A communication method and device

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and discloses a communication method and device. The method includes: a terminal device receives indication information from a first access network device, the indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device's capability is rolled back to a first protocol version; and according to the indication information, the first capability information is used to communicate with the first access network device; the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information is lower than or equal to the first protocol version. With this method, since the network device can clearly indicate that the terminal device's capability is rolled back to the first protocol version, the terminal device can reduce its capability in a targeted manner, which facilitates the rapid resolution of communication problems caused by incompatibility between the terminal device and the access network device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of wireless communication technology, the addition of more new features and the repair of vulnerabilities, the various versions of wireless communication technology protocols are also gradually upgraded and improved. For example, from the initially released commercial protocol versions (release8, R8) and R9, to the advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) communication technology related protocol versions R10, R11, R12, etc., to the fifth generation (5G) communication technology related protocol versions R15, R16, R17, etc.

[0003] Due to the diversity of protocol versions, for the actually deployed base stations and core network devices, there may be base stations that support different protocol versions at the same time, such as the actually deployed base stations 1 and 2 may support different protocol versions, and there may be core network devices that support different protocol versions, such as the actually deployed core network devices 1 and 2 may support different protocol versions. In this case, the communication between the terminal device and the network device (such as the base station or the core network device) may have problems due to incompatibility between the terminal device and the network device (such as the base station or the core network device). Summary of the invention

[0004] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus, which are convenient for quickly solving communication problems caused by incompatibility between terminal equipment and network equipment.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applicable to a terminal device or a chip in a terminal device. Taking the method being applicable to a terminal device as an example, in the method, the terminal device receives indication information from a first access network device, the indication information being used to indicate that the capability of the terminal device is rolled back to a first protocol version; and based on the indication information, the first capability information is used to communicate with the first access network device; the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information is lower than or equal to the first protocol version.

[0006] By adopting this method, since the network device can clearly instruct the terminal device to roll back its capabilities to the first protocol version, the terminal device can reduce its capabilities in a targeted manner, thereby facilitating the rapid resolution of communication problems caused by incompatibility between the terminal device and the access network device.

[0007] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending first capability information to the first access network device.

[0008] In one possible design, the indication information is carried in an RRC connection establishment reject message or an RRC connection release message.

[0009] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving a fallback reason value from the access network device, the fallback reason value being used to indicate at least one of the following: inability to identify a first message sent by the terminal device; inability to identify one or more information elements in the first message; failure to parse second capability information sent by the terminal device; excessive capability of the terminal device; failure to parse ASN.1 information element; and failure to parse ASN.1 extended information element.

[0010] In one possible design, the backoff reason value and indication information are carried in the same message.

[0011] In one possible design, the method also includes: determining that a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs has changed, the network capability area including at least one access network device, and the at least one access network device has the same capability; and sending an RRC connection establishment request message to the first access network device.

[0012] By adopting this method, when the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs changes, the terminal device may no longer continue to use the first capability information to communicate with the first access network device, but may re-access the first access network device and communicate with the first access network device using the actual capability information, thereby facilitating the terminal device to obtain better services. In addition, after the terminal device uses the actual capability information to communicate with the first access network device, if the first access network device determines that a communication anomaly has occurred, it may again send indication information to the terminal device, instructing the terminal device to fall back to the first protocol version or may also instruct the terminal device to fall back to other possible protocol versions.

[0013] In one possible design, the RRC connection establishment request message includes a cause value, where the cause value is used to indicate a change in a network capability area.

[0014] In one possible design, the RRC connection establishment request message includes an identifier of the network capability area before the change.

[0015] In one possible design, the method further includes: using actual capability information of the terminal device to communicate with the first access network device.

[0016] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending actual capability information of the terminal device to the first access network device.

[0017] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending an RRC connection establishment request message to a second access network device; wherein the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is different from the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs, and the network capability area includes at least one access network device, and the at least one access network device has the same capabilities.

[0018] Using the above method, when the terminal device moves from the coverage of the first access network device to the coverage of the second access network device, the terminal device can determine whether the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is the same as the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs. If different, the RRC connection establishment process can be initiated to the second access network device to facilitate better service.

[0019] In one possible design, the RRC connection establishment request message includes a cause value, where the cause value is used to indicate a change in a network capability area.

[0020] In one possible design, the RRC connection establishment request message includes an identifier of a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs.

[0021] In one possible design, the method also includes: using actual capability information of the terminal device to communicate with the second access network device.

[0022] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending actual capability information of the terminal device to the second access network device.

[0023] In one possible design, the method also includes: using the first capability information to communicate with a second access network device; wherein the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is the same as the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs, and the network capability area includes at least one access network device, and the at least one access network device has the same capabilities.

[0024] Using the above method, when the terminal device moves from the coverage of the first access network device to the coverage of the second access network device, the terminal device can determine whether the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is the same as the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs. If they are the same, the first capability information can be used to communicate with the second access network device, thereby avoiding unnecessary capability fallback operations.

[0025] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending first capability information to the second access network device.

[0026] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving, from the first access network device, an identifier of a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs; and / or receiving, from the second access network device, an identifier of a network capability area to which the second access network device belongs.

[0027] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applicable to a first access network device or a chip in the first access network device. Taking the method being applicable to the first access network device as an example, in the method, the first access network device sends an indication message to a terminal device, and the indication message is used to indicate that the capability of the terminal device is rolled back to a first protocol version; the first capability information of the terminal device is received, and the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information is lower than or equal to the first protocol version.

[0028] In one possible design, the method also includes: determining that an abnormality occurs in communication with the terminal device.

[0029] In one possible design, determining that an abnormality occurs in communication with a terminal device includes at least one of the following: receiving a first message from the terminal device, determining that the first message cannot be recognized or determining that parsing of the first message has failed; receiving second capability information from the terminal device, and determining that parsing of the second capability information has failed.

[0030] In one possible design, the first message includes at least one of the following: an RRC connection establishment request message, an RRC connection establishment recovery request message, and an RRC connection re-establishment request message.

[0031] In one possible design, the indication information is carried in an RRC connection establishment reject message or an RRC connection release message.

[0032] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending a fallback reason value to the terminal device, wherein the fallback reason value is used to indicate at least one of the following: inability to identify a first message sent by the terminal device; inability to identify one or more information elements in the first message; failure to parse second capability information sent by the terminal device; excessive capability of the terminal device; failure to parse ASN.1 information element; and failure to parse ASN.1 extension information element.

[0033] In one possible design, the backoff reason value and indication information are carried in the same message.

[0034] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending an identifier of a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs to a terminal device, the network capability area includes at least one access network device, the at least one access network device has the same capability, and the at least one access network device includes the first access network device.

[0035] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving an identifier of a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs from a core network device, the network capability area including at least one access network device, the at least one access network device having the same capability, and the at least one access network device including the first access network device.

[0036] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a terminal device or a chip in a terminal device. Taking the method applied to a terminal device as an example, in the method, the terminal device uses the first capability information to communicate with the first access network device, and determines that the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is the same as the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs; the network capability area includes at least one access network device, and the at least one access network device has the same capability; and the first capability information is used to communicate with the second access network device.

[0037] In one possible design, the method also includes: determining that a network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is different from a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs, and sending an RRC connection establishment request to the second access network device.

[0038] In one possible design, the method also includes: the RRC connection establishment request message includes a cause value, and the cause value is used to indicate a change in the network capability area.

[0039] In one possible design, the method also includes: using actual capability information of the terminal device to communicate with the second access network device.

[0040] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending actual capability information of the terminal device to the second access network device.

[0041] In one possible design, the method also includes: determining that the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is smaller than the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs; sending second capability information to the second access network device, and the protocol version corresponding to the second capability information is smaller than the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information; or, determining that the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is greater than the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs; sending third capability information to the second access network device, and the protocol version corresponding to the third capability information is greater than the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information.

[0042] It should be noted that the methods described in the above-mentioned second and third aspects correspond to the method described in the first aspect. The beneficial effects of the relevant technical features in the methods described in the second and third aspects can be found in the description of the first aspect, and the details will not be repeated here.

[0043] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applicable to a terminal device or a chip in a terminal device. Taking the method being applicable to a terminal device as an example, in the method, the terminal device receives indication information from a core network device, and the indication information is used to indicate that the capability of the terminal device is rolled back to a first protocol version; according to the indication information, the first capability information is used to communicate with the core network device; the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information is lower than or equal to the first protocol version.

[0044] By adopting this method, after determining the communication anomaly, the core network device can clearly instruct the terminal device to roll back its capabilities to the first protocol version, thereby assisting the terminal device to quickly and efficiently locate the problem, avoiding the terminal device from performing aimless attempts to reduce capabilities, and facilitating the rapid resolution of communication problems caused by incompatibility between the terminal device and the core network device.

[0045] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending first capability information to the core network device, the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information being lower than or equal to the first protocol version.

[0046] In one possible design, the indication information is carried in the registration rejection message.

[0047] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving a fallback reason value from the core network device, the fallback reason value being used to indicate at least one of the following: failure to parse the second capability information sent by the terminal device; too large a capability of the terminal device; failure to parse the ASN.1 cell; failure to parse the ASN.1 extension cell.

[0048] In one possible design, the backoff reason value and indication information are carried in the same message.

[0049] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applicable to a core network device or a chip in a core network device. Taking the method applicable to a core network device as an example, in the method, the core network device sends an indication message to a terminal device, and the indication message is used to indicate that the capability of the terminal device is rolled back to a first protocol version; the first capability information of the terminal device is received, and the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information is lower than or equal to the first protocol version.

[0050] In one possible design, the method also includes: determining that an abnormality occurs in communication with the terminal device.

[0051] In one possible design, determining that an abnormality occurs in communication with a terminal device includes: determining that parsing of second capability information sent by the terminal device fails.

[0052] In one possible design, the indication information is carried in the registration rejection message.

[0053] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending a fallback reason value to the terminal device, wherein the fallback reason value is used to indicate at least one of the following: failure to parse the second capability information sent by the terminal device; too large a capability of the terminal device; failure to parse the ASN.1 cell; failure to parse the ASN.1 extension cell.

[0054] In one possible design, the backoff reason value and indication information are carried in the same message.

[0055] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applicable to a terminal device or a chip in a terminal device. Taking the application of the method to a terminal device as an example, in the method, the terminal device determines that a communication abnormality has occurred and uses fallback capability information to communicate with an access network device.

[0056] By using this method, the fallback protocol version can be pre-defined. After the terminal device determines that the communication is abnormal, it can use the fallback capability information to communicate with the access network device, thereby avoiding the terminal device from performing purposeless attempts to reduce capability and facilitating the rapid resolution of communication problems caused by incompatibility between the terminal device and the network device.

[0057] In one possible design, determining that a communication anomaly has occurred includes at least one of the following: determining that N access failures have occurred, N is greater than or equal to a first threshold; determining that M registration failures have occurred, M is greater than or equal to a second threshold; determining that K system information parsing failures have occurred, K is greater than or equal to a third threshold.

[0058] In one possible design, the method further includes: sending a request message to the access network device, wherein the request message is used to request to use the fallback capability information to communicate with the first access network device.

[0059] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending the fallback capability information to the access network device.

[0060] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applicable to a terminal device or a chip in a terminal device. Taking the method being applicable to a terminal device as an example, in the method, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with an access network device; and sends capability information of the terminal device and fallback capability information of the terminal device to the access network device.

[0061] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applicable to an access network device or a chip in an access network device. Taking the method being applicable to an access network device as an example, in the method, the access network device receives request information from a terminal device, and the request information is used to request the use of fallback capability information to communicate with the access network device; according to the request information, the fallback capability information is obtained.

[0062] In one possible design, obtaining the fallback capability information includes: receiving the fallback capability information from a core network device; or, receiving the fallback capability information from a terminal device.

[0063] Ninthly, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applicable to an access network device or a chip in an access network device. Taking the method being applicable to an access network device as an example, in the method, the access network device establishes an RRC connection with a terminal device, and sends capability information of the terminal device and fallback capability information of the terminal device from the terminal device.

[0064] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending capability information of the terminal device and fallback capability information of the terminal device to the core network device.

[0065] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device or a chip disposed inside a terminal device. The communication device has the function of implementing the first aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, the sixth aspect, or the seventh aspect. For example, the communication device includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the steps involved in the first aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, the sixth aspect, or the seventh aspect. The function or unit or means may be implemented by software, or by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing the corresponding software.

[0066] In a possible design, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, wherein the communication unit can be used to send and receive signals to achieve communication between the communication device and other devices, for example, the communication unit is used to receive configuration information from a terminal device; the processing unit can be used to perform some internal operations of the communication device. The functions performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can correspond to the operations involved in the first aspect above.

[0067] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and may also include a transceiver, the transceiver is used to send and receive signals, and the processor executes program instructions to complete the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect. Among them, the communication device may also include one or more memories, the memory is used to couple with the processor, and the memory can store the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the first aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect. The processor can execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect.

[0068] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor, which can be used to couple with a memory. The memory can store necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the first, third, fourth, sixth, or seventh aspects. The processor can execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the first, third, fourth, sixth, or seventh aspects.

[0069] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and a memory, and the memory can store necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the first aspect. The processor can execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the first, third, fourth, sixth or seventh aspects.

[0070] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect above.

[0071] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be an access network device (such as a first access network device or a second access network device) or a chip disposed inside the access network device. The communication device has the function of implementing the second aspect, the eighth aspect, or the ninth aspect, for example, the communication device includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the operation involved in the second aspect, the eighth aspect, or the ninth aspect, and the module or unit or means may be implemented by software, or by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing the corresponding software.

[0072] In a possible design, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, wherein the communication unit can be used to send and receive signals to achieve communication between the communication device and other devices, for example, the communication unit is used to receive configuration information from a terminal device; the processing unit can be used to perform some internal operations of the communication device. The functions performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can correspond to the operations involved in the second aspect, the eighth aspect, or the ninth aspect.

[0073] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor, which can be used to couple with a memory. The memory can store necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the second aspect, the eighth aspect, or the ninth aspect. The processor can execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect, the eighth aspect, or the ninth aspect.

[0074] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and a memory, and the memory can store necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the second aspect, the eighth aspect, or the ninth aspect. The processor can execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect, the eighth aspect, or the ninth aspect.

[0075] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the method in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect, eighth aspect or ninth aspect above.

[0076] In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a core network device or a chip disposed inside the core network device. The communication device is capable of implementing the functions involved in the fifth aspect, for example, the communication device includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the operations involved in the fifth aspect, and the functions or units or means may be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations.

[0077] In a possible design, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, wherein the communication unit can be used to send and receive signals to achieve communication between the communication device and other devices, for example, the communication unit is used to send system information to a terminal device; the processing unit can be used to perform some internal operations of the communication device. The functions performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can correspond to the operations involved in the fifth aspect above.

[0078] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor, which can be used to couple with a memory. The memory can store necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the fifth aspect. The processor can execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the fifth aspect.

[0079] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and a memory, and the memory can store necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the fifth aspect. The processor can execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the fifth aspect.

[0080] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the method in any possible design or implementation of the fifth aspect above.

[0081] It can be understood that in the above-mentioned tenth aspect, eleventh aspect or twelfth aspect, the processor can be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, which is implemented by reading the software code stored in the memory. In addition, the above processors can be one or more, and the memories can be one or more. The memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory can be separately set from the processor. In the specific implementation process, the memory can be integrated with the processor on the same chip, or can be set on different chips respectively. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of memory and the setting method of the memory and the processor.

[0082] In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, wherein the communication system may include the communication device as described in the tenth aspect and the communication device as described in the eleventh aspect. Optionally, the communication system may also include the communication device as described in the twelfth aspect.

[0083] In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which computer-readable instructions are stored. When a computer reads and executes the computer-readable instructions, the computer executes a method in any possible design of the first to ninth aspects above.

[0084] In a fifteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product. When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer executes the method in any possible design of the first to ninth aspects above.

[0085] In the sixteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory and is used to read and execute a software program stored in the memory to implement a method in any possible design of the first to ninth aspects above.

[0086] These and other aspects of the present application will become more clearly understood in the description of the following embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0087] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] Figure 2a A schematic diagram of a CU-DU separation architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] Figure 2b A schematic diagram of another CU-DU separation architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] Figure 3 A flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 1 of the present application;

[0091] Figure 4 A flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Embodiment 2 of the present application;

[0092] Figure 5 A flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Embodiment 3 of the present application;

[0093] Figure 6 A flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Embodiment 4 of the present application;

[0094] Figure 7 A flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Embodiment 5 of the present application;

[0095] Figure 8 A flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Embodiment 6 of the present application;

[0096] Fig. 9 A flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Embodiment 7 of the present application;

[0097] Fig.10 A possible exemplary block diagram of the device involved in the embodiments of the present application;

[0098] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0099] Fig.12 A schematic diagram of the structure of an access network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0100] Fig.13 A schematic diagram of the structure of a core network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0101] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0102] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the terminal device can access the wireless network to obtain services of the external network (such as a data network (DN)) through the wireless network, or communicate with other devices through the wireless network, such as communicating with other terminal devices. The wireless network includes a radio access network (RAN) and a core network (CN), wherein the RAN can also be called an access network (AN), which is used to access the terminal device to the wireless network, and the CN is used to manage the terminal device and provide a gateway for communicating with the DN.

[0103] The following are Figure 1 The terminal equipment, RAN and CN involved are explained in detail.

[0104] 1. Terminal equipment

[0105] Terminal equipment, also known as user equipment (UE), includes equipment that provides voice and / or data connectivity to users, such as a handheld device with wireless connection function, or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal device can communicate with the core network via a radio access network (RAN) and exchange voice and / or data with the RAN. The terminal device may include a wireless terminal device, a mobile terminal device, a device-to-device communication (D2D) terminal device, a vehicle to everything (V2X) terminal device, a machine-to-machine / machine-type communication (M2M / MTC) terminal device, an Internet of Things (IoT) terminal device, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote station, an access point (AP), a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, or a user equipment, etc. For example, it may include a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone), a computer with a mobile terminal device, a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, or a mobile device with a computer built in, etc. For example, personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDA), and other devices. It also includes limited devices, such as devices with low power consumption, or devices with limited storage capacity, or devices with limited computing power, etc. For example, it includes information sensing devices such as barcodes, radio frequency identification (RFID), sensors, global positioning systems (GPS), laser scanners, etc.

