terminal, the process of the user terminal accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 5.

[0672] If the second communication object is a physical intelligent agent, the process of the physical intelligent agent accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 6.

[0673] If the second communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, the process of the virtual intelligent agent accessing the second UCA can refer to the example of FIG. 7.

[0674] Step 1001: The source communication object (i.e., the first communication object) sends an information message to the first UCA.

[0675] For example, the information message includes the identity of the source communication object, the identity of the destination communication object, and the content (also referred to as the payload) of the information message. The specific content can be any information, such as text, audio / video, API call, semantic vector, model, or parameter, etc. The first information message can be a request message or a response message.

[0676] Before the source communication object sends the information message to the first UCA, the source communication object can determine the information message.

[0677] The source communication object stores the identity and / or IP address of the first UCA that the source communication object accesses, and the source communication object sends the information message to the first UCA based on the identity and / or IP address of the UCA.

[0678] The information message is carried on the session connection established between the first communication object and the IIF-A. The source communication object sends the information message to the IIF-A where the first UCA is located, and the IIF-A sends the information message to the first UCA. The following describes different IIF interfaces corresponding to different types of source communication objects:

[0679] In one case, the source communication object is a physical intelligent agent or a user terminal, and the source communication object sends the information message to the interface 4 of the IIF-A.

[0680] If the source communication object does not install an application service, the information message is sent to the first UCA through the interface 4 of the IIF-A. If the source communication object installs an application service, the information message is sent to the application service of the source communication object through the interface 4 of the IIF-A, and the application service sends the information message to the first UCA through an internal interface of the first UCA.

[0681] In another case, the source communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, and the source communication object sends the information message to the interface 5 of the IIF-A. The information message is sent to the first UCA through the interface 5 of the IIF-A.

[0682] For example, the information message is carried as a payload on an IP message, the source IP address of the IP message is the IP address of the source communication object, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the first UCA. When the application service of the communication object participates in the forwarding of the information message, the application service sends the information message to the first UCA, the source IP address is the IP address of the application service, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the first UCA.

[0683] The source communication object can send the information message based on a request of a user, or can send the information message based on autonomous judgment of the source communication object. The destination communication object can be informed to the source communication object by the user, or can be autonomously determined by the source communication object.

[0684] Optionally, in step 1002, the first UCA authenticates the identity of the second communication object.

[0685] By authenticating the identity of the destination communication object, the security of the communication can be improved.

[0686] For example, the first UCA authenticates the identity of the second communication object through the IDM. For specific details, reference can be made to the description of step 604 of FIG. 9, which will not be repeated here. In addition, the embodiment of the present application can also not need to authenticate the digital identity of the second communication object, and can default that the digital identity of the second communication object is reasonable and legal, and does not need to be authenticated.

[0687] In step 1003, the first UCA obtains the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA.

[0688] The sequence of step 1003 and step 1002 is not limited.

[0689] The first UCA obtains the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA through the UDM.

[0690] For example, the first UCA sends a message to the ICMF, and correspondingly, the ICMF receives the message, the message is used to request to obtain the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA, and the message includes the CO2_DID. The ICMF sends a message to the UDM to obtain the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA, and the message includes the CO2_DID. The UDM finds the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA through the CO2_DID, and sends them to the ICMF, and the ICMF sends the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA to the first UCA.

[0691] Alternatively, the first UCA does not communicate with the UDM via the ICMF directly. For example, the first UCA sends a message to the UDM, and the UDM receives the message accordingly; the message is used to request the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA, and the message includes the CO2_DID. The UDM sends the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA to the first UCA.

[0692] An example of the UDM finding the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA via the CO2_DID is that the UDM queries a global communication information table (see FIG. 4) based on the CO2_DID to obtain the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA, including but not limited to at least one of the following: the IP address CO2_IP of the second communication object, the type CO2_Type of the second communication object, the second UCA identifier UCA2_ID and the IP address serving the second communication object, the identifier of the IIF-B in which the second UCA is located, the identifier and the IP address of the interface 6 of the IIF-B, the identifier and the IP address of the interface 7 of the IIF-B, etc.

[0693] Step 1004: The first UCA sends an information packet to the second UCA, and the second UCA receives the information packet accordingly.

[0694] The first UCA can also determine that the interface for forwarding the information packet is the interface 6 of the IIF-A, i.e., the interface used for communication between the UCA and the UCA.

[0695] For example, the first UCA sends the information packet to the interface 6 of the IIF-A, and the IIF-A forwards the information packet to the interface 6 of the IIF-B via the interface 6 of the IIF-A. The IIF-A encapsulates the IP packet in a tunnel, specifically: the source address of the inner IP header of the information packet is the IP address of the first UCA, and the destination address is the IP address of the second UCA; the source address of the outer IP header of the information packet is the interface 6 address of the IIF-A, and the destination address is the interface 6 address of the IIF-B. The interface 6 of the IIF-B receives the packet, and the IIF-B decapsulates the outer IP header and forwards the inner IP packet to the second UCA.

[0696] Optionally, before step 1004, the first UCA can also perform the following step: the first UCA performs modal conversion on the information packet.

[0697] For example, the first UCA performs modal conversion on the information packet to match the format or processing capability of the receiving information packet of the destination communication object based on the different capabilities of the source communication object and the destination communication object. For example, the natural language sent by the source object is converted into a domain-specific language DSL recognizable by the destination object through a local knowledge base, or the picture sent by the source object is semantically extracted through a media processing unit, etc.

[0698] Optionally, before step 1004, the first UCA can further perform the following steps: the first UCA determines the second UCA to which the destination communication object is connected, and determines that the destination communication object and the source communication object do not establish a mutual trust relationship.

[0699] After the first UCA receives the information message, the first UCA determines the UCA to which the destination communication object is connected based on the digital identity CO2_DID of the destination communication object in the information message, and determines whether the destination communication object and the source communication object have a mutual trust relationship.

[0700] The first UCA records the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object connected to the first UCA, and records the digital identity CO_DID of the other communication object having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the first UCA and the identifier of the UCA to which the other communication object is connected.

[0701] One possible recording manner is that the first UCA maintains at least two tables, one table is used to record the related information of the communication object connected to the first UCA, wherein the related information of the communication object at least includes the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object; and the other table is used to record the related information of the other communication object having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the first UCA, wherein the related information of the other communication object at least includes the digital identity of the other communication object and the identifier of the UCA to which the other communication object is connected.

[0702] Another possible recording manner is that the first UCA maintains at least one table, which is used to record the related information of the communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA, wherein the related information of the communication object at least includes the digital identity of the communication object and the identifier of the UCA to which the communication object is connected. The communication object capable of communicating with the first UCA includes the communication object connected to the first UCA and the other communication object having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the first UCA. For example, the table includes the UCA communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4.

