Method, device and readable storage medium for connection establishment

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a method, device and readable storage medium for connection establishment, and relate to the technical field of communication. The method is applied to a session management function (SMF), and includes: receiving data sent by a second user equipment (UE) to a first UE, the data carrying an identifier of the first UE; sending, to the first UE, a first request message to the first UE or an access and mobility management function (AMF), the first request message being used to request the first UE to establish a protocol data unit (PDU) session or to activate a user plane of the PDU session; and establishing a connection between the first UE and the second UE after determining that the first UE has established the PDU session or activated the user plane of the PDU session. The method of the embodiments of the present application can support a scenario in which a UE has downlink data, but the UE has not established a PDU session for transmitting the downlink data, or can reduce the processing delay of a scenario in which a user plane of an established PDU session is deactivated.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and more specifically, to a method, apparatus, and readable storage medium for establishing a connection. Background Technology

[0002] Data between UEs can be directly forwarded through the User Plane Function (UPF) anchor point of the Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, without going through the N6 interface. Data transmitted through this path is called end-to-end service data. When UE1 sends end-to-end service data to UE2, UE2 may be in different states, such as: UE2 is in the connected state but UE2 has not established a PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data, UE2 is in the idle state and the user plane of the above PDU session is deactivated, UE2 is in the idle state but UE2 has not established the above PDU session, etc.

[0003] The existing technology does not consider the scenario where UE2 has not established the aforementioned PDU session; in addition, for the scenario where UE2 is in an idle state and the user plane of the aforementioned PDU session is deactivated, the processing latency of the existing technology is relatively long. Therefore, the existing technology can only activate the user plane of an established PDU session through the service request process, and cannot support the scenario where the UE has downlink data arriving, but the UE has not established a PDU session to transmit the downlink data. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a connection establishment method, device, and readable storage medium to solve the technical problems in the prior art where the UE cannot support scenarios where downlink data arrives but the UE has not established a PDU session to transmit the downlink data, and where the processing latency is long in scenarios where the user plane of the established PDU session is deactivated.

[0005] Firstly, a connection establishment method is provided for use in the Session Management Function (SMF), the method comprising:

[0006] Receive data sent by a second user equipment (UE) to a first UE, wherein the data carries the identifier of the first UE;

[0007] Send a first request message to the first UE or the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF). The first request message is used to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or to activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0008] Once it is determined that the first UE has established the PDU session or activated the user plane of the PDU session, a connection is established between the first UE and the second UE.

[0009] In one possible implementation, before sending the first request message to the first user equipment (UE), the method further includes:

[0010] If the first UE has not established the PDU session, it is determined that the first request message was used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session.

[0011] The first request message carries any one of the following: the data network name (DNN) of the PDU session, the single network slice selection auxiliary resource (S-NSSAI), and the first indication information.

[0012] If the first UE has already established the PDU session, and the user plane of the PDU session is not activated, then the first request message is determined to be used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0013] The first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information.

[0014] In yet another possible implementation, if the first UE has not established the PDU session, the method further includes:

[0015] Create a context for the PDU session, the context including DNN and / or S-NSSAI.

[0016] In another possible implementation, the first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state;

[0017] The second indication information is used to instruct the user face to activate the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0018] In another possible implementation, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message also carries: third indication information, the third indication information being used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0019] Another possible implementation includes:

[0020] The system receives a new PDU session ID from the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or receives a service request message from the first UE. Therefore, the list of PDU session IDs to be activated in the service request message includes the new PDU session ID, so as to establish an N4 session for the corresponding PDU session based on the new PDU session ID.

[0021] Secondly, a connection establishment method is also provided, applied to a first user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

[0022] Receive a first request message from the Session Management Function (SMF), the first request message being used to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or activate the user plane of the PDU session;

[0023] Based on the first request message, establish the PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0024] In one possible implementation, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following information: the DNN, S-NSSAI, and first indication information of the PDU session;

[0025] If the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information.

[0026] In another possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0027] If the first request message carries the second indication information or the ID of the PDU session, the PDU session ID is added to the list of PDU session IDs to be activated in the service request message. The second indication information is used to indicate the user plane for activating the PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0028] In another possible implementation, the first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state.

[0029] In another possible implementation, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message also carries: third indication information, the third indication information being used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0030] In yet another possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0031] Add the new PDU session ID to the list of PDU session IDs to be activated in the business request message.

[0032] Thirdly, a method for establishing a connection is provided, characterized in that it is applied to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), the method comprising:

[0033] Receive a first request message sent by the Session Management Function (SMF), the first request message being used to request the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session;

[0034] The first request message triggers the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0035] In one possible implementation, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following: the PDU session ID, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information. The step of triggering the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session according to the first request message includes:

[0036] If the first UE is in an idle state, the process of paging the first UE is triggered, and the second indication information is carried in the paging message. The second indication information is used to indicate the user plane to activate the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0037] In another possible implementation, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, and the first request message carries any one of the following information: the DNN, S-NSSAI, first indication information, and third indication information of the PDU session, then triggering the first UE to establish the PDU session according to the first request message includes:

[0038] If the first UE is in an idle state, the process of paging the first UE is triggered, and the paging message carries either the first indication information or the third indication information;

[0039] Wherein, the first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state;

[0040] The third indication information is used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0041] In another possible implementation, the method further includes, prior to triggering the paging of the first UE:

[0042] Create a context for the PDU session, the context including one or more of the following: SMF ID, DNN, and S-NSSAI.

