Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a communication device. In the method, each URSP rule contained in the URSP corresponds to the HPLMN or VPLMN of the UE. When the UE accesses an application, the UE takes the PLMN information contained in the URSP rule as one of the standards for matching the URSP rule on the basis of the existing matching URSP rule, so that the UE can match the same application to different URSP rules in different PLMNs.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication, and more particularly, to a communication method and a communication apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0002] As shown in Figure 1 , an edge configuration server (ECS) is deployed in a home public land mobile network (HPLMN), and edge application servers (EASs) providing the same service are respectively deployed in the HPLMN and a visited PLMN (VPLMN).

[0003] In this scenario, it is assumed that, in a user equipment (UE) routing selection policy (URSP) of a user equipment (UE), the ECS corresponds to a data network name (DNN) 1 and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) 1. For ease of description, (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 can be referred to as DS1 here. Similarly, it is assumed that the EAS corresponds to (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2. For ease of description, (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 can be referred to as DS2 here. It should be noted that DS1 and DS2 can be the same or different.

[0004] It is assumed that the UE has the following requirements in the HPLMN and the VPLMN: ① access the ECS; ② discover the EAS providing the service through the ECS; and ③ access the EAS providing the service. The way to meet the above requirements is that the UE can access the ECS and the EAS through a certain session in the HPLMN and the VPLMN. As shown in Figure 1 , when the UE is located in the HPLMN, the ECS and the EAS deployed in the HPLMN are accessed. When the UE is located in the VPLMN, the ECS deployed in the HPLMN is accessed, and, in order to shorten the user plane path and reduce service latency, the EAS deployed in the VPLMN is accessed.

[0005] Based on the deployment scenario in Figure 1 and the UE requirements, it is required in the present application to meet the following two access requirements:

[0006] Requirement 1: When the UE accesses the HPLMN, the assumed scenario of the present application is that the ECS and the EAS need to be accessed through the same session, which has the advantage of saving the session establishment process, that is, the prerequisite for meeting requirement 1 is that DS1 is the same as DS2.

[0007] Requirement 2: When the UE accesses the VPLMN, the assumed scenario of the present application is that the ECS needs to be accessed through a home routed (HR) roaming session, and the EAS needs to be accessed through a local breakout (LBO) roaming session. The rationality of this scenario lies in that the ECS deployed by the HPLMN may only allow the user plane function (UPF) of the HPLMN to access, so for the UE accessing the VPLMN, the ECS deployed in the HPLMN needs to be accessed through the UPF of the HPLMN, which is only Figure 3 satisfied by the HR roaming shown. When the UE is located in the VPLMN, in order to shorten the user plane path, the local EAS needs to be accessed through the UPF of the VPLMN, which is only Figure 2 satisfied by the LBO roaming shown. Therefore, if the ECS deployed in the HPLMN is accessed through the HR session, and the local EAS is accessed through the LBO session. However, in the existing session establishment mechanism, the selection of the roaming mode (LBO or HR) is related to the (DNN, S-NSSAI) of the session, which means that the prerequisite for meeting requirement 2 is that DS1 is different from DS2.

[0008] However, under the existing standard, the above requirements 1 and 2 cannot be met at the same time. SUMMARY

[0009] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can meet the above requirements 1 and 2.

[0010] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, comprising: determining, by a terminal device, a first user route selection policy (URSP), the first URSP comprising at least one first URSP rule, the first URSP rule corresponding to a home public land mobile network (HPLMN) or a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN) of the terminal device, the first URSP being used to determine whether a first application can be associated with an existing session; starting, by the terminal device, the first application; determining, by the terminal device, one rule in the at least one first URSP rule as a second URSP rule based on a serving PLMN and the first application, wherein the second URSP rule corresponds to a PLMN that is the same as the serving PLMN; and determining, by the terminal device, whether to use the existing session or a newly established session to transmit service of the first application according to the second URSP rule.

[0011] In the technical solution, different PLMN information is added in each URSP rule, and the PLMN information is used as one of the standards for the UE to match the URSP rule, so that the UE matches the same service to different URSP rules in different PLMNs, thereby simultaneously achieving the requirements 1 and 2.

[0012] With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first URSP rule includes a PLMN descriptor, and the PLMN descriptor is used to indicate information of a PLMN corresponding to the first URSP rule.

[0013] In the technical solution, the component "PLMN descriptor" is added in each URSP rule, and the PLMN descriptor is used as one of the standards for the UE to match the URSP rule, so that the UE matches the same service to different URSP rules in different PLMNs, thereby simultaneously achieving the requirements 1 and 2.

[0014] With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the terminal device determines the first URSP, including: the terminal device receives the first URSP from a policy control network element; or the terminal device locally configures the first URSP.

[0015] In the technical solution, different PLMN information is added in each URSP rule, and the PLMN information is used as one of the standards for the UE to match the URSP rule, so that the UE matches the same service to different URSP rules in different PLMNs, thereby simultaneously achieving the requirements 1 and 2.

[0016] In the technical solution, different PLMN information is added in each URSP rule, and the PLMN information is used as one of the standards for the UE to match the URSP rule, so that the UE matches the same service to different URSP rules in different PLMNs, thereby simultaneously achieving the requirements 1 and 2.

[0017] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first URSP rule includes a PLMN descriptor, and the PLMN descriptor is used to indicate information of a PLMN corresponding to the first URSP rule.

[0018] In the technical solution, the component "PLMN descriptor" is added in each URSP rule, and the PLMN descriptor is used as one of the standards for the UE to match the URSP rule, so that the UE matches the same service to different URSP rules in different PLMNs, thereby simultaneously achieving the requirements 1 and 2.

[0019] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, including: receiving, by a terminal device, a first user route selection policy (URSP) from a network device, the first URSP including at least one URSP rule, the first URSP being a URSP corresponding to a serving public land mobile network (PLMN) of the terminal device, the serving PLMN being a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN), the first URSP being used to determine whether a first application can be associated to an existing session; starting, by the terminal device, the first application; determining, by the terminal device, one rule of the at least one URSP rule as a first URSP rule based on the serving PLMN and the first application; and determining, by the terminal device, whether to use the existing session or a new session to transmit traffic of the first application according to the first URSP rule.

[0020] In the above technical solution, different URSPs are used when the UE accesses the VPLMN and the HPLMN, i.e., the network device delivers the URSP to the UE according to the PLMN granularity, thereby achieving the requirements 1 and 2.

[0021] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: receiving, by the terminal device, first indication information from the network device, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first URSP corresponds to the VPLMN.

[0022] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the network device is any one of a home policy control network element, a visited policy control network element, or an edge configuration server (ECS).

[0023] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the network device is the ECS, and before the terminal device receives the first URSP from the network device, the method further includes: sending, by the terminal device to the network device, an identifier of the serving PLMN and first information, the first information including an identifier of a home PLMN of the terminal device and / or second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the terminal device is in a roaming state.

[0024] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, including: determining, by a network device, a first user route selection policy (URSP), the first URSP including at least one URSP rule, the first URSP being a URSP corresponding to a serving public land mobile network (PLMN) of a terminal device, the serving PLMN being a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN), the first URSP being used to determine whether a first application can be associated to an existing session; and sending, by the network device, the first URSP to the terminal device.

[0025] In the above technical solution, different URSPs are used when the UE accesses the VPLMN and the HPLMN, i.e., the network device delivers the URSP to the UE according to the PLMN granularity, thereby achieving the requirements 1 and 2.

[0026] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: sending, by the network device, first indication information to the terminal device, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first URSP corresponds to the VPLMN.

[0027] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the network device is an edge configuration server ECS, and before the network device sends the first URSP to the terminal device, the method further includes: receiving, by the network device, an identifier of a serving PLMN and first information from the terminal device, the first information including an identifier of a home public land mobile network HPLMN of the terminal device and / or second indication information indicating that the terminal device is in a roaming state; determining, by the network device, that the terminal device is in the roaming state according to the identifier of the serving PLMN and the identifier of the HPLMN, or the second indication information determines that the terminal device is in the roaming state.

[0028] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the network device determines the first URSP, including: sending, by the network device, second information to a home policy control network element, the second information including the identifier of the serving PLMN and a first request message used to request the home policy control network element to send the first URSP to the network device; receiving, by the network device, the first URSP from the home policy control network element.

[0029] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the network device is a visited policy control network element, and the network device determines the first URSP, including: receiving, by the network device, third indication information from a home policy control network element, the third indication information being used to indicate that the network device sends the first URSP to the terminal device; determining, by the network device, the first URSP according to the third indication information.

[0030] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the network device is a home policy control network element.

[0031] The fifth aspect provides a communication method, including: sending, by a home policy control network element, third indication information to a network device, the third indication information being used to indicate that the network device sends a first URSP to a terminal device, the first URSP being a user route selection policy URSP corresponding to a serving PLMN of the terminal device, the serving PLMN being a visited public land mobile network VPLMN, and the network device being a visited policy control network element.

[0032] In the above technical solution, different URSPs are used when the UE accesses the VPLMN and the HPLMN, that is, the network device sends the URSP to the UE according to the PLMN granularity, thereby achieving the requirements 1 and 2.

[0033] In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided, including: receiving, by a home policy control network element, second information from a network device, the second information including an identifier of a serving public land mobile network (PLMN) of a terminal device and a first request message, the first request message being used to request the home policy control network element to send a first user route selection policy (URSP) to the network device, the first URSP being a URSP corresponding to the serving PLMN of the terminal device, the serving PLMN being a visited PLMN (VPLMN), and the network device being an edge configuration server (ECS); determining, by the home policy control network element, the first URSP according to the identifier of the serving PLMN; and sending, by the home policy control network element, the first URSP to the network device.

[0034] In the above technical solution, different URSPs are used when the UE accesses the VPLMN and the HPLMN, that is, the network device sends the URSP to the UE according to the PLMN granularity, thereby achieving requirements 1 and 2.

[0035] In a seventh aspect, a communication method is provided, including: obtaining, by a terminal device, a first user route selection policy (URSP), the first URSP including a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule including a first parameter combination, the first parameter combination being a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application, the second URSP rule including a second parameter combination, the second parameter combination being a DNN and an S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, wherein the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are different; receiving, by the terminal device, first indication information from a policy control network element, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are regarded as the same parameter combination when a serving public land mobile network (PLMN) of the terminal device is a home PLMN (HPLMN); starting, by the terminal device, the first application; determining, by the terminal device, to use a first session to transmit a service of the first application according to the first URSP rule, the first session corresponding to the first parameter combination; starting, by the terminal device, the second application; determining, by the terminal device, that the serving PLMN of the terminal device is the HPLMN; determining, by the terminal device, that the first session is successfully matched according to the second URSP rule and the first indication information; and multiplexing, by the terminal device, the first session to transmit a service of the second application.

[0036] In the technical solution, the PCF sends first indication information to the UE to indicate that, when the UE accesses the HPLMN, a first parameter combination corresponding to the first application (for example, an ECS service) and a second parameter combination corresponding to the second application (for example, an EAS service) are considered as the same parameter combination when matching an existing session, and can be matched to the same session, thereby meeting requirement 1. When the UE is located in the VPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, and thus the first parameter combination corresponding to the ECS and the second parameter combination corresponding to the EAS are not the same and cannot be matched to the same session, thereby meeting requirement 2.

[0037] With reference to the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server ECS, and the second application corresponds to an edge application server EAS.

[0038] An eighth aspect provides a communication method, including: a policy control network element sending first indication information to a terminal device, the first indication information being used to indicate that, when the terminal device accesses a home public land mobile network HPLMN, a first parameter combination included in a first user route selection policy URSP of the terminal device and a second parameter combination are considered as the same parameter combination, wherein the first URSP includes a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule includes the first parameter combination, and the first parameter combination is a data network name DNN and a single network slice selection assistance information S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application; the second URSP rule includes the second parameter combination, and the second parameter combination is a DNN and a S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, wherein the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are not the same.

[0039] In the technical solution, the PCF sends first indication information to the UE to indicate that, when the UE accesses the HPLMN, a first parameter combination corresponding to the first application (for example, an ECS service) and a second parameter combination corresponding to the second application (for example, an EAS service) are considered as the same parameter combination when matching an existing session, and can be matched to the same session, thereby meeting requirement 1. When the UE is located in the VPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, and thus the first parameter combination corresponding to the ECS and the second parameter combination corresponding to the EAS are not the same and cannot be matched to the same session, thereby meeting requirement 2.

[0040] With reference to the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server ECS, and the second application corresponds to an edge application server EAS.

[0041] In a ninth aspect, a communication method is provided, including: receiving, by an access and mobility management network element, first indication information from a policy control network element, the first indication information being used to indicate that, when a terminal device accesses a home public land mobile network (HPLMN), a first parameter combination and a second parameter combination contained in a first user route selection policy (URSP) of the terminal device are considered as a same parameter combination, wherein the first URSP includes a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule includes the first parameter combination, and the first parameter combination is a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application; the second URSP rule includes the second parameter combination, and the second parameter combination is a DNN and a S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, wherein the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are different; receiving, by the access and mobility management network element, a request message from the terminal device, the request message including the second parameter combination, and the request message being used to request to establish a session corresponding to the second parameter combination; determining, by the access and mobility management network element, that the terminal device accesses the HPLMN and that there is a first session in existing sessions associated with the terminal device, the first session being a session associated with the first parameter combination; and rejecting, by the access and mobility management network element, the request message of the terminal device according to the first indication information, and sending, by the access and mobility management network element, a first cause value to the terminal device, the first cause value being used to instruct the terminal device to multiplex the first existing session.

[0042] In the above technical solution, the AMF receives the first indication information from the PCF, and when the UE accesses the HPLMN, the first parameter combination corresponding to the first application (for example, an ECS service) and the second parameter combination corresponding to the second application (for example, an EAS service) are considered as the same parameter combination. After the AMF receives a session establishment request from the UE and the request message includes the second parameter combination, if it is determined that the UE is located in the HPLMN, the first indication information is effective, and there is an existing session associated with the first parameter combination, the AMF returns a first cause value to the UE, instructing the UE to re-match the session or use the existing session, thereby meeting requirement 1. When the UE is located in the VPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, and the session associated with the second parameter combination is continuously established, thereby meeting requirement 2.

[0043] In combination with the ninth aspect, in some implementations of the ninth aspect, the first cause value includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that, when the terminal device accesses the HPLMN, the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are considered as the same parameter combination.

[0044] In combination with the ninth aspect, in some implementations of the ninth aspect, the first cause value includes a first session identifier, and the first session identifier is used to instruct the terminal device to multiplex the first session.

[0045] In combination with the ninth aspect, in some implementations of the ninth aspect, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server (ECS), and the second application corresponds to an edge application server (EAS).

[0046] In a tenth aspect, a communication method is provided, including: sending, by a policy control network element, first indication information to an access and mobility management network element, the first indication information being used to indicate that a first parameter combination and a second parameter combination contained in a first user route selection policy (URSP) of a terminal device are regarded as the same parameter combination when the terminal device accesses a home public land mobile network (HPLMN), wherein the first URSP includes a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule includes the first parameter combination, and the first parameter combination is a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application; the second URSP rule includes the second parameter combination, and the second parameter combination is a DNN and a S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, wherein the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are different.

[0047] In the above technical solution, the first indication information is sent by the PCF to the AMF to inform the AMF that the first parameter combination corresponding to the first application (for example, an ECS service) and the second parameter combination corresponding to the second application (for example, an EAS service) are regarded as the same parameter combination when the UE accesses the HPLMN. If it is judged that the UE is located in the HPLMN, the first indication information is effective, and there is an existing session associated with the first parameter combination, the AMF can instruct the UE to re-match the session or use the existing session, thereby meeting requirement 1. When the UE is located in the VPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, and a session associated with the second parameter combination is continued to be established, thereby meeting requirement 2.

[0048] In combination with the tenth aspect, in some implementations of the tenth aspect, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server (ECS), and the second application corresponds to an edge application server (EAS).

[0049] In a eleventh aspect, a communication method is provided, including: determining, by a terminal device, a first user route selection policy (URSP), the first URSP including a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule including a first parameter combination, the first parameter combination being a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application, the second URSP rule including a second parameter combination, the second parameter combination being a DNN and a S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, wherein the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are different; starting, by the terminal device, the first application; determining, by the terminal device, to use a first session to transmit a service of the first application according to the first URSP rule, the first session corresponding to the first parameter combination; accessing, by the terminal device, a home public land mobile network (HPLMN); starting, by the terminal device, the second application; sending, by the terminal device, a request message to an access and mobility management network element, the request message including the second parameter combination, the request message being used to request to establish a session corresponding to the second parameter combination; receiving, by the terminal device, a first cause value from the access and mobility management network element, the first cause value being used to indicate that the terminal device reuses the first session; and transmitting, by the terminal device, a service of the second application according to the first cause value.

[0050] In the above technical solution, when the UE accesses the second application (for example, an EAS service), if the UE is located in the HPLMN, the AMF can instruct the UE to reuse the existing session associated with the first parameter combination, thereby meeting requirement 1. When the UE is located in the VPLMN, the AMF continues to establish a session associated with the second parameter combination, thereby meeting requirement 2.

[0051] In combination with the eleventh aspect, in some implementations of the eleventh aspect, the first cause value includes second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate that the terminal device regards the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination as the same parameter combination when accessing the HPLMN.

[0052] In combination with the eleventh aspect, in some implementations of the eleventh aspect, the first cause value includes a first session identifier, the first session identifier being used to instruct the terminal device to reuse the first session.

[0053] In combination with the eleventh aspect, in some implementations of the eleventh aspect, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server (ECS), and the second application corresponds to an edge application server (EAS).

[0054] In a twelfth aspect, a communication method is provided, including: determining, by a terminal device, a first user route selection policy (URSP), the first URSP including a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule including a first parameter combination, the first parameter combination being a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application, the second URSP rule including a second parameter combination, the second parameter combination being a DNN and a S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, wherein the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are the same, and subscription data of the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination indicate that the terminal device uses a home route (HR) session to access the first application or the second application when accessing a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN); receiving, by the terminal device, first indication information from a visited policy control network element, the first indication information indicating that the terminal device uses a local breakout (LBO) session to access the second application when located in the VPLMN; accessing, by the terminal device, the VPLMN; starting, by the terminal device, the second application; and determining, by the terminal device, to use a first session to transmit traffic of the second application based on the second URSP rule and the first indication information, wherein the first session is associated with an LBO session of a third parameter combination, and the third parameter combination includes a third DNN and a third S-NSSAI.

[0055] In the above technical solution, the V-PCF sends the first indication information to the UE, indicating that the UE uses the LBO session to access the second application (e.g., EAS service) deployed in the VPLMN. The first indication information is valid within the range where the VPLMN is located. When the UE needs to access the EAS, the first indication information needs to be used as one of the standards for matching the URSP rule. When a new session needs to be established for the EAS, the UE carries the second indication information in the session establishment request, indicating that the LBO session is established, thereby meeting the scenario of problem 2. When the UE is located in the HPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, and the UE can use the same session to access the first application (e.g., ECS service) and the second application (e.g., EAS service), thereby meeting the scenario of problem 1.

[0056] In combination with the twelfth aspect, in some implementations of the twelfth aspect, before the terminal device determines to use the first session to transmit the traffic of the second application, the method further includes: sending, by the terminal device, a request message to an access and mobility management network element, the request message including the second parameter combination and the second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the LBO session corresponding to the second parameter combination is established.

[0057] In combination with the twelfth aspect, in some implementations of the twelfth aspect, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server (ECS), and the second application corresponds to an edge application server (EAS).

[0058] In a thirteenth aspect, a communication method is provided, including: a visited policy control network element sending first indication information to a terminal device, the first indication information indicating that a local breakout, LBO, session is used to access a second application when the terminal device accesses a visited public land mobile network, VPLMN.

[0059] In the above technical solution, the V-PCF sends first indication information to the UE, indicating that the UE uses an LBO session to access a second application (EAS) deployed in the VPLMN, thereby meeting the scenario of problem 2. When the UE is located in the HPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, and the UE can use the same session to access the first application (for example, ECS service) and the second application (for example, EAS service), thereby meeting the scenario of problem 1.

[0060] In combination with the thirteenth aspect, in some implementations of the thirteenth aspect, the second application corresponds to an edge application server, EAS.

[0061] In a fourteenth aspect, a communication method is provided, including: an access and mobility management network element receiving a request message from a terminal device, the request message containing a second parameter combination and second indication information, the second parameter combination including a second data network name, DNN, and a second single network slice selection assistance information, S-NSSAI, and the second indication information indicating that a local breakout, LBO, session corresponding to the second parameter combination is established; the access and mobility management network element determining, according to subscription data of the terminal device, that the second parameter combination does not support establishment of an LBO session; the access and mobility management network element determining a third parameter combination, the third parameter combination including a third DNN and a third S-NSSAI, the third parameter combination being a parameter combination that supports establishment of an LBO session; and the access and mobility management network element establishing an LBO session corresponding to the third parameter combination.

[0062] In the above technical solution, when a new session needs to be established for the EAS, the UE carries second indication information in the session establishment request, indicating that an LBO session is established. After receiving the request, the AMF determines whether the (DNN, S-NSSAI) contained in the request can establish an LBO session according to the subscription data of the UE. If not, the AMF modifies the (DNN, S-NSSAI) to continue to establish an LBO session, thereby meeting the scenario of problem 2. When the UE is located in the HPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, and the UE can use the same session to access the ECS and the EAS, thereby meeting the scenario of problem 1.

[0063] In a fifteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has the function of implementing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or has the function of implementing the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or has the function of implementing the method in the seventh aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or has the function of implementing the method in the eleventh aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or has the function of implementing the method in the twelfth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof. The function can be realized by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

[0064] In a sixteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has the function of implementing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or has the function of implementing the method in the eighth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or has the function of implementing the method in the tenth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof. The function can be realized by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

[0065] In a seventeenth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has the function of implementing the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof. The function can be realized by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

[0066] In an eighteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has the function of implementing the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or has the function of implementing the method in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof. The function can be realized by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

[0067] In a nineteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has the function of implementing the method in the ninth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or has the function of implementing the method in the fourteenth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof. The function can be realized by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

[0068] In a twentieth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has the function of implementing the method in the thirteenth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof. The function can be realized by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

[0069] In a twenty-first aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising at least one processor, at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor, and the at least one memory storing a computer program or instructions, wherein the at least one processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, so that the communication device performs the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or performs the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or performs the method in the seventh aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or performs the method in the eleventh aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or performs the method in the twelfth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0070] In one example, the communication apparatus can be a terminal device.

[0071] In another example, the communication apparatus can be a component (e.g., a chip or an integrated circuit) installed in the terminal device.

[0072] In a twenty-second aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising at least one processor, at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor, and the at least one memory storing a computer program or instructions, wherein the at least one processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, so that the communication device performs the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or performs the method in the eighth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or performs the method in the tenth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or performs the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0073] In one example, the communication apparatus can be a policy control network element.

[0074] In another example, the communication apparatus can be a component (e.g., a chip or an integrated circuit) installed in the policy control network element.

[0075] In a twenty-third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising at least one processor, at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor, and the at least one memory storing a computer program or instructions, wherein the at least one processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, so that the communication device performs the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0076] In one example, the communication apparatus can be the network device in the fourth aspect.

[0077] In another example, the communication apparatus can be a component (e.g., a chip or an integrated circuit) installed in the network device.

[0078] In a twenty-fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including at least one processor, at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor, and the at least one memory storing a computer program or instructions, and the at least one processor configured to invoke and execute the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, so that the communication device performs the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or performs the method in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0079] In one example, the communication apparatus can be a home policy control network element.

[0080] In another example, the communication apparatus can be a component (e.g., a chip or an integrated circuit) installed in the home policy control network element.

[0081] In a twenty-fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including at least one processor, at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor, and the at least one memory storing a computer program or instructions, and the at least one processor configured to invoke and execute the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, so that the communication device performs the method in the ninth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof, or performs the method in the fourteenth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0082] In one example, the communication apparatus can be an access and mobility management network element.

[0083] In another example, the communication apparatus can be a component (e.g., a chip or an integrated circuit) installed in the access and mobility management network element.

[0084] In a twenty-sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including at least one processor, at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor, and the at least one memory storing a computer program or instructions, and the at least one processor configured to invoke and execute the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, so that the communication device performs the method in the thirteenth aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0085] In one example, the communication apparatus can be a visited policy control network element.

[0086] In another example, the communication apparatus can be a component (e.g., a chip or an integrated circuit) installed in the visited policy control network element.

[0087] In a twenty-seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method according to the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or causes the method according to the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or causes the method according to the seventh aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or causes the method according to the eleventh aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or causes the method according to the twelfth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

[0088] In a twenty-eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method according to the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or causes the method according to the eighth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or causes the method according to the tenth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

[0089] In a twenty-ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method according to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

[0090] In a thirtieth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method according to the fifth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or causes the method according to the sixth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

[0091] In a thirty-first aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method according to the ninth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or causes the method according to the fourteenth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

[0092] In a thirty-second aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method according to the thirteenth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

[0093] In a thirty-third aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, having stored computer instructions, which when executed on a computer cause the method according to the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the seventh aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the eleventh aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the twelfth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

[0094] In a thirty-fourth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, having stored computer instructions, which when executed on a computer cause the method according to the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the eighth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the tenth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

[0095] In a thirty-fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, having stored computer instructions, which when executed on a computer cause the method according to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

[0096] In a thirty-sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, having stored computer instructions, which when executed on a computer cause the method according to the fifth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the sixth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

[0097] In a thirty-seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, having stored computer instructions, which when executed on a computer cause the method according to the ninth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the fourteenth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

[0098] In a thirty-eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, having stored computer instructions, which when executed on a computer cause the method according to the thirteenth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the seventh aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the eleventh aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed, or cause the method according to the twelfth aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0099] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a scenario applicable to embodiments of the application.

[0100] Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to embodiments of the application.

[0101] Figure 3 shows another schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to embodiments of the application.

[0102] Figure 4 shows yet another schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to embodiments of the application.

[0103] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an edge computing network architecture provided by embodiments of the application.

[0104] Figure 6 is a schematic interaction diagram of a communication method provided by embodiments of the application.

[0105] Figure 7 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method provided by embodiments of the application.

[0106] Figure 8 is a schematic interaction diagram of yet another communication method provided by embodiments of the application.

[0107] Figure 9 is a schematic interaction diagram of yet another communication method provided by embodiments of the application.

[0108] Figure 10 is a schematic interaction diagram of yet another communication method provided by embodiments of the application.

[0109] Figure 11 is a schematic interaction diagram of yet another communication method provided by embodiments of the application.

[0110] Figure 12 is a schematic interaction diagram of yet another communication method provided by embodiments of the application.

[0111] Figure 13 is a schematic interaction diagram of yet another communication method provided by embodiments of the application.

[0112] Figure 14 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus 1000 provided by the present application.

[0113] Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus 2000 provided by the present application.

[0114] Figure 16A schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus 3000 provided in the present application is shown.

[0115] Figure 17 A schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus 10 provided in the present application is shown.

[0116] Figure 18 A schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus 20 provided in the present application is shown.

[0117] Figure 19 A schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus 30 provided in the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0118] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0119] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a 5th generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), a long term evolution (LTE) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (TDD), and the like. The technical solutions provided in the present application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as a 6th generation mobile communication system. The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to device to device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and an internet of things (IoT) communication system or other communication systems.

[0120] Referring to Figure 2 , Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a network architecture suitable for the embodiments of the present application is shown. It can be understood that the network architecture is a service & system aspects working group 2 (SA WG2) non-roaming network architecture. As shown in Figure 2As shown, the network architecture may include, but is not limited to, the following: a network slice specific authentication and authorization function (NSSAAF) network element, a network slice selection function (NSSF) network element, an authentication server function (AUSF) network element, a unified data management (UDM) network element, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a session management function (SMF) network element, a policy control function (PCF) network element, an application function (AF), a user equipment (UE), an access network (AN), a user plane function (UPF) network element, a data network (DN), and the like.

[0121] The following briefly introduces each network element shown in Figure 2

[0122] ​1、Terminal device: can be referred to as user equipment (user equipment, UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (mobile station, MS), mobile terminal (mobile terminal, MT), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device can be a device that provides voice / data connectivity to the user, such as a handheld device with wireless connection function, vehicle-mounted device, etc. At present, some examples of terminals can be: mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function (such as notebook computer, palm computer, etc.), mobile internet device (mobile internet device, MID), virtual reality (virtual reality, VR) device, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) device, wireless terminal in industrial control, wireless terminal in self driving, wireless terminal in remote medical, wireless terminal in smart grid, wireless terminal in transportation safety, wireless terminal in smart city, wireless terminal in smart home, cellular phone, cordless phone, session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phone, wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), handheld device with wireless communication function, computing device or other processing device connected to wireless modem, vehicle-mounted device, wearable device, terminal device in 5G network or terminal device in future evolved public land mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN) and the like.

[0123] In addition, the terminal device can also be a terminal device in an Internet of things (Internet of things, IoT) system. IoT is an important part of the future development of information technology, and its main technical feature is to connect objects through communication technology and network to realize the intelligent network of man-machine interconnection and object-object interconnection. IoT technology can achieve massive connection, deep coverage and terminal power saving through, for example, narrowband (narrowband, NB) technology.

[0124] In addition, the terminal device can also include smart printers, train detectors, gas station sensors, etc., and the main functions include collecting data (part of the terminal device), receiving control information and downlink data from the network device, and sending electromagnetic waves to transmit uplink data to the network device.

[0125] It should be understood that the terminal device can be any device that can access the network. The terminal device and the access network device can communicate with each other using a certain air interface technology.

[0126] Optionally, the UE can be used to act as a base station. For example, the UE can act as a scheduling entity that provides sidelink signals between UEs in V2X or D2D, etc. For example, a cell phone and a car communicate with each other using a sidelink signal. The cell phone and the smart home device communicate with each other without relaying the communication signal through the base station.

[0127] 2. Access network (AN): The access network can provide network access functions for authorized users in a specific area, including radio access network (RAN) devices and AN devices. The RAN device is mainly the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) network wireless network device, and the AN device can be an access network device defined by non-3GPP.

[0128] The access network can be an access network that uses different access technologies. There are two types of current wireless access technologies: 3GPP access technology (such as the wireless access technology used in 3G, 4G or 5G systems) and non-3GPP (non-3GPP) access technology. The 3GPP access technology refers to the access technology that conforms to the 3GPP standard specification, for example, the access network device in the 5G system is called the next generation Node Base station (gNB) or RAN. The non-3GPP access technology refers to the access technology that does not conform to the 3GPP standard specification, for example, the air interface technology represented by the access point (AP) in wireless fidelity (WiFi), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), code division multiple access (CDMA) network, etc. The access network device (AN device) can allow the terminal device and the 3GPP core network to be interconnected using non-3GPP technology.

[0129] An access network that implements access network functions based on wireless communication technology can be referred to as a RAN. The wireless access network can be responsible for functions such as radio resource management, quality of service (QoS) management, data compression and encryption, and the like on the air interface side. The wireless access network provides access services for terminal devices, and then completes the forwarding of control signals and user data between the terminal and the core network.

[0130] The wireless access network may, for example, include but is not limited to: a macro base station, a micro base station (also known as a small station), a radio network controller (RNC), a Node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (for example, a home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), an AP in a WiFi system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TP), or a transmission and reception point (TRP), and the like, and can also be a gNB or a transmission point (TRP or TP) in a 5G (such as NR) system, one or a group of (including multiple antenna panels) antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system, or a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU), or a distributed unit (DU), or a base station in a next-generation communication 6G system, and the like. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the wireless access network device.

[0131] The access network can provide services for a cell. A terminal device can communicate with a cell through transmission resources (for example, frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources) allocated by an access network device.

[0132] 3. AMF network element: mainly used for mobility management and access management, etc., such as user location update, user registration network, user handover, etc. The AMF can also be used to implement other functions in the mobility management entity (MME) except for session management. For example, lawful monitoring, or access authorization (or authentication) functions, and the like.

[0133] 4、SMF network element: mainly used for session management, Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management of UE, selection of manageable user plane function, termination of policy control or charging function interface, and downlink data notification, etc. In the embodiment of the present application, the SMF is mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification, release, etc. Specific functions may include, for example, allocating IP addresses for terminal devices, selecting UPF providing message forwarding functions, etc.

[0134] 5、UPF network element: responsible for forwarding and receiving user data in terminal devices. The UPF network element can receive user data from a data network (DN) and transmit it to the terminal device through the access network device. The UPF network element can also receive user data from the terminal device through the access network device and forward it to the data network. The transmission resources and scheduling functions provided by the UPF network element for terminal devices are managed and controlled by the SMF network element.

[0135] 6、PCF network element: a unified policy framework for guiding network behavior, providing policy rule information for control plane function network elements (such as AMF, SMF network elements, etc.), and responsible for obtaining user subscription information related to policy decision, etc.

[0136] 7、AF network element: mainly supports interaction with the 3GPP core network to provide services, such as affecting data routing decisions, interacting with policy control functions (PCF), or providing third parties to the network side, etc. The application server (AS) network element can be deployed together with the AF, interacts with the UPF, and is responsible for the reception and processing of uplink and downlink messages on the user plane.

[0137] 8、UDM network element: used for generating authentication credentials, user identity processing (such as storing and managing user permanent identity, etc.), access authorization control and subscription data management, etc.

[0138] 9、Data network (DN): a service network for providing data services for users. For example, the Internet, third-party service networks, IP multi-media service (IMS) networks, etc.

[0139] 10、AUSF network element: mainly used for user authentication, etc.

[0140] In the network architecture shown in Figure 2 , the network elements can communicate with each other through the interfaces shown in the figure, and some interfaces can be implemented in the form of service interface. For example, Figure 2As shown, the UE and the AMF can interact through an N1 interface, and the interaction messages can be referred to as N1 messages for example. The RAN and the AMF can interact through an N2 interface, which can be used for transmission of non-access stratum (NAS) messages and the like. The RAN and the UPF can interact through an N3 interface, which can be used for transmission of data in a user plane and the like. The SMF and the UPF can interact through an N4 interface, which can be used for transmission of information such as a tunnel identifier of an N3 connection, data buffering indication information, and a downlink data notification message. The AF and the PCF can interact through an N5 interface, which can be used for application service request delivery and network event reporting. The UPF and the DN can interact through an N6 interface, which can be used for transmission of data in a user plane and the like. The PCF and the SMF can interact through an N7 interface, which can be used for delivery of protocol data unit (PDU) session granularity and service data flow granularity control policies and the like. The AMF and the UDM can interact through an N8 interface, which can be used for the AMF to obtain access and mobility management related subscription data and authentication data from the UDM, and for the AMF to register UE current mobility management related information with the UDM and the like. The N9 interface is an interface between UPFs, such as an interface between a visited-policy control function (V-PCF) and a home-policy control function (H-PCF), or an interface between a UPF connected to a DN and a UPF connected to a RAN, which is used for transmission of user plane data between UPFs. The SMF and the UDM can interact through an N10 interface, which can be used for the SMF to obtain session management related subscription data from the UDM, and for the SMF to register UE current session related information with the UDM and the like. The SMF and the AMF can interact through an N11 interface, which can be used for transmission of PDU session tunnel information between the RAN and the UPF, transmission of control messages sent to the UE, transmission of radio resource control information sent to the RAN, and the like. The AMF and the RAN can interact through an N12 interface, which can be used for transmission of radio bearer control information from the core network side to the RAN and the like. The PCF and the AMF can interact through an N15 interface, which can be used for delivery of UE policies and access control related policies and the like. Relationships between other interfaces and network elements are as shown in Figure 2 For brevity, details are not described here.

[0141] It should be understood that the network architecture applied to the embodiments of the present application is only illustrative, and the network architecture applicable to the embodiments of the present application is not limited thereto, and any network architecture capable of realizing the functions of the above-mentioned network elements is applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0142] It should also be understood that Figure 2 The AMF, SMF, UPF, PCF, UDM, NSSF, AUSF, etc. shown in the above-mentioned network architecture can be understood as network elements for realizing different functions, for example, can be combined into a network slice as needed. These network elements can be independent devices, can be integrated into the same device to realize different functions, or can be network elements in a hardware device, or can be software functions running on a dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform), and the specific form of the network elements is not limited in the present application.

[0143] It should also be understood that the above-mentioned names are only defined for the convenience of distinguishing different functions, and should not constitute any limitation on the present application. The present application does not exclude the possibility of using other names in 5G networks and future other networks. For example, in a 6G network, part or all of the above-mentioned network elements can use the terms in 5G, or other names, etc.

[0144] It should also be understood that Figure 2 The interface names between the network elements in the above-mentioned network architecture are only an example, and the names of the interfaces in the specific implementation can be other names, which are not limited in the present application. In addition, the names of the messages (or signaling) transmitted between the above-mentioned network elements are also only an example, and do not constitute any limitation on the functions of the messages themselves.

[0145] In order to facilitate the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following first introduces several terms involved in the present application.

[0146] (1) Home public land mobile network (PLMN): In a certain country or region, a certain type of cellular mobile communication network of a certain operator is called a PLMN. The PLMN to which the UE subscribes is called a home PLMN (HPLMN), which represents the home operator of the subscribed UE.

[0147] (2) Visited PLMN: When a UE leaves the coverage of the HPLMN due to movement or other reasons, if there is a PLMN that meets the following conditions: ① It can cover the current location of the UE. ② Its operator has signed a roaming agreement with the operator of the HPLMN of the UE (a certain commercial agreement between operators, which can include but is not limited to the services provided to the subscribers of the network of the other operator and the charging mode, etc.), then the UE can access this PLMN, which is called the visited PLMN (VPLMN). The access of the UE to the VPLMN is called roaming. Whether the UE is roaming or not, the PLMN currently accessed by the UE is called the serving PLMN.

[0148] The roaming network structure applicable to the embodiments of the present application will be described below. Figure 3 and Figure 4 The roaming network structure applicable to the embodiments of the present application will be described below.

[0149] Referring to Figure 3 , Figure 3 Another schematic diagram of the network architecture applicable to the embodiments of the present application is shown. As can be seen from Figure 3 It can be seen that the user plane of the UE under this network architecture is VPLMN-terminated, and the roaming scenario is local breakout (LBO) roaming. It can be understood that this network architecture is the SA WG2 LBO roaming network architecture.

[0150] Referring to Figure 4 , Figure 4 Another schematic diagram of the network architecture applicable to the embodiments of the present application is shown. As can be seen from Figure 4 It can be seen that the user plane of the UE under this network architecture is HPLMN-terminated, and the roaming scenario is home routed (HR) roaming. It can be understood that this network architecture is the SA WG2 HR roaming network architecture.

[0151] It should be understood that the user plane of the UE being VPLMN-terminated or HPLMN-terminated means that the UPF connected with the N6 interface is located in the VPLMN or the HPLMN under the roaming network structure shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 The roaming network structure applicable to the embodiments of the present application will be described below.

[0152] (3) Edge Computing (EC): Edge computing is a new type of distributed computing mode. Specifically defined as: providing computing and storage resources to users at the edge of the network. Among them, "edge" is defined as any network location on the path between terminal equipment and cloud data center, which is closer to the user than the cloud data center. Edge computing has the characteristics of lower delay, lower energy consumption, saving bandwidth, strong privacy, more intelligent, etc. As a key enabling technology to realize the vision of Internet of Things and 5G, edge computing (and its derivative concepts) is at the intersection of computing mode and network communication, and plays an irreplaceable role in meeting a variety of business needs and fine user experience.

[0153] The following will be combined Figure 5 to illustrate the edge computing network architecture applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0154] Referring to Figure 5 , Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an edge computing network architecture provided by the embodiments of the present application. As Figure 5 indicated, edge application servers (EAS) and edge enabler servers (EES) are deployed in a local edge data network (EDN), and an edge configuration server (ECS) provides configuration information related to the EES, including information related to the EDN where the EES is deployed. The UE includes two functional components: an application client (AC) and an edge enabler client (EEC). It can be understood that the network architecture is the SA WG6 edge computing network architecture. The functions of the above network elements are as follows:

[0155] AC: application client installed in the UE.

[0156] EEC: provides support functions required by the AC, including EAS discovery, obtaining and providing configuration information for traffic exchange between the AC and the EAS, etc.

[0157] ECS: provides support functions required by the EEC to access the EES, including providing edge configuration information (such as uniform resource identifier (URI) of the EES, service area, etc.) to the EEC, supporting the EES to register relevant information to the ECS, etc.

[0158] EES: provides the support functions required by EAS and EEC, including providing EAS configuration information to EEC, supporting EAS to register relevant information to EES, supporting application context migration, etc.

[0159] EAS: application server deployed in EDN, providing EC services.

[0160] Under the SA WG2 architecture, AC and EEC can be regarded as UE, and ECS, EES and EAS can be regarded as AF or AS.

[0161] Optionally, the EEC obtains the address information of the ECS in one of the following ways: ① pre-configuration; ② configured by the edge-aware AC; ③ configured by the user; ④ issued by the 5G core network (5G core network, 5GC); ⑤ derived through PLMN ID. After obtaining the address information of the ECS, the EEC can obtain the address information of the EES from the ECS through the service provisioning process, and then can obtain the address information of the required EAS from the EES through the EAS discovery process, so as to access the EAS to obtain services.

[0162] It should be understood that, Figure 1 The ECS or EAS in the middle is not necessarily deployed by the operator, but can also be deployed by a third party. In this application, it is only stipulated that the ECS or EAS is deployed in the location covered by the HPLMN or VPLMN.

[0163] (4) UE route selection policy (UEroute selection policy, URSP): URSP belongs to one of the UE policies, which is used to determine whether the application can be associated with the established packet data unit (packed data unit, PDU) session, or a new PDU session needs to be triggered to be established. URSP can be provided by the PCF of the HPLMN, or pre-configured on the UE. It should be noted that when there are pre-configured and PCF-provided URSPs on the UE at the same time, the UE only uses the PCF-provided URSP.

[0164] URSP contains at least one URSP rule. When there is a valid URSP rule in the UE, the UE will match the application with these rules to decide how to route the uplink data packet. As an example, the content of the URSP rule is shown in Table 1:

[0165] Table 1

[0166]

[0167] It should be noted that each item in the "routing component" in Table 1 is optional, but at least one of them is included.

[0168] The URSP rule matching procedure is briefly introduced as follows.

[0169] 1. Service descriptor matching: For each newly detected application, for example, application X is taken as an example, the UE evaluates the URSP rules according to the order of rule priority, and determines whether the application X matches the service descriptor of the URSP rule. As an example, the service descriptor can be a full qualified domain name (FQDN), an IP triple, an application identifier (AppID), etc.

[0170] The application X can refer to a service. As an example, the application X can be an ECS service, or an EAS service or an EES service, etc. It can be understood that the ECS is a server providing an ECS service, the EAS is a server providing an EAS service, and the EES is a server providing an EES service. As an example, the application X is an “ECS service”, and if the service descriptor in the URSP rule 1 is “ECS”, it means that the application X matches the service descriptor of the URSP rule 1.

[0171] 2. Selecting a routing selection descriptor (RSD) according to priority: when it is determined that the URSP rule is applicable to the application X, the UE should select an RSD in the URSP rule according to the order of routing selection descriptor priority, and only when the use condition is met, the selected RSD is valid. In the present application, the “routing component” is related to “network slice selection” and “DNN selection”, and here, the “network slice selection” and “DNN selection” are taken as examples to explain the judgment condition of the valid RSD:

[0172] ① If the valid RSD contains an S-NSSAI, the S-NSSAI must be an S-NSSAI available to the UE, and whether a certain S-NSSAI is available to a certain UE can be determined by the subscription information of the UE;

[0173] ② If the valid RSD contains a DNN, the UE must be located in the service area of the DNN. For example, the DNN is a local area data network (LADN) DNN, and the UE must be located in the service area of the LADN.

[0174] 3. Whether to join an existing PDU session: the UE determines whether there is an existing PDU session matching all components in the selected valid RSD, and the UE compares all components in the selected valid RSD with the existing PDU session.

[0175] If there is a matching PDU session, the UE shall associate the application X with the existing PDU session, i.e. access the corresponding server of the application through the PDU session and transmit the traffic or service of the application X over the PDU session.

[0176] If there is no matching PDU session, the UE shall attempt to establish a new PDU session using the parameters specified by the selected valid RSD.

[0177] It should be understood that, Figure 1 ECS corresponds to (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 in the valid RSD selected by the UE. Similarly, EAS corresponds to (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 in the valid RSD selected by the UE.

[0178] The above describes the concepts involved in the present application and the applicable network architecture in detail. The communication method proposed in the present application is described below, which can meet requirements 1 and 2 at the same time.

[0179] Referring to Figure 6 , Figure 6 is a schematic interaction diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The embodiment can be applied to a non-roaming network architecture as shown in Figure 2 or a roaming network architecture as shown in Figure 3-4 When used in a roaming network architecture, the PCF in the embodiment can be an H-PCF or a V-PCF.

[0180] S610, the UE determines a first URSP, the first URSP including at least one first URSP rule, the first URSP rule corresponding to an HPLMN or a VPLMN of the UE, the first URSP being used to determine whether a first application can be associated to an existing session.

[0181] In an implementation manner, the first URSP rule corresponding to the HPLMN or the VPLMN of the UE can be that the first URSP rule includes a PLMN descriptor, wherein the PLMN descriptor indicates information of the PLMN to which the first URSP rule corresponds.

[0182] In another implementation manner, the first URSP rule can also not include the PLMN descriptor, and the information indicated by the PLMN descriptor can also be configured or delivered together with the associated first URSP rule.

[0183] As an example, the first application here can be an ECS service, or an EAS service or an EES service.

[0184] From the above, the first URSP can meet the requirements 1 and 2 if the following conditions are met: the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the HPLMN and the ECS is the same as the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the HPLMN and the EAS, and the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the VPLMN and the ECS is different from the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the VPLMN and the EAS. Among them, the subscription data of the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the VPLMN and the ECS corresponds to the HR roaming mode, and the subscription data of the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the VPLMN and the EAS corresponds to the LBO roaming mode. For ease of understanding, this embodiment takes the URSP rule including the PLMN descriptor as an example for description. A possible URSP rule in this case is shown in Table 2:

[0185] Table 2

[0186]

[0187]

[0188] It should be understood that the components associated with this embodiment in the above URSP rule have been omitted, but this does not mean that the URSP rule of this embodiment does not include other components. The following embodiments are the same.

[0189] It should also be understood that the values of each component in Table 2 are illustrative, and do not mean that the PLMN descriptor can only be a PLMN ID, or the service descriptor can only be a service name. For example: the PLMN descriptor can also be a PLMN name, or the service descriptor can also be a service ID. The following embodiments are the same. For ease of understanding, the PLMN descriptor in the implementation of this application is taken as an example for description.

[0190] It should also be understood that any one of (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 and (DNN, S-NSSAI) 3 in Table 2 can be the same as (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1, but (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 and (DNN, S-NSSAI) 3 cannot be the same as (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1. If they are the same, the ECS and the EAS correspond to the same (DNN, S-NSSAI) in the VPLMN, which cannot meet the requirement 2.

[0191] Optionally, the UE determines that the first URSP can be locally configured for the UE.

[0192] Optionally, as shown in Figure 6 , the UE determines that the first URSP can be received by the UE from the PCF.

[0193] It should be noted that in the existing standard, there is no direct communication interface between the UE and the PCF. The PCF sending the first URSP to the UE only means that the PCF sends the first URSP to the UE through a certain path, for example: the PCF can forward the first URSP to the UE through the AMF and the RAN, or the forwarding of the first URSP can also be realized by adding an interface between the PCF and the UE or the RAN, and the like, and the embodiment does not make specific limitation on the path. With the development of the communication system, the present application also does not exclude the implementation mode that the PCF directly sends the first URSP to the UE.

[0194] In a possible specific implementation mode, if the UE is located in the HPLMN, the UE can send the first URSP to the PCF in the "UE configuration update" (UCU) procedure, as shown in Figure 6 the PCF sends the first URSP to the AMF through the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message, and then the AMF sends the first URSP to the UE through the non-access stratum (NAS) message. If the UE is located in the VPLMN, the first URSP can be first sent by the H-PCF to the V-PCF through the Npcf_UEPolicyControl Create / Update Response message, and then the V-PCF transmits the first URSP to the AMF through the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message, and the AMF sends the first URSP to the UE through the NAS message.

[0195] S620, the UE starts the first application.

[0196] S630, the UE determines one rule in the at least one first URSP rule as a second URSP rule based on the first application and the serving PLMN.

[0197] The PLMN ID indicated by the PLMN descriptor of the second URSP rule is the same as the serving PLMN ID of the UE, and the service descriptor in the second URSP rule matches the first application.

[0198] S640, the UE determines to use an existing session or a newly created session to transmit the service of the first application according to the second URSP rule.

[0199] Specifically, the UE selects an effective RSD in the second URSP rule, and the UE determines whether there is an existing PDU session matching all components in the effective RSD. When the UE matches an existing PDU session, the UE accesses a server corresponding to the first application using the existing session, and transmits the service of the first application using the matched existing PDU session. When the UE does not match an existing PDU session, the UE initiates a new PDU session establishment process.

[0200] In the existing URSP mechanism, since the URSP configured for the UE is applicable to all PLMNs, requirements 1 and 2 cannot be met. That is, under the existing standard, when the UE accesses the HPLMN, if Figure 1 DS1 and DS2 are the same, then when the UE accesses the VPLMN, because the same set of URSP is used, DS1 and DS2 are also the same; on the contrary, under the existing standard, when the UE accesses the HPLMN, if DS1 and DS2 are not the same, then when the UE accesses the VPLMN, because the same set of URSP is used, DS1 and DS2 are also not the same. The above embodiment corresponds each URSP rule to a PLMN, and uses the PLMN information corresponding to the URSP rule as one of the standards for the UE to match the URSP rule, so that the UE matches the same service to different URSP rules in different PLMNs, thereby being able to simultaneously meet requirements 1 and 2.

[0201] The following describes Figure 7 another communication method proposed in the present application. The method uses different URSPs when the UE accesses the VPLMN and the HPLMN, that is, the network device delivers URSPs to the UE according to the granularity of the PLMN, thereby meeting requirements 1 and 2. It should be understood that, since the network device delivers URSPs to the UE according to the granularity of the PLMN in the method, the URSP corresponding to the HPLMN accessed by the UE is the same as the existing URSP mechanism, and thus will not be described here. Here, the delivery process of the URSP corresponding to the VPLMN accessed by the UE is specifically described.

[0202] Referring to Figure 7 , Figure 7 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0203] S710, the network device determines a first URSP, the first URSP including at least one URSP rule, the first URSP being a URSP corresponding to a service PLMN of the terminal device, the service PLMN being the VPLMN, the first URSP being used to determine whether a first application can be associated to an existing session.

[0204] As an example, the first application here can be the ECS or the EAS.

[0205] Optionally, the network device can be any one of H-PCF, V-PCF or ECS. The interaction process when the network device is H-PCF, V-PCF or ECS will not be described here, and please refer to the description in Figure 8 to Figure 10

[0206] S720, the network device sends the first URSP to the terminal device.

[0207] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first URSP from the network device.

[0208] Optionally, the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first URSP corresponds to the VPLMN (i.e. the service PLMN of the terminal device).

[0209] S730, the UE starts the first application.

[0210] S740, the UE determines one rule in the at least one URSP rule as the first URSP rule based on the first application and the service PLMN. Please refer to the description in S630, which will not be described here.

[0211] S750, the UE determines to transmit the service of the first application using the existing session or the newly built session according to the first URSP rule. Please refer to the description in S640, which will not be described here.

[0212] The following will be described in combination with Figure 8 to Figure 10 The network device is H-PCF, V-PCF or ECS respectively, and the UE accesses the VPLMN. The issuing process of the corresponding URSP will be described in detail.

[0213] Please refer to Figure 8 , Figure 8 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. The embodiment can be applied to the roaming network architecture as shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4

[0214] S810, the H-PCF determines that the service PLMN of the UE is the VPLMN.

[0215] ​​The present application does not limit the specific implementation of this step. In one possible implementation, it is implemented in the UE Policy Association Establishment / Modification procedure, and the AMF sends an Npcf_UEPolicyControl Create / Update Request message to the H-PCF through the V-PCF, which can carry the VPLMN ID of the VPLMN accessed by the UE. After receiving the message forwarded by the V-PCF, the H-PCF determines the service PLMN of the UE as the VPLMN according to the VPLMN ID carried in the message.

[0216] S820, the H-PCF determines the first URSP according to the VPLMN ID of the UE.

[0217] It should be understood that the service PLMN of the UE is the VPLMN, and the first USRP determined here is the URSP corresponding to the VPLMN.

[0218] It should also be understood that the UE has accessed the HPLMN before accessing the VPLMN, so the URSP corresponding to the HPLMN can have been issued to the UE before S820.

[0219] As can be seen from the above, the URSPs corresponding to different PLMNs can meet the requirements 1 and 2 if they meet the following conditions: (1) In the URSP corresponding to the HPLMN, the (DNN, S-NSSAI) in the URSP rule corresponding to the HPLMN and the ECS is the same as the (DNN, S-NSSAI) in the URSP rule corresponding to the HPLMN and the EAS; (2) The URSP (i.e. the first URSP) corresponding to the VPLMN meets: the (DNN, S-NSSAI) in the URSP rule corresponding to the VPLMN and the ECS is different from the (DNN, S-NSSAI) in the URSP rule corresponding to the VPLMN and the EAS; (3) The subscription data of the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the VPLMN and the ECS corresponds to the HR roaming mode, and the subscription data of the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the VPLMN and the EAS corresponds to the LBO roaming mode.

[0220] In this case, one possible URSP rule contained in the URSP corresponding to the HPLMN is shown in Table 3:

[0221] Table 3

[0222]

[0223] In this case, one possible URSP rule contained in the URSP (i.e. the first URSP) corresponding to the VPLMN is shown in Table 4:

[0224] Table 4

[0225]

[0226] It should be noted that if the URSP corresponding to the HPLMN has been delivered to the UE before the URSP corresponding to the VPLMN is delivered by the V-PCF, when the H-PCF delivers the URSP corresponding to the VPLMN, (1) the URSP corresponding to the VPLMN can not contain the URSP rule corresponding to the ECS, and if so, when the UE needs to access the ECS, the UE continues to use the URSP rule corresponding to the ECS contained in the URSP corresponding to the HPLMN; (2) the priority of the URSP rule corresponding to the VPLMN should be higher than the priority of the URSP rule with the same service descriptor in the URSP corresponding to the HPLMN. The above two points also apply to other embodiments of the present application.

[0227] S830, the H-PCF sends the first URSP to the UE.

[0228] Correspondingly, the UE receives the first URSP sent by the H-PCF.

[0229] As described above, there is no direct communication interface between the UE and the H-PCF in the prior art. The H-PCF sending the first URSP to the UE only means that the H-PCF sends the first URSP to the UE through a certain path, and the present embodiment does not make specific limitations on the path.

[0230] As an example, as shown in Figure 8 S830 can include:

[0231] S8301, the H-PCF sends the first URSP to the V-PCF.

[0232] Correspondingly, the V-PCF receives the first URSP sent by the H-PCF.

[0233] Optionally, when the H-PCF sends the first URSP, it can also send indication information 1 (i.e. the first indication information in the corresponding embodiment), which indicates that the effective range of the first URSP is the current service PLMN (i.e. the PLMN corresponding to the VPLMN ID). Figure 7

[0234] S8302, the V-PCF forwards the first URSP to the UE.

[0235] Correspondingly, the UE receives the first URSP sent by the V-PCF.

[0236] Optionally, when the V-PCF sends the first URSP, it can also send indication information 1.

[0237] ​It should be noted that if the UE has internal logic 1, the indication information 1 can not be sent in the forwarding process of the first URSP, if the UE does not have internal logic 1 and the V-PCF does not have internal logic 2, the indication information 1 needs to be sent in the forwarding process of the first URSP, if the UE does not have internal logic 1 but the V-PCF has internal logic 2, the H-PCF can not send the indication information 1 to the V-PCF in the forwarding process of the first URSP, but the V-PCF needs to send the indication information 1 to the UE. The internal logic 1 here means that when the UE accesses the VPLMN, the effective range of the received URSP is the current PLMN; the internal logic 2 means that when the URSP received from the H-PCF is forwarded to the UE, the indication information 1 should be sent at the same time.

[0238] Optionally, the indication information 1 can be contained in each URSP rule contained in the first URSP. In this implementation, a possible URSP rule is shown in Table 5:

[0239] Table 5

[0240]

[0241] Optionally, the indication information 1 can not be contained in the URSP rule and be sent together with the associated URSP.

[0242] In a possible specific implementation, S830 can first send the first URSP and optionally the indication information 1 by the H-PCF to the V-PCF through the Npcf_UEPolicyControl Create / Update Response message, and then the V-PCF sends the first URSP and optionally the indication information 1 to the AMF through the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message, and the AMF sends the first URSP and optionally the indication information 1 to the UE through the NAS message.

[0243] S840, when the UE needs to access the first application, the UE determines that the current service PLMN is the VPLMN. As an example, the first application is ECS or EAS.

[0244] It should be understood that the UE can determine that the received first URSP is the URSP corresponding to the current service PLMN according to the indication information 1 or the UE has internal logic 1.

[0245] S850, the UE matches the first application and the service PLMN to determine the URSP rule in the first URSP, and determines to use the existing session or the newly created session to transmit the service of the first application.

[0246] Specifically, the UE matches to a first URSP rule in the first URSP based on the first application. Wherein, a service descriptor in the first URSP rule matches the first application. Taking Table 4 as an example, if the first application is ECS, the valid RSD in the first URSP rule (i.e. URSP rule 3) includes (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2; if the first application is EAS, the valid RSD in the first URSP rule (i.e. URSP rule 4) includes (DNN, S-NSSAI) 3. The UE matches the existing PDU session according to the first URSP rule, and determines to use the existing session or newly build session to transmit the service of the first application according to the matching result.

[0247] In the above embodiment, when the UE needs to access the edge server of the serving PLMN, the H-PCF determines and delivers the URSP corresponding to the serving PLMN of the UE, so that the UE can match the same service to different URSP rules in different PLMNs, thereby achieving requirements 1 and 2 at the same time.

[0248] Referring to Figure 9 , Figure 9 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The embodiment can be applied to the roaming network architecture as shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4 .

[0249] S910, the H-PCF determines that the serving PLMN of the UE is the VPLMN.

[0250] For specific description, refer to S810, which will not be repeated here.

[0251] S920, the H-PCF sends indication information 2 to the V-PCF. The indication information 2 indicates that the V-PCF determines the URSP (i.e. the first URSP) corresponding to the VPLMN and sends the URSP to the UE.

[0252] Optionally, the indication information 2 includes the VPLMN ID.

[0253] In a possible specific implementation, S910 is in the UE Policy Association Establishment / Modification procedure, and the H-PCF sends the indication information 2 to the V-PCF through the Npcf_UEPolicyControl Create / Update Response message.

[0254] S930, the V-PCF determines the first URSP according to the indication information 2.

[0255] As can be seen, the different PLMNs correspond to the URSPs, if the following conditions are met, requirements 1 and 2 can be met: (1) the URSP corresponding to the HPLMN satisfies that the (DNN, S-NSSAI) in the URSP rule corresponding to the HPLMN and the ECS is the same as the (DNN, S-NSSAI) in the URSP rule corresponding to the HPLMN and the EAS; (2) the URSP (i.e. the first URSP) corresponding to the VPLMN satisfies that the (DNN, S-NSSAI) in the URSP rule corresponding to the VPLMN and the ECS is different from the (DNN, S-NSSAI) in the URSP rule corresponding to the VPLMN and the EAS; (3) the subscription data of the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the VPLMN and the ECS corresponds to the HR roaming mode, and the subscription data of the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the VPLMN and the EAS corresponds to the LBO roaming mode. As an example, a possible URSP rule included in the URSP corresponding to the HPLMN is shown in Table 3, and a possible URSP rule included in the URSP (i.e. the first URSP) corresponding to the VPLMN is shown in Table 4.

[0256] S940, the V-PCF forwards the first URSP to the UE.

[0257] Correspondingly, the UE receives the first URSP sent by the V-PCF.

[0258] Optionally, when the V-PCF sends the first URSP, the V-PCF can also send indication information 3 (i.e. the first indication information in the corresponding implementation), which indicates that the effective range of the first URSP is the current service PLMN (i.e. the VPLMN accessed by the UE at present). Figure 7 Correspondingly, the UE receives the first URSP sent by the V-PCF.

[0259] As described above, there is no direct communication interface between the UE and the V-PCF. The V-PCF sends the first URSP to the UE only means that the V-PCF sends the first URSP to the UE through a certain path, and the embodiment does not make specific limitation on the path.

[0260] As an example, as shown in Figure 9 S940 can include:

[0261] S9401, the V-PCF sends the first URSP to the AMF.

[0262] Correspondingly, the AMF receives the first URSP sent by the V-PCF.

[0263] Optionally, when the V-PCF sends the first URSP, the V-PCF can also send indication information 3.

[0264] S9402, the AMF forwards the first URSP to the UE.

[0265] Correspondingly, the UE receives the first URSP sent by the AMF.

[0266] Optionally, the AMF can also send the indication information 3 when sending the first URSP.

[0267] It should be noted that if the UE has internal logic 1, the indication information 3 can not be sent in the forwarding process of the first URSP, if the UE does not have internal logic 1 and the AMF does not have internal logic 2, the indication information 3 needs to be sent in the forwarding process of the first URSP, if the UE does not have internal logic 1, but the V-PCF has internal logic 2, the V-PCF can not send the indication information 3 to the AMF in the forwarding process of the first URSP, but the AMF needs to send the indication information 3 to the UE. The internal logic 1 here refers to that when the UE accesses the VPLMN, the effective range of the received URSP is the current PLMN; the internal logic 2 refers to that when the URSP received from the V-PCF is forwarded to the UE, the indication information 3 should be sent at the same time.

[0268] In a possible implementation mode, S940 can first send the first URSP and the optional indication information 3 by the V-PCF to the AMF through the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message, and then the AMF sends the first URSP and the optional indication information 3 to the UE through the NAS message.

[0269] The indication information 3 and the indication information 1 have the same function, and the only difference is that the source network element of sending is different. For the description of the indication information 3, refer to the description of the indication information 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0270] S950-S960 refer to the description in S840-S850, which will not be repeated here.

[0271] The above embodiments can make the UE possibly match the same service to different URSP rules in different PLMNs by indicating the V-PCF to determine and issue the URSP corresponding to the VPLMN when the UE accesses the edge server of the VPLMN, so as to realize the demand 1 and the demand 2 at the same time.

[0272] Referring to Figure 10 , Figure 10 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application can be applied to the roaming network architecture as shown in Figure 4 and the communication method as shown in Figure 5The SA WG6 edge computing network architecture is shown. The embodiment scenario assumes that the UE has established a connection with the ECS when accessing the VPLMN, and the ECS is aware of the UE accessing the VPLMN, obtains the URSP corresponding to the VPLMN (i.e., the first URSP), and sends the URSP to the UE.

[0273] S1001, the ECS determines that the UE is in a roaming state, i.e., the service PLMN of the UE is the VPLMN.

[0274] Optionally, S1002 is further included before S1001: the UE sends the service PLMN ID of the UE (i.e., the VPLMN ID of the VPLMN accessed by the UE) and first information to the ECS. The first information includes the HPLMN ID and / or second indication information, and the second indication information indicates that the UE is in a roaming state.

[0275] Correspondingly, the ECS receives the service PLMN ID and the first information sent by the UE.

[0276] In an implementation manner, if the ECS knows the HPLMN ID and the service PLMN ID of the UE, the ECS compares the HPLMN ID and the service PLMN ID, and if they are different, the UE is in a roaming state.

[0277] In another implementation manner, if the UE sends the second indication information to the ECS, the ECS can directly determine that the UE is in a roaming state according to the second indication information.

[0278] When the ECS determines that the UE is in a roaming state: the ECS can locally configure the first URSP, or obtain the first URSP (i.e., the URSP corresponding to the VPLMN accessed by the UE) from the H-PCF. If the ECS locally configures the first URSP, S1003-S1005 are skipped, and if the ECS obtains the first URSP from the H-PCF, S1003-S1005 are executed.

[0279] S1003, the ECS sends second information to the H-PCF, the second information including the service PLMN ID of the UE (i.e., the VPLMN ID), and a first request message, the first request message being used to request the H-PCF to send the first URSP to the ECS, the first URSP being the URSP corresponding to the service PLMN ID of the UE (i.e., the VPLMN ID of the VPLMN accessed by the UE).

[0280] S1004, the H-PCF determines the first URSP according to the second information. This step can refer to the specific description of the H-PCF determining the first URSP according to the VPLMN ID of the UE in S820, which will not be described here.

[0281] In an implementation, the H-PCF can not include the first request information in the second information if the H-PCF has internal logic, and the H-PCF can determine the first URSP according to the service PLMN ID of the UE in the received second information. The internal logic here means that the H-PCF sends the first URSP to the ECS upon receiving the service PLMN ID of the UE.

[0282] S1005, the H-PCF sends the first URSP to the ECS.

[0283] In a possible implementation, the H-PCF sends the first URSP to the ECS through an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization Notify message.

[0284] S1006, the ECS sends the first URSP to the UE.

[0285] Optionally, when the ECS sends the first URSP to the UE, the ECS can also send indication information 4 (i.e. Figure 7 the first indication information in the corresponding implementation), which indicates that the effective range of the first URSP is the current service PLMN.

[0286] Optionally, if the UE has internal logic that when the UE accesses the VPLMN, the received URSP is valid in the current PLMN, the indication information 4 can not be sent.

[0287] In a possible implementation, in the Service Provisioning procedure, the ECS sends the first URSP to the UE through a ServiceProvisioning Response message, and can also send the indication information 4.

[0288] The indication information 4 and the indication information 1 have the same function, and the only difference is that the sending source network element is different. For the description of the indication information 4, refer to the description of the indication information 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0289] S1007-S1008, refer to the description in S840-S850, which will not be repeated here.

[0290] In the above embodiments, after the UE accesses the ECS through the VPLMN, the UE sends the service PLMN ID and the HPLMN ID or an identifier of the UE in a roaming state to the ECS. When the UE is in a roaming state, the ECS sends the UE the URSP corresponding to the VPLMN according to the local configuration or the request for obtaining from the H-PCF, so that the UE matches the same service to different URSP rules in different PLMNs, thereby achieving the requirements 1 and 2 at the same time.

[0291] The above gives a method of network equipment issuing URSP to UE according to PLMN granularity, thereby realizing requirement 1 and requirement 2. Next, combined with Figure 11 to Figure 13 other communication methods capable of realizing requirement 1 and requirement 2 are given, which follow the existing mechanism that UE uses the same URSP in different PLMNs, and specific steps are described in the following embodiments.

[0292] Referring to Figure 11 , Figure 11 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. The embodiment can be applied to a non-roaming network architecture as shown in Figure 2 .

[0293] S1110, the UE acquires the first URSP. In the embodiment, the first URSP includes a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, wherein the first URSP rule includes (DNN, S-NSSAI) matched by the UE when accessing the first application, and the second rule includes (DNN, S-NSSAI) matched by the UE when accessing the second application, and (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the first application and the second application are different.

[0294] It should be understood that in the process of UE accessing ECS and EAS, ECS needs to be accessed first, and then EAS is accessed. For the convenience of description, the embodiment takes the first application as ECS service and the second application as EAS service as an example for description, (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 corresponds to ECS, and (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 corresponds to EAS. It should be noted that the subscription data of (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 corresponds to HR roaming mode, and the subscription data of (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 corresponds to LBO roaming mode, thus satisfying requirement 2.

[0295] Optionally, the UE acquiring the first URSP can be that the UE receives the first URSP from the PCF.

[0296] Optionally, the UE acquiring the first URSP can also be that the UE locally configures the first URSP.

[0297] S1120, the PCF sends first indication information to the UE, and the first indication information indicates that (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 and (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 are regarded as the same parameters when matching the existing session when the UE is located in the HPLMN.

[0298] It should be understood that (DNN, S-NSSAI)1 and (DNN, S-NSSAI)2 can be understood as the same parameter when matching an existing session. It can be understood that the URSP rule containing (DNN, S-NSSAI)1 (i.e., the first URSP rule) and the URSP rule containing (DNN, S-NSSAI)2 (i.e., the second URSP rule) can match the same session when other RSD components except (DNN, S-NSSAI) are the same. For example, the UE has accessed the ECS through the PDU session A, the (DNN, S-NSSAI) of session A is (DNN, S-NSSAI)1, and the URSP rule containing (DNN, S-NSSAI)2 can be reused to access the EAS through session A when other RSD components except (DNN, S-NSSAI) are the same.

[0299] Optionally, the first indication information can be sent at the same time in the message in which the PCF sends the first URSP to the UE. As known from the above, there is no direct communication interface between the UE and the PCF in the prior art. In one possible specific implementation manner, in the UCU procedure, the PCF sends the first indication information to the AMF through the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message, and then the AMF sends the first indication information to the UE through the NAS message.

[0300] Optionally, the first indication information can also be sent using a separate message or information element.

[0301] Optionally, the first indication information can also be contained in the URSP rule of the first URSP. In this implementation manner, one possible URSP rule is shown in Table 6:

[0302] Table 6

[0303]

[0304] S1130, the UE starts the first application (ECS). The UE matches the first URSP rule from the first URSP based on the first application (ECS).

[0305] S1140, the UE determines to use session A to transmit the service of the first application (ECS) according to the first URSP rule, wherein session A corresponds to (DNN, S-NSSAI)1.

[0306] It should be understood that session A can be a newly created session or an existing session.

[0307] S1150, the UE starts the second application (EAS). The UE matches the second URSP rule from the first URSP based on the second application (EAS).

[0308] S1160, the UE matches the existing PDU session based on the serving PLMN, the first indication information and the second URSP rule, and determines to use the existing session or newly establish a session to transmit the service of the second application (EAS) according to the matching result.

[0309] ① When the serving PLMN of the UE is the HPLMN, the first indication information is valid, and the UE matches the existing PDU session according to the second URSP rule and the first indication information.

[0310] As described above, the UE has accessed the ECS through the PDU session A, which corresponds to (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1. When the UE wants to access the EAS, the UE first selects a suitable URSP rule (i.e., the second rule), which is the URSP rule 2 shown in Table 6. Then the UE perceives that the current access is the HPLMN, so the first indication information is valid. When matching the existing session, the URSP rule 2 containing (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 can be matched successfully with the existing session A containing (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 in other components, so the UE can reuse the existing session A to access the EAS. If the matching fails, the UE still needs to initiate the session establishment process to request to establish a PDU session with (DNN, S-NSSAI) being (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2.

[0311] ② When the serving PLMN of the UE is the VPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, and the session matching and establishment process is performed according to the prior art.

[0312] The above embodiment sends the first indication information to the UE through the PCF, to indicate that when the UE accesses the HPLMN, the (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 corresponding to the ECS and the (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 corresponding to the EAS are considered as the same (DNN, S-NSSAI) when matching the existing session, and can be matched to the same session, thereby meeting the requirement 1. When the UE is located in the VPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, so the (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 corresponding to the ECS and the (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 corresponding to the EAS are not the same and cannot be matched to the same session, thereby meeting the requirement 2.

[0313] Referring to Figure 12 , Figure 12 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The embodiment can be applied to a non-roaming network architecture as shown in Figure 2 . The embodiment is described in detail as follows. Figure 11The prerequisites of the corresponding embodiments are the same, and it is assumed in this embodiment that the first URSP obtained by the UE includes a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, wherein the first URSP rule includes (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 matched by the UE when accessing the first application, the second rule includes (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 matched by the UE when accessing the second application, (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 and (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 are different, and requirement 2 is met. For ease of illustration, the first application is an ECS service and the second application is an EAS service in this embodiment.

[0314] S1210, the PCF sends first indication information to the AMF, and the first indication information indicates that (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 and (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 are considered the same when matching an existing session when the UE is located in the HPLMN.

[0315] Correspondingly, the AMF receives and stores the first indication information from the PCF.

[0316] In a possible specific implementation, in the UCU procedure, the PCF sends the first indication information to the AMF through a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message.

[0317] In another possible specific implementation, the first indication information can also be included in the URSP. In this implementation, a possible URSP rule is shown in Table 6.

[0318] S1220, the UE starts the first application (ECS). The UE matches the first URSP rule from the first URSP based on the first application (ECS).

[0319] S1230, the UE determines to use session A to transmit the service of the first application (ECS) according to the first URSP rule, wherein session A corresponds to (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1.

[0320] It should be understood that session A can be a newly created session or an existing session.

[0321] S1240, the UE starts the second application (EAS). The UE matches the second URSP rule from the first URSP based on the second application (EAS).

[0322] The UE matches the existing session based on the serving PLMN and the second URSP rule, and determines to use the existing session or a new session to transmit the service of the second application (EAS) according to the matching result. If there is no existing session associated with the UE and (DNN, S-NSSAI) is (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 at this time, since the UE has not perceived that the UE is located in the HPLMN at this time, (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 and (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 are considered as the same (DNN, S-NSSAI) when matching the existing session, the UE performs S1250.

[0323] In S1250, the UE sends a request message to the AMF, the request message containing (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2, the request message being used to request to establish the session corresponding to (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2.

[0324] Correspondingly, the AMF receives the request message.

[0325] It should be noted that, for the purpose of simplifying the description, the embodiment assumes that the request message sent by the UE to the AMF contains the same parameters (such as SSC mode, access type, etc.) in other RSDs as session A except that (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to session A can be different.

[0326] In S1260, the AMF determines whether the UE accesses the HPLMN.

[0327] In a possible implementation manner, the AMF determining whether the UE accesses the HPLMN can be: the AMF obtaining the information of the HPLMN to which the UE is subscribed from the subscription data, and if the information of the HPLMN is consistent with the information of the PLMN of the AMF, it is determined that the UE accesses the HPLMN, otherwise it is determined that the UE accesses the VPLMN.

[0328] 1) If the UE accesses the VPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, and S1290 is performed;

[0329] 2) If the UE accesses the HPLMN, since the first indication information indicates that (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 and (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 are considered as the same (DNN, S-NSSAI) when matching the existing session in the HPLMN, the AMF further determines whether there is an existing PDU session associated with (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1, if there is no such session, the remaining steps in the embodiment are not performed, and S1290 is performed; if there is an existing PDU session associated with (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1, the AMF decides to reject the session establishment request message this time, and S1270-S1280 are performed. As known from S1230, there is session A associated with (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 in the embodiment, and then S1270-S1280 can be continuously performed.

[0330] S1270, the AMF sends a first cause value to the UE, wherein the first cause value is used to indicate that the UE multiplexes the session A to transmit the service of the second application (EAS).

[0331] Correspondingly, the UE receives the first cause value from the AMF.

[0332] Optionally, the first cause value includes second indication information and / or an ID of the session A. Wherein the second indication information has the following functions: (1) when the UE is located in the HPLMN, the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the ECS and the EAS is considered as the same (DNN, S-NSSAI) and can be matched to the same session; (2) indicating the UE to re-match the existing session according to (1). The ID of the session A is used to indicate the UE to access the second application (EAS) through the session A with the ID.

[0333] A possible specific implementation is that the AMF sends the first cause value to the UE through a NAS message.

[0334] S1280, the UE multiplexes the session A to transmit the service of the second application (EAS) according to the first cause value.

[0335] Optionally, if the first cause value is the second indication information, the UE stores the second indication information and re-matches the existing session according to the function (1) of the second indication information. Since there is an existing PDU session associated with (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1, the UE can match the existing PDU session associated with (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 according to the second indication information, and the second indication information can be considered in the subsequent existing session matching in the HPLMN.

[0336] Optionally, if the first cause value is the ID of the existing PDU session, the UE can not perform the existing session matching and directly access the EAS through the ID of the session A.

[0337] Optionally, if the first cause value includes the second indication information and the ID of the session A, the UE can perform either of the above two actions, or can store the second indication information and access the EAS through the ID of the session A.

[0338] S1290, the UE continues to perform the remaining part of the PDU session establishment procedure of the session associated with (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2.

[0339] The above embodiments send first indication information to the AMF by the PCF to inform the AMF that the (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 corresponding to the ECS and the (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 corresponding to the EAS are considered as the same (DNN, S-NSSAI) when the UE accesses the HPLMN. After the AMF receives the session establishment request containing the (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 from the UE, if it is judged that the UE is located in the HPLMN, the first indication information is valid, and there is an existing session associated with the (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1, the AMF returns a first cause value to the UE, indicating that the UE re-matches the session or uses the existing session, thereby meeting requirement 1. When the UE is located in the VPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, and the session of the (DNN, S-NSSAI) 2 is continued to be established, thereby meeting requirement 2.

[0340] Referring to Figure 13 , Figure 13 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The embodiment can be applied to the roaming network architecture as shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4 Unlike the embodiments in Figure 11 and Figure 12 , it is assumed in the embodiment that the first URSP obtained by the UE includes a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, wherein the first URSP rule includes the (DNN, S-NSSAI) matched by the UE when accessing a first application, and the second rule includes the (DNN, S-NSSAI) matched by the UE when accessing a second application (EAS), wherein the (DNN, S-NSSAI) corresponding to the first application and the second application are the same, which is assumed to be (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 in the embodiment, and the subscription data of the (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 indicates that the UE uses the HR session, meeting requirement 1. For ease of description, the first application is taken as the ECS service and the second application is taken as the EAS service in the embodiment,

[0341] It should be understood that the UE accesses the HPLMN according to the existing process in the embodiment, and the relevant process of the UE accessing the VPLMN is specifically given here.

[0342] In S1310, the V-PCF sends first indication information to the UE, and the first indication information indicates that the UE uses the LBO session to access the second application (EAS) deployed in the VPLMN when the UE is located in the VPLMN.

[0343] Correspondingly, the UE receives the first indication information from the V-PCF.

[0344] Optionally, the first indication information can be sent in the first URSP message sent by the PCF to the UE. It should be understood that the PCF here can be understood as the PCF when the UE is located in the HPLMNFigure 2 PCF in the architecture.

[0345] Optionally, the first indication information can also be contained in the first URSP. In this implementation, a possible URSP rule is shown in Table 7:

[0346] Table 7

[0347]

[0348] A possible specific implementation of this step is that, in the UCU procedure, the V-PCF sends the URSP rule to the AMF through the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message, and then the AMF sends the URSP rule to the UE through the NAS message.

[0349] S1320, the UE accesses the VPLMN and starts a second application (EAS).

[0350] S1330, the UE determines to use the first session to transmit the traffic of the second application (EAS) based on the second URSP rule and the first indication information, wherein the first session is an LBO session. Here, it is assumed that the first session corresponds to (DNN, S-NSSAI) 3.

[0351] A specific example is: assuming that the first indication information is contained in the URSP, the URSP rule in the UE is shown in Table 8. The UE has established an HR session for accessing the ECS according to the first URSP rule corresponding to the ECS, the HR session (denoted as session C) corresponds to (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1, and the UE stores the first indication information in the context associated with the session C. When the UE needs to access the EAS deployed in the VPLMN, the UE matches the existing session based on (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 corresponding to the EAS in the second URSP rule. Since the first indication information is contained in the second URSP rule corresponding to the EAS, session C cannot be matched. Therefore, the UE needs to use the LBO session to access the second application (EAS).

[0352] Table 8

[0353]

[0354] As can be seen from the above, when the UE is located in the VPLMN, the HR session is used to access the first application (ECS) according to the subscription information, and the LBO session is used to access the second application (EAS) according to the first indication information. Therefore, when the UE is located in the VPLMN, the ECS and the EAS are respectively accessed through different sessions, thereby meeting the requirement 2.

[0355] Optionally, before the UE determines to transmit the service of the second application (EAS) using the first session, due to the UE failing to match to an existing session, the method further includes S1340 to S1370:

[0356] S1340, the UE sends a request message to the AMF, the request message containing (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 and second indication information, the second indication information indicating to establish the LBO session associated with (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1.

[0357] Correspondingly, the AMF receives the request message.

[0358] In an implementation manner, the request message can be contained in a NAS message.

[0359] S1350, the AMF determines according to the subscription information of the UE that (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 does not support establishing the LBO session.

[0360] It should be understood that whether the session supports the roaming mode of LBO is determined by the (DNN, S-NSSAI) of the session in the subscription data of the UE, that is, in the session establishment process, after the AMF of the VPLMN receives the request message from the UE, it is known whether the UE is allowed to establish the LBO session according to (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 contained in the request message and the subscription data of the UE. It can be seen that the subscription data of (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 in the present application indicates that the establishment of the LBO session is not allowed in the roaming scenario, and S1360 is executed.

[0361] S1360, the AMF obtains (DNN, S-NSSAI) that supports establishing the LBO session according to the subscription data of the UE, denoted as (DNN, S-NSSAI) 3, and replaces (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 contained in the request message sent by the UE with (DNN, S-NSSAI) 3.

[0362] It should also be understood that (DNN, S-NSSAI) 3 and (DNN, S-NSSAI) 1 are not the same, wherein the DNN and S-NSSAI in the two parameter combinations can be all different, or one of them can be the same, but both cannot be the same.

[0363] S1370, continue to execute the LBO session (i.e. the first session) establishment process associated with (DNN, S-NSSAI) 3.

[0364] It should be noted that after the establishment of the LBO session (i.e. the first session) described above, the UE should contain the first indication information in the context associated with the session.

[0365] The above embodiments send first indication information to the UE by the V-PCF, indicating that the UE uses the LBO session to access the EAS deployed in the VPLMN. The first indication information is valid within the scope of the VPLMN. When the UE needs to access the EAS, the first indication information needs to be used as one of the matching URSP rules. When a new session needs to be established for the EAS, the UE carries the second indication information in the session establishment request, indicating that the LBO session is established. After receiving the request, the AMF determines whether the (DNN, S-NSSAI) contained in the request can establish the LBO session according to the UE subscription data. If not, the AMF modifies the (DNN, S-NSSAI) to continue to establish the LBO session, thereby meeting the scenario of problem 2. When the UE is located in the HPLMN, the first indication information is invalid, and the UE can use the same session to access the ECS and the EAS, thereby meeting the scenario of problem 1.

[0366] The above Figure 6 to Figure 13 The communication method provided in the present application is described in detail, and the communication device provided in the present application is introduced below.

[0367] Referring to Figure 14 , Figure 14 The communication device 1000 provided in the present application is shown in the schematic block diagram. As Figure 14 , the communication device 1000 includes a processing unit 1100.

[0368] The processing unit 1100 is configured to determine a first user route selection policy (URSP), the first URSP including at least one first URSP rule, the first URSP rule corresponding to a home public land mobile network (HPLMN) or a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN) of the terminal device, the first URSP being used to determine whether a first application can be associated with an existing session; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to start the first application; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to determine one of the at least one first URSP rule as a second URSP rule based on a serving PLMN and the first application, wherein the second URSP rule corresponds to a PLMN that is the same as the serving PLMN; and the processing unit 1100 is further configured to determine, according to the second URSP rule, whether to use an existing session or a newly created session to transmit traffic of the first application.

[0369] Optionally, in an embodiment, the first URSP rule includes a PLMN descriptor, and the PLMN descriptor is used to indicate information of the PLMN corresponding to the first URSP rule.

[0370] Optionally, the communication device 1000 further includes a receiving unit 1200 configured to perform the action of receiving.

[0371] Optionally, in another embodiment, the receiving unit 1200 is configured to receive the first URSP from a policy control network element.

[0372] Optionally, in another embodiment, the processing unit 1100 is configured to locally configure the first URSP.

[0373] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1000 further includes a sending unit 1300 configured to perform the sending action.

[0374] In some other solutions, the units of the communication apparatus 1000 are further configured to perform the following steps and / or operations.

[0375] The receiving unit 1200 is configured to receive a first user route selection policy (URSP) from a network device, the first URSP including at least one URSP rule, the first URSP being a URSP corresponding to a serving public land mobile network (PLMN) of the terminal device, the serving PLMN being a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN), the first URSP being used to determine whether a first application can be associated to an existing session; the processing unit 1100 is configured to start the first application; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to determine one rule in the at least one URSP rule as a first URSP rule based on the serving PLMN and the first application; and the processing unit 1100 is further configured to determine, according to the first URSP rule, whether to use an existing session or a newly built session to transmit traffic of the first application.

[0376] Optionally, in one embodiment, the receiving unit 1200 is further configured to receive first indication information from the network device, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first URSP corresponds to the VPLMN.

[0377] Optionally, in another embodiment, the network device is any one of a home policy control network element, a visited policy control network element, or an edge configuration server (ECS).

[0378] Optionally, in another embodiment, the network device is an ECS, and the sending unit 1300 is configured to send, to the network device, an identity of the serving PLMN and first information, the first information including an identity of a home PLMN (HPLMN) of the terminal device and / or second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the terminal device is in a roaming state.

[0379] In some other solutions, the units of the communication apparatus 1000 are further configured to perform the following steps and / or operations.

[0380] The processing unit 1100 is configured to determine a first user route selection policy (URSP), the first URSP including a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule including a first parameter combination, the first parameter combination being a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application, the second URSP rule including a second parameter combination, the second parameter combination being a DNN and a S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, wherein the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are different; the receiving unit 1200 is configured to receive first indication information from a policy control network element, the first indication information being used to indicate that, when a serving public land mobile network (PLMN) of the terminal device is a home public land mobile network (HPLMN), the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are regarded as a same parameter combination; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to start the first application; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to determine, according to the first URSP rule, that traffic of the first application is transmitted by using a first session, the first session corresponding to the first parameter combination; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to start the second application; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to determine that the serving PLMN of the terminal device is the HPLMN; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to determine, according to the second URSP rule and the first indication information, that the first session is successfully matched; and the processing unit 1100 is further configured to multiplex the traffic of the second application by using the first session.

[0381] Optionally, in an embodiment, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server (ECS), and the second application corresponds to an edge application server (EAS).

[0382] In some other solutions, the units of the communication apparatus 1000 are further configured to perform the following steps and / or operations.

[0383] The processing unit 1100 is configured to determine a first user route selection policy (URSP), the first URSP comprising a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule comprising a first parameter combination, the first parameter combination being a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application, the second URSP rule comprising a second parameter combination, the second parameter combination being a DNN and a S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, wherein the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are different; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to start the first application; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to determine, according to the first URSP rule, that traffic of the first application is transmitted using a first session, the first session corresponding to the first parameter combination; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to access a home public land mobile network (HPLMN); the processing unit 1100 is further configured to start the second application; the sending unit 1300 is configured to send a request message to an access and mobility management network element, the request message comprising the second parameter combination, the request message being used to request establishment of a session corresponding to the second parameter combination; the receiving unit 1200 is configured to receive a first cause value from the access and mobility management network element, the first cause value being used to indicate that the terminal device reuses the first session; and the processing unit 1100 is further configured to transmit, according to the first cause value, traffic of the second application by reusing the first session.

[0384] Optionally, in an embodiment, the first cause value comprises second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate that the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are regarded as the same parameter combination when the terminal device accesses the HPLMN.

[0385] Optionally, in another embodiment, the first cause value comprises a first session identifier, the first session identifier being used to indicate that the terminal device reuses the first session.

[0386] Optionally, in another embodiment, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server (ECS), and the second application corresponds to an edge application server (EAS).

[0387] In some other solutions, the units of the communication apparatus 1000 are further configured to perform the following steps and / or operations.

[0388] The processing unit 1100 is configured to determine a first user route selection policy (URSP), the first URSP comprising a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule comprising a first parameter combination, the first parameter combination being a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application, the second URSP rule comprising a second parameter combination, the second parameter combination being a DNN and a S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, wherein the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are the same, and the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination indicate, by subscription data, that the terminal device accesses the first application or the second application using a home route (HR) session when accessing a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN); the receiving unit 1200 is configured to receive first indication information from a visited policy control network element, the first indication information indicating that the terminal device accesses the second application using a local breakout (LBO) session when located in the VPLMN; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to access the VPLMN; the processing unit 1100 is further configured to start the second application; and the processing unit 1100 is further configured to determine, based on the second URSP rule and the first indication information, that traffic of the second application is transmitted using a first session, wherein the first session is associated with an LBO session of a third parameter combination, and the third parameter combination comprises a third DNN and a third S-NSSAI.

[0389] Optionally, in another embodiment, the sending unit 1300 is configured to send a request message to an access and mobility management network element, the request message comprising the second parameter combination and second indication information, the second indication information indicating that an LBO session corresponding to the second parameter combination is established.

[0390] Optionally, in another embodiment, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server (ECS), and the second application corresponds to an edge application server (EAS).

[0391] Optionally, the receiving unit 1200 and the sending unit 1300 can also be integrated into a transceiver unit, which has both the receiving and sending functions, and no limitation is made herein.

[0392] In an implementation manner, the communication apparatus 1000 can be Figure 6 to Figure 13 a terminal device in a corresponding method embodiment. In this implementation manner, the sending unit 1300 can be a transmitter, and the receiving unit 1200 can be a receiver. The receiver and the transmitter can also be integrated into a transceiver. The processing unit 1100 can be a processing apparatus.

[0393] In another implementation, the communication apparatus 1000 can be a chip or an integrated circuit installed in a terminal device. In this implementation, the sending unit 1300 and the receiving unit 1200 can be a communication interface or an interface circuit. For example, the sending unit 1300 is an output interface or an output circuit, the receiving unit 1200 is an input interface or an input circuit, and the processing unit 1100 can be a processing apparatus.

[0394] The functions of the processing apparatus can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. For example, the processing apparatus can include a memory and a processor, where the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication apparatus 1000 performs operations and / or processes performed by the terminal device in each method embodiment. Alternatively, the processing apparatus can only include the processor, and the memory configured to store the computer program is located outside the processing apparatus. The processor is connected to the memory through a circuit / wire to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory. For another example, the processing apparatus can be a chip or an integrated circuit.

[0395] Referring to Figure 15 , Figure 15 A schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus 2000 provided in the present application is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication apparatus 2000 includes a processing unit 2100 and a sending unit 2200. Figure 15

[0396] The processing unit 2100 is configured to determine a first user route selection policy (URSP), where the first URSP includes at least one URSP rule, the first URSP is a URSP corresponding to a serving public land mobile network (PLMN) of a terminal device, the serving PLMN is a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN), and the first URSP is used to determine whether a first application can be associated to an existing session. The sending unit 2200 is configured to send the first URSP to the terminal device.

[0397] Optionally, in an embodiment, the sending unit 2200 is further configured to send first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first URSP corresponds to the VPLMN.

[0398] Optionally, the communication apparatus 2000 further includes a receiving unit 2300 configured to perform the action of receiving.

[0399] ​Optionally, in another embodiment, the network device is an edge configuration server ECS, and the receiving unit 2300 is used to receive the identifier of the service PLMN and first information from the terminal device, the first information including the identifier of the public land mobile network HPLMN to which the terminal device belongs and / or second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the terminal device is in a roaming state; the processing unit 2100 is also used to determine that the terminal device is in a roaming state based on the identifier of the service PLMN and the identifier of the HPLMN, or that the terminal device is in a roaming state based on the second indication information.

[0400] Optionally, in another embodiment, the sending unit 2200 is further used to send second information to the home policy control network element, where the second information includes an identifier of the serving PLMN and a first request message, and the first request message is used to request the home policy control network element to send the first URSP to the network device; the receiving unit 2300 is further used to receive the first URSP from the home policy control network element.

[0401] Optionally, in another embodiment, the network device is a visited policy control network element, and the receiving unit 2300 is further used to receive third indication information from the home policy control network element, and the third indication information is used to instruct the network device to send the first URSP to the terminal device; the processing unit 2100 is further used to determine the first URSP based on the third indication information.

[0402] Optionally, in another embodiment, the network device is a home policy control network element.

[0403] Optionally, the sending unit 2200 and the receiving unit 2300 may also be integrated into a transceiver unit, which has both receiving and sending functions, which is not limited here.

[0404] In one implementation, the communication device 2000 may be Figure 7 to Figure 10 The network device in the corresponding method embodiment. For example, the network device can be any one of an H-PCF, a V-PCF, and an ECS. In this implementation, the sending unit 2200 can be a transmitter, and the receiving unit 2300 can be a receiver. The receiver and transmitter can also be integrated into a transceiver. The processing unit 2100 can be a processing device.

[0405] In another implementation, the communication apparatus 2000 can be a chip or an integrated circuit installed in a network device. In this implementation, the sending unit 2200 and the receiving unit 2300 can be a communication interface or an interface circuit. For example, the sending unit 2200 is an output interface or an output circuit, the receiving unit 2300 is an input interface or an input circuit, and the processing unit 2100 can be a processing apparatus.

[0406] The functions of the processing apparatus can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. For example, the processing apparatus can include a memory and a processor, where the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication apparatus 2000 performs operations and / or processes performed by the network device in each method embodiment. Alternatively, the processing apparatus can only include the processor, and the memory configured to store the computer program is located outside the processing apparatus. The processor is connected to the memory through a circuit / wire to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory. For another example, the processing apparatus can be a chip or an integrated circuit.

[0407] Referring to Figure 16 , Figure 16 A schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus 3000 is provided in this application. As shown in Figure 16 , the communication apparatus 3000 includes a sending unit 3100.

[0408] The sending unit 3100 is configured to send a first user route selection policy (URSP) to a terminal device, where the first URSP includes at least one first URSP rule, the first URSP rule corresponds to a home public land mobile network (HPLMN) or a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN) of the terminal device, and the first URSP is used to determine whether a first application can be associated to an existing session.

[0409] Optionally, in another embodiment, the first URSP rule includes a PLMN descriptor, and the PLMN descriptor is used to indicate information of the PLMN corresponding to the first URSP rule.

[0410] Optionally, the communication apparatus 3000 further includes a receiving unit 3200 and a processing unit 3300, where the receiving unit 3200 is configured to perform the action of receiving, and the processing unit 3300 is configured to perform the action of internal processing.

[0411] In some other solutions, the units of the communication apparatus 3000 are further configured to perform the following steps and / or operations.

[0412] The sending unit 3100 is configured to send first indication information to a terminal device, the first indication information being used to indicate that a first parameter combination and a second parameter combination contained in a first user route selection policy (URSP) of the terminal device are regarded as the same parameter combination when the terminal device accesses a home public land mobile network (HPLMN), wherein the first URSP includes a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule includes the first parameter combination, the first parameter combination being a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application, the second URSP rule includes the second parameter combination, the second parameter combination being a DNN and an S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, and the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are different.

[0413] Optionally, in an embodiment, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server (ECS), and the second application corresponds to an edge application server (EAS).

[0414] In some other solutions, the units of the communication apparatus 3000 are further configured to perform the following steps and / or operations.

[0415] The sending unit 3100 is configured to send first indication information to an access and mobility management network element, the first indication information being used to indicate that a first parameter combination and a second parameter combination contained in a first user route selection policy (URSP) of a terminal device are regarded as the same parameter combination when the terminal device accesses a home public land mobile network (HPLMN), wherein the first URSP includes a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule includes the first parameter combination, the first parameter combination being a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application, the second URSP rule includes the second parameter combination, the second parameter combination being a DNN and an S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, and the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are different.

[0416] Optionally, in an embodiment, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server (ECS), and the second application corresponds to an edge application server (EAS).

[0417] In an implementation manner, the communication apparatus 3000 can be Figure 6 、 Figure 11 and Figure 12 a policy control network element in a corresponding method embodiment.

[0418] In another implementation, the communication device 3000 may be a chip or an integrated circuit installed in a policy control network element.

[0419] In other embodiments, each unit of the communication device 3000 is further configured to perform the following steps and / or operations.

[0420] A sending unit 3100 is used to send third indication information to a network device, where the third indication information is used to instruct the network device to send a first URSP to a terminal device, where the first URSP is a user routing policy URSP corresponding to a serving PLMN of the terminal device, the serving PLMN is a visited public land mobile network VPLMN, and the network device is a visiting policy control network element.

[0421] In other embodiments, each unit of the communication device 3000 is further configured to perform the following steps and / or operations.

[0422] A receiving unit 3200 is configured to receive second information from a network device, where the second information includes an identifier of a serving public land mobile network (PLMN) of a terminal device and a first request message, where the first request message is used to request the home policy control network element to send a first user routing policy (URSP) to the network device, where the first URSP is a URSP corresponding to a serving PLMN of the terminal device, the serving PLMN is a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN), and the network device is an edge configuration server (ECS);

[0423] The home policy control network element determines the first URSP according to the identifier of the serving PLMN;

[0424] The home policy control network element sends the first URSP to the network device.

[0425] Optionally, the receiving unit 1200 and the sending unit 1300 may also be integrated into a transceiver unit, which has both receiving and sending functions, which is not limited here.

[0426] In one implementation, the communication device 3000 may be Figure 9 and Figure 10 The corresponding method embodiment includes a home policy control network element.

[0427] In another implementation, the communication device 3000 may be a chip or an integrated circuit installed in a home policy control network element.

[0428] In other embodiments, each unit of the communication device 3000 is further configured to perform the following steps and / or operations.

[0429] The receiving unit 3200 is configured to receive first indication information from a policy control network element, the first indication information being used to indicate that a first parameter combination and a second parameter combination included in a first user route selection policy (URSP) of a terminal device are regarded as the same parameter combination when the terminal device accesses a home public land mobile network (HPLMN), wherein the first URSP includes a first URSP rule and a second URSP rule, the first URSP rule includes the first parameter combination, the first parameter combination being a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) matched by the terminal device when accessing a first application, the second URSP rule includes the second parameter combination, the second parameter combination being a DNN and a S-NSSAI matched by the terminal device when accessing a second application, and the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are different; the receiving unit 3200 is further configured to receive a request message from the terminal device, the request message including the second parameter combination, and the request message being used to request establishment of a session corresponding to the second parameter combination; the processing unit 3300 is configured to determine that the terminal device accesses the HPLMN, and that there is a first session in existing sessions associated with the terminal device, the first session being a session associated with the first parameter combination, and the request message of the terminal device is rejected according to the first indication information; and the sending unit 3100 is configured to send a first cause value to the terminal device, the first cause value being used to instruct the terminal device to multiplex the first existing session.

[0430] Optionally, in an embodiment, the first cause value includes second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate that the first parameter combination and the second parameter combination are regarded as the same parameter combination when the terminal device accesses the HPLMN.

[0431] Optionally, in another embodiment, the first cause value includes a first session identifier, the first session identifier being used to instruct the terminal device to multiplex the first session.

[0432] Optionally, in another embodiment, the first application corresponds to an edge configuration server (ECS), and the second application corresponds to an edge application server (EAS).

[0433] In some other solutions, the units of the communication apparatus 3000 are further configured to perform the following steps and / or operations.

[0434] The receiving unit 3200 is used to receive a request message from a terminal device, where the request message includes a second parameter combination and second indication information, where the second parameter combination includes a second data network name DNN and a second single network slice selection auxiliary information S-NSSAI, and the second indication information indicates establishing a local breakthrough LBO session corresponding to the second parameter combination; the processing unit 3300 is used to determine, based on the contract data of the terminal device, that the second parameter combination does not support the establishment of an LBO session; the processing unit 3300 is also used to determine a third parameter combination, where the third parameter combination includes a third DNN and a third S-NSSAI, and the third parameter combination is a parameter combination that supports the establishment of an LBO session; the processing unit 3300 is also used to establish an LBO session corresponding to the third parameter combination.

[0435] In one implementation, the communication device 3000 may be Figure 12 and Figure 13 The access and mobility management network element in the corresponding method embodiment.

[0436] In another implementation, the communication device 3000 may be a chip or an integrated circuit installed in an access and mobility management network element.

[0437] In other embodiments, each unit of the communication device 3000 is further configured to perform the following steps and / or operations.

[0438] The sending unit 3100 is configured to send first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information instructs the terminal device to use a local breakout LBO session to access a second application when accessing a visited public land mobile network VPLMN.

[0439] Optionally, in one embodiment, the second application corresponds to an edge application server EAS.

[0440] In one implementation, the communication device 3000 may be Figure 13 The visiting policy control network element in the corresponding method embodiment. In this implementation, the sending unit 3100 can be a transmitter, and the receiving unit 3200 can be a receiver. The receiver and the transmitter can also be integrated into a transceiver. The processing unit 3300 can be a processing device.

[0441] In another implementation, the communication device 3000 may be a chip or integrated circuit installed in a visit policy control network element. In this implementation, the sending unit 3100 and the receiving unit 3200 may be communication interfaces or interface circuits. For example, the sending unit 3100 may be an output interface or output circuit, the receiving unit 3200 may be an input interface or input circuit, and the processing unit 3300 may be a processing device.

[0442] The functions of the processing device can be implemented by hardware or by executing corresponding software implementations through hardware. For example, the processing device may include a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is used to store computer programs, and the processor reads and executes the computer programs stored in the memory, so that the communication device 3000 performs the operations and / or processes performed by the terminal device in each method embodiment. Alternatively, the processing device may include only a processor, and the memory for storing the computer program is located outside the processing device. The processor is connected to the memory via circuits / wires to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory. For another example, the processing device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

[0443] See also Figure 17 , Figure 17 This is a schematic structural diagram of the communication device 10 provided in this application. Figure 17 The communication device 10 includes one or more processors 11, one or more memories 12, and one or more communication interfaces 13. The processor 11 is used to control the communication interface 13 to send and receive signals, and the memory 12 is used to store a computer program. The processor 11 is used to call and execute the computer program from the memory 12 to execute the process and / or operation performed by the terminal device in each method embodiment of the present application.

[0444] For example, the processor 11 may have Figure 14 The functions of the processing unit 1100 shown in FIG, the communication interface 13 may have Figure 14 Specifically, the processor 11 can be used to execute the processing or operation performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of the present invention, and the communication interface 13 can be used to execute the processing or operation performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of the present invention. Figure 6 to Figure 13 The sending and / or receiving actions performed by the terminal device in each corresponding method embodiment.

[0445] In one implementation, the communication device 10 may be Figure 6 to Figure 13 The terminal device in each corresponding method embodiment. In this implementation, the communication interface 13 can be a transceiver. The transceiver can include a receiver and a transmitter.

[0446] Optionally, the processor 11 may be a baseband device, and the communication interface 13 may be a radio frequency device.

[0447] In another implementation, the communication device 10 may be a chip installed in a terminal device. In this implementation, the communication interface 13 may be an interface circuit or an input / output interface.

[0448] See also Figure 18 , Figure 18 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the communication device 20 provided in this application.Figure 18 The communication apparatus 20 comprises one or more processors 21, one or more memories 22 and one or more communication interfaces 23. The processor 21 is configured to control the communication interface 23 to transceive signals, and the memory 22 is configured to store a computer program. The processor 21 is configured to invoke and execute the computer program stored in the memory 22, so that the procedures and / or operations performed by the network device in the method embodiments of the present application are performed.

[0449] For example, the processor 21 can have the functions of the processing unit 2100 shown in Figure 15 , the communication interface 23 can have the functions of the sending unit 2200 and / or the receiving unit 2300 shown in Figure 15 . Specifically, the processor 21 can be configured to perform the processing or operations performed internally by the network device in the corresponding method embodiments of the present application, and the communication interface 23 can be configured to perform the sending and / or receiving actions performed by the network device in the corresponding method embodiments of the present application. Details are omitted here. Figure 7 to Figure 10 Figure 7 to Figure 10

[0450] In an implementation, the communication apparatus 20 can be a network device in the method embodiments of the present application. In this implementation, the communication interface 23 can be a transceiver. The transceiver can include a receiver and a transmitter. Figure 7 to Figure 10

[0451] Optionally, the processor 21 can be a baseband device, and the communication interface 23 can be a radio frequency device.

[0452] In another implementation, the communication apparatus 20 can be a chip installed in a network device. In this implementation, the communication interface 23 can be an interface circuit or an input / output interface.

[0453] Referring to Figure 19 , Figure 19 is a schematic structural diagram of the communication apparatus 30 provided by the present application. As shown in Figure 19 , the communication apparatus 30 comprises one or more processors 31, one or more memories 32 and one or more communication interfaces 33. The processor 31 is configured to control the communication interface 33 to transceive signals, and the memory 32 is configured to store a computer program. The processor 31 is configured to invoke and execute the computer program stored in the memory 32, so that the procedures and / or operations performed by the policy control network element, the home policy control network element, the visited policy control network element, the access and mobility management network element in the method embodiments of the present application are performed.

[0454] For example, the processor 31 can have the functions of the processing unit 3100 shown in Figure 16 , and the communication interface 33 can have the functions of the sending unit 3200 and / or the receiving unit 3300 shown in Figure 16 ​​​The processor 31 can be configured to perform the functions of the sending unit 3100 and / or the receiving unit 3200 shown in FIG. 3. Specifically, the processor 31 can be configured to perform the processing or operations performed inside the policy control network element, the home policy control network element, the visited policy control network element, the access and mobility management network element in the method embodiments of the present application, and the communication interface 33 can be configured to perform the sending and / or receiving actions performed by the policy control network element, the home policy control network element, the visited policy control network element, the access and mobility management network element in the method embodiments of the present application, and details are not described herein again.

[0455] In an implementation, the communication apparatus 30 can be any one of the policy control network element, the home policy control network element, the visited policy control network element, the access and mobility management network element in the method embodiments. In this implementation, the communication interface 33 can be a transceiver. The transceiver can include a receiver and a transmitter.

[0456] Optionally, the processor 31 can be a baseband device, and the communication interface 33 can be a radio frequency device.

[0457] In another implementation, the communication apparatus 30 can be a chip installed in any one of the policy control network element, the home policy control network element, the visited policy control network element, the access and mobility management network element. In this implementation, the communication interface 33 can be an interface circuit or an input / output interface.

[0458] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed in hardware or software mode depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. The skilled person can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0459] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working processes of the system, apparatus and unit described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not described herein again.

[0460] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other manners. For example, the described device embodiments are merely schematic. The division of the units is merely logical function division. There can be other division manners in actual implementation. For example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections can be indirect couplings or communication connections through some interfaces, devices or units, and can be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0461] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, i.e., can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

[0462] In addition, each functional unit in the various embodiments of the present application can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can be a physically independent unit, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0463] If the functions are realized in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes a number of instructions for causing 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 methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various program code storage media.

[0464] The above is merely specific embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device determines a first user routing policy (URSP), wherein the first URSP includes at least one first URSP rule, the first URSP rule corresponds to a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN) of the terminal device, and the first URSP is used to determine whether a first application can be associated with an existing session; The terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device starts the first application; The terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device determines, based on a serving PLMN and the first application, one of the at least one first URSP rule as a second URSP rule, wherein the PLMN corresponding to the second URSP rule is the same as the serving PLMN; The terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device determines, according to the second URSP rule, to use an existing session or a new session to transmit the service of the first application.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first URSP rule includes a PLMN descriptor, and the PLMN descriptor is used to indicate information about the PLMN corresponding to the first URSP rule.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device determines the first URSP, including: The terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device receives the first URSP from a network device or a component installed in the network device; or The terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device locally configures the first URSP.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device determines the first URSP, including: The terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device receives a PLMN descriptor and the first URSP from a network device or a component installed in the network device, where the PLMN descriptor is used to indicate information about the PLMN corresponding to the first URSP rule.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The PLMN descriptor is an identifier of the PLMN.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: The terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device receives first indication information from the network device or a component installed in the network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first URSP corresponds to the VPLMN.

7. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that The network device or the component installed in the network device is any one of a home policy control network element, a visited policy control network element or an edge configuration server ECS.

8. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that The network device or the component installed in the network device is an ECS, and before the terminal device or the component installed in the terminal device receives the first URSP from the network device or the component installed in the network device, the method further includes: The terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device sends the identifier of the service PLMN and first information to the network device or a component installed in the network device, the first information including the identifier of the terminal device's home public land mobile network HPLMN and / or second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the terminal device is in a roaming state.

9. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The network device or a component installed in the network device determines a first user routing policy URSP, the first URSP including at least one first URSP rule, the first URSP rule corresponding to a visited public land mobile network VPLMN of the terminal device, the first URSP being used to determine whether the first application can be associated with the existing session; The network device or a component installed in the network device sends the first URSP to the terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device, where the first URSP is used by the terminal device to determine a second URSP rule based on the serving PLMN and the first application, and the PLMN corresponding to the second URSP rule is the same as the serving PLMN.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The first URSP rule includes a PLMN descriptor, and the PLMN descriptor is used to indicate information about the PLMN corresponding to the first URSP rule.

11. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: The network device or a component installed in the network device sends first indication information to the terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first URSP corresponds to the VPLMN.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that The network device or the component installed in the network device is an edge configuration server ECS. Before the network device or the component installed in the network device sends the first URSP to the terminal device or the component installed in the terminal device, the method further includes: The network device or a component installed in the network device receives, from the terminal device or a component installed in the terminal device, an identifier of the serving PLMN and first information, where the first information includes an identifier of the HPLMN of the terminal device and / or second indication information, and the second indication information indicates that the terminal device is in a roaming state; The network device or a component installed in the network device determines that the terminal device is in a roaming state based on the identifier of the serving PLMN and the identifier of the HPLMN, or the second indication information determines that the terminal device is in a roaming state.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The network device or a component installed in the network device determines the first URSP, including: The network device or a component installed in the network device sends second information to the home policy control network element, where the second information includes an identifier of the serving PLMN and a first request message, where the first request message is used to request the home policy control network element to send the first URSP to the network device; The network device or a component installed in the network device receives the first URSP from the home policy control network element.

14. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that The network device or a component installed in the network device is a visit policy control network element, and the network device or the component installed in the network device determines the first URSP, including: The network device or a component installed in the network device receives third indication information from a home policy control network element, where the third indication information is used to instruct the network device to send the first URSP to the terminal device; The network device determines the first URSP according to the third indication information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that The network device or a component installed in the network device is a home policy control network element.

16. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises means for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, and the at least one processor is configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in the at least one memory, so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions. When the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 is executed.

19. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes computer program code, and when the computer program code is run on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 is executed.

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