[0703] If the CO2_DID is not included in the first UCA, it can be determined that the destination communication object and the source communication object do not establish a mutual trust relationship.

[0704] Optionally, after receiving the information message, the first UCA can determine whether the source communication object is connected to the first UCA based on the digital identity of the source communication object in the information message. For example, the first UCA records the digital identity of the communication object connected to the first UCA, and if the digital identity of the communication object connected to the first UCA recorded in the first UCA includes CO1_DID, it can be determined that the source communication object is connected to the first UCA. If the source communication object is not connected to the first UCA, the information message can be ignored, and the forwarding of the information message can be omitted, or other processing modes can be used.

[0705] Optionally, before step 1004, the first UCA can further perform the following step: the first UCA determines that the first user allows the source communication object to transmit information messages to the destination communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship.

[0706] For example, the first UCA obtains the subscription information of the first UCA, and determines that the subscription information of the first UCA includes: allowing the communication object accessing the first UCA to transmit information messages to the communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, i.e., allowing the communication object accessing the first UCA to autonomously communicate externally without establishing the mutual trust relationship.

[0707] For another example, the first UCA sends a message to the first UE, the message being used to request whether to allow the source communication object to transmit information messages to the destination communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, the message including CO1_DID and CO2_DID, the first user operates on the first UE, and the first UE sends an indication of permission to the first UCA based on the indication of the first user, and the first UCA receives the indication of permission from the first UE.

[0708] Optionally, step 1005: after step 1003, the first UCA saves the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA.

[0709] The information of the second UCA can be part of the information of the second communication object; or the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA are independent of each other and are saved separately.

[0710] For example, the first UCA saves the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA in the UCA communication object information table (see FIG. 4) and the address cache table (see FIG. 4). Optionally, the type of the mutual trust relationship, such as fixed or temporary, can also be saved.

[0711] Based on the sending of the information message, a temporary mutual trust relationship is established, which can facilitate the transmission of information messages between the destination communication object and the source communication object within a preset time length.

[0712] If the mutual trust relationship is temporary, further optionally, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e., the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA are saved, the first UCA starts timing (for example, starts a timer), and when a preset time length is reached (for example, the timer reaches a set threshold), the first UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e., deletes the saved information. Alternatively, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e., the information of the second communication object and the information of the second UCA are saved, the first UCA starts a timer, and when the timer expires, the first UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e., deletes the saved information.

[0713] Optionally, in step 1006, the second UCA verifies the identity of the first communication object. The process can refer to the process of verifying the identity of the second communication object by the first UCA in step 1004, and will not be described in detail.

[0714] By verifying the identity of the source communication object, the security of the communication can be improved.

[0715] In step 1007, the second UCA sends an information message to the destination communication object.

[0716] The information message includes the digital identity of the source communication object CO_DID, the digital identity of the destination communication object CO_DID, and the specific content remains unchanged.

[0717] The information message is carried on the session connection established between the second communication object and the IIF-B. The second UCA sends the information message to the IIF-B where the second UCA is located, and the IIF-B sends the information message to the second communication object. The following takes different IIF-B interfaces corresponding to different types of destination communication objects as examples for introduction:

[0718] The second UCA can also determine the identity of the interface of the IIF-B associated with the destination communication object.

[0719] In one case, the destination communication object is a physical intelligent agent or a user terminal, and the second UCA sends the information message to the interface 4 of the IIF-B. If the destination communication object does not install an application service, the information message is sent to the destination communication object through the interface 4 of the IIF-A; if the destination communication object installs an application service, the information message is sent to the application service of the destination communication object through the internal interface of the second UCA, and the application service sends the information message to the destination communication object through the interface 4 of the IIF-A.

[0720] In another case, the destination communication object is a virtual intelligent agent, and the second UCA sends the information message to the interface 5 of the IIF-B, and the information message is sent to the destination communication object through the interface 4 of the IIF-A.

[0721] The information message is carried as a payload on an IP message, the source IP address of the IP message is the IP address of the second UCA, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the destination communication object. When the application service of the communication object participates in the forwarding of the information message, the second UCA sends the information message to the application service, the source IP address is the IP address of the second UCA, and the destination IP address is the IP address of the application service.

[0722] Optionally, before step 1007, the second UCA further performs the following step: the second UCA performs modal conversion on the information message.

[0723] For example, the second UCA performs modal conversion on the information message to match the format or processing capability of the destination communication object for receiving the information message, based on the difference in the capabilities of the source communication object and the destination communication object. For example, the natural language sent by the source object is converted into a domain-specific language (DSL) recognizable by the destination object through a local knowledge base, or the picture sent by the source object is semantically extracted through a media processing unit.

[0724] The second UCA and the first UCA can only one of them perform modal conversion on the information message, or both of them perform modal conversion on the information message, or neither of them perform modal conversion on the information message.

[0725] Optionally, before step 1007, the second UCA further performs the following step: the second UCA determines that the destination communication object is connected to the second UCA, and determines that the destination communication object and the source communication object do not establish a mutual trust relationship.

[0726] After the second UCA receives the information message, the second UCA determines the UCA connected to the destination communication object and whether the destination communication object and the source communication object have a mutual trust relationship based on the source communication object digital identity CO1_DID and the destination communication object digital identity CO2_DID in the information message.

[0727] The second UCA records the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object connected to the second UCA, and records the digital identity CO_DID of the other communication object having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the second UCA and the identifier of the UCA connected to the other communication object.

[0728] One possible recording method is that the second UCA maintains at least two tables, one table is used to record the related information of the communication object connected to the second UCA, wherein the related information of the communication object at least includes the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object; and the other table is used to record the related information of the other communication object having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the second UCA, wherein the related information of the other communication object at least includes the digital identity of the other communication object and the identifier of the UCA connected to the other communication object.

[0729] Another possible recording manner is that the second UCA maintains at least one table in which information of a communication object capable of communicating with the second UCA is recorded, wherein the information of the communication object at least includes a digital identity of the communication object and an identity of a UCA to which the communication object is connected. The communication object capable of communicating with the second UCA includes a communication object connected to the second UCA and another communication object having a trust relationship with the communication object connected to the second UCA. For example, the table includes a UCA communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4.

[0730] If the CO2_DID is recorded in the second UCA and the identity of the UCA associated with the CO2_DID is recorded as the identity of the second UCA, it can be determined that the destination communication object is connected to the second UCA. If the CO1_DID is not recorded in the second UCA, it can be determined that the destination communication object does not have a trust relationship with the source communication object.

[0731] Optionally, after receiving the information message, the second UCA can determine whether the destination communication object is connected to the second UCA based on the digital identity CO2_DID of the destination communication object in the information message. For example, the second UCA records the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object connected to the second UCA, and if the digital identity CO_DID of the communication object connected to the second UCA recorded in the second UCA includes the CO2_DID, it can be determined that the destination communication object is connected to the second UCA. If the destination communication object is not connected to the second UCA, the information message can be ignored, the forwarding of the information message can be ignored, or other processing manners can be used.