[0043] In yet another possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0044] Receive the new PDU session ID assigned to the PDU session by the first UE;

[0045] The new PDU session ID is added to the context created for the PDU session, and the new PDU session ID is fed back to the SMF.

[0046] Fourthly, a session management function device is provided, including:

[0047] A receiving module is used to receive data sent by a second user equipment (UE) to a first UE, wherein the data carries the identifier of the first UE;

[0048] The sending module is used to send a first request message to the first UE or the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF). The first request message is used to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or to activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0049] The processing module is used to establish a connection between the first UE and the second UE after determining that the first UE has established the PDU session or activated the user plane of the PDU session.

[0050] Fifthly, a user equipment is provided, comprising:

[0051] The receiving module is configured to receive a first request message from the Session Management Function (SMF), wherein the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or to activate the user plane of the PDU session;

[0052] The processing module is configured to establish the PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session based on the first request message.

[0053] Sixthly, an access and mobility management function device is provided, including:

[0054] The receiving module is used to receive a first request message sent by the Session Management Function (SMF), which is used to request the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0055] The processing module is used to trigger the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session according to the first request message.

[0056] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, the electronic device comprising:

[0057] Memory, used to store computer programs;

[0058] Transceiver, used to send and receive data under the control of the processor;

[0059] A processor for reading a computer program from the memory and executing a connection establishment method as shown in the first, second, or third aspect of this application.

[0060] Eighthly, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, which, when executed by a processor, implements the connection establishment method shown in the first, second, or third aspect of this application.

[0061] The beneficial effects of the technical solution provided in this application are:

[0062] In this embodiment, after receiving data sent from the second UE to the first UE, a first request message is sent to the first UE or the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session. Once it is determined that the first UE has established a PDU session, a connection is established between the first UE and the second UE. This can support scenarios where downlink data arrives for the UE, but the UE has not established a PDU session to transmit the downlink data. Alternatively, a request message is sent to the first UE or the AMF to request activation of the user plane of the PDU session. Once the first UE activates the user plane of the PDU session, a connection is established between the first UE and the second UE. This can reduce the processing latency in scenarios where the user plane of an established PDU session is deactivated. Attached Figure Description

[0063] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments of this application will be briefly introduced below.

[0064] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the end-to-end business data transmission path in related technologies;

[0065] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the business request process in related technologies;

[0066] Figure 3 A flowchart illustrating a connection establishment method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0067] Figure 4 A flowchart illustrating a connection establishment method according to another embodiment of this application;

[0068] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating a connection establishment method according to another embodiment of this application;

[0069] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for establishing a connection according to an embodiment of this application.

[0070] Figure 7 A flowchart illustrating a connection establishment method according to another embodiment of this application;

[0071] Figure 8 A schematic diagram illustrating a connection establishment method provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0072] Figure 9 A schematic diagram illustrating a connection establishment method provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0073] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0074] The embodiments of this application are described in detail below. Examples of these embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain this application, and should not be construed as limiting the invention.

[0075] Those skilled in the art will understand that, unless specifically stated otherwise, the singular forms “a,” “an,” “the,” and “the” used herein may also include the plural forms. It should be further understood that the term “comprising” as used in this application means the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. It should be understood that when we say an element is “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element, or there may be intermediate elements. Furthermore, “connected” or “coupled” as used herein can include wireless connections or wireless coupling. The term “and / or” as used herein includes all or any units and all combinations of one or more associated listed items.

[0076] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the embodiments of this application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0077] First, let's introduce and explain several terms used in this application:

[0078] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various systems, especially 5G systems. For example, applicable systems include Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), and 5G New Radio (NR). All of these systems include terminal equipment and network-side equipment. The systems may also include a core network component, such as Evolved Packet System (EPS) and 5G system (5GS).

[0079] First, let's introduce and explain several terms used in this application:

[0080] The terminal devices involved in the embodiments of this application can be devices that provide voice and / or data connectivity to users, handheld devices with wireless connectivity, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. The names of the terminal devices may differ in different systems; for example, in a 5G system, a terminal device can be called User Equipment (UE). Wireless terminal devices can communicate with one or more core networks (CNs) via a Radio Access Network (RAN). Wireless terminal devices can be mobile terminal devices, such as mobile phones (or "cellular" phones) and computers with mobile terminal devices, for example, portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and / or data with the RAN. Examples include Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Wireless terminal equipment can also be referred to as a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, access point, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, or user device, but is not limited to these terms in the embodiments of this application.

[0081] The network-side equipment involved in this application embodiment can be a base station, which may include multiple cells providing services to terminals. Depending on the specific application, a base station may also be called an access point, or a device in the access network that communicates with wireless terminal devices through one or more sectors on the air interface, or other names. The network-side equipment can be used to exchange received air frames with Internet Protocol (IP) packets, acting as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, where the rest of the access network may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network-side equipment can also coordinate the attribute management of the air interface.

[0082] For example, the network-side equipment involved in the embodiments of this application can be a base transceiver station (BTS) in Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a network-side device (NodeB) in Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), