Method, device and system for sending terminal policy

Abstract

The present application provides a method, device and system for sending terminal policies. After determining that the terminal is unreachable, the mobility management network element can send a notification of a first message forwarding failure to the visited policy control function network element; based on the notification, the visited policy control function network element can determine the first PTI allocated by the home policy control function network element for the first policy, and send the first PTI and the indication of the first message forwarding failure to the home policy control function network element to inform the home policy control function network element, which can effectively avoid unnecessary transmission by the home policy control function network element.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application. The application number of the original application is 201910483077.1, and the original application date is June 4, 2019. The entire content of the original application is incorporated into this application by reference. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method, device, and system for sending terminal policies. Background Art

[0003] In the fifth generation (5G) system, the access and mobility management function (AMF) can interact with the policy control function (PCF) to obtain the user equipment (UE) policy. The PCF provides the UE policy to the terminal through the AMF. The PCF includes the visited-policy control function (V-PCF) and the home-policy control function (H-PCF).

[0004] However, in some scenarios, the AMF cannot send the UE Policy to the terminal because the UE is unreachable. The existing technology has not yet defined a method for handling such a situation. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, the present application provides a method, apparatus, and system for sending terminal policies, which can notify a home policy control function network element of a terminal policy that fails to be sent.

[0006] On the first aspect, a method for sending terminal policies is provided, comprising: a visited location policy control function network element receives a notification of a first message forwarding failure from a mobility management network element, wherein the first message includes a first policy of the terminal and the visited location policy control function network element learns that the first message forwarding has failed; then, the visited location policy control function network element sends a second message to a home location policy control function network element, wherein the second message includes first indication information and a first transaction processing identifier PTI, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal policy has failed to be sent, and the first PTI is allocated by the home location policy control function network element to the first policy, so that the home location policy control function network element also learns that the terminal policy has failed to be forwarded, thereby suspending the provision of the terminal policy, which helps to avoid unnecessary sending by the home location policy control function network element.

[0007] Optionally, the visited location policy control function network element may determine the first PTI based on the notification.

[0008] In one implementation, the method also includes: the visited site policy control function network element sends a first request message to the mobility management network element, and the first request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message; accordingly, the visited site policy control function network element receives a notification of failure to forward the first message from the mobility management network element, including: the visited site policy control function network element receives a first response message from the mobility management network element, and the notification is the first response message.

[0009] Here, the notification sent by the mobility management network element may be a response to the request of the visited location policy control function network element to forward the first message.

[0010] Optionally, the first message includes a second PTI, which is allocated by the visited site policy control function network element for the first policy; the method further includes: the visited site policy control function network element determining the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the notification; the visited site policy control function network element determining the first PTI based on the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs. Therefore, in this implementation, the visited site policy control function network element can determine the first identifier based on the notification.

[0011] In this implementation, the visited site policy control function network element can directly determine the second PTI based on the notification. Then, because the visited site policy control function network element stores the correspondence between the first PTI and the second PTI, the visited site policy control function network element can obtain the first PTI based on the second PTI.

[0012] In another implementation, the method further includes: the visited site policy control function network element sending a second request message to the mobility management network element, the second request message being used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message; the visited site policy control function network element receiving a second response message from the mobility management network element, the second response message including a first identifier, the first identifier being used to identify the first message; accordingly, the notification including the first identifier; the visited site policy control function network element determining a first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier. Here, the visited site policy control function network element can determine the first identifier based on the first identifier in the notification.

[0013] Optionally, after the visited site policy control function network element receives the second response message from the mobility management network element, the method further includes: the visited site policy control function network element storing a first correspondence between the first identifier and the first PTI; accordingly, the visited site policy control function network element determining the first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier includes: the visited site policy control function network element determining the first PTI based on the first correspondence and the first identifier. Therefore, the visited site policy control function network element can store the first correspondence between the first identifier and the first PTI, thereby obtaining the first PTI based on the first identifier and the first correspondence. Optionally, the first message includes a second PTI, which is allocated by the visited site policy control function network element for the first policy; accordingly, the visited site policy control function network element determining the first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier includes: the visited site policy control function network element determining the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier; and the visited site policy control function network element determining the first PTI based on the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs.

[0014] The difference between this and the previous implementation is that the visited location policy control function network element determines the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier included in the notification. Then, the visited location policy control function network element determines the first PTI based on the second PTI.

[0015] Optionally, after the visited site policy control function network element receives a second response message from the mobility management network element, the method also includes: the visited site policy control function network element saves a second correspondence between the first identifier and the second PTI; accordingly, the visited site policy control function network element determines the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier, including: the visited site policy control function network element determines the second PTI based on the second correspondence and the first identifier.

[0016] Here, after receiving the second response message from the mobility management network element, the visited location policy control function network element, which includes the first identifier in the second response message, cannot temporarily determine whether the first policy was forwarded successfully. Therefore, the second correspondence between the first identifier and the second PTI can be saved. Then, after receiving a notification from the mobility management network element that the first message forwarding failed, the visited location policy control function network element can determine that the first policy forwarding failed. The visited location policy control function network element can obtain the second PTI based on the second correspondence and the first identifier included in the notification.

[0017] Optionally, the notification further includes an identifier list, wherein the identifier list includes multiple identifiers, each identifier being used to identify a message that failed to be sent, and the first identifier is one of the multiple identifiers. Here, if multiple messages fail to be forwarded, the mobility management network element may include an identifier list in one notification, i.e., the identifiers corresponding to the multiple messages that failed to be forwarded are returned to the visited location policy control function network element via the same notification. Alternatively, the mobility management network element may return multiple notifications, each including a corresponding identifier.

[0018] The first policy may be a partial or complete terminal policy. In the above various implementations, optionally, the second message further includes a terminal policy fragment identifier of the first policy.

[0019] In the various aforementioned implementations, optionally, the visited-site policy control function element sending the second message to the home-site policy control function element includes: upon receiving the first policy retransmitted from the home-site policy control function element, the visited-site policy control function element sending the second message to the home-site policy control function element. That is, the visited-site policy control function element may receive the first policy retransmitted or resent from the home-site policy control function element. The second message may be sent to the home-site policy control function element upon receiving the retransmitted or retransmitted first policy.

[0020] In the various implementations described above, optionally, the method further includes: the visited location policy control function network element receives second indication information from the mobility management network element, the second indication information being used to indicate that the terminal is reachable; and the visited location policy control function network element sends the second indication information to the home location policy control function network element. Therefore, if the mobility management network element determines that the terminal is reachable, it can notify the visited location policy control function network element. After receiving the reachable indication, the visited location policy control function network element can send it to the home location policy control function network element so that the home location policy control function network element can continue to provide terminal policy.

[0021] Optionally, the method also includes: the visited policy control function network element receives a first subscription message from the home policy control function network element, and the first subscription message is used to subscribe to events that the terminal is reachable; accordingly, the visited policy control function network element sends the second indication information to the home policy control function network element, including: the visited policy control function network element sends the second indication information to the home policy control function network element based on the first subscription message.

[0022] That is, the visited location policy control function network element may send the second indication information to the home location policy control function network element based on the home location policy control function network element subscribing to the reachability event of the terminal. Alternatively, the visited location policy control function network element may also send the second indication information to the home location policy control function network element based on the home location policy control function network element sending a failure indication (e.g., a second message).

[0023] Optionally, before the visited location policy control function network element receives the second indication information from the mobility management network element, the method further includes: the visited location policy control function network element sends a second subscription message to the mobility management network element, and the second subscription message is used to subscribe to events that the terminal is reachable.

[0024] That is, the mobility management network element may send the second indication information to the visited site policy control function network element based on the visited site policy control function network element subscribing to the terminal's reachability event. Alternatively, the mobility management network element may send the second indication information to the visited site policy control function network element based on having sent a notification of message forwarding failure to the visited site policy control function network element.

[0025] On the second aspect, a method for sending terminal policies is provided, including: a home policy control function network element sends a third message to a visited policy control function network element, the third message including a first policy of the terminal and a first transaction processing identifier PTI, wherein the first PTI is allocated by the home policy control function network element for the first policy; the home policy control function network element receives a second message from the visited policy control function network element, the second message including first indication information and a first PTI, the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal policy sending fails, thereby knowing that the terminal policy forwarding fails, so that the provision of the terminal policy can be suspended, which helps to avoid unnecessary sending by the home policy control function network element.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the home policy control function network element stopping a timer corresponding to the first PTI based on the first indication information, where the timer is used by the home policy control function network element to determine to send the first policy. Therefore, after receiving the first indication information, the home policy control function network element can stop the timer corresponding to the first PTI to avoid unnecessary transmission.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: when the home policy control function element sends a third message to the visited policy control function element, the home policy control function element starts a first timer; after the first timer times out, if the home policy control function element does not receive a response message from the visited policy control function element, the home policy control function element retransmits the third message to the visited policy control function element; and accordingly, the home policy control function element receives a second message from the visited policy control function element, including: after the home policy control function element retransmits the third message to the visited policy control function element, the home policy control function element receives the second message from the visited policy control function element. That is, the second message may be sent to the home policy control function element upon receiving the resent or retransmitted first policy.

[0028] The first policy may be a partial or complete terminal policy. In the above various implementations, optionally, the second message further includes a terminal policy fragment identifier of the first policy.

[0029] In the various implementations described above, optionally, the method further includes: the home location policy control function network element receives second indication information from the visited location policy control function network element, the second indication information being used to indicate that the terminal is reachable; the home location policy control function network element sends a response message to the visited location policy control function network element, the response message being used to respond to the second indication information. Therefore, if the mobility management network element determines that the terminal is reachable, it can notify the visited location policy control function network element. After receiving the reachable indication, the visited location policy control function network element can send it to the home location policy control function network element, so that the home location policy control function network element can continue to provide terminal policy.

[0030] Optionally, the second indication information may be sent to the home policy control function network element after subscribing to the terminal event, or the visited policy control function network element may send a failure indication (eg, a second message) to the home policy control function network element.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the home policy control function element sending a first subscription message to the visited policy control function element, wherein the first subscription message is used to subscribe to an event that the terminal is reachable. Here, the home policy control function element may pre-subscribe to the event that the terminal is reachable.

[0032] In a third aspect, a system for sending terminal policies is provided, comprising: a visited location policy control function network element and a home location policy control function network element. Optionally, the system further comprises a mobility management network element.

[0033] The visited location policy control function network element is used to receive a notification of a failure to forward a first message from a mobility management network element, wherein the first message includes a first policy of the terminal; and to send a second message to the home location policy control function network element, wherein the second message includes first indication information and a first transaction processing identifier PTI, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate a failure in sending the terminal policy, and the first PTI is allocated by the home location policy control function network element for the first policy.

[0034] The home policy control network element is configured to receive the second message. In this way, the home policy control network element can learn that the terminal policy forwarding fails, and thus can suspend providing the terminal policy, which helps to avoid unnecessary transmission by the home policy control function network element.

[0035] Optionally, the home policy control function network element is used to stop a timer corresponding to the first PTI based on the first indication information, and the timer is used by the home policy control function network element to determine to send the first policy.

[0036] In the first possible implementation method, the visited location policy control function network element is also used to send a first request message to the mobility management network element, and the first request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message; accordingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to receive a notification of failure to forward the first message from the mobility management network element, specifically including: receiving a first response message from the mobility management network element, and the notification is the first response message.

[0037] Optionally, the first message includes a second PTI, which is allocated by the visited location policy control function network element to the first policy; the visited location policy control function network element is also used to determine the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the notification; and determine the first PTI based on the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs.

[0038] In a second possible implementation, the visited location policy control function network element is also used to send a second request message to the mobility management network element, and the second request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message; receive a second response message from the mobility management network element, and the second response message includes a first identifier, and the first identifier is used to identify the first message; accordingly, the notification includes the first identifier; and according to the first identifier, determine the first PTI corresponding to the first policy.

[0039] Optionally, the visited location policy control function network element is further used to save a first correspondence between the first identifier and the first PTI; accordingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to determine a first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier, specifically including: determining the first PTI based on the first correspondence and the first identifier. Optionally, the first message includes a second PTI, and the second PTI is allocated by the visited location policy control function network element to the first policy; accordingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to determine a first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier, specifically including: determining the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier; determining the first PTI based on the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs.

[0040] Optionally, the visited location policy control function network element is also used to save the second correspondence between the first identifier and the second PTI; accordingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to determine the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier, specifically including: determining the second PTI based on the second correspondence and the first identifier.

[0041] In the various possible implementations described above, the mobility management network element is used to send second indication information to the visited location policy control function network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the terminal is reachable; correspondingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to send the second indication information to the home location policy control function network element.

[0042] Optionally, the visited location policy control function network element is also used to receive a first subscription message from the home location policy control function network element, where the first subscription message is used to subscribe to events that the terminal is reachable; accordingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to send the second indication information to the home location policy control function network element, specifically including: sending the second indication information to the home location policy control function network element based on the first subscription message.

[0043] Optionally, the visited location policy control function network element is also used to send a second subscription message to the mobility management network element, and the second subscription message is used to subscribe to events that the terminal is reachable; accordingly, the mobility management network element is also used to send the second indication information to the visited location policy control function network element based on the second subscription message.

[0044] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a policy control function network element (which may have both a visited location policy control function and a home location policy control function) or a chip. The device has the functions of a visited location policy control function network element and a home location policy control function network element in any of the first and second aspects or any possible implementation of any of the aspects. The functions may be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0045] In a fifth aspect, a communications device is provided. The device may be a visited location policy control function network element or a chip. The device implements the functionality of a visited location policy control function network element in any aspect or any possible implementation of any aspect. The functionality may be implemented in hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the aforementioned functionality.

[0046] In a sixth aspect, a communications device is provided. The device may be a home policy control function network element or a chip. The device implements the functionality of a home policy control function network element in any aspect or any possible implementation of any aspect. The functionality may be implemented in hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the aforementioned functionality.

[0047] In a seventh aspect, a device is provided, comprising a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The processor is connected to the memory and the transceiver. The memory is configured to store instructions, the processor is configured to execute the instructions, and the transceiver is configured to communicate with other network elements under the control of the processor. When the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory, the execution causes the device to execute the method of a visited location policy control function network element in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any of the aspects, or to execute the method of a home location policy control function network element in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any of the aspects.

[0048] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0049] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0050] In the specific implementation process, the memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), which can be integrated with the processor on the same chip or can be set on different chips. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of memory and the setting method of the memory and the processor.

[0051] In an eighth aspect, a device is provided, comprising a processor and a transceiver. The processor is connected to the transceiver. The processor is configured to execute instructions, and the transceiver is configured to communicate with other network elements under the control of the processor. When the processor executes the instructions, the execution causes the device to execute the method of a visited location policy control function network element in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any of the aspects, or to execute the method of a home location policy control function network element in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any of the aspects.

[0052] In the ninth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a program, which enables the visited location policy control function network element to execute the method of the visited location policy control function network element in any aspect of the above-mentioned first and second aspects or any possible implementation method of any aspect.

[0053] In the tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a program, which enables the home policy control function network element to execute the method of the home policy control function network element in any aspect of the above-mentioned first and second aspects or any possible implementation method of any aspect.

[0054] In an eleventh aspect, a communication chip is provided, in which instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed on a computer device, the communication chip executes the method in any possible implementation of any of the first and second aspects above.

[0055] In a twelfth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in any one of the above-mentioned first and second aspects or any possible implementation thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0056] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture applying an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a 5G system to which this application is applied;

[0058] Figure 3 This is a local roaming architecture diagram applying an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] Figure 4 This is a diagram of a home routing roaming architecture using an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram of a computer device to which an embodiment of the present application is applied;

[0061] Figure 6 is a schematic flowchart of a method for sending a terminal policy according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] Figure 7 is a schematic interaction diagram of an example for sending a terminal policy according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] Figure 8 is a schematic interaction diagram of another example for sending a terminal policy according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] Figure 9 is another schematic flowchart of a method for sending a terminal policy according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0067] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), etc.

[0068] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a system architecture that applies an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1As shown, the system 100 includes: a visited location policy control function network element and a home location policy control function network element. The above system can be used to execute the method for sending terminal policy in the embodiment of the present application. Optionally, the system 100 also includes a mobility management network element.

[0069] The visited location policy control function network element is used to receive a notification of a failure to forward a first message from a mobility management network element, where the first message includes a first policy of the terminal; the visited location policy control function network element is also used to send a second message to the home location policy control function network element, where the second message includes first indication information and a first procedure transaction identity (PTI), where the first indication information is used to indicate a failure in sending the terminal policy, and the first PTI is allocated by the home location policy control function network element for the first policy.

[0070] The home policy control function network element is used to receive the second message.

[0071] Optionally, the home policy control function network element is used to stop a timer corresponding to the first PTI based on the first indication information, and the timer is used by the home policy control function network element to determine to send the first policy.

[0072] In the first possible implementation method, the visited location policy control function network element is also used to send a first request message to the mobility management network element, and the first request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message; accordingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to receive a notification of failure to forward the first message from the mobility management network element, specifically including: receiving a first response message from the mobility management network element, and the notification is the first response message.

[0073] Optionally, the first message includes a second PTI, which is allocated by the visited location policy control function network element to the first policy; the visited location policy control function network element is also used to determine the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the notification; and determine the first PTI based on the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs.

[0074] In a second possible implementation, the visited location policy control function network element is also used to send a second request message to the mobility management network element, and the second request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message; receive a second response message from the mobility management network element, and the second response message includes a first identifier, and the first identifier is used to identify the first message; accordingly, the notification includes the first identifier; and according to the first identifier, determine the first PTI corresponding to the first policy.

[0075] Optionally, after the visited location policy control function network element receives the second response message from the mobility management network element, the visited location policy control function network element is also used to save the first correspondence between the first identifier and the first PTI; accordingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to determine the first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier, specifically including: determining the first PTI based on the first correspondence and the first identifier.

[0076] Optionally, the first message includes a second PTI, and the second PTI is allocated by the visited location policy control function network element to the first policy; accordingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to determine the first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier, specifically including: determining the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier; determining the first PTI based on the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs.

[0077] Optionally, the visited location policy control function network element is also used to save the second correspondence between the first identifier and the second PTI; accordingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to determine the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier, specifically including: determining the second PTI based on the second correspondence and the first identifier.

[0078] In the various possible implementations described above, the mobility management network element is used to send second indication information to the visited location policy control function network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the terminal is reachable; correspondingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to send the second indication information to the home location policy control function network element.

[0079] Optionally, the visited location policy control function network element is also used to receive a first subscription message from the home location policy control function network element, where the first subscription message is used to subscribe to events that the terminal is reachable; accordingly, the visited location policy control function network element is used to send the second indication information to the home location policy control function network element, specifically including: sending the second indication information to the home location policy control function network element based on the first subscription message.

[0080] Optionally, the visited location policy control function network element is also used to send a second subscription message to the mobility management network element, and the second subscription message is used to subscribe to events that the terminal is reachable; accordingly, the mobility management network element is also used to send the second indication information to the visited location policy control function network element based on the second subscription message.

[0081] It should be noted that Figure 1 The visited-policy control function network element, home-policy control function network element, and mobility management network element are just names, and the names do not limit the device itself. In 5G networks and other future networks, the visited-policy control function network element, home-policy control function network element, and mobility management network element may also be other names, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this. For example, the visited-policy control function network element may also be replaced by a visited-policy control function (V-PCF) entity, the home-policy control function network element may also be replaced by a home-policy control function (H-PCF) entity, the mobility management network element may also be replaced by an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, etc., which are uniformly explained here and will not be repeated below.

[0082] Optionally, the visited location policy control function network element, the home location policy control function network element, and the access and mobility management network element in the above-mentioned system 100 can each be a separate network element, or can be implemented by multiple network elements, or can be a functional module within a network element. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0083] It is understandable that the above functions can be network elements in hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

[0084] In the embodiments of the present application, a terminal may refer to user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a terminal in V2X communication, a user unit, a user station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal device, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device. A terminal may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network, or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. A terminal may also include a V2X device, such as a vehicle or an on-board unit (OBU) in a vehicle.

[0085] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal is wirelessly connected to a radio access network (RAN) device, and the RAN device is wirelessly or wiredly connected to a core network device. The core network device and the RAN device may be independent, distinct physical devices, or the core network device's functions and the RAN device's logical functions may be integrated into the same physical device, or a single physical device may integrate some of the core network device's functions and some of the RAN device's functions. The terminal may be fixed or mobile.

[0086] The wireless access network device is an access device that the UE uses to access the mobile communication system wirelessly. It can be a base station NodeB, an evolved base station eNodeB, a base station (gNodeB, gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (Wireless Fidelity, WiFi) system, etc. It can also be a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (Cloud Radio Access Network, CRAN) scenario, or the access network device can be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a network device in a future 5G network or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the wireless access network device.

[0087] Core network equipment includes, for example, a mobility management entity (MME), a broadcast multicast service center (BMSC), etc., or may also include corresponding functional entities in the 5G system, such as core network control plane (CP) or user plane (UP) network functions, such as session management network function (SMF), access and mobility management function (AMF), etc. The core network control plane can also be understood as the core network control plane function (CPF) entity.

[0088] Optionally, Figure 1 The system 100 shown can be applied to 5G networks and other possible networks in the future, and the embodiments of the present application are not specifically limited to this.

[0089] in, Figure 1 The system 100 shown is applied to a 5G network. Figure 2 As shown, for example, the above-mentioned visited location policy control function network element and home location policy control function network element can be PCF in 5G, that is, PCF has both visited location policy control function and home location policy control function, or, as shown Figure 3 or Figure 4 As shown, for example, the above-mentioned visited location policy control function network element can be the V-PCF in 5G, the above-mentioned home location policy control function network element can be the H-PCF in 5G, and the above-mentioned access and mobility management network element can be the AMF in 5G.

[0090] The following will be combined Figures 2 to 4 , exemplifying 5G systems in different scenarios. It should be understood that the 5G systems described herein are merely examples and should not constitute any limitation to this application.

[0091] Figure 2 FIG shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of a basic 5G system 200. Figure 2As shown, system 200 includes: access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), radio access network (RAN), unified data management (UDM), policy control function (PCF), data network (DN), user plane function (UPF), UE, application function (AF) and unified data repository (UDR).

[0092] The main functions of each network element are described as follows:

[0093] AF: Application Function. This function primarily communicates application-side requirements to the network, such as quality of service (QoS) requirements. The AF can be a third-party functional entity or an application service deployed by the operator, such as the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) voice call service.

[0094] UDM: Unified Data Management. Mainly responsible for managing contract data, user access authorization, and other functions.

[0095] UDR: Unified Data Repository. Mainly responsible for the storage and access of contract data, policy data, application data, and other types of data.

[0096] PCF: Policy Control Function. It is primarily responsible for policy control functions such as session and service flow-level billing, QoS bandwidth assurance, mobility management, and UE policy decision-making. In this system, the PCFs to which the AMF and SMF are connected are the PCF for access and mobility control (AM PCF) and the PCF for session management (SM PCF), respectively. In actual deployments, the AM PCF and the SM PCF may not be the same PCF entity.

[0097] SMF: Session Management Function. Mainly performs session management, execution of control policies issued by PCF, UPF selection, UE IP address allocation, etc.

[0098] AMF: Access and mobility management function. It primarily performs mobility management and access authentication / authorization. It is also responsible for transferring user policies between the UE and PCF.

[0099] UPF: User plane functional entity. As the interface with the data network, the UPF performs functions such as user plane data forwarding, session / flow-level billing statistics, and bandwidth limiting.

[0100] (R)AN: (Wireless) access network, corresponding to different access networks in 5G, such as wired access, wireless base station access, and other methods.

[0101] PDU Session: A session service that enables PDU connectivity between the UE and the data network, identified by a PDU Session ID.

[0102] The functions of each interface are described as follows:

[0103] N7: Interface between PCF and SMF, used to deliver PDU session granularity and service data flow granularity control policy.

[0104] N15: Interface between PCF and AMF, used to deliver UE policies and access control related policies.

[0105] N5: The interface between AF and PCF, used for issuing application service requests and reporting network events.

[0106] N4: The interface between SMF and UPF is used to transmit information between the control plane and the user plane, including the control of the forwarding rules, QoS control rules, traffic statistics rules, etc. for the user plane and the reporting of information on the user plane.

[0107] N11: The interface between SMF and AMF, used to transfer PDU session tunnel information between RAN and UPF, transfer control messages sent to UE, transfer radio resource control information sent to RAN, etc.

[0108] N2: Interface between AMF and RAN, used to transmit radio bearer control information from the core network to the RAN.

[0109] N1: The interface between AMF and UE, access-independent, used to deliver QoS control rules to UE.

[0110] N8: Interface between AMF and UDM, used by AMF to obtain access and mobility management related subscription data and authentication data from UDM, and AMF to register UE current mobility management related information with UDM.

[0111] N10: Interface between SMF and UDM, used by SMF to obtain session management-related subscription data from UDM, and for SMF to register UE current session-related information with UDM.

[0112] N35: Interface between UDM and UDR, used by UDM to obtain user contract data information from UDR.

[0113] N36: Interface between PCF and UDR, used by PCF to obtain policy-related contract data and application data-related information from UDR.

[0114] N3: Interface between RAN and UPF, used to transfer user plane data between RAN and UPF.

[0115] N6: Interface between UPF and DN, used to transfer user plane data between UPF and DN.

[0116] N9: Interface between UPFs, such as the interface between the visited-policy control function (V-PCF) and the home-policy control function (H-PCF), or the interface between the UPF connected to the DN and the UPF connected to the RAN, used to transfer user plane data between UPFs.

[0117] The 3rd Generation Partner Project (3GPP) standard defines two roaming modes for users to access the visited location, namely local breakout roaming and home-routed roaming, which correspond to Figure 3 and Figure 4 The system shown.

[0118] Figure 3 FIG shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of a 5G system 300 for local access roaming. Figure 3 As shown, system 300 includes: AMF, SMF, (R)AN, UDM, visited-policy control function (V-PCF), home-policy control function (H-PCF), DN, UPF, UE, AF and UDR. Among them, the interface between V-PCF and H-PCF is N24. It should be understood that Figure 3Except for UDM, UDR and H-PCF located on the home public land mobile network (H-PLMN) side, other network elements are located on the visited public land mobile network (V-PLMN) side.

[0119] See also Figure 3 In this roaming architecture, both the AMF and SMF are located in the visited location. Session management is performed by the SMF functional entity in the visited location. Furthermore, the V-PCF to which the AMF connects and the V-PCF to which the SMF connects correspond to the AM PCF and SMPCF, respectively. In actual scenarios, the AM PCF and SMPCF may not be the same PCF entity. The user routing policy involved in this application can be provided by the H-PCF in this architecture.

[0120] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the architecture of a 5G system 400 for home access roaming is shown. Figure 4 and Figure 3 The difference is that system 400 adds a home user plane function (H-UPF) and a home session management function (H-SMF). That is, both the V-PLMN side and the HPLMN side include UPF and SMF. The UPF on the V-PLMN side is connected to the UPF on the HPLMN side via the N9 interface, and the UPF on the HPLMN side is connected to the DN via the N9 interface; the V-PLMN side's V-SMF is connected to the H-SMF on the HPLMN side via the N11 interface, the H-SMF is connected to the UPF on the HPLMN side via the N4 interface, and the H-SMF is connected to the UDM via the N10 interface. The H-PCF is connected to the AF via the N5 interface.

[0121] See also Figure 4 In this roaming architecture, the AMF is located in the visited location, and the session management function is performed by the H-SMF. In addition, the H-PCF connected to the V-PCF and the H-PCF connected to the H-SMF correspond to the AM PCF and SM PCF in this application, respectively. In actual scenarios, the AM PCF and SM PCF may not be the same PCF entity, but may be the same PCF entity. The user routing selection policy involved in this application can be provided by the H-PCF in this architecture.

[0122] It should be understood that the SM PCF is a policy control function entity connected to the SMF and is responsible for executing the session management policy rule decision function. The AM PCF is a policy control function entity directly connected to the AMF and is responsible for executing the access control policy and UE policy policy rule decision function.

[0123] It should be noted that Figure 2 、 Figure 3 or Figure 4 The naming of each network element included in (such as V-PCF, H-PCF, AMF, etc.) is only a name, and the name does not limit the function of the network element itself. In 5G networks and other future networks, the above-mentioned network elements may also have other names, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this. For example, in a 6G network, some or all of the above-mentioned network elements may use the terminology in 5G, or may be named otherwise, etc., which are uniformly explained here and will not be repeated below.

[0124] It should also be noted that Figures 2 to 4 The communication between the various network elements of the control plane function is described by taking the non-service interface as an example, but it does not limit the protection scope of the embodiment of the present application. Those skilled in the art will understand that Figures 2 to 4 The various network elements of the control plane function can also communicate through service-based interfaces. For example, the service-based interface provided by AMF to the outside world may be Namf; the service-based interface provided by SMF may be Nsmf; the service-based interface provided by UDM to the outside world may be Nudm, the service-based interface provided by AF may be Naf; the service-based interface provided by PCF to the outside world may be Npcf, and so on.

[0125] Those skilled in the art will understand that Figures 2 to 4 The network elements in the figure are only described for example. In fact, other network elements that interact with the network elements shown in the figure may also be included, which will not be described in detail here.

[0126] Figures 1 to 4 The specific working process and beneficial effects of the network elements in the system can be found in the description of the method embodiment below.

[0127] Figure 5 A schematic block diagram of a computer device 500 (or a device for sending terminal policies) according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 1 The visited location policy control function network element and the home location policy control function network element in the Figure 5 or, Figure 2 PCF in, or, Figure 3 V-PCF or H-PCF in, or, Figure 4 V-PCF or H-PCF can be made of Figure 5Alternatively, the above Figure 1 The mobility management network element in the network can be Figure 5 or, Figure 2 AMF in, or, Figure 3 AMF in, or, Figure 4 AMF can be composed of Figure 5 This can be achieved by means of computer equipment in the computer.

[0128] It should be understood that the computer device may be a physical device, a component of a physical device (eg, an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.), or a functional module in a physical device.

[0129] like Figure 5 As shown, the computer device includes: one or more processors 501. The processor 501 can store execution instructions for executing the method of the embodiment of the present application. Optionally, the processor 501 can call an interface to implement the receiving and sending functions. The interface can be a logical interface or a physical interface, which is not limited. For example, the interface can be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and sending functions can be separate or integrated together. The above-mentioned transceiver circuit or interface circuit can be used for reading and writing code / data, or the above-mentioned transceiver circuit or interface circuit can be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0130] Optionally, the interface can be implemented by a transceiver. Optionally, the computer device 500 may further include a transceiver 503. The transceiver 503 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or a transceiver, etc., and is used to implement transceiver functions.

[0131] Optionally, the computer device may further include a memory 502. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the specific deployment location of the memory 502. The memory may be integrated into the processor or may be independent of the processor. In the case where the computer device does not include a memory, the computer device may have processing capabilities, and the memory may be deployed elsewhere (e.g., in a cloud system).

[0132] The processor 501 , the memory 502 and the transceiver 503 communicate with each other through internal connection paths to transmit control and / or data signals.

[0133] It is understood that, although not shown, the computer device 500 may further include other devices, such as input devices, output devices, batteries, etc.

[0134] Optionally, in some embodiments, the memory 502 may store execution instructions for executing the method of the embodiment of the present application. The processor 501 may execute the instructions stored in the memory 502 in conjunction with other hardware (e.g., the transceiver 503) to complete the steps of the method shown below. The specific working process and beneficial effects can be found in the description of the method embodiment below.

[0135] The methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to or implemented by the processor 503. The processor 503 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the method can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor or by software instructions. The above-mentioned processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. The methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly implemented and executed by a hardware decoding processor, or by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the instructions in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0136] It will be appreciated that the memory 502 may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0137] The computer device 500 can be a general-purpose computer device or a dedicated computer device. In a specific implementation, the computer device 500 can be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a network server, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal device, a communication device, an embedded device or a computer with a computer. Figure 5 The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the computer device 500.

[0138] In addition, the network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0139] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present application, the method for sending terminal policies provided in the present application is illustrated below in combination with the 5G system described in this article.

[0140] Figure 6 FIG1 shows a schematic flow chart of a method 600 for sending a terminal policy according to an embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that Figure 6 The content sent and received in the interactive process can be sent and received using the messages in the existing standards. The specific meaning of the messages can refer to the description in the standards, or they can be sent and received using newly defined messages. There is no limitation on this. Figure 6 As shown, the method 600 includes:

[0141] S610: The mobility management network element sends a notification of a first message forwarding failure to a visited location policy control function network element, where the first message includes a first policy of the terminal. Correspondingly, the visited location policy control function network element receives the notification of a first message forwarding failure from the mobility management network element.

[0142] The first policy may be a part or all of the terminal policy.

[0143] Optionally, after receiving the terminal policy provided by the home policy control function element, if the terminal policy is too large and exceeds the size pre-configured by the VPLMN, the visited policy control function element may encapsulate the terminal policy into multiple messages (for example, the message may be MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND) and send the messages to the mobility management element via multiple request messages (for example, the request message is Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Request). The PTI is assigned to each policy encapsulated in the message. That is, the terminal policy provided by the home policy control function element may correspond to one or more PTIs assigned by the visited policy control function element. For example, the visited policy control function element encapsulates the first policy of the terminal in a first message, encapsulates the first message in a request message, and then sends the request message to the mobility management element to request the mobility management element to forward the first message. If the mobility management element finds that the terminal is unreachable and cannot forward the first message to the terminal, the mobility management element may send a notification of the failure to forward the first message to the visited policy control function element. Here, the notification may be used to inform the visited location policy control function network element that the first message forwarding fails. Wherein, the terminal being reachable means that the terminal can be paged or the terminal is in a connected state.

[0144] Among them, the terminal policy (or also known as: UE policy) can also be called UE access selection and PDU session selection related policy (UE access selection and PDU session selection related policy). The terminal policy may include access network discovery and selection policy (ANDSP) or UE route selection policy (URSP). ANDSP is used by the UE to select a non-3GPP access network. URSP is used by the UE to decide how to route data, that is, to decide which PDU session to use to send data or to divert data from the non-3GPP access network. The terminal policy can be a terminal policy to be updated or a newly formulated terminal policy, and there is no limitation on this.

[0145] Before receiving the notification of the failure to forward the first message from the mobility management network element, the visited location policy control function network element may receive the terminal policy provided by the home location policy control function network element, so as to forward the policy to the mobility management network element.

[0146] Optionally, before S610, the home policy control function network element sends a third message to the visited policy control function network element, where the third message includes the first policy of the terminal and a first transaction identifier (PTI), where the first PTI is allocated by the home policy control function network element for the first policy. Correspondingly, the visited policy control function network element receives the third message from the home policy control function network element.

[0147] S620: The visited location policy control function element sends a second message to the home location policy control function element. The second message includes first indication information and the first PTI. The first indication information is used to indicate a failure in sending the terminal policy. The first PTI is allocated by the home location policy control function element for the first policy. Correspondingly, the home location policy control function element receives the second message from the visited location policy control function element.

[0148] In an embodiment of the present application, after determining that the terminal is unreachable, the mobility management network element may send a notification of a failure to forward the first message to the visited policy control function network element. Based on the notification, the visited policy control function network element may determine the first PTI assigned by the home policy control function network element for the first policy, and send a failure indication and the first PTI to the home policy control function network element to inform the home policy control function network element, thereby effectively avoiding the home policy control function network element from making unnecessary policy transmissions.

[0149] For the home policy control function network element, after receiving the second message, it can be learned that the forwarding of the first policy corresponding to the first PTI has failed. Here, the first policy can be part or all of the terminal policy corresponding to the first PTI. Optionally, if the first policy is a partial policy of the terminal policy corresponding to the first PTI, the second message can also include a terminal policy segment identifier of the first policy, such as a UE Policy Section Identifier (UPSI) list corresponding to the first policy.

[0150] Optionally, the method 600 further includes: S630, the home policy control function network element stops a timer corresponding to the first PTI based on the first indication information, where the timer is used by the home policy control function network element to determine to send the first policy.

[0151] That is, when the home policy control function network element learns that the first policy forwarding fails, it can stop the timer corresponding to the first PTI, that is, stop sending the terminal policy, which helps save overhead. The timer corresponding to the first PTI is used to guide the home policy control function network element to send the first policy.

[0152] In an embodiment of the present application, before S620, the visited location policy control function network element may determine the first transaction processing identifier PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the notification. The notification may include a first identifier for identifying the first message, or may not include the first identifier, and this is not limited. The first identifier is a transfer ID assigned by the mobility management network element. The first identifier can be understood as a uniform resource identifier (URI) for storing the N1 / N2 message forwarding status. For example, the first identifier can be {apiRoot} / namf-comm / v1 / ue-contexts / {ueContextId} / n1-n2-messages / {n1N2MessageId}.

[0153] Here, after receiving the notification, the visited location policy control function network element may determine the first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the notification if the notification does not include the first identifier; if the notification includes the first identifier, determine the first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier.

[0154] The specific implementation of whether the notification includes the first identifier will be described below.

[0155] As a first implementation, the notification may not include the first identifier. The visited location policy control function network element may directly determine the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the notification of the failure to forward the first message.

[0156] Optionally, the method 600 further includes: the visited site policy control function network element sending a first request message to the mobility management network element, wherein the first request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message. Correspondingly, the mobility management network element receives the first request message from the visited site policy control function network element. Accordingly, S610 includes: the mobility management network element sending a first response message to the visited site policy control function network element, wherein the notification is the first response message. Correspondingly, the visited site policy control function network element receives the first response message from the mobility management network element.

[0157] Exemplarily, the visited site policy control function network element encapsulates the first policy into a first message, and then sends a request, such as a first request message, to the mobility management network element to forward the first message. If the mobility management network element detects that the terminal is unreachable, the mobility management network element sends a response, such as a first response message, to the visited site policy control function network element to notify the visited site policy control function network element of the failure to forward the first message.

[0158] The first request message or the first response message may be a message sent via a service-based interface (such as an N-amf interface) or a non-service-based interface (such as N15). For example, the first request message is Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MessageTransfer Request. For another example, the first response message is Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MessageTransfer Response.

[0159] Optionally, the method 600 also includes: the visited location policy control function network element determines a second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the notification; the visited location policy control function network element determines the first PTI based on the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs.

[0160] Here, after receiving the notification, the visited policy control function network element can know which policy failed to be sent. This is because, when requesting the mobility management network element to forward the first message, the visited policy control function network element can include a second PTI in the first message. The second PTI is allocated by the visited policy control function network element to the first policy of the terminal when the visited policy control function network element receives the terminal policy provided by the home policy control function network element. In this way, after requesting the mobility management network element to forward the first message, if the visited policy control function network element receives the notification, it can directly determine the second PTI corresponding to the first policy. In addition, since the visited policy control function network element may encapsulate the terminal policy into multiple first messages, one first PTI may correspond to multiple PTIs. Since the visited policy control function network element stores the correspondence between the first PTI and one or more PTIs, the visited policy control function network element can determine the corresponding first PTI based on the second PTI.

[0161] For example, assuming that the home policy control function network element allocates PTI1 for the terminal policy and provides the terminal policy to the visited policy control function network element, the visited policy control function network element encapsulates the terminal policy into two MANAGE UE POLICY COMMANDs and allocates PTIs to each MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND, such as PTI2 and PTI3. The visited policy control function network element requests the mobility management network element to forward the first policy corresponding to PTI2. After receiving the notification of the failure to forward the first message from the mobility management network element, the visited policy control function network element can determine that the forwarding of the first policy corresponding to PTI2 has failed, and can determine the corresponding PTI1 based on PTI2, so that the home policy control function network element can be informed of the failure to forward the terminal policy corresponding to PTI1.

[0162] For ease of understanding, here we combine Figure 7 The examples in are described. Figure 7 The following description is based on the example that the home policy control function network element is H-PCF, the visited policy control function network element is V-PCF, and the mobility management network element is AMF. Figure 7 Shown, including:

[0163] S701: The H-PCF sends a third message to the V-PCF.

[0164] For example, the third message may be Npcf_UEPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Request.

[0165] For example, the H-PCF decides to provide a UE Policy to the terminal. The H-PCF can encapsulate the updated or newly established UE Policy in the MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND message format and send it to the V-PCF via the Npcf_UEPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Request message. The H-PCF can also allocate PTI1 for the UE Policy. Optionally, the H-PCF can start a timer. If the H-PCF does not receive a response message from the UE before the timer expires, the H-PCF resends the UEPolicy. The format of the MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND message is shown in Table 1.

[0166] Table 1

[0167]

[0168] For detailed explanations of the contents in Table 1 above, please refer to the description in the existing standard protocol (3GPP TS 24.501 D.5.1.1), which will not be elaborated here.

[0169] S702: The V-PCF sends a response message to the third message to the H-PCF.

[0170] For example, the response message of the third message is Npcf_UEPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Response.

[0171] S703: The V-PCF sends a first request message to the AMF. The first request message is used to request forwarding of the first message.

[0172] For example, the first request message is Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Request, and the first message is MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND.

[0173] V-PCF allocates PTI2 for UE Policy and replaces PTI1 in MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND with PTI2, and then sends MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND to AMF through Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransferRequest.

[0174] V-PCF can save the correspondence between PTI1 and PTI2.

[0175] Here, if the UE Policy exceeds the size predefined by the VPLMN, the V-PCF encapsulates the UE Policy provided by the H-PCF into multiple MANAGE UE POLICY COMMANDs and sends them to the AMF through multiple Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Requests.

[0176] For example, if the V-PCF encapsulates two MANAGE UE POLICY COMMANDs and sends the UEPolicy provided by the H-PCF, the V-PCF can allocate PTI2 and PTI3 to the two MANAGE UE POLICY COMMANDs respectively. Each MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND is sent to the AMF via a Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Request.

[0177] In other words, the first policy of the terminal can be encapsulated in a MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND and sent to the AMF via a Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Request.

[0178] S704, AMF returns a notification of failure to forward the first message to the V-PCF.

[0179] If the AMF determines that the UE is unreachable, it sends a notification to the V-PCF indicating that forwarding of the first message failed. For example, the notification may be a Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Response. Based on the Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Response, the V-PCF can learn that the policy forwarding in the MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND failed, and can also learn that the MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND corresponds to PTI2. Since the correspondence between PTI2 and PTI1 was saved in S703, the V-PCF can learn the corresponding PTI1.

[0180] S705: The V-PCF sends a second message to the H-PCF.

[0181] For example, the second message is Npcf_UEPolicyUpdate_Request, where Npcf_UEPolicyUpdate_Request includes a failure indication and PTI1.

[0182] S706: The H-PCF returns a response message of the second message to the V-PCF.

[0183] For example, the response message to the second message is Npcf_UEPolicyControl_UpdateNofiyResponse. The H-PCF may stop the timer corresponding to PTI1 and wait until the UE is reachable before sending the UE Policy.

[0184] Therefore, in the first implementation manner, the visited location policy control function network element may directly determine the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the notification of the failure to forward the first message.

[0185] As a second implementation, the notification may include a first identifier. In other words, the notification sent by the mobility management network element to the visited location policy control function network element carries the first identifier corresponding to the first message that could not be successfully sent. The visited location policy control function network element may determine the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier carried in the notification of the failure to forward the first message.

[0186] Optionally, the method 600 further includes: the visited site policy control function network element sending a second request message to the mobility management network element, wherein the second request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message. Correspondingly, the mobility management network element receives the second request message from the visited site policy control function network element.

[0187] The mobility management network element sends a second response message to the visited location policy control function network element, where the second response message includes a first identifier, and the first identifier is used to identify the first message. Correspondingly, the visited location policy control function network element receives the second response message from the mobility management network element. Accordingly, when the mobility management network element determines that the terminal is unreachable, it sends a notification of failure to forward the first message to the visited location policy control function network element, and includes the first identifier in the notification. The visited location policy control function network element determines the first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier.

[0188] The second request message or the second response message may be a message sent via a serviced interface (such as an N-pcf interface) or a non-serviced interface (such as N15). For example, the second request message is Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Request. For another example, the second response message is Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Response.

[0189] Optionally, the first message includes a second PTI, which is allocated by the visited policy control function network element to the first policy; accordingly, the visited policy control function network element determines the first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier, including: the visited policy control function network element determines the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier; the visited policy control function network element determines the first PTI based on the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs.

[0190] This differs from the first implementation in that the visited site policy control function element determines a second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier included in the notification. The visited site policy control function element then determines a first PTI based on the second PTI. The manner in which the visited site policy control function element determines the first PTI based on the second PTI can be found in the description of the first implementation and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0191] This describes how the visited site policy control function network element determines the second PTI based on the first identifier. Optionally, after the visited site policy control function network element receives the second response message from the mobility management network element, the method 600 further includes: the visited site policy control function network element saves a second correspondence between the first identifier and the second PTI; accordingly, the visited site policy control function network element determines the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier, including: the visited site policy control function network element determines the second PTI based on the second correspondence and the first identifier.

[0192] Specifically, after receiving a second response message from the mobility management network element, the visited location policy control function network element, which includes a first identifier in the second response message, cannot temporarily determine whether the first policy is forwarded successfully. Therefore, the second correspondence between the first identifier and the second PTI can be saved. Then, after receiving a notification from the mobility management network element that forwarding of the first message failed, the visited location policy control function network element can determine that the forwarding of the first policy has failed. The visited location policy control function network element can obtain the second PTI based on the second correspondence and the first identifier included in the notification.

[0193] Alternatively, after the visited site policy control function network element receives the second response message from the mobility management network element, the method 600 also includes: the visited site policy control function network element saves the first correspondence between the first identifier and the first PTI; accordingly, the visited site policy control function network element determines the first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier, including: the visited site policy control function network element determines the first PTI based on the first correspondence and the first identifier.

[0194] Specifically, after the visited-site policy control function network element receives the second response message from the mobility management network element, the second response message includes the first identifier. It is temporarily unable to determine whether the first policy is forwarded successfully, and the first correspondence between the first identifier and the first PTI can be saved first. Then, after receiving the notification of the failure to forward the first message from the mobility management network element, the visited-site policy control function network element can determine that the first policy forwarding has failed. The visited-site policy control function network element can directly obtain the first PTI based on the first correspondence between the first identifier and the first PTI, and the first identifier included in the notification.

[0195] If there are multiple messages that cannot be sent successfully, the mobility management network element may return multiple notifications to the visited location policy control function network element, each notification carrying an identifier corresponding to the message that cannot be sent successfully. For example, if the first message forwarding fails, the notification of the failure to forward the first message carries the first identifier. Alternatively, for multiple messages that cannot be sent successfully, the mobility management network element may also return only one notification and carry a list of identifiers in the notification. Optionally, the notification may include a list of identifiers, the list of identifiers including multiple identifiers, each identifier being used to identify a message that failed to be sent, and the first identifier being one of the multiple identifiers.

[0196] For ease of understanding, here we combine Figure 8 The examples in are described. Figure 8 The following description is based on the example that the home policy control function network element is H-PCF, the visited policy control function network element is V-PCF, and the mobility management network element is AMF. Figure 8 Shown, including:

[0197] S801: The H-PCF sends a third message to the V-PCF.

[0198] For the specific description involved in S801, please refer to the introduction in S701, which will not be repeated here.

[0199] S802: The V-PCF sends a response message to the third message to the H-PCF.

[0200] For example, the response message of the third message is Npcf_UEPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Response.

[0201] S803: The V-PCF sends a second request message to the AMF. The second request message is used to request forwarding of the first message.

[0202] For example, the second request message is Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Request, and the first message is MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND.

[0203] V-PCF allocates PTI2 for UE Policy and replaces PTI1 in MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND with PTI2, and then sends MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND to AMF through Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransferRequest.

[0204] V-PCF can save the correspondence between PTI1 and PTI2.

[0205] Here, if the UE Policy exceeds the size predefined by the VPLMN, the V-PCF encapsulates the UE Policy provided by the H-PCF into multiple MANAGE UE POLICY COMMANDs and sends them to the AMF through multiple Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Requests.

[0206] For example, the V-PCF encapsulates two MANAGE UE POLICY COMMANDs to send the UEPolicy provided by the H-PCF. The V-PCF can allocate PTI2 and PTI3 to the two MANAGE UE POLICY COMMANDs respectively. Each MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND is sent to the AMF via a Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Request.

[0207] In other words, the first policy of the terminal can be encapsulated in a MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND and sent to the AMF via a Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Request.

[0208] S804: The AMF sends a second response message to the V-PCF, where the second response message includes the first identifier.

[0209] For example, the second response message can be Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransferResponse, and the first identifier is Transfer Id. Specifically, the first identifier is the resource URI that saves the N1 / N2 message forwarding status, such as {apiRoot} / namf-comm / v1 / ue-contexts / {ueContextId} / n1-n2-messages / {n1N2MessageId}.

[0210] Optionally, if the AMF receives multiple Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Requests, the AMF may return multiple Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Responses, each Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Request including a Transfer Id.

[0211] Optionally, after receiving the Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer Response, the V-CPF may save the correspondence between the Transfer Id and PTI2, and / or the Transfer Id and PTI1, so as to subsequently determine PTI2 and / or PTI1 based on the Transfer Id.

[0212] S805: The AMF returns a notification of failure to forward the first message to the V-PCF, wherein the notification includes the first identifier.

[0213] If the AMF determines that the UE is unreachable, it sends a notification of the failure to forward the first message to the V-PCF. For example, the notification may be Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2TransferFailureNotification.

[0214] If multiple Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2MesageTransfer requests received by AMF cannot be sent, AMF can send multiple Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2TransferFailureNotifications to V-PCF and carry the corresponding Transfer Id in each Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2TransferFailureNotification. Alternatively, AMF only sends one Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2TransferFailureNotification to V-PCF and carries a list including the Transfer Ids corresponding to multiple message forwarding failures.

[0215] For the V-PCF, based on the Transfer Id in Namf_Commmuncation_N1N2TransferFailureNotification and the correspondence between the Transfer Id and PTI2, the V-PCF can determine that the policy forwarding in the MANAGE UE POLICY COMMAND corresponding to PTI2 has failed. Since the correspondence between PTI2 and PTI1 was also saved in S803, the V-PCF can determine the corresponding PTI1. Alternatively, if the correspondence between the Transfer Id and PTI1 was saved in S804, the V-PCF can directly determine PTI1 based on the Transfer Id and the correspondence between the Transfer Id and PTI1.

[0216] Optionally, if in S803, the V-PCF allocates multiple PTIs to PTI1, such as PTI2 and PTI3, and among the multiple PTIs, some messages are forwarded successfully (i.e., the V-PCF only receives the Transfer Ids corresponding to some of the PTIs). For example, if the V-PCF only receives the transfer Id corresponding to PTI2 but not the transfer Id corresponding to PTI3, it can be considered that the UE Policy corresponding to PTI3 is sent successfully. The V-PCF can further determine the UPSIlist in the UE policy based on PTI2.

[0217] S806: The V-PCF sends a second message to the H-PCF.

[0218] For example, the second message is Npcf_UEPolicyUpdate_Request, where Npcf_UEPolicyUpdate_Request includes a failure indication and PTI1.

[0219] Optionally, if some UE Policies in the UE Policies corresponding to PTI1 fail to be sent, the V-PCF may include a UPSI List corresponding to the failed UE Policies in the second message.

[0220] S807: The H-PCF returns a response message of the second message to the V-PCF.

[0221] For example, the response message to the second message is Npcf_UEPolicyControl_UpdateNofiyResponse. The H-PCF may stop the timer corresponding to PTI1 and wait until the UE is reachable before sending the UE Policy.

[0222] Therefore, in the second implementation method, the visited location policy control function network element can determine the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier in the notification of the failure to forward the first message, and then determine the first PTI based on the second PTI, or can directly determine the first PTI.

[0223] It should be understood that Figure 7 and Figure 8 The examples are only for the convenience of those skilled in the art to understand the embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application to the specific scenarios illustrated. Figure 7 and Figure 8 It is obvious that various equivalent modifications or changes can be made, and such modifications or changes also fall within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0224] In an embodiment of the present application, the above-mentioned second message may also be sent by the visited policy control function network element when it receives the first policy retransmitted by the home policy control function network element. Optionally, S620 includes: upon receiving the first policy retransmitted from the home policy control function network element, the visited policy control function network element sends the second message to the home policy control function network element. That is, when the visited policy control function network element receives the first policy retransmitted by the home policy control function network element, if the terminal is still unreachable (for example, the mobility management network element does not send a terminal reachable indication), the visited policy control function network element may send the second message to the home policy control function network element.

[0225] For the home policy control function network element, when the home policy control function network element sends the third message to the visited policy control function network element, a timer, for example, a first timer, may be started. If the first timer expires, the home policy control function network element may resend the third message to the visited policy control function network element. If, after the first timer expires, the home policy control function network element does not receive a response message from the visited policy control function network element, the home policy control function network element retransmits the third message to the visited policy control function network element.

[0226] It should be understood that the above Figure 7 or Figure 8 The above processes are applicable to the scenario where the visited location policy control function network element receives the first policy retransmitted by the home location policy control function network element. Figure 8 Taking the example in as an example, optionally, before S806, the following further includes: S808, the H-PCF resends the third message to the V-PCF. Here, if the H-PCF has not received a response message from the V-PCF after the timer started in S801 times out, the H-PCF resends the third message to the V-PCF. Accordingly, the second message in S806 is sent by the V-PCF after receiving the third message retransmitted by the H-PCF.

[0227] In each of the above implementations, after detecting that the terminal is reachable, the mobility management network element can notify the visited location policy control function network element that the terminal is reachable. The visited location policy control function network element can notify the home location policy control function network element that the terminal is reachable. In this way, after knowing that the terminal is reachable, the home location policy control function network element can continue to provide terminal policies. Figure 9 The interaction diagram in is described in detail. It should be understood that Figure 9 The process in can be implemented in the same way as above ( Figure 6 、 Figure 7 or Figure 8 ) can be used in combination or independently, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0228] Figure 9 Another schematic interaction diagram of the method 900 for sending terminal policies according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 9 As shown, the method 900 includes:

[0229] S910: The mobility management network element sends second indication information to the visited location policy control function network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the terminal is reachable. Correspondingly, the visited location policy control function network element receives the second indication information from the mobility management network element.