[0732] Optionally, before step 1007, the second UCA further performs the following step: the second UCA determines that the second user allows the destination communication object to transmit the information message to the source communication object without establishing the trust relationship.

[0733] For example, the second UCA obtains the subscription information of the second UCA, and determines that the subscription information of the second UCA includes: allowing a communication object accessing the second UCA to transmit an information message to a communication object without establishing a trust relationship, or allowing a communication object accessing the second UCA to receive an external communication without establishing a trust relationship.

[0734] For another example, the second UCA sends a message to the second UE, the message being used to request whether to allow the source communication object to transmit an information message to the destination communication object without establishing the trust relationship, and the message including the CO1_DID and the CO2_DID. The second user operates on the second UE, and the second UE sends an indication of permission to the second UCA based on an indication of the second user, and the second UCA receives the indication of permission from the second UE.

[0735] It should be noted that the above examples are described with the first UCA and the second UCA located in different IIFs, and in other examples, the first UCA and the second UCA can be located in the same IIF, and the first UCA and the second UCA can communicate through the internal interface of the IIF.

[0736] Optionally, after step 1007, step 1008: the second UCA acquires the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA.

[0737] The second UCA acquires the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA through the UDM.

[0738] For example, the second UCA sends a message to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the message, the message being used to request to acquire the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA, and the message including the CO1_DID. The ICMF sends a message to the UDM to acquire the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA, and the message including the CO1_DID. The UDM finds the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA through the CO1_DID, and sends the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA to the ICMF, and the ICMF sends the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA to the second UCA.

[0739] Alternatively, the second UCA directly communicates with the UDM without the ICMF. For example, the second UCA sends a message to the UDM, and the UDM receives the message; the message being used to request to acquire the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA, and the message including the CO1_DID. The UDM sends the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA to the second UCA.

[0740] An example of the UDM finding the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA through the CO1_DID is that the UDM queries a global communication information table (see FIG. 4) based on the CO1_DID to acquire the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA, including but not limited to at least one of the following: the IP address CO1_IP of the first communication object, the type CO1_Type of the first communication object, the identifier UCA1_ID of the first UCA serving the first communication object, the identifier of the IIF-A where the first UCA is located, the identifier and IP address of the interface 6 of the IIF-A, the identifier and IP address of the interface 7 of the IIF-A, etc.

[0741] Optionally, step 1009: the second UCA saves the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA.

[0742] The information of the first UCA can be part of the information of the first communication object; or the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are independent of each other and are separately stored.

[0743] For example, the second UCA stores the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA in the UCA communication object information table (see FIG. 4) and the address cache table (see FIG. 4). Optionally, the type of the mutual trust relationship, such as fixed or temporary, can also be stored.

[0744] So far, the second UCA has established the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object. Based on the sending of the information message, a temporary mutual trust relationship is established, which facilitates the transmission of information messages between the destination communication object and the source communication object within a predetermined time period.

[0745] If the mutual trust relationship is temporary, further optionally, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e., when the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are stored, the second UCA starts timing (e.g., starts a timer), and when the predetermined time period is reached (e.g., the timer reaches the set threshold), the second UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e., deletes the stored information. Alternatively, when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e., when the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are stored, the second UCA starts a timer, and when the timer expires, the second UCA cancels the mutual trust relationship, i.e., deletes the stored information.

[0746] In one possible implementation, after the first UCA stores the information of the destination communication object, if it receives a second information message from the source communication object, the second information message includes the identification of the destination communication object; then based on the identification of the destination communication object in the second information message, the identification of the second UCA can be determined; and then according to the identification of the second UCA, the second information message is sent to the second UCA. After the second UCA stores the information of the source communication object, the second UCA receives a second information message from the first UCA; based on the stored information of the source communication object, the second information message is sent to the destination communication object.

[0747] The following describes various ways to cancel the mutual trust relationship.

[0748] The mutual trust relationship can be canceled based on the user's request, which is usually applicable to the scenario where the type of the mutual trust relationship is fixed, of course, it is not excluded that the type of the mutual trust relationship is temporary. When the type of the mutual trust relationship is temporary, timing starts when the mutual trust relationship is established, and it can be automatically canceled after a predetermined time period.

[0749] Method one: deleted by ICMF.

[0750] Step 1, the user sends a message to the ICMF through the user terminal, and the ICMF receives the message, which is used to request to cancel the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, and the message includes the digital identity of the first communication object CO1_DID and the digital identity of the second communication object CO2_DID. Further optionally, the message includes the identity of the user.

[0751] Step 2, the ICMF determines the first UCA connected by the first communication object based on CO1_DID, and determines the second UCA connected by the second communication object based on CO2_DID.

[0752] For example, the ICMF sends a message to the UDM to query the UCA, which includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID. The UDM queries the global communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4, queries the identity UCA1_ID of the first UCA based on CO1_DID, and queries the identity UCA2_ID of the second UCA based on CO2_DID. The UDM can also query the global UCA information table and the global IIF information table, query the interface (for example, interface 7 for interaction between ICMF and UCA) identifier and IP address of the IIF where the first UCA is located based on UCA1_ID, and query the interface (for example, interface 7 for interaction between ICMF and UCA) identifier and IP address of the IIF where the second UCA is located based on UCA2_ID. The UDM sends the relevant information of the first UCA and the relevant information of the second UCA to the ICMF, including but not limited to: the identity of the first UCA, the interface (for example, interface 7 for interaction between ICMF and UCA) identifier and IP address of the IIF where the first UCA is located, the identity of the second UCA, the interface (for example, interface 7 for interaction between ICMF and UCA) identifier and IP address of the IIF where the second UCA is located.

[0753] Step 3, the ICMF sends a message to cancel the mutual trust relationship to the first UCA, which includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID, and optionally, the message also includes the identity of the first UCA and / or the identity of the second UCA. For example, the ICMF sends the message to the first UCA based on the interface (for example, interface 7 for interaction between ICMF and UCA) identifier and IP address of the IIF where the first UCA is located.

[0754] The ICMF sends a message to cancel the mutual trust relationship to the second UCA, which includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID, and optionally, the message also includes the identity of the first UCA and / or the identity of the second UCA. The ICMF sends the message based on the interface (for example, interface 7 for interaction between ICMF and UCA) identifier and IP address of the IIF where the second UCA is located.

[0755] Optionally, before sending a message to terminate the mutual trust relationship to the first UCA and the second UCA, the ICMF can determine whether the first communication object belongs to the user, or whether the second communication object belongs to the user. If one of the communication objects belongs to the user, a message to terminate the mutual trust relationship can be sent to both the first and second UCAs; if neither communication object belongs to the user, a message to terminate the mutual trust relationship can be left unsent to both the first and second UCAs. For example, the ICMF sends a user query message to the UDM, which includes CO1_DID and CO2_DID. The UDM queries the global communication object information table shown in Figure 4, finding the identifier UCA1_ID of the first UCA based on CO1_DID and the identifier UCA2_ID of the second UCA based on CO2_DID. The UDM then queries the global UCA information table, finding the identity of the user to whom the first UCA belongs based on UCA1_ID and the identity of the user to whom the second UCA belongs based on UCA2_ID. The UDM sends the user's identity identifier to the ICMF for the first UCA and the second UCA. The ICMF can determine whether the user's identity identifier in the message from the user terminal is the same as the user's identity identifier for the first UCA or the second UCA. If so, it determines that the first communication pair or the second communication pair belongs to the user. If neither is the case, it determines that neither the first communication pair nor the second communication pair belongs to the user.

[0756] Step 4a: Based on CO1_DID and CO2_DID, the first UCA determines that the first communication object is connected to the first UCA and the second communication object is connected to the second UCA, and deletes the relevant information of the second communication object.

[0757] For example, the first UCA queries the UCA communication object information table shown in Figure 4 based on CO1_DID and finds that the identifier of the UCA associated with CO1_DID is UCA1_ID. The first UCA then queries the same table based on CO2_DID and finds that the identifier of the UCA associated with CO2_DID is UCA2_ID. Since the first communication object is a communication object accessing the first UCA, the first UCA can delete the information associated with CO2_DID from the UCA communication object information table and also delete related information from the information cache table.

[0758] Similarly, in step 4b, the second UCA determines, based on CO1_DID and CO2_DID, that the first communication object is connected to the first UCA and the second communication object is connected to the second UCA, and deletes the relevant information of the first communication object.

[0759] For example, the second UCA queries the UCA communication object information table shown in FIG. 4 based on the CO1_DID and finds that the identifier of the UCA associated with the CO1_DID is UCA1_ID. The second UCA queries the UCA communication object information table shown in FIG. 4 based on the CO2_DID and finds that the identifier of the UCA associated with the CO2_DID is UCA2_ID. The second communication object is the communication object accessing the second UCA, and thus the second UCA can delete the information associated with the CO1_DID in the UCA communication object information table and also delete the related information in the information cache table.

[0760] Further optionally, in step 5a, the first UCA sends a message about the mutual trust relationship being cancelled to the ICMF, and the message includes the CO1_DID and the CO2_DID. In step 5b, the second UCA sends a message about the mutual trust relationship being cancelled to the ICMF, and the message includes the CO1_DID and the CO2_DID.

[0761] Further optionally, in step 6, the ICMF sends a message about the mutual trust relationship being cancelled to the user terminal, and the message includes the CO1_DID and the CO2_DID. Further optionally, the message also includes the identity of the user.

[0762] Method two: the user deletes through the UCA.

[0763] In step 1, the first user sends a message to the first UCA through the user terminal, and the first UCA receives the message. The message is used to request the mutual trust relationship to be cancelled, and the message includes the digital identity of the first communication object CO1_DID and the digital identity of the second communication object CO2_DID. Further optionally, the message also includes the identity of the first user.

[0764] In step 2, the first UCA determines that the first communication object accesses the first UCA and the second communication object accesses the second UCA based on the CO1_DID and the CO2_DID, and deletes the related information of the second communication object.

[0765] For example, the first UCA queries the UCA communication object information table shown in FIG. 4 based on the CO1_DID and finds that the identifier of the UCA associated with the CO1_DID is UCA1_ID. The first UCA queries the UCA communication object information table shown in FIG. 4 based on the CO2_DID and finds that the identifier of the UCA associated with the CO2_DID is UCA2_ID. The first communication object is the communication object accessing the first UCA, and thus the first UCA can delete the information associated with the CO2_DID in the UCA communication object information table and also delete the related information in the information cache table.

[0766] Further optionally, the first UCA sends a message to the user terminal for releasing the mutual trust relationship, the message including the CO1_DID and the CO2_DID, and further optionally, the identity of the first user.

[0767] Option 3: Temporary mutual trust relationship is deleted by a timer / timer trigger.

[0768] The mutual trust relationship is temporary, and when the mutual trust relationship is established, i.e., when the first UCA saves the information of the second communication object, a timer / timer is started. When the timer reaches a preset time length or the timer expires, the first UCA releases the mutual trust relationship, i.e., deletes the saved information of the second communication object. The first UCA can delete the information associated with the CO2_DID in the UCA communication object information table shown in FIG. 4, and can also delete the related information in the information cache table.

[0769] When a communication object cannot be used due to a fault or other reasons, the communication object can be deleted. The following describes an example in which the first user requests to delete the first communication object.

[0770] In one possible implementation, the first UCA receives a message for requesting to delete the information of the first communication object or a message for requesting to disconnect the first communication object from the first UCA; and the first UCA deletes the saved information of the first communication object. For example, the first UCA deletes the saved information of the first communication object in the third table.

[0771] In one possible implementation, the first UCA sends a message for requesting to delete the information of the first communication object to a third UCA; and / or, sends a message for requesting to delete the information of the first communication object saved in the third UCA to a control plane network element; wherein one or more communication objects connected with the third UCA have established a mutual trust relationship with the first communication object.

[0772] In one possible implementation, after sending a message for requesting to establish a mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object to the first user communication agent UCA and the second UCA, the ICMF sends a message for requesting to release the mutual trust relationship to the first UCA and / or the second UCA based on a request of the first user or the second user. In this implementation, the mutual trust relationship is released based on a request of a user, and user communication control is realized.

[0773] In a possible implementation, the ICMF includes the information of the second communication object but not the information of the first communication object in the message sent to the first UCA, and includes the information of the first communication object but not the information of the second communication object in the message sent to the second UCA. In this way, signaling overhead can be saved.

[0774] The first user can initiate the procedure of deleting the first communication object through the first UCA (the first UCA belongs to the first user), or initiate the procedure of deleting the first UCA through the ICMF.

[0775] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a possible procedure of deleting a communication object. In this example, the first user initiates the procedure of deleting the first communication object through the first UCA (the first UCA belongs to the first user).

[0776] Step 1101: The first UE sends a message to the first UCA, and the first UCA receives the message accordingly.

[0777] The message is used to request to delete the first communication object, and the message includes the digital identity CO1_DID of the first communication object. Optionally, the message also includes the identity U_ID of the first user.

[0778] The first user can operate on the first UE, and the first UE receives an indication of the first user to delete the first communication object, and then triggers the first UE to send the message to the first UCA.

[0779] Optionally, step 1102: The first UCA verifies the digital identity of the first communication object.

[0780] For example, the first UCA interacts with the IDM through the ICMF to verify the digital identity of the first communication object.

[0781] For example, the first UCA sends a message to the ICMF, the message is used to indicate to verify the digital identity of the first communication object, and the message includes the digital identity CO1_DID of the first communication object. Further optionally, the message also includes the identity U_ID of the first user. Alternatively, the ICMF can obtain the identity U_ID of the first user through other network elements such as the UDM.

[0782] The ICMF sends the digital identity CO1_DID of the first communication object and the identity U_ID of the first user to the IDM. The IDM determines whether there is an association between the CO1_DID and the identity U_ID of the first user. If yes, it is determined that the verification is passed, otherwise, it is determined that the verification is not passed.

[0783] Optionally, step 1103: if the digital identity of the first communication object is not verified, the first UCA sends a message of rejection of deletion to the first UE, and the first UE receives the message of rejection of deletion. Further optionally, the message can further include the reason of rejection of deletion. After obtaining the message, the first UE can prompt the first user to know the reason of rejection of deletion.

[0784] After step 1101 or step 1102, step 1104 is performed: the first UCA deletes the information of the first communication object.

[0785] For example, the first UCA queries the UCA communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4, deletes the information of the first communication object saved in the UCA communication object information table, and can also delete the information of the first communication object saved in the information cache table.

[0786] After step 1101 or step 1102, step 1105 is performed: the first UCA sends a message of deletion of the information of the first communication object to the UDM, and the message includes the digital identity CO1_DID of the first communication object.

[0787] For example, the first UCA sends the message of deletion of the information of the first communication object to the ICMF, and the ICMF sends the message of deletion of the information of the first communication object to the UDM, and the message includes the digital identity CO1_DID of the first communication object.

[0788] Step 1106: the UDM deletes the information of the first communication object.

[0789] For example, the UDM deletes the association information of the first communication object saved in the global communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4.

[0790] Optionally, step 1107: the UDM sends a message of deletion of the information of the first communication object to the first UCA, and the message includes CO1_DID.

[0791] For example, the UDM sends the message of deletion of the information of the first communication object to the ICMF, and the ICMF sends the message of deletion of the information of the first communication object to the first UCA, and the message includes CO1_DID.

[0792] After step 1101 or step 1102, step 1108 is performed: the first UCA determines a second UCA (a UCA to which a communication object establishing a mutual trust relationship with the first communication object belongs) saving the information of the first communication object.

[0793] For example, the first UCA queries the UCA communication object information table to determine the identities of the other UCA(s) in the table except the first UCA.

[0794] The first UCA informs the second UCA to delete the information of the first communication object. One way is that the first UCA informs the second UCA to delete the information of the first communication object through the ICMF; another way is that the first UCA directly informs the second UCA to delete the information of the first communication object.

[0795] The process that the first UCA informs the second UCA to delete the information of the first communication object through the ICMF is introduced as follows.

[0796] Step 1109a: The first UCA sends a message to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the message accordingly.

[0797] The message is used to request to delete the information of the first communication object saved in the other UCA, and the message includes the first communication object digital identity CO1_DID and the identifier of the second UCA.

[0798] Step 1110a: The ICMF sends a message to the second UCA, and the second UCA receives the message accordingly.

[0799] The message is used to request to delete the information associated with the first communication object, and the message includes the first communication object digital identity CO1_DID and further optionally includes the identifier of the second UCA.

[0800] Optionally, the ICMF queries the UDM for the information of the IIF-B where the second UCA is located, such as the identifier of the IIF-B and the identifier and IP address of the interface 7 of the IIF-B. For example, the UDM searches for the identifier of the IIF-B where the second UCA is located in the global UCA information table based on the identifier of the second UCA, and the UDM searches for the identifier and IP address of the interface 7 of the IIF-B in the global IIF information table based on the identifier of the IIF-B. The ICMF sends the message to the interface 7 of the IIF-B based on the IP address of the interface 7, and the message is sent to the second UCA through the interface 7 of the IIF-B.

[0801] Step 1111a: The second UCA deletes the information of the first communication object.

[0802] For example, the second UCA queries the UCA communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4, deletes the information of the first communication object saved in the UCA communication object information table, and can also delete the information of the first communication object saved in the information cache table.

[0803] Step 1112a: The second UCA sends a message to the ICMF, and the ICMF receives the message accordingly.

[0804] The message is used to indicate that the information of the first communication object has been deleted, and the message can include the first communication object digital identity CO1_DID.

[0805] Optionally, step 1113a: the second UCA sends a message to the second UE, and correspondingly, the second UE receives the message.

[0806] The message is used to indicate that the information of the first communication object has been deleted, and the first communication object digital identity CO1_DID can be included in the message.

[0807] After obtaining the message, the second UE can prompt the second user that the first communication object has been deleted.

[0808] The sequence of step 1112a and step 1113a is not limited.

[0809] After step 1112a, step 1114a: the ICMF sends a message to the first UCA, and correspondingly, the first UCA receives the message.

[0810] The message is used to indicate that the information of the first communication object has been deleted, and the first communication object digital identity CO1_DID can be included in the message.

[0811] Step 1115a: the first UCA or the ICMF sends a message to the first UE, and correspondingly, the first UE receives the message.

[0812] The message is used to indicate that the information of the first communication object has been deleted, and the first communication object digital identity CO1_DID is included in the message.

[0813] After obtaining the message, the first UE can prompt the first user that the first communication object has been deleted.

[0814] The following introduces a process in which the first UCA directly notifies the second UCA to delete the information associated with the first communication object.

[0815] Step 1109b: the first UCA sends a message to the second UCA, and correspondingly, the second UCA receives the message.

[0816] The message is used to request to delete the information of the first communication object, and the first communication object digital identity CO1_DID is included in the message, and further optionally, the identifier of the second UCA is also included.

[0817] The first UCA can acquire the information of the IIF-B where the second UCA is located through the ICMF. For example, the first UCA sends the identity of the second UCA to the ICMF, for acquiring the information of the IIF-B where the second UCA is located. The ICMF queries the UDM for the information of the IIF-B where the second UCA is located, such as the identity of the IIF-B and the identity and IP address of the interface 6 of the IIF. For example, the UDM can search for the identity of the IIF-B where the second UCA is located in the global UCA information table based on the identity of the second UCA, and search for the identity and IP address of the interface 6 of the IIF in the global IIF information table based on the identity of the IIF-B. The ICMF sends the information of the IIF-B where the second UCA is located to the first UCA. The first UCA sends the message to the interface 6 of the IIF-B based on the IP address of the interface 6, and the message is sent to the second UCA through the interface 6 of the IIF-B.

[0818] Step 1110b: The second UCA deletes the information of the first communication object.

[0819] For example, the second UCA queries the UCA communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4, and deletes the information of the first communication object saved in the UCA communication object information table, and can also delete the information of the first communication object saved in the information cache table.

[0820] Step 1111b: The second UCA sends a message to the first UCA, and correspondingly, the first UCA receives the message.

[0821] The message is used for indicating that the information of the first communication object has been deleted, and the first communication object digital identity CO1_DID can be included in the message.

[0822] Optionally, step 1112b: The second UCA sends a message to the second UE, and correspondingly, the second UE receives the message.

[0823] The message is used for indicating that the information of the first communication object has been deleted, and the first communication object digital identity CO1_DID can be included in the message.

[0824] After acquiring the message, the second UE can prompt the second user to know that the first communication object has been deleted.

[0825] The sequence of step 1112b and step 1111b is not limited.

[0826] Step 1113b: The first UCA sends a message to the first UE, and correspondingly, the first UE receives the message.

[0827] The message is used for indicating that the information of the first communication object has been deleted, and the first communication object digital identity CO1_DID is included in the message.

[0828] After the first UE acquires the message, the first user can be prompted to know that the first communication object has been deleted.

[0829] FIG. 16 is a possible flowchart for deleting a communication object. In this example, the first user initiates a flow of deleting the first communication object through the ICMF.

[0830] Step 1201: The first UE sends a message to the ICMF, and the first UCA receives the message accordingly.

[0831] The message is used to request to delete the first communication object, and the message includes the digital identity CO1_DID of the first communication object. Optionally, the message also includes the identity U_ID of the first user.

[0832] The first user can operate on the first UE to delete the first communication object. The first UE receives the indication of the first user, and then triggers the first UE to send the message to the ICMF.

[0833] Optionally, step 1202: The ICMF interacts with the IDM to perform digital identity verification on the first communication object.

[0834] The ICMF sends the digital identity CO1_DID of the first communication object and the identity U_ID of the first user to the IDM. The IDM determines whether there is an association between CO1_DID and the identity U_ID of the first user. If yes, it is determined that the verification is passed, otherwise the verification is not passed.

[0835] Optionally, step 1203: If the digital identity of the first communication object is not verified, the ICMF sends a message rejecting deletion to the first UE, and the first UE receives the message rejecting deletion accordingly. Further optionally, the message can also include the reason for rejecting deletion.

[0836] After the first UE acquires the message, the first user can be prompted to know the reason for rejecting the deletion of the first communication object.

[0837] Step 1204: The ICMF determines the first UCA to which the first communication object belongs.

[0838] For example, the ICMF sends CO1_DID to the UDM, and the UDM queries the global communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4 based on CO1_DID to query the identity of the first UCA.

[0839] Step 1205: The ICMF sends a message to the first UCA, and the first UCA receives the message accordingly.

[0840] The request message contains the digital identity CO1_DID of the first communication object, and optionally, the identity of the first UCA.

[0841] Step 1206: The first UCA deletes the information of the first communication object.

[0842] For example, the first UCA queries the UCA communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4, deletes the information of the first communication object saved in the UCA communication object information table, and can also delete the information of the first communication object saved in the information cache table.

[0843] Optionally, the first UCA sends a message to the ICMF, for informing that the information of the first communication object has been deleted.

[0844] After step 1201 or step 1202, step 1207 is performed: the ICMF sends a message to the UDM for deleting the information of the first communication object, and the message contains the digital identity CO1_DID of the first communication object.

[0845] Step 1208: The UDM deletes the information of the first communication object.

[0846] For example, the UDM deletes the association information of the first communication object saved in the global communication object information table as shown in FIG. 4.

[0847] Optionally, the UDM sends a message to the ICMF for informing that the information of the first communication object has been deleted, and the message contains CO1_DID.

[0848] For example, the UDM sends a message to the ICMF for informing that the information of the first communication object has been dele...

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: Applied to a first user communication agent (UCA), comprising: establishing a mutual trust relationship between a first communication object and a second communication object based on a request of the first user or the second user; the first UCA provides services for communication objects of the first user, and the communication objects of the first user include the first communication object; the second UCA provides services for communication objects of the second user, and the communication objects of the second user include the second communication object; receiving a first information message from the first communication object, and sending the first information message to the second UCA based on the mutual trust relationship; wherein the destination communication object of the first information message is the second communication object; or receiving a second information message from the second UCA, and sending the second information message to the first communication object based on the mutual trust relationship; wherein the destination communication object of the second information message is the first communication object.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between a first communication object and a second communication object based on a request of the first user, comprising: receiving a first request from the first user, the first request being used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship; sending a first message to the second UCA according to the first request, the first message being used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship; receiving a first response from the second UCA; in a case where the first response indicates that the second UCA agrees to establish the mutual trust relationship, establishing the mutual trust relationship.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, Further comprising: sending information of a type of the mutual trust relationship to the second UCA; wherein the type is temporary or fixed.

4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein, The first request includes an identifier of the second communication object; Before the first message is sent to the second UCA, further comprising: in response to the first request, sending the identifier of the second communication object to a data management network element; receiving an identifier of the second UCA from the data management network element; wherein the data management network element is used to manage a second table, and the second table includes an association relationship between an identifier of a communication object and an identifier of a UCA serving the communication object.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between a first communication object and a second communication object based on a request of the second user, comprising: receiving a second message from the second UCA, the second message being used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship; the sending of the second message is based on a request of the second user received by the second UCA; establishing the mutual trust relationship according to the second message, and sending a second response to the second UCA, the second response being used to indicate an agreement to establish the mutual trust relationship.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The first UCA establishes the mutual trust relationship, comprising: in a case where identity authentication of the second communication object is passed, establishing the mutual trust relationship; wherein the identity authentication of the second communication object passing includes that an identifier of the second communication object is associated with an identity identifier of the second user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first UCA establishes a mutual trust relationship between a first communication object and a second communication object based on a request of the first user or the second user, comprising: receiving a third message from the control plane network element, the third message being used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship, wherein the sending of the third message is based on a request received by the control plane network element from the first user or the second user; establishing the mutual trust relationship according to the third message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, the second communication object is included in the third message, and the first communication object is not included in the third message.

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein, Further comprising: receiving information of a type of the mutual trust relationship, wherein the type is temporary or fixed.

10. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein, establishing the mutual trust relationship according to the second message or the third message, comprising: sending a fourth message to the first user according to the second message or the third message, the fourth message being used to request to establish the mutual trust relationship; receiving a fourth response from the first user; in a case that the fourth response is used to indicate to agree to establish the mutual trust relationship, establishing the mutual trust relationship.

11. The method of any one of claims 1-10, wherein, the establishing of the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, comprising: saving information of the second communication object.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, the saving of the information of the second communication object, comprising: saving the information of the second communication object in a first table, the first table including information of a communication object having the mutual trust relationship with a communication object connected to the first UCA.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein, the information of the second communication object includes an association relationship between an identifier of the second communication object and an identifier of the second UCA.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, the first information message includes the identifier of the second communication object; the sending of the first information message to the second UCA based on the mutual trust relationship, comprising: determining the identifier of the second UCA based on the identifier of the second communication object in the first information message and the association relationship; sending the first information message to the second UCA according to the identifier of the second UCA.

15. The method of any one of claims 1-14, wherein, after the establishing of the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, further comprising: based on a request of the first user or the second user, releasing the mutual trust relationship.

16. The method of any one of claims 1-14, wherein, when the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is established, further comprising: starting a timer; the method further comprising: in a case that the timer is timed out, releasing the mutual trust relationship.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, the starting of the timer, comprising: in a case that the type of the mutual trust relationship is temporary, starting the timer.

18. The method of any one of claims 15-17, wherein, the releasing of the mutual trust relationship, comprising: deleting the saved information of the second communication object.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, the deleting of the saved information of the second communication object, comprising: deleting the saved information of the second communication object in a first table, the first table including information of a communication object having the mutual trust relationship with a communication object connected to the first UCA.

20. The method of any one of claims 15-19, wherein, after the releasing of the mutual trust relationship, further comprising: sending a fifth message to the second UCA, the fifth message being used to request to release the mutual trust relationship.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, the first communication object is included in the fifth message, and the second communication object is not included in the fifth message.

22. The method of any one of claims 1-21, wherein, the establishing of the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object, comprising: in a case that the first communication object has connected to the first UCA, establishing the mutual trust relationship.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein, The first communication object has connected the first UCA, comprising: Information of the first communication object has been saved.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein, The information of the first communication object has been saved, comprising: Information of the first communication object has been saved in a third table, the third table comprising information of communication objects connected to the first UCA.

25. The method of claim 23 or 24, wherein, Further comprising: Receiving a message for requesting deletion of information of the first communication object or a message for requesting disconnection of the first communication object from the first UCA; Deleting the saved information of the first communication object.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, Further comprising: Sending a message for requesting deletion of information of the first communication object to a third UCA; And / or, Sending a message for requesting deletion of information of the first communication object saved in the third UCA to a control plane network element; Wherein, one or more communication objects connected to the third UCA with the first communication object have established a mutual trust relationship.

27. The method of any one of claims 1-26, wherein, The first application service is used for proxying the first communication object, and the receiving of the first information message from the first communication object comprises: Receiving the first information message from the first application service; or The sending of the second information message to the first communication object comprises: Sending the second information message to the first application service.

28. A method of communication, comprising: Applied to a control plane function, comprising: Based on a request of a first user or a second user, sending a message for requesting establishment of a mutual trust relationship between a first communication object and a second communication object to a first user communication agent (UCA) and a second UCA; Wherein, the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object is used for the first UCA and the second UCA to transmit a first information message; one of a source communication object of the first information message and a destination communication object of the first information message is the first communication object, and the other is the second communication object; the first UCA provides service for communication objects of the first user, and the communication objects of the first user comprise the first communication object; the second UCA provides service for communication objects of the second user, and the communication objects of the second user comprise the second communication object.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein, Further comprising: Sending information of a type of the mutual trust relationship to the first UCA and the second UCA; wherein, the type is temporary or fixed.

30. The method of claim 28 or 29, wherein, The message for requesting establishment of the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object sent to the first UCA comprises information of the second communication object and does not comprise information of the first communication object; The message for requesting establishment of the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object sent to the second UCA comprises information of the first communication object and does not comprise information of the second communication object.

31. The method of any one of claims 28-30, wherein, The sending of the message for requesting establishment of the mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object to the first UCA and the second UCA comprises: in case that the identity authentication of the first communication object is passed, sending the message for requesting to establish mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object to the first UCA, wherein the identity authentication of the first communication object being passed comprises that the identity of the first communication object is associated with the identity of the first user; in case that the identity authentication of the second communication object is passed, sending the message for requesting to establish mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object to the second UCA, wherein the identity authentication of the second communication object being passed comprises that the identity of the second communication object is associated with the identity of the second user.

32. The method of any one of claims 28-31, wherein, after sending the message for requesting to establish mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object to the first user communication agent UCA and the second UCA, further comprising: based on the request of the first user or the second user, sending the message for requesting to cancel the mutual trust relationship to the first UCA and / or the second UCA.

33. The method of any one of claims 28-32, wherein, before sending the message for requesting to establish mutual trust relationship between the first communication object and the second communication object to the first user communication agent UCA and the second UCA, further comprising: receiving the message for requesting to connect UCA from the first communication object; sending the information of the first communication object to the first UCA, wherein the information of the first communication object is used to establish the connection between the first UCA and the first communication object; sending the information of the first UCA to the first communication object, wherein the information of the first UCA is used to establish the connection between the first communication object and the first UCA.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein, after receiving the message for requesting to connect UCA from the first communication object, before sending the information of the first communication object to the first UCA, further comprising: determining the identity of the first user to which the first communication object belongs, and determining the first UCA based on the identity of the first user.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein, the determining the first UCA based on the identity of the first user comprises: sending the identity of the first user to a data management network element; receiving the identity of the first UCA from the data management network element, wherein the data management network element is used to manage a fourth table, and the fourth table comprises the association relationship between the identity of a user and the identity of the UCA serving the communication object of the user.

36. The method of claim 34 or 35, wherein, after determining the first UCA, further comprising: sending the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA to a data management network element, wherein the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA are used to add the association relationship between the information of the first communication object and the information of the first UCA in a second table, and the data management network element is used to manage the second table, and the second table comprises the association relationship between the identity of a communication object and the identity of the UCA serving the communication object.

37. The method of any one of claims 33-36, wherein, after receiving the message for requesting to connect UCA from the first communication object, further comprising: allocate address information for the first communication object; the source address information of the first information message is the address information when the source communication object of the first information message is the first communication object; the destination address information of the first information message is the address information when the destination communication object of the first information message is the first communication object.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein, After the address information is allocated for the first communication object, further comprising: establish a first session between the first communication object and the first UCA, and the first information message is transmitted on the first session.

39. The method of any one of claims 33-38, wherein, After the message for requesting to connect the UCA is received from the first communication object, further comprising: send a sixth message to a first network element where the first UCA is located, the sixth message being used for requesting to install a first application service for proxying the first communication object; the first application service being used for transmitting the first information message between the first communication object and the first UCA.

40. The method of any one of claims 28-39, wherein, Further comprising: receive a seventh message from a data management network element, the seventh message being used for requesting to create a UCA for the first user, the eighth message including an identity of the first user; in response to the seventh message, send an eighth message to a first network element, the eighth message being used for requesting to create a UCA for the first user, the eighth message including an identity of the first user; receive an eighth response from the first network element, the eighth response including the identity of the first user and information of the first UCA; in response to the eighth response, send a ninth response to the data management network element, the ninth response including the identity of the first user and the information of the first UCA.

41. A method of communication, comprising: applied to a first user communication agent (UCA), comprising: receive a first information message from a source communication object; wherein the first UCA provides services for communication objects of a first user, the communication objects of the first user including the source communication object, and the source communication object and a destination communication object of the first information message do not establish a mutual trust relationship; if the first user allows the source communication object to transmit information messages to the destination communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, send the first information message to a second UCA, the second UCA providing services for communication objects of a second user, the communication objects of the second user including the destination communication object.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein, the source communication object and the destination communication object do not establish a mutual trust relationship, comprising: information of a saved communication object does not include information of the destination communication object.

43. The method of claim 41 or 42, wherein, the first user allows the source communication object to transmit information messages to the destination communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, comprising: subscription information of the first UCA includes: allowing communication objects accessing the first UCA to transmit information messages to communication objects that do not establish a mutual trust relationship.

44. The method of any one of claims 41-43, wherein, the first information message includes an identity of the destination communication object; before sending the first information message to the second UCA, comprising: determine the second UCA based on the identity of the destination communication object in the first information message.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein, The determining the second UCA based on the identity of the destination communication object in the first information message comprises: sending the identity of the destination communication object to a data management network element; receiving the identity of the second UCA from the data management network element; wherein the data management network element is configured to manage a fifth table, and the fifth table comprises an association between the identity of a communication object and the identity of a UCA serving the communication object.

46. The method of any one of claims 41-45, wherein, The sending the first information message to the second UCA comprises: sending the first information message to the second UCA if the authentication of the destination communication object is passed; wherein the identity of the destination communication object is associated with the identity of the second user.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein, The sending the first information message to the second UCA if the authentication of the destination communication object is passed comprises: sending a message to an identity management network element for authenticating the identity of the destination communication object; receiving a result of the authentication from the identity management network element; sending the first information message to the second UCA if the result indicates that the authentication of the destination communication object is passed.

48. The method of any one of claims 41-47, wherein, After the sending the first information message to the second UCA, the method further comprises: obtaining information of the destination communication object, and saving the information of the destination communication object.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein, The saving the information of the destination communication object comprises: saving the information of the destination communication object in a sixth table, and the sixth table comprises information of a communication object allowed to transmit information messages in connection with the first UCA.

50. The method of claim 48 or 49, wherein, The information of the destination communication object comprises an association between the identity of the destination communication object and the identity of the second UCA.

51. The method of any one of claims 48-50, wherein, After the saving the information of the destination communication object, the method further comprises: if a second information message is received from the source communication object, the second information message comprising the identity of the destination communication object; then determining the identity of the second UCA based on the identity of the destination communication object in the second information message and the association; sending the second information message to the second UCA according to the identity of the second UCA.

52. The method of any one of claims 48-51, wherein, The method further comprises: starting a timer when the information of the destination communication object is saved, deleting the saved information of the destination communication object if a preset time length is reached.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein, The starting the timer comprises: starting a timer. The reaching the preset time length comprises: the timer expires.

54. A method of communication, comprising: The application is applied to a second user communication agent (UCA), and comprises: receiving a first information message from a first UCA; the first UCA is configured to serve a communication object of a first user, the communication object of the first user comprises a source communication object of the first information message, the source communication object does not establish a mutual trust relationship with a destination communication object of the first information message, and the second UCA is configured to serve a communication object of a second user, the communication object of the second user comprises the destination communication object. If the second user allows the destination communication object to transmit information messages with the source communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, the first information message is sent to the destination communication object.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein, The source communication object and the destination communication object do not establish a mutual trust relationship, comprising: The saved information of the communication object does not include the information of the source communication object.

56. The method of claim 54 or 55, wherein, The second user allows the destination communication object to transmit information messages with the source communication object without establishing the mutual trust relationship, comprising: The subscription information of the second UCA includes: allowing the communication object accessing the second UCA to transmit information messages with the communication object not establishing a mutual trust relationship.

57. The method of any one of claims 54-56, wherein, The first information message is sent to the destination communication object, comprising: If the identity authentication of the source communication object is passed, the first information message is sent to the destination communication object; wherein the identity authentication of the source communication object is passed, comprising: the identification of the source communication object is associated with the identity identification of the first user.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein, If the identity authentication of the source communication object is passed, the first information message is sent to the destination communication object, comprising: Sending a message to the identity management network element for authenticating the identity of the source communication object; Receiving the result of the authentication from the identity management network element; If the result indicates that the identity authentication of the source communication object is passed, the second UCA sends the first information message to the destination communication object.

59. The method of any one of claims 54-58, wherein, After the first information message is sent to the destination communication object, further comprising: Obtaining the information of the source communication object and saving the information of the source communication object.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein, The information of the source communication object is saved, comprising: Saving the information of the source communication object and the information of the first UCA in a seventh table, wherein the seventh table includes the information of the communication object having a mutual trust relationship with the communication object connected to the second UCA.

61. The method of claim 59 or 60, wherein, The information of the source communication object includes: the association relationship between the identification of the source communication object and the identification of the first UCA.

62. The method of any one of claims 59-61, wherein, After saving the information of the source communication object, further comprising: Receiving a second information message from the first UCA; Based on the saved information of the source communication object, the second information message is sent to the destination communication object.

63. The method of any one of claims 59-62, wherein, Further comprising: When saving the information of the source communication object, starting timing; When reaching a preset time, deleting the saved information of the source communication object.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein, The timing is started, comprising: Starting a timer; The preset time length is reached, comprising: The timer is timed out.

65. A communications device, characterized by A module for performing the method of any one of claims 1-27, or the method of any one of claims 28-40, or the method of any one of claims 41-53, or the method of any one of claims 54-64.

66. A communications device, characterized by A processor and a memory are included; The memory is used to store computer programs or instructions; The memory is used to store computer programs or instructions; The processor is configured to execute some or all of the computer programs or instructions in the memory, which when executed, implement the method of any of claims 1-27, or the method of any of claims 28-40, or the method of any of claims 41-53, or the method of any of claims 54-64.

67. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising: The storage medium stores computer programs or instructions, which when executed by the communication device, implement the method of any of claims 1-27, or the method of any of claims 28-40, or the method of any of claims 41-53, or the method of any of claims 54-64.

68. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product comprises computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method of any of claims 1-27, or the method of any of claims 28-40, or the method of any of claims 41-53, or the method of any of claims 54-64 to be implemented.

69. A communication system, characterized by The communication system comprises a first user communication agent, UCA, which implements the method of any of claims 1-27, and a control plane function network element which implements the method of any of claims 28-40.

70. A communication system, characterized by The communication system comprises a first user communication agent, UCA, which implements the method of any of claims 41-53, and a second UCA which implements the method of any of claims 54-64.

Images