[0106] In the embodiment of the present application, the device for realizing the function of the terminal device can be a terminal device, or a device that can support the terminal device to realize the function, such as a chip system or a combination device or component that can realize the function of the terminal device, and the device can be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the device for realizing the function of the terminal as an example, which is a terminal device.

[0107] 2. RAN

[0108] The RAN may include one or more RAN devices, and the interface between the RAN device and the terminal device may be a Uu interface (or air interface). Of course, in future communications, the names of these interfaces may remain unchanged, or may be replaced by other names, which is not limited in this application.

[0109] RAN equipment is a node or device that connects a terminal device to a wireless network. RAN equipment can also be called access network equipment or base station. Access network equipment includes, but is not limited to: a new generation Node B (gNB), evolved node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home evolved node B (HeNB) or home node B (HNB), baseband unit (BBU), transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), or mobile switching center in a 5G communication system.

[0110] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for realizing the function of the access network device may be the access network device, or may be a device capable of supporting the access network device to realize the function, such as a chip system or a combination device or component capable of realizing the function of the access network device, and the device may be installed in the access network device. In the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application, the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application is described by taking the device for realizing the function of the access network device as the access network device as an example.

[0111] Exemplarily, the communication between the RAN device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure, for example, the control plane protocol layer structure may include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer and a physical layer; the user plane protocol layer structure may include a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer and a physical layer. In a possible implementation, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer may also be included above the PDCP layer.

[0112] In one example, the RAN device may include one or more centralized units (CU) and one or more distributed units (DU), and multiple DUs may be centrally controlled by one CU. As an example, the interface between the CU and the DU may be referred to as the F1 interface, where the control panel (CP) interface may be F1-C and the user panel (UP) interface may be F1-U. The CU and DU may be divided according to the protocol layer of the wireless network: for example Figure 2a As shown, the functions of the PDCP layer and the protocol layers above it are set in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (such as the RLC layer and the MAC layer, etc.) are set in the DU.

[0113] It can be understood that the above-mentioned division of the processing functions of CU and DU according to the protocol layer is only an example, and it can also be divided in other ways, such as the functions of the protocol layers above the PDCP layer are set in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer are set in the DU. For example, the CU or DU can be divided into functions with more protocol layers, and the CU or DU can also be divided into partial processing functions with protocol layers. In one design, some functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are set in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are set in the DU. In another design, the functions of the CU or DU can also be divided according to the service type or other system requirements, for example, according to the delay, the functions that need to meet the delay requirements for processing time are set in the DU, and the functions that do not need to meet the delay requirements are set in the CU. In another design, the CU may also have one or more functions of the core network. Exemplarily, the CU can be set on the network side for centralized management; the DU can have multiple radio frequency functions, or the radio frequency functions can be set remotely. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0114] For example, the functions of a CU may be implemented by one entity, or may be implemented by different entities. Figure 2b As shown, the functions of the CU can be further divided, that is, the control plane and the user plane are separated and implemented through different entities, namely the control plane CU entity (i.e., CU-CP entity) and the user plane CU entity (i.e., CU-UP entity). The CU-CP entity and the CU-UP entity can be coupled with the DU to jointly complete the functions of the RAN device. The interface between the CU-CP entity and the CU-UP entity can be an E1 interface, the interface between the CU-CP entity and the DU can be an F1-C interface, and the interface between the CU-UP entity and the DU can be an F1-U interface. Among them, one DU and one CU-UP can be connected to one CU-CP. Under the control of the same CU-CP, one DU can be connected to multiple CU-UPs, and one CU-UP can be connected to multiple DUs.

[0115] It should be noted that: Figure 2a and Figure 2bIn the illustrated architecture, the signaling generated by the CU can be sent to the terminal device through the DU, or the signaling generated by the terminal device can be sent to the CU through the DU. The DU may not parse the signaling but directly encapsulate it through the protocol layer and transparently transmit it to the terminal device or CU. In the following embodiments, if the transmission of such signaling between the DU and the terminal device is involved, then the sending or receiving of the signaling by the DU includes this scenario. For example, the signaling of the RRC or PDCP layer will eventually be processed into physical layer signaling and sent to the terminal device, or converted from the received physical layer signaling. Under this architecture, the signaling of the RRC or PDCP layer can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by the DU and the radio frequency device.

[0116] 3. CN

[0117] CN may include one or more core network devices or core network elements. Taking the 5G communication system as an example, CN may include access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, session management function (SMF) network element, user plane function (UPF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, unified data management (UDM) network element, application function (AF) network element, etc.

[0118] The AMF network element is a control plane network element provided by the operator network, which is responsible for the access control and mobility management of terminal devices accessing the operator network, such as mobility status management, allocation of user temporary identity, authentication and authorization of users, etc.

[0119] The SMF network element is a control plane network element provided by the operator network, which is responsible for managing the PDU session of the terminal device. The PDU session is a channel for transmitting PDUs. The terminal device needs to transmit PDUs to and from the DN through the PDU session. The SMF network element is responsible for establishing, maintaining, and deleting the PDU session. The SMF network element includes session management (such as session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between UPF and RAN), selection and control of UPF network elements, service and session continuity (SSC) mode selection, roaming, and other session-related functions.

[0120] The UPF network element is a gateway provided by the operator and is the gateway for the operator network to communicate with the DN. The UPF network element includes user-plane related functions such as data packet routing and transmission, packet detection, quality of service (QoS) processing, legal monitoring, uplink packet detection, and downlink packet storage.

[0121] The PCF network element is a control plane function provided by the operator, which is used to provide PDU session policies to the SMF network element. The policies may include charging-related policies, QoS-related policies, and authorization-related policies.

[0122] The UDM network element is a control plane network element provided by the operator, responsible for storing information such as the subscriber permanent identifier (SUPI) and subscription data of subscribers in the operator's network.

[0123] The AF network element is a functional network element that provides various business services. It can interact with the core network through other network elements, and can interact with the policy management framework to perform policy management.

[0124] In addition, although not shown, the CN may also include other possible network elements, such as a network exposure function (NEF) and a network element unified data repository (UDR) network element.

[0125] In the embodiment of the present application, the device for realizing the function of the core network device may be the core network device, or may be a device capable of supporting the core network device to realize the function, such as a chip system or a combination device or component capable of realizing the function of the core network device, and the device may be installed in the core network device. In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the device for realizing the function of the core network device as the core network device as an example.

[0126] It should be noted that the access network equipment and core network equipment in the embodiments of the present application may be collectively referred to as network equipment, that is, the network equipment may include access network equipment and / or core network equipment.

[0127] Figure 1 Among them, Npcf, Nudm, Naf, Namf, Nsmf, N1, N2, N3, N4, and N6 are interface serial numbers. The meanings of these interface serial numbers can be found in the definitions in the relevant standard protocols and are not limited here.

[0128] Understandably, Figure 1The 5G communication system is used as an example for illustration, and the solution in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to other possible communication systems, such as the future sixth generation (the 6th generation, 6G) communication system. The above-mentioned network elements or functions can be network elements in hardware devices, or software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform). Optionally, the above-mentioned network elements or functions can be implemented by one device, or by multiple devices together, or can be a functional module in a device, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0129] In the above Figure 1 In the illustrated network architecture, the communication process between the terminal device and the network device is usually centered on the network device, that is, the network device controls the configuration of most or all parameters. Generally, when a communication problem occurs between the terminal device and the network device, the terminal device manufacturer usually relies on traversing various possible problems to locate and solve the problem, which is time-consuming and inefficient.

[0130] In the handling of actual problems, terminal equipment manufacturers have found that a considerable number of problems are caused by incompatibility between terminal equipment and network equipment. Among them, there may be many situations in which terminal equipment and network equipment are incompatible. For example, one possible situation is that the protocol version supported by the terminal equipment is different from the protocol supported by the access network equipment, and / or the protocol version supported by the terminal equipment is different from the protocol supported by the core network equipment. For example, the terminal device is normally accessed on the LTE access network device side, but after the LTE access network device sends a request message to add an auxiliary base station to the 5G access network device, the 5G access network device returns a rejection message, and the reason value carried in the rejection message is that the air interface resources are unavailable; after analysis, it was found that the protocol version supported by the terminal device is higher than the protocol version supported by the 5G access network device, resulting in the failure of the 5G access network device to parse the capability information of the terminal device, thereby causing the terminal device to fail to access.

[0131] Another possible scenario is that the capability information reported by the terminal device does not match the cache capability information of the access network device, and / or the capability information reported by the terminal device does not match the cache capability information of the core network device. For example, after the terminal device reports the measurement report to the access network device, the access network device does not send a switching command message, resulting in a switching failure; analysis found that the air interface capability information reported by the terminal device to the access network device is 348 bytes in total, and the container of the access network device can store a maximum of 300 bytes of capability information, resulting in the access network device failing to parse the capability information of the terminal device and failing to send a switching command.