[0230] Here, the mobility management network element may detect the terminal that fails to forward the message, and after detecting that the terminal is reachable, may send a reachability indication, such as second indication information, to the visited location policy control function network element. For example, the second indication information is sent via a Namf_EventExposure message.

[0231] Optionally, before S910, the method 900 further includes: S911, the visited location policy control function network element sends a second subscription message to the mobility management network element, where the second subscription message is used to subscribe to events that the terminal is reachable. Correspondingly, the mobility management network element receives the second subscription message from the visited location policy control function network element.

[0232] That is, the mobility management network element may send the second indication information to the visited location policy control function network element based on the visited location policy control function network element subscribing to the reachability event of the terminal.

[0233] Alternatively, the mobility management network element may also send the second indication information to the visited location policy control function network element based on having sent a notification of message forwarding failure to the visited location policy control function network element.

[0234] S920: The visited location policy control function network element sends second indication information to the home location policy control function network element. Correspondingly, the home location policy control function network element receives the second indication information from the visited location policy control function network element.

[0235] For example, the second indication information is sent via an Npcf_UEPolicyControl_Update Request message. Optionally, after receiving the Npcf_UEPolicyControl_Update Request, the home policy control function network element may reply with an Npcf_UEPolicyControl_Update Response to the visited policy control function network element.

[0236] Therefore, after detecting that the terminal is reachable, the mobility management network element sends a reachability indication to the visited location policy control function network element. The visited location policy control function network element can send the reachability indication to the home location policy control function network element so that the home location policy control function network element can continue to send terminal policies.

[0237] Optionally, before S920, the method 900 further includes: S921, the home location policy control function network element sends a first subscription message to the visited location policy control function network element, where the first subscription message is used to subscribe to events that the terminal is reachable. Correspondingly, the visited location policy control function network element receives the first subscription message from the home location policy control function network element.

[0238] That is, the visited location policy control function network element may send the second indication information to the home location policy control function network element based on the home location policy control function network element subscribing to the reachability event of the terminal.

[0239] Alternatively, the visited policy control function network element may also send the second indication information to the home policy control function network element based on the failure indication sent by the home policy control function network element (for example, the second message in method 600).

[0240] In an embodiment of the present application, when the mobility management network element determines that the terminal is reachable, it can notify the visited location policy control function network element. When the visited location policy control function network element learns that the terminal is reachable, it sends a reachability indication to the home location policy control function network element so that the home location policy control function network element can continue to provide terminal policies.

[0241] It should be understood that the various schemes of the embodiments of the present application can be used in combination or separately, and the explanations or descriptions of the various terms appearing in the embodiments can be referenced or explained with each other in the various embodiments, without limitation to this.

[0242] The above describes a method for sending a terminal policy according to an embodiment of the present application. The following describes an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that the technical features described in the method embodiment are also applicable to the following apparatus embodiment.

[0243] Figure 10 A schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. Optionally, the specific form of the communication device 1000 may be a general-purpose computer device or a chip within a general-purpose computer device, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1000 includes a receiving module 1010 and a transmitting module 1020. Optionally, the communication device 1000 may also include a processing module 1030.

[0244] Specifically, the communication device 1000 can be any network element involved in this application and can implement the functions that can be implemented by the network element. It should be understood that the communication device 1000 can be a physical device, a component of a physical device (for example, an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.), or a functional module in a physical device.

[0245] For example, the communication device 1000 can be used to implement the functions of the visited site policy control function network element described herein. For example, the communication device 1000 can be a visited site policy control function network element, a component (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.) in a visited site policy control function network element, or a functional module.

[0246] In one implementation, the receiving module 1010 is configured to receive a notification of a first message forwarding failure from a mobility management network element, where the first message includes a first policy of the terminal.

[0247] The sending module 1020 is used to send a second message to the home policy control function network element, where the second message includes first indication information and a first transaction processing identifier PTI. The first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal policy sending failed, and the first PTI is allocated by the home policy control function network element for the first policy.

[0248] Optionally, as a possible implementation method, the sending module 1020 is also used to: send a first request message to the mobility management network element, and the first request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message; accordingly, the receiving module 1010 is used to receive a notification of failure to forward the first message from the mobility management network element, specifically including: receiving a first response message from the mobility management network element, and the notification is the first response message.

[0249] Optionally, the first message includes a second PTI, which is allocated by the visited policy control function network element to the first policy; the device 1000 also includes: a processing module 1030, used to determine the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the notification; determine the first PTI based on the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs.

[0250] Optionally, as another possible implementation method, the sending module 1020 is also used to: send a second request message to the mobility management network element, the second request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message; the receiving module 1010 is also used to: receive a second response message from the mobility management network element, the second response message includes a first identifier, and the first identifier is used to identify the first message; accordingly, the notification includes the first identifier; the processing module 1030 is used to determine the first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier.

[0251] Optionally, the processing module 1030 is also used to: save the first correspondence between the first identifier and the first PTI; accordingly, the processing module 1030 is used to determine the first PTI corresponding to the first strategy based on the first identifier, specifically including: determining the first PTI based on the first correspondence and the first identifier.

[0252] Optionally, the first message includes a second PTI, which is allocated by the visited policy control function network element to the first policy; accordingly, the processing module 1030 is used to determine the first PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier, specifically including: determining the second PTI corresponding to the first policy based on the first identifier; determining the first PTI based on the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs.

[0253] Optionally, the processing module 1030 is also used to: save the second correspondence between the first identifier and the second PTI; accordingly, the processing module 1030 is used to determine the second PTI corresponding to the first strategy based on the first identifier, specifically including: determining the second PTI based on the second correspondence and the first identifier.

[0254] Optionally, the notification further includes an identifier list, the identifier list includes multiple identifiers, each identifier is used to identify a message that fails to be sent, and the first identifier is one of the multiple identifiers.

[0255] Optionally, the second message further includes a terminal policy fragment identifier of the first policy.

[0256] Optionally, the sending module 1020 is configured to send a second message to the home policy control function network element, specifically including: upon receiving the first policy retransmitted from the home policy control function network element, sending the second message to the home policy control function network element.

[0257] Optionally, the receiving module 1010 is further used to: receive second indication information from the mobility management network element, the second indication information being used to indicate that the terminal is reachable; the sending module 1020 is further used to send the second indication information to the home policy control function network element.

[0258] Optionally, the receiving module 1010 is also used to: receive a first subscription message from the home policy control function network element, the first subscription message is used to subscribe to events that are reachable by the terminal; accordingly, the sending module 1020 is used to send the second indication information to the home policy control function network element, specifically including: sending the second indication information to the home policy control function network element based on the first subscription message.

[0259] Optionally, the sending module 1020 is further configured to: send a second subscription message to the mobility management network element, where the second subscription message is used to subscribe to an event that a terminal is reachable.

[0260] It should be understood that the communication device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the method of the visited location policy control function network element in the aforementioned method embodiment (for example, Figures 6 to 9 ), and the above-mentioned and other management operations and / or functions of each module in the communication device 1000 are respectively the corresponding steps of the method for implementing the visited policy control function network element in the aforementioned method embodiment, so the beneficial effects in the aforementioned method embodiment can also be achieved. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here.

[0261] For another example, the communication device 1000 can be used to implement the functions of the home policy control function network element described herein. For example, the communication device 1000 can be a home policy control function network element, a component (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.) in the home policy control function network element, or a functional module.

[0262] The sending module 1020 is used to send a third message to the visited location policy control function network element, where the third message includes the first policy of the terminal and the first transaction processing identifier PTI, wherein the first PTI is allocated by the home location policy control function network element for the first policy.

[0263] The receiving module 1010 is configured to receive a second message from the visited location policy control function network element, where the second message includes first indication information and a first PTI, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal policy has failed to be sent.

[0264] Optionally, the processing module 1030 is configured to stop a timer corresponding to the first PTI based on the first PTI indication information, where the timer is used by the home policy control function network element to determine to send the first policy.

[0265] Optionally, the processing module 1030 is also used to start a first timer when the home policy control function network element sends a third message to the visited policy control function network element; after the first timer times out, if no response message is received from the visited policy control function network element, call the sending module 1020 to retransmit the third message to the visited policy control function network element; accordingly, the receiving module 1010 is used to receive a second message from the visited policy control function network element, specifically including: after the home policy control function network element retransmits the third message to the visited policy control function network element, receiving the second message from the visited policy control function network element.

[0266] Optionally, the second message further includes a terminal policy fragment identifier corresponding to the first policy.

[0267] Optionally, in a possible implementation, the receiving module 1010 is further used to receive a second indication message from the visited location policy control function network element, wherein the second indication message is used to indicate that the terminal is reachable; the sending module 1020 is further used to send a response message to the visited location policy control function network element, wherein the response message is used to respond to the second indication message.

[0268] Optionally, the sending module 1020 is further configured to send a first subscription message to the visited location policy control function network element, where the first subscription message is used to subscribe to an event that the terminal is reachable.

[0269] It should be understood that the communication device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the method of the home policy control function network element in the aforementioned method embodiment (for example, Figures 6 to 9 ), and the above-mentioned and other management operations and / or functions of each module in the communication device 1000 are respectively the corresponding steps of the method for implementing the home policy control function network element in the aforementioned method embodiment, so the beneficial effects in the aforementioned method embodiment can also be achieved. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here.

[0270] It should also be understood that in this embodiment, the communication device 1000 is presented in the form of functional modules. The "module" here can refer to an application-specific integrated circuit ASIC, a circuit, a processor and memory that executes one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices that can provide the above functions. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art can imagine that the device 1000 can be used Figure 5 The processing module 1030 can be Figure 5 Optionally, if Figure 5 The computer device shown includes a memory 502, and the processing module 1030 can be implemented by the processor 501 and the memory 502. The receiving module 1010 and the sending module 1020 can be implemented by Figure 5 The transceiver 503 shown is implemented. The transceiver 503 includes a receiving function and a sending function. Specifically, the processor is implemented by executing a computer program stored in the memory. Optionally, when the device 1000 is a chip, the functions and / or implementation processes of the receiving module 1010 and the sending module 1020 can also be implemented by pins or circuits. Optionally, the memory can be a storage unit in the chip, such as a register, a cache, etc., and the storage unit can also be a storage unit in the computer device located outside the chip, such as Figure 5The memory 502 may also be a storage unit deployed in other systems or devices, not in the computer device. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. 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 be beyond the scope of this application.

[0271] Various aspects or features of the present application can be implemented as methods, devices or products using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "product" as used in this application covers computer programs that can be accessed from any computer-readable device, carrier or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks or magnetic tapes, etc.), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), cards, sticks or key drives, etc.). In addition, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0272] The present application also provides a computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0273] The present application also provides a computer program product, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0274] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0275] It should be understood that references to "embodiments" throughout this specification mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic associated with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, various embodiments throughout this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0276] It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present invention, the numbers "first", "second"... are only for distinguishing different objects, such as to distinguish different messages or indication information, and do not constitute a limitation on the scope of the embodiment of the present application, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0277] It should also be understood that in this application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the network element will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, which is not a time limit, and does not require the network element to make judgment actions when implementing it, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0278] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0279] It should also be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the order of execution of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily indicate the order in which they are executed. The order in which the processes are executed should be determined by their functions and internal logic. The various numbers or serial numbers involved in the above-mentioned processes are merely for the convenience of description and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0280] It should also be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein simply describes a relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " as used herein generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0281] In this application, expressions similar to “the item includes one or more of the following: A, B, and C” generally mean, unless otherwise specified, that the item can be any one of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C; A and A; A, A and A; A, A and B; A, A and C, A, B and B; A, C and C; B and B, B, B and B, B, B and C, C and C; C, C and C, and other combinations of A, B and C. The above examples use A, B, and C as an example to illustrate the optional items of the item. When the expression is “the item includes at least one of the following: A, B, …, and X”, that is, when the expression contains more elements, the items applicable to the item can also be obtained according to the above rules.

[0282] It should be understood that in each embodiment of the present application, "A corresponds to B" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined based on A. However, it should also be understood that determining B based on A does not mean determining B based solely on A, and B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0283] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0284] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0285] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0286] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0287] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0288] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0289] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to: Sending a second request message to a mobility management network element, where the second request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message, where the first message includes a first policy of the terminal; receiving a second response message from the mobility management network element, where the second response message includes a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to identify the first message, and the first identifier is allocated by the mobility management network element to the first message; receiving a notification from the mobility management network element that the first message forwarding fails, the notification including the first identifier; Determine, according to the first identifier, a first transaction identifier (PTI) corresponding to the first policy, where the first PTI is allocated by a home policy control function network element for the first policy; A second message is sent to the home policy control function network element, where the second message includes first indication information and the first PTI, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal policy sending fails.

2. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein The first message includes a second PTI, where the second PTI is allocated by a visited location policy control function network element for the first policy; When the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is further caused to: determining, based on the notification, a second PTI corresponding to the first policy; The first PTI is determined according to the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs.

3. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein When the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is further caused to: Saving a first correspondence between the first identifier and the first PTI; The first PTI is determined according to the first corresponding relationship and the first identifier.

4. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein The first message includes a second PTI, where the second PTI is allocated by a visited location policy control function network element for the first policy; When the instruction is executed on a computer, the computer is caused to determine, based on the first identifier, a first PTI corresponding to the first policy, including: Determining, according to the first identifier, a second PTI corresponding to the first policy; The first PTI is determined according to the second PTI, wherein the first PTI corresponds to one or more PTIs, and the second PTI is a PTI among the one or more PTIs.

5. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 4, wherein: When the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is further caused to: Saving a second correspondence between the first identifier and the second PTI; The second PTI is determined according to the second corresponding relationship and the first identifier.

6. The computer-readable storage medium according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The notification further includes an identifier list, where the identifier list includes multiple identifiers, each identifier is used to identify a message that fails to be sent, and the first identifier is one of the multiple identifiers.

7. A method for sending a terminal policy, characterized in that: include: The visited location policy control function network element sends a second request message to the mobility management network element, where the second request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message, where the first message includes the first policy of the terminal; and receives a second response message from the mobility management network element, where the second response message includes a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to identify the first message, and the first identifier is allocated by the mobility management network element to the first message. The visited location policy control function network element receives a notification of a first message forwarding failure from the mobility management network element, the notification including the first identifier; and determines, based on the first identifier, a first transaction identifier (PTI) corresponding to the first policy, the first PTI being allocated by the home location policy control function network element for the first policy; The visited location policy control function network element sends a second message to the home location policy control function network element, where the second message includes first indication information and the first PTI, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal policy fails to be sent; The home policy control network element receives the second message from the visited policy control function network element.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that Also includes: The home policy control function network element stops a timer corresponding to the first PTI based on the first indication information, where the timer is used by the home policy control function network element to determine to send the first policy.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that Also includes: The mobility management network element determines that forwarding the first message fails; Sending the notification of the failure to forward the first message to the visited location policy control function network element.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that Also includes: The mobility management network element sends second indication information to the visited location policy control function network element, where the second indication information indicates that the terminal is reachable; The visited location policy control network element receives the second indication information from the mobility management network element.

11. A system for sending terminal policies, characterized in that: include: Visited location policy control function network element and mobility management network element; The visited location policy control function network element is configured to send a second request message to the mobility management network element, where the second request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward a first message, where the first message includes a first policy of the terminal; The mobility management network element is configured to receive the second request message from the visited location policy control function network element, and send a second response message to the visited location policy control function network element, where the second response message includes a first identifier allocated by the mobility management network element to the first message, where the first identifier is used to identify the first message; The visited location policy control function network element is configured to receive the second response message from the mobility management network element; further configured to receive a notification of a first message forwarding failure from a mobility management network element, the notification including the first identifier; The visited location policy control function network element is further configured to receive a notification of a first message forwarding failure from the mobility management network element, and determine, based on the first identifier, a first transaction identifier (PTI) corresponding to the first policy, where the first PTI is allocated by the home location policy control function network element for the first policy; A second message is sent to the home policy control function network element, where the second message includes first indication information and the first PTI, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal policy sending fails.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein: It also includes the home policy control function network element, The home policy control function network element is configured to stop a timer corresponding to the first PTI based on the first indication information, where the timer is used by the home policy control function network element to determine to send the first policy.

13. The system according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that The mobility management network element is further configured to determine that forwarding of the first message fails; and send the notification of the failure to forward the first message to the visited location policy control function network element.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein: The mobility management network element is further configured to send second indication information to the visited location policy control function network element, where the second indication information indicates that the terminal is reachable.

15. A method for sending a terminal policy, characterized in that: include: The visited location policy control function network element sends a second request message to the mobility management network element, where the second request message is used to request the mobility management network element to forward the first message, where the first message includes the first policy of the terminal; The mobility management network element receives the second request message from the visited location policy control function network element, and sends a second response message to the visited location policy control function network element, where the second response message includes a first identifier allocated by the mobility management network element to the first message, where the first identifier is used to identify the first message; The visited location policy control function network element receives the second response message from the mobility management network element The visited location policy control function network element receives a notification of a first message forwarding failure from the mobility management network element, the notification including the first identifier; and determines, based on the first identifier, a first transaction identifier (PTI) corresponding to the first policy, the first PTI being allocated by the home location policy control function network element for the first policy; A second message is sent to the home policy control function network element, where the second message includes first indication information and the first PTI, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal policy sending fails.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that Also includes: The home policy control function network element stops a timer corresponding to the first PTI based on the first indication information, where the timer is used by the home policy control function network element to determine to send the first policy.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that Also includes: The mobility management network element determines that forwarding of the first message fails, and sends the notification of the failure to forward the first message to the visited location policy control function network element.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that Also includes: The mobility management network element sends second indication information to the visited location policy control function network element, where the second indication information indicates that the terminal is reachable.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: The method has the function of implementing any one of claims 7 to 10, or has the function of implementing any one of claims 15 to 18.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: The apparatus comprises a processor, wherein when the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, the processor causes the communication device to execute the method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, or causes the communication device to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 18.

21. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, or the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 18.

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