[0132] However, when problems such as access failure occur during the communication between the terminal device and the access network device, or when problems such as registration failure occur during the communication between the terminal device and the core network device, even if the access failure or registration failure is caused by incompatibility between the terminal device and the access network device or the core network device, it is usually impossible to predict whether it is caused by incompatibility, resulting in a lot of time spent on reproducing, locating or testing the problem. For example, the terminal device attempts to reduce its capabilities to locate and determine the scope of the problem, but when the terminal device autonomously reduces its capabilities, it does not have any reference information and can usually only make empirical attempts, which makes the problem of incompatibility between the terminal device and the network device very inefficient in solving.

[0133] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which is convenient for quickly solving communication problems caused by incompatibility between terminal devices and network devices. Exemplarily, the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application may include: the network device sends an indication message to the terminal device, the indication message is used to indicate that the capability of the terminal device is rolled back to the first protocol version, and then the terminal device can perform capability rollback according to the indication message. In this way, since the network device can clearly indicate that the capability of the terminal device is rolled back to the first protocol version, the terminal device can reduce the capability in a targeted manner, which is convenient for quickly solving communication problems caused by incompatibility between the terminal device and the network device.

[0134] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below.

[0135] Embodiment 1

[0136] Figure 3 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 1 of the present application, such as Figure 3 As shown, the method may include:

[0137] Step 301: The first access network device determines that an abnormality occurs in the communication with the terminal device.

[0138] Here, the first access network device determines that an abnormality occurs in the communication with the terminal device, which may include multiple possible situations, such as the following situation 1 and / or situation 2.

[0139] Scenario 1: The first access network device receives a first message from the terminal device and determines that the first message cannot be identified or that the parsing of the first message fails. The first message may include at least one of the following: an RRC connection establishment request message, an RRC connection establishment recovery request message, or an RRC connection re-establishment request message.

[0140] Scenario 2: The first access network device receives the second capability information from the terminal device and determines that the second capability information fails to be parsed. That is, before step 301, the terminal device can establish an RRC connection with the first access network device and send the second capability information to the first access network device. The first access network device receives the second capability information. If the parsing fails, it can be determined that the communication with the terminal device is abnormal.

[0141] Step 302: The first access network device sends indication information to the terminal device, where the indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to roll back its capability to the first protocol version; accordingly, the terminal device can receive the indication information from the first access network device.

[0142] Here, there are multiple ways for the first access network device to send indication information to the terminal device. For example, for the above scenario 1, the first access network device can send indication information to the terminal device through an RRC connection establishment rejection message; for another example, for the above scenario 2, the first access network device can send indication information to the terminal device through an RRC connection release message. It can be understood that the first access network device can also send indication information through other possible messages, which are not specifically limited.

[0143] In one example, the indication information may include the first protocol version information, and the protocol version information involved in the embodiment of the present application may include the identifier of the protocol version. Alternatively, the protocol version to be rolled back may be predefined as the first protocol version, in which case the indication information may no longer include the first protocol version information.

[0144] In an embodiment of the present application, the first access network device may also send a fallback reason value to the terminal device, and the fallback reason value is used to indicate at least one of the following: the first message sent by the terminal device cannot be identified; one or more information elements in the first message cannot be identified; the second capability information sent by the terminal device fails to be parsed; the capability of the terminal device is too large; the abstract syntax notation one (ASN.1) information element (IE) or field fails to be parsed; the ASN.1 extension information element or field fails to be parsed; the ASN.1 critical extension information element or field fails to be parsed; the ASN.1 non-critical extension information element or field fails to be parsed. Among them, the fallback reason value and the indication information can be carried in the same message, or, can also be carried in different messages, without specific limitation.

[0145] The protocol version described in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a standard version, such as a release of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard, such as R15, R16, etc., or may be a version of the 3GPP standard, such as v15.1.0, v16.2.0, etc.

[0146] It should be noted that the first access network device can also implicitly instruct the terminal device to roll back its capabilities to the first protocol version. For example, the first access network device can send a rollback reason value to the terminal device (no longer sending indication information), and then after the terminal device receives the rollback reason value, it can determine that the capability needs to be rolled back to the first protocol version.

[0147] Step 303: The terminal device communicates with the first access network device using the first capability information according to the indication information; the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information is lower than or equal to the first protocol version.

[0148] In one example, the terminal device may send the first capability information to the first access network device, and then use the first capability information to communicate with the first access network device. In another example, the terminal device may not send the first capability information to the first access network device. In this case, the first access network device may obtain the first capability information of the terminal device from the core network device (such as the AMF network element), and then the terminal device may use the first capability information to communicate with the first access network device.

[0149] Exemplarily, after the above step 303, other possible steps may be included, which are described below in combination with scenario 1 and scenario 2.

[0150] Scenario 1:

[0151] After the above step 303, the following steps may also be included:

[0152] Step 304a: The terminal device determines that a network capability area (NCA) to which the first access network device belongs has changed.

[0153] Here, the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs may include at least one access network device, the at least one access network device has the same capability (for example, the at least one access network device supports the same protocol version), and the at least one access network device includes the first access network device. In an example, the network capability area may include one or more tracking areas (TA), or may also include one or more RAN areas, where the RAN area is an area for terminal devices in an inactive state.

[0154] Exemplarily, the first access network device may broadcast the network capability area information to which the first access network device belongs through a system message, and then the terminal device may receive the network capability area information to which the first access network device belongs. When the network capability area information to which the first access network device belongs changes, the first access network device may send an updated system message, and the updated system message includes the changed network capability area information, and then after the terminal device receives the updated system message, it may determine that the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs has changed.

[0155] Among them, the network capability area information to which the first access network device belongs can be sent by the core network device to the first access network device, that is, the core network device can manage the network capability area information to which multiple access network devices belong, and send the network capability area information to which each access network device belongs to the corresponding access network device. Alternatively, the network capability area information to which the first access network device belongs can also be determined by negotiation between the first access network device and other access network devices. Alternatively, the network capability area information to which the first access network device belongs can be configured in the first access network device by pre-configuration. This embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0156] The network capability area information may include an identifier of the network capability area (NCA ID), and the identifier of the network capability area may refer to information used to identify the network capability area, such as the number of the network capability area or other possible information, which is not specifically limited. In the embodiment of the present application, any information that can distinguish different network capability areas can be understood as the identifier of the network capability area.

[0157] Step 305a: The terminal device re-accesses the first access network device. For example, the terminal device may send an RRC connection establishment request message to the first access network device.

[0158] Exemplarily, the RRC connection establishment request message may include a cause value, which is used to indicate that the network capability area has changed, so that the first access network device can know that the terminal device has initiated re-access due to the change in the network capability area. Optionally, the RRC connection establishment request message may also include an identifier of the network capability area before the change.

[0159] Step 306a: The terminal device communicates with the first access network device using the actual capability information.

[0160] In one example, the terminal device may send actual capability information of the terminal device to the first access network device; further, after receiving the actual capability information of the terminal device, the first access network device may send the actual capability information of the terminal device to the core network device.

[0161] It can be seen that in the above scenario 1, when the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs changes, the terminal device may no longer continue to use the first capability information to communicate with the first access network device, but may re-access the first access network device and use the actual capability information to communicate with the first access network device, so that the terminal device can obtain better service. In addition, after the terminal device uses the actual capability information to communicate with the first access network device, if the first access network device determines that a communication anomaly has occurred, it may send an indication message to the terminal device again, instructing the terminal device to fall back to the first protocol version or may also instruct the terminal device to fall back to other possible protocol versions.

[0162] Scenario 2:

[0163] Step 304b: The terminal device moves from the coverage area of ​​the first access network device to the coverage area of ​​the second access network device.

[0164] Step 305b, the terminal device determines whether the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is the same as the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs. If they are not the same, execute step 306b; if they are not the same, execute step 308b.

[0165] Here, the second access network device can broadcast the network capability area information of the second access network device through a system message, and then the terminal device can receive the network capability area information of the second access network device. Further, the terminal device can determine whether the network capability area of ​​the second access network device is the same as the network capability area of ​​the first access network device based on the network capability area information of the second access network device and the previously received network capability area information of the first access network device.

[0166] It should be noted that, if the network capability area information to which the first access network device belongs has changed, the network capability area information to which the first access network device belongs here may refer to the latest network capability area information to which the first access network device belongs.

[0167] Step 306b: The terminal device sends an RRC connection establishment request message to the second access network device to establish an RRC connection with the second access network device.

[0168] Exemplarily, the RRC connection establishment request message may include a cause value, where the cause value is used to indicate that a network capability area has changed; optionally, the RRC connection establishment request message may also include an identifier of the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs.

[0169] In one example, after the terminal device determines that the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is different from the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs, it can also determine whether there is a service demand. If there is a service demand, an RRC connection establishment request message can be sent to the second access network device. If there is no service demand, an RRC connection establishment request message may not be sent to the second access network device.

[0170] In other possible examples, the terminal device may first determine whether there is a business demand. If there is a business demand, it determines whether the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is the same as the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs, and then performs corresponding operations based on the judgment result.

[0171] Step 307b: The terminal device communicates with the second access network device using the actual capability information.

[0172] In one example, the terminal device may send the actual capability information of the terminal device to the second access network device; or, the terminal device may not send the actual capability information of the terminal device to the second access network device. In this case, the second access network device may obtain the actual capability information of the terminal device from the core network device.

[0173] Regarding the above step 307b, as a possible alternative solution: the network capabilities corresponding to the network capability areas can be pre-defined, for example, network capability area 1 corresponds to network capability 1 (such as the access network devices in network capability area 1 support protocol versions of R15), and network capability area 2 corresponds to network capability 2 (such as the access network devices in network capability area 2 support protocol versions of R16).

[0174] In this case, if the terminal device determines that the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is smaller than the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs, the terminal device may use the third capability information to communicate with the second access network device; exemplarily, the terminal device may send the third capability information to the second access network device, and the protocol version corresponding to the third capability information is smaller than the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information. Alternatively, if the terminal device determines that the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is larger than the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs, the terminal device may use the fourth capability information to communicate with the second access network device; exemplarily, the terminal device may send the fourth capability information to the second access network device, and the protocol version corresponding to the fourth capability information is larger than the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information.

[0175] For example, if the terminal device determines that the network capability area identifier to which the second access network device belongs is smaller than the network capability area identifier to which the first access network device belongs, it means that the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is smaller than the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs. If the terminal device determines that the network capability area identifier to which the second access network device belongs is larger than the network capability area identifier to which the first access network device belongs, it means that the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is larger than the network capability corresponding to the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs.

[0176] Step 308b: The terminal device communicates with the second access network device using the first capability information.

[0177] Exemplarily, the terminal device may send the first capability information to the second access network device; alternatively, the terminal device may not send the first capability information to the second access network device. In this case, the second access network device may obtain the first capability information from the core network device.

[0178] In one example, after the terminal device determines that the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is the same as the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs, it can also determine whether there is a business demand. If there is a business demand, the first capability information can be used to communicate with the second access network device.

[0179] It can be seen that in the above scenario 2, when the terminal device moves from the coverage of the first access network device to the coverage of the second access network device, the terminal device can determine whether the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is the same as the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs. If they are the same, the first capability information can be used to communicate with the second access network device, thereby avoiding unnecessary capability fallback operations.

[0180] It should be noted that the first capability information, the second capability information, the third capability information, and the fourth capability information involved in Example 1 may all refer to access layer capability information, and the access layer capability information may refer to capability information that needs to be interacted between the terminal device and the access network device.

[0181] By adopting the method in the above-mentioned embodiment 1, after determining the communication anomaly, the access network device can clearly instruct the terminal device to roll back the capability to the first protocol version, thereby assisting the terminal device to quickly and efficiently locate the problem, avoiding the terminal device from performing purposeless attempts to reduce the capability, and facilitating the rapid resolution of communication problems caused by incompatibility between the terminal device and the access network device.

[0182] Embodiment 2

[0183] Figure 4This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 2 of the present application, such as Figure 4 As shown, the method may include:

[0184] Step 401: The core network device determines that an abnormality occurs in the communication with the terminal device.

[0185] Here, the core network device determines that the communication with the terminal device is abnormal, which may include multiple possible situations, such as the core network device determines that the second capability information sent by the terminal device fails to be parsed. That is to say, before step 401, the terminal device can send the second capability information to the core network device, such as sending the second capability information to the core network device through a registration request message; accordingly, the core network device receives the second capability information, and if the parsing fails, it can be determined that the communication with the terminal device is abnormal.

[0186] Step 402: The core network device sends indication information to the terminal device, where the indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to roll back its capability to the first protocol version; accordingly, the terminal device can receive the indication information from the core network device.

[0187] Here, there may be multiple ways for the core network device to send indication information to the terminal device. For example, the core network device may send indication information to the terminal device via a registration rejection message.

[0188] In one example, the indication information may include the first protocol version information; or, the fallback protocol version may be predefined as the first protocol version. In this case, the indication information may no longer include the first protocol version information.

[0189] In the embodiment of the present application, the core network device may also send a fallback reason value to the terminal device, and the fallback reason value is used to indicate at least one of the following: the second capability information sent by the terminal device fails to be parsed; the capability of the terminal device is too large; the ASN.1 cell or field fails to be parsed; the ASN.1 extension cell or field fails to be parsed. The fallback reason value and the indication information may be carried in the same message, or may be carried in different messages, without specific limitation.

[0190] Step 403: The terminal device communicates with the core network device using the first capability information according to the indication information; the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information is lower than or equal to the first protocol version.

[0191] Exemplarily, the terminal device may send the first capability information to the core network device.

[0192] It should be noted that the first capability information and the second capability information involved in Example 1 may both refer to network layer capability information, and the network layer capability information may refer to capability information that needs to be interacted between the terminal device and the device in the core network.

[0193] By adopting the method in the above-mentioned embodiment 2, after determining the communication anomaly, the core network device can clearly instruct the terminal device to roll back the capability to the first protocol version, thereby assisting the terminal device to quickly and efficiently locate the problem, avoiding the terminal device from performing purposeless attempts to reduce capability, and facilitating the rapid resolution of communication problems caused by incompatibility between the terminal device and the core network device.

[0194] Embodiment 3

[0195] Figure 5 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 3 of the present application, such as Figure 5 As shown, the method may include:

[0196] Step 501: A terminal device establishes an RRC connection with a first access network device.

[0197] Step 502: The terminal device sends actual capability information and fallback capability information of the terminal device to the first access network device; accordingly, the first access network device may receive and save the actual capability information and fallback capability information of the terminal device.

[0198] Exemplarily, the first access network device may be the access network device that the terminal device initially accesses. The protocol version supported by the first access network device may be greater than or equal to the protocol version supported by the terminal device. In this case, the terminal device may normally access the first access network device and communicate with the first access network device using the actual capability information of the terminal device.

[0199] Here, the fallback capability information of the terminal device may refer to the capability information corresponding to the fallback protocol version. In one example, the fallback protocol version may be a protocol version that the terminal device can fall back to according to certain rules or standards, such as R15 or v16.1.0; or, the fallback protocol version may be a version with the most stable standard compatibility specified by a standards organization, such as v15.4.0 or v16.2.0.

[0200] It should be noted that in other possible examples, the access network device (such as the first access network device or the second access network device described below) may broadcast the fallback protocol version information through a system message, and then after the terminal device receives the system message, it may determine the fallback capability information based on the fallback protocol version information in the system message. In this case, the fallback protocol version information broadcast by different access network devices may be the same or different, and there is no specific limitation. If the fallback protocol version information broadcast by different access network devices is different, then in step 503, the terminal device may no longer send the fallback capability information to the first access network device, and in step 509, the terminal device may send the fallback capability information to the second access network device.

[0201] Step 503: The first access network device sends the actual capability information and fallback capability information of the terminal device to the core network device; accordingly, the core network device can receive and save the actual capability information and fallback capability information of the terminal device.

[0202] Step 504: The terminal device moves from the coverage area of ​​the first access network device to the coverage area of ​​the second access network device.

[0203] Step 505: The terminal device determines that a communication anomaly occurs.

[0204] Here, there may be multiple situations in which the terminal device determines that a communication abnormality has occurred, such as the following situations 1 to 3.

[0205] Scenario 1: The terminal device determines that N access failures have occurred, and N is greater than or equal to the first threshold. For example, after the terminal device sends an RRC connection establishment request message to the second access network device, if it receives an RRC connection establishment rejection message sent by the second access network device, it can be understood as an access failure.

[0206] Scenario 2: The terminal device determines that M registration failures have occurred, and M is greater than or equal to the second threshold. For example, after the terminal device sends a registration request message to the core network device through the second access network device, if a registration rejection message is received from the core network device, it can be understood as a registration failure.

[0207] Scenario 3: The terminal device determines that K system information parsing failures have occurred, and K is greater than or equal to a third threshold.

[0208] Exemplarily, the first threshold, the second threshold and the third threshold may be predefined, and specific values ​​may be set according to actual needs.

[0209] Step 506: The terminal device sends a request message to the second access network device, where the request message is used to request to use the fallback capability information to communicate with the second access network device; accordingly, the second access network device can receive the request message.

[0210] Step 507: The second access network device sends a response message to the request message to the terminal device, where the response message is used to indicate that the terminal device can communicate with the second access network device using the fallback capability information.

[0211] Step 508: The terminal device communicates with the second access network device using the fallback capability information.

[0212] In one example, the terminal device may send fallback capability information to the second access network device; or, the terminal device may not send fallback capability information to the second access network device. In this case, the second access network device may obtain the fallback capability information of the terminal device from the core network device.

[0213] By adopting the method in the above-mentioned embodiment three, after determining that the communication is abnormal, the terminal device can use the fallback capability information to communicate with the access network device, thereby avoiding the terminal device from performing purposeless attempts to reduce capability, and facilitating the rapid resolution of communication problems caused by incompatibility between the terminal device and the network device.

[0214] Based on the above-mentioned embodiments 1 to 3, the process of the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in combination with some specific embodiments (such as embodiments 4 to 6).

[0215] Embodiment 4

[0216] In the fourth embodiment, a possible process will be described based on the first embodiment.

[0217] Figure 6 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 4 of the present application, such as Figure 6 As shown, the method may include:

[0218] Step 601: The terminal device determines to initiate access to the access network device based on service requirements to establish an RRC connection with the access network device.

[0219] Step 602: The terminal device sends a random access preamble to the access network device.

[0220] Step 603: After receiving the random access preamble code generated by the terminal device, the access network device sends a random access response message to the terminal device.

[0221] Step 604: The terminal device sends an RRC connection establishment request message to the access network device.

[0222] Further, if the access network device rejects the RRC connection establishment request of the terminal device, steps 605a and 606a may be executed; if the access network device rejects the RRC connection establishment request of the terminal device, steps 605b to 606a may be executed.

[0223] Step 605a: The access network device sends an RRC connection establishment reject message to the terminal device, and instructs the terminal device to perform capability rollback in the RRC connection establishment reject message.

[0224] Exemplarily, the access network device may determine to reject the RRC connection establishment request of the terminal device when it cannot recognize the RRC connection establishment request message sent by the terminal device or there are other compatibility issues, and specify a fallback protocol version, such as the first protocol version, in the RRC connection establishment rejection message.

[0225] Step 606a: After receiving the RRC connection establishment rejection message, the terminal device initiates the RRC connection establishment process again based on the fallback protocol version indicated in the RRC connection establishment rejection message.

[0226] Step 605b: The access network device sends an RRC connection establishment message to the terminal device.

[0227] Step 606b: The terminal device sends an RRC connection establishment completion message to the access network device.

[0228] Step 607b: The access network device determines to execute a terminal device capability query and sends a capability query message to the terminal device.

[0229] Step 608b: The terminal device sends a capability reporting message to the access network device to report the capability information of the terminal device.

[0230] Step 609b: The access network device sends an RRC connection release message to the terminal device and indicates the fallback protocol version information in the RRC connection release message.

[0231] For example, the access network device may determine that a compatibility issue occurs due to a failure in capability resolution, or determine to release the terminal device because the capability of the terminal device is too large and exceeds the processing capability of the access network device, and then may send an RRC connection release message to the terminal device.

[0232] Step 610b: After receiving the RRC connection release message, the terminal device re-initiates the RRC connection establishment process based on the fallback protocol version indicated in the RRC connection release message.

[0233] In addition, after the above steps 606a and 610b, if the RRC connection is established successfully, the terminal device can report the capability information based on the fallback protocol version in the subsequent capability reporting; further, the access network device receives the capability information based on the fallback protocol version and can send the capability information based on the fallback protocol version to the core network device.

[0234] Embodiment 5

[0235] In the fifth embodiment, a possible process will be described based on the above second embodiment.

[0236] Figure 7 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Embodiment 5 of the present application, such as Figure 7 As shown, the method may include:

[0237] Step 701: The terminal device determines to initiate access to the access network device based on service requirements to establish an RRC connection with the access network device.

[0238] Step 702: The terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the access network device.

[0239] Exemplarily, the terminal device can send an RRC connection establishment request message to the access network device; the access network device accepts the RRC connection establishment request of the terminal device and sends an RRC connection establishment message to the terminal device; and after the terminal device receives the RRC connection establishment message, it can send an RRC connection establishment completion message to the access network device.

[0240] Step 703: The terminal device sends a registration request message to the core network device through the access network device, requesting to register with the core network device.

[0241] Step 704: The core network device sends a registration rejection message to the terminal device, and specifies the fallback protocol version information in the registration rejection message.

[0242] Exemplarily, the core network device may determine to reject the registration request of the terminal device based on certain reasons. For example, the core network device may reject the registration request of the terminal device based on reasons such as failure to decode the ASN.1 cell of the terminal device or failure to parse the network layer capability information of the terminal device, and send a registration rejection message.

[0243] Step 705: After receiving the registration rejection message, the terminal device determines the fallback capability information of the terminal device based on the fallback protocol version information provided by the core network device.

[0244] Step 706: The terminal device re-initiates the RRC connection establishment process.

[0245] Step 707: The access network device sends a capability query message to the terminal device.

[0246] Step 708: The terminal device reports the fallback capability information determined by the terminal device in a capability reporting message.

[0247] It should be noted that the above step 707 is an optional step, that is, the terminal device can report the fallback capability information determined by the terminal device after receiving the capability query message; or, it can also actively report the fallback capability information determined by the terminal device.

[0248] Step 709: The access network device receives and stores the fallback capability information of the terminal device, and sends the fallback capability information of the terminal device to the core network device; accordingly, the core network device can receive and store the fallback capability information of the terminal device. In this way, the terminal device can be successfully registered with the core network device later.

[0249] Embodiment 6

[0250] The above-mentioned fourth and fifth embodiments describe the situation in which the terminal device performs capability fallback. In order to avoid unnecessary capability fallback operations caused by subsequent terminal devices encountering similar problems during the movement process, the terminal device can determine whether to continue to use the previous fallback capability information to perform related access or communication based on a certain network topology, or to use the actual capability information of the terminal device to perform related access or communication.

[0251] Based on this, the network capability area is introduced in the embodiment of the present application, and the relevant content can refer to the description of the above embodiment 1. It should be noted that the solution of the network capability area involved in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented in combination with the embodiment 1, or can also be implemented separately. In embodiment 6, a possible implementation process will be described for the network capability area.

[0252] Figure 8 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 6 of the present application, such as Figure 8 As shown, the method may include:

[0253] Step 801: The access network device broadcasts the network capability area information of the access network device in a system message.

[0254] Step 802: The terminal device determines the capability that the terminal device should use to access the access network device based on the received network capability area information.

[0255] Exemplarily, if the terminal device determines that the network capability area information of the current access network device is the same as the network capability area information previously saved by the terminal device, or is the same as the network capability area information of the previously accessed access network device, the terminal device may determine to continue to use the previous fallback capability information to access the network, or report the fallback capability information to the current access network device. If the terminal device determines that the network capability area information broadcast by the access network device has changed, it may determine that it needs to re-access the network, and then execute steps 803 to 805.

[0256] Step 803: The terminal device sends an RRC connection establishment request message to the access network device;

[0257] Exemplarily, the RRC connection establishment request message may carry the access reason as a change in the network capability area. In addition, the RRC connection establishment request message may also carry the network capability area information last saved by the terminal device.

[0258] Step 804: The access network device sends an RRC connection establishment message to the terminal device.

[0259] Step 805: The terminal device sends an RRC connection establishment completion message to the access network device.

[0260] Optionally, the RRC connection establishment complete message carries the network capability area information last saved by the terminal device. Here, if the RRC connection establishment request message carries the network capability area information last saved by the terminal device, the RRC connection establishment complete message may no longer carry it.

[0261] After step 805, the terminal device may also execute subsequent related processes, such as reporting actual capability information of the terminal device to the access network device, etc., which will not be described in detail.

[0262] Embodiment 7

[0263] In the seventh embodiment, a possible process will be described based on the above third embodiment.

[0264] Fig. 9 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Embodiment 7 of the present application, such as Figure 8 As shown, the method may include:

[0265] Step 901: The terminal device establishes an RRC connection with access network device 1.

[0266] Step 902: Access network device 1 sends a capability query message to the terminal device.

[0267] Step 903: The terminal device reports the fallback capability information (including access layer capability information and / or network layer capability information) based on the fallback protocol version and the actual capability information in the capability reporting.

[0268] In this embodiment, description is made by taking the fallback protocol version as the preset protocol version as an example.

[0269] Step 904: the access network device 1 receives and stores the fallback capability information and the actual capability information of the terminal device, and sends the fallback capability information and the actual capability information of the terminal device to the core network device.

[0270] Step 905: The core network device receives and stores the fallback capability information and actual capability information of the terminal device.

[0271] Step 906: The terminal device needs to access a new access network device (such as access network device 2), but a communication anomaly occurs, and the terminal device can determine to trigger access based on fallback capability information.

[0272] Step 907: The terminal device initiates an RRC connection establishment request message to the access network device 2, and indicates in the RRC connection establishment request message that the terminal device requests to access the access network device 2 using the fallback capability information.

[0273] Step 908: Access network device 2 sends an RRC connection establishment message to the terminal device.

[0274] Step 909: Access network device 2 sends a capability request message of the terminal device to the core network device, requesting fallback capability information of the terminal device.

[0275] Step 910 : The core network device sends the fallback capability information of the terminal device to the access network device 2 .

[0276] Step 911: The terminal device communicates with access network device 2 using fallback capability information.

[0277] It should be noted that in the above steps, if the access network device 2 successfully obtains the fallback capability information of the terminal device from the core network, the access network device 2 may no longer trigger a new capability query process to query the fallback capability information of the terminal device; if the access network device 2 does not obtain the fallback capability information of the terminal device from the core network, the access network device 2 may trigger a new capability query process to query the fallback capability information of the terminal device. For example, the access network device 2 may send a capability query message to the terminal device, and optionally, the capability query message may include indication information for querying the fallback capability information; and then, after receiving the capability query message, the terminal device may send the fallback capability information to the access network device 2.

[0278] Regarding the above-mentioned embodiments 1 to 7, it should be noted that:

[0279] (1) The step numbers of the flowcharts described in Examples 1 to 7 are only examples of the execution process and do not constitute a limitation on the order of execution of the steps. There is no strict execution order between the steps that have no temporal dependency relationship with each other in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, not all the steps shown in the flowcharts are steps that must be executed, and some steps can be added or deleted based on the actual needs of each flowchart.

[0280] (2) The above description focuses on the differences between different embodiments in Embodiments 1 to 3 and the differences between different embodiments in Embodiments 4 to 7. Except for the differences, Embodiments 1 to 7 can refer to each other.

[0281] (3) Some messages in the 5G communication system are used in the above-mentioned embodiments 1 to 7. However, in the specific implementation, different messages or message names may be used, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0282] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of device interaction. It is understandable that in order to realize the above functions, the access network device, the core network device or the terminal device may include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be easily appreciated by those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of this application.

[0283] The embodiment of the present application can divide the network device, core network device or terminal device into functional units according to the above method example. For example, each functional unit can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one unit. The above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

[0284] In the case of an integrated unit, Fig.10 A possible exemplary block diagram of the device involved in the embodiments of the present application is shown. Fig.10As shown, the device 1000 may include: a processing unit 1002 and a communication unit 1003. The processing unit 1002 is used to control and manage the actions of the device 1000. The communication unit 1003 is used to support the communication between the device 1000 and other devices. Optionally, the communication unit 1003 is also called a transceiver unit, and may include a receiving unit and / or a sending unit, which are respectively used to perform receiving and sending operations. The device 1000 may also include a storage unit 1001 for storing program code and / or data of the device 1000.

[0285] The apparatus 1000 may be a terminal device in the above embodiment, or may be a chip set in the terminal device. The processing unit 1002 may support the apparatus 1000 to execute the actions of the terminal device in the above method examples. Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 mainly executes the internal actions of the terminal device in the method examples, and the communication unit 1003 may support the communication between the apparatus 1000 and other devices.

[0286] Specifically, in one embodiment, the communication unit 1003 is used to: receive indication information from a first access network device, the indication information being used to indicate that the capability of the terminal device falls back to a first protocol version; and communicate with the first access network device using the first capability information according to the indication information; the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information is lower than or equal to the first protocol version.

[0287] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is further used to: send first capability information to the first access network device.

[0288] In one possible design, the indication information is carried in an RRC connection establishment reject message or an RRC connection release message.

[0289] In one possible design, the communication unit 1003 is also used to: receive a fallback reason value from the access network device, and the fallback reason value is used to indicate at least one of the following: inability to identify a first message sent by the terminal device; inability to identify one or more elements in the first message; failure to parse the second capability information sent by the terminal device; too large a capability of the terminal device; failure to parse the ASN.1 element; failure to parse the ASN.1 extension element.

[0290] In one possible design, the backoff reason value and indication information are carried in the same message.

[0291] In one possible design, the processing unit 1002 is used to: determine that a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs has changed, the network capability area includes at least one access network device, and the at least one access network device has the same capability; the communication unit 1003 is also used to: send an RRC connection establishment request message to the first access network device.

[0292] In one possible design, the RRC connection establishment request message includes a cause value, where the cause value is used to indicate a change in a network capability area.

[0293] In one possible design, the RRC connection establishment request message includes an identifier of the network capability area before the change.

[0294] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is further used to: communicate with the first access network device using actual capability information of the terminal device.

[0295] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is further used to: send actual capability information of the terminal device to the first access network device.

[0296] In one possible design, the communication unit 1003 is also used to: send an RRC connection establishment request message to a second access network device; wherein the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is different from the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs, and the network capability area includes at least one access network device, and the at least one access network device has the same capabilities.

[0297] In one possible design, the RRC connection establishment request message includes a cause value, where the cause value is used to indicate a change in a network capability area.

[0298] In one possible design, the RRC connection establishment request message includes an identifier of a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs.

[0299] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is further used to: communicate with the second access network device using actual capability information of the terminal device.

[0300] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is further used to: send actual capability information of the terminal device to the second access network device.

[0301] In one possible design, the communication unit 1003 is also used to: communicate with a second access network device using the first capability information; wherein the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is the same as the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs, and the network capability area includes at least one access network device, and the at least one access network device has the same capabilities.

[0302] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is further used to: send the first capability information to the second access network device.

[0303] In one possible design, the communication unit 1003 is also used to: receive an identifier of a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs from the first access network device; and / or receive an identifier of a network capability area to which the second access network device belongs from the second access network device.

[0304] The apparatus 1000 may be the access network device in the above embodiment, or may be a chip set in the access network device. The processing unit 1002 may support the apparatus 1000 to execute the actions of the access network device in the above method examples. Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 mainly executes the internal actions of the access network device in the method examples, and the communication unit 1003 may support the communication between the apparatus 1000 and other devices.

[0305] Specifically, in one embodiment, the communication unit 1003 is used to: send indication information to a terminal device, the indication information is used to indicate that the capability of the terminal device is to fall back to a first protocol version; receive first capability information of the terminal device, the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information is lower than or equal to the first protocol version.

[0306] In one possible design, the processing unit 1002 is used to determine that an abnormality occurs in communication with the terminal device.

[0307] In one possible design, the communication unit 1003 is also used to receive a first message from a terminal device, and the processing unit 1002 is also used to determine that the first message cannot be recognized or that parsing of the first message has failed; or, the communication unit 1003 is also used to receive second capability information from the terminal device, and the processing unit 1002 is also used to determine that parsing of the second capability information has failed.

[0308] In one possible design, the first message includes at least one of the following: an RRC connection establishment request message, an RRC connection establishment recovery request message, and an RRC connection re-establishment request message.

[0309] In one possible design, the indication information is carried in an RRC connection establishment reject message or an RRC connection release message.

[0310] In one possible design, the communication unit 1003 is also used to: send a fallback reason value to the terminal device, and the fallback reason value is used to indicate at least one of the following: inability to identify the first message sent by the terminal device; inability to identify one or more information elements in the first message; failure to parse the second capability information sent by the terminal device; too large a capability of the terminal device; failure to parse the ASN.1 information element; failure to parse the ASN.1 extension information element.

[0311] In one possible design, the backoff reason value and indication information are carried in the same message.

[0312] In one possible design, the communication unit 1003 is also used to: send an identifier of a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs to a terminal device, the network capability area includes at least one access network device, the at least one access network device has the same capability, and the at least one access network device includes the first access network device.

[0313] In one possible design, the communication unit 1003 is also used to: receive an identifier of a network capability area to which a first access network device belongs from a core network device, the network capability area includes at least one access network device, the at least one access network device has the same capability, and the at least one access network device includes the first access network device.

[0314] The device 1000 may be a core network device in the above embodiment, or may be a chip set in the core network device. The processing unit 1002 may support the device 1000 to perform the actions of the core network device in each method example above. Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 mainly performs the internal actions of the core network device in the method example, and the communication unit 1003 may support the communication between the device 1000 and other devices.

[0315] It should be understood that the division of the units in the above device is only a division of logical functions. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into one physical entity, or they can be physically separated. And the units in the device can all be implemented in the form of software calling through processing elements; they can also be all implemented in the form of hardware; some units can also be implemented in the form of software calling through processing elements, and some units can be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, each unit can be a separately established processing element, or it can be integrated in a certain chip of the device. In addition, it can also be stored in the memory in the form of a program, and called and executed by a certain processing element of the device. The function of the unit. In addition, all or part of these units can be integrated together, or they can be implemented independently. The processing element described here can also be a processor, which can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each operation of the above method or each unit above can be implemented by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor element or in the form of software calling through a processing element.

[0316] In one example, the unit in any of the above devices may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), or one or more digital singnal processors (DSP), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. For another example, when the unit in the device can be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler, the processing element can be a processor, such as a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), or other processors that can call programs. For another example, these units can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0317] The above unit for receiving is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to receive signals from other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the receiving unit is an interface circuit of the chip used to receive signals from other chips or devices. The above unit for sending is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to send signals to other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the sending unit is an interface circuit of the chip used to send signals to other chips or devices.

[0318] Fig.11 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application, which may be the terminal device in the above embodiment, and is used to implement the operation of the terminal device in the above embodiment. Fig.11 As shown, the terminal device includes: an antenna 1110, a radio frequency part 1120, and a signal processing part 1130. The antenna 1110 is connected to the radio frequency part 1120. In the downlink direction, the radio frequency part 1120 receives information sent by the network device through the antenna 1110, and sends the information sent by the network device to the signal processing part 1130 for processing. In the uplink direction, the signal processing part 1130 processes the information of the terminal device and sends it to the radio frequency part 1120. The radio frequency part 1120 processes the information of the terminal device and sends it to the network device through the antenna 1110.

[0319] The signal processing part 1130 may include a modulation and demodulation subsystem for processing each communication protocol layer of the data; it may also include a central processing subsystem for processing the operating system and application layer of the terminal device; in addition, it may also include other subsystems, such as a multimedia subsystem, a peripheral subsystem, etc., wherein the multimedia subsystem is used to control the camera, screen display, etc. of the terminal device, and the peripheral subsystem is used to connect with other devices. The modulation and demodulation subsystem may be a separately provided chip.

[0320] The modem subsystem may include one or more processing elements 1131, for example, a main control CPU and other integrated circuits. In addition, the modem subsystem may also include a storage element 1132 and an interface circuit 1133. The storage element 1132 is used to store data and programs, but the program used to execute the method executed by the terminal device in the above method may not be stored in the storage element 1132, but stored in a memory outside the modem subsystem, and loaded and used by the modem subsystem when in use. The interface circuit 1133 is used to communicate with other subsystems.

[0321] The modem subsystem can be implemented by a chip, which includes at least one processing element and an interface circuit, wherein the processing element is used to execute each step of any method executed by the above terminal device, and the interface circuit is used to communicate with other devices. In one implementation, the unit of the terminal device that implements each step in the above method can be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduling program. For example, the device for the terminal device includes a processing element and a storage element, and the processing element calls the program stored in the storage element to execute the method executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment. The storage element can be a storage element on the same chip as the processing element, that is, an on-chip storage element.

[0322] In another implementation, the program for executing the method executed by the terminal device in the above method can be in a storage element on a different chip from the processing element, that is, an off-chip storage element. In this case, the processing element calls or loads the program from the off-chip storage element to the on-chip storage element to call and execute the method executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0323] In another implementation, the unit of the terminal device implementing each step in the above method may be configured as one or more processing elements, which are arranged on the modulation and demodulation subsystem. The processing elements here may be integrated circuits, such as one or more ASICs, or one or more DSPs, or one or more FPGAs, or a combination of these integrated circuits. These integrated circuits may be integrated together to form a chip.

[0324] The units of the terminal device implementing the various steps in the above method can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a SOC, and the SOC chip is used to implement the above method. The chip can integrate at least one processing element and a storage element, and the method executed by the above terminal device can be implemented in the form of a program stored in the storage element by the processing element; or, the chip can integrate at least one integrated circuit to implement the method executed by the above terminal device; or, the above implementation methods can be combined, and the functions of some units can be implemented in the form of a processing element calling a program, and the functions of some units can be implemented in the form of an integrated circuit.

[0325] It can be seen that the above apparatus for terminal equipment may include at least one processing element and an interface circuit, wherein at least one processing element is used to execute any of the methods performed by the terminal equipment provided in the above method embodiments. The processing element may execute part or all of the steps performed by the terminal equipment in a first manner: that is, by calling a program stored in a storage element; or in a second manner: that is, by combining an integrated logic circuit of hardware in a processor element with instructions to execute part or all of the steps performed by the terminal equipment; of course, the first manner and the second manner may also be combined to execute part or all of the steps performed by the terminal equipment.

[0326] The processing element here is the same as described above and can be implemented by a processor. The function of the processing element can be Fig.10 The processing unit described in the above has the same function. Exemplarily, the processing element may be a general-purpose processor, such as a CPU, or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, such as one or more ASICs, or one or more microprocessors DSPs, or one or more FPGAs, etc., or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. The storage element may be implemented by a memory, and the function of the storage element may be the same as Fig.10 The storage element can be implemented by a memory, and the function of the storage element can be the same as that of the storage unit described in Fig.10 The storage element may be a memory or a collective name for multiple memories.

[0327] Fig.11 The terminal device shown is capable of implementing various processes involving the terminal device in the above method embodiments. Fig.11 The operations and / or functions of each module in the terminal device shown are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiment. For details, please refer to the description in the above method embodiment. To avoid repetition, the detailed description is appropriately omitted here.

[0328] See also Fig.12 , is a schematic diagram of the structure of an access network device provided in an embodiment of the present application, and the access network device (or base station) can be applied to Figure 1 In the system architecture shown, the functions of the access network device in the above method embodiment are performed. The access network device 120 may include one or more DUs 1201 and one or more CUs 1202. The DU 1201 may include at least one antenna 12011, at least one radio frequency unit 12012, at least one processor 12013 and at least one memory 12014. The DU 1201 part is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals to baseband signals, as well as part of baseband processing. CU1202 may include at least one processor 12022 and at least one memory 12021.

[0329] The CU 1202 part is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling the access network equipment, etc. The DU 1201 and CU 1202 can be physically set together or physically separated, that is, a distributed base station. The CU 1202 is the control center of the access network equipment, which can also be called a processing unit, and is mainly used to complete the baseband processing function. For example, the CU 1202 can be used to control the access network equipment to execute the operation process of the access network equipment in the above method embodiment.

[0330] In addition, optionally, the access network device 120 may include one or more radio frequency units, one or more DUs, and one or more CUs. The DU may include at least one processor 12013 and at least one memory 12014, the radio frequency unit may include at least one antenna 12011 and at least one radio frequency unit 12012, and the CU may include at least one processor 12022 and at least one memory 12021.

[0331] In one example, the CU1202 may be composed of one or more boards, and the multiple boards may jointly support a wireless access network (such as a 5G network) with a single access indication, or may respectively support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 12021 and the processor 12022 may serve one or more boards. In other words, a memory and a processor may be separately set on each board. It may also be that multiple boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits may be provided on each board. The DU1201 may be composed of one or more boards, and the multiple boards may jointly support a wireless access network (such as a 5G network) with a single access indication, or may respectively support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 12014 and the processor 12013 may serve one or more boards. In other words, a memory and a processor may be separately set on each board. It may also be that multiple boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits may also be provided on each board.

[0332] Fig.12 The access network device shown can implement various processes related to the access network device in the above method embodiments. Fig.12 The operations and / or functions of each module in the access network device shown are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description in the above method embodiments. To avoid repetition, the detailed description is appropriately omitted here.

[0333] refer to Fig.13 , is a schematic diagram of the structure of a core network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. It may be an AMF network element and / or other possible network elements (such as an SMF network element) for implementing the operation of the core network device in the above embodiment.

[0334] like Fig.13 As shown, the core network device 1300 may include a processor 1301, a memory 1302, and an interface circuit 1303. The processor 1301 may be used to process the communication protocol and communication data, and to control the communication device. The memory 1302 may be used to store programs and data, and the processor 1301 may execute the method performed by the core network device in the embodiment of the present application based on the program. The interface circuit 1303 may be used for the core network device 1300 to communicate with other devices, and the communication may be wired communication or wireless communication. The interface circuit may be, for example, a service-oriented communication interface.

[0335] The above memory 1302 may also be externally connected to the core network device 1300, in which case the core network device 1300 may include an interface circuit 1303 and a processor 1301. The above interface circuit 1303 may also be externally connected to the core network device 1300, in which case the core network device 1300 may include a memory 1302 and a processor 1301. When both the interface circuit 1303 and the memory 1302 are externally connected to the core network device 1300, the communication device 1300 may include a processor 1301.

[0336] Fig.13 The core network device shown can implement various processes involving the core network device in the above method embodiment. Fig.13 The operations and / or functions of each module in the core network device shown are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description in the above method embodiments. To avoid repetition, the detailed description is appropriately omitted here.

[0337] The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" refers to one or more, and "multiple" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist, for example, A and / or B, which can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following (single)" or its similar expression refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single (single) or plural (single). For example, "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. And, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal words such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects.

[0338] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application may adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application may adopt the form of a computer program product implemented in one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that include computer-usable program code.

[0339] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each process and / or box in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the processes and / or boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate instructions for implementing the processes in the flowchart and / or block diagram. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in a block or multiple blocks.

[0340] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising an instruction device, which implements the process Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A function specified in one or more boxes.

[0341] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions for implementing the process. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps for the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0342] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applicable to a terminal device or a chip in the terminal device, and the method includes: Receiving indication information from a first access network device, where the indication information is used to indicate that the capability of the terminal device is rolled back to the first protocol version; According to the indication information, using first capability information to communicate with the first access network device; the protocol version corresponding to the first capability information is lower than or equal to the first protocol version; The method further comprises: determining that a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs has changed, the network capability area includes at least one access network device, and the at least one access network device has the same capability; sending an RRC connection establishment request message to the first access network device; the RRC connection establishment request message includes a cause value, and the cause value is used to indicate that the network capability area has changed; or, The method further includes: sending an RRC connection establishment request message to a second access network device; wherein the network capability area to which the second access network device belongs is different from the network capability area to which the first access network device belongs, and the network capability area includes at least one access network device, and the at least one access network device has the same capability; the RRC connection establishment request message includes a cause value, and the cause value is used to indicate that the network capability area has changed.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Before communicating with the first access network device using the first capability information according to the indication information, the method further includes: Send the first capability information to the first access network device.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The indication information is carried in a radio resource control RRC connection establishment reject message or an RRC connection release message.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive a fallback reason value from the access network device, where the fallback reason value is used to indicate at least one of the following: A first message sent by the terminal device cannot be recognized; one or more cells in the first message cannot be identified; The second capability information sent by the terminal device fails to be parsed; The capacity of the terminal device is too large; Abstract Syntax Notation ASN.1 cell parsing failed; ASN.1 extension cell parsing failed.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The rollback reason value and the indication information are carried in the same message.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that When the method includes the step of determining that a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs has changed, the RRC connection establishment request message includes an identifier of the network capability area before the change.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that When the method includes the step of sending an RRC connection establishment request message to the second access network device, the RRC connection establishment request message includes an identifier of a network capability area to which the first access network device belongs.

8. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising modules for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and a computer program is stored in the memory; the processor is used to call the computer program in the memory so that the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or an instruction. When the computer program or the instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is implemented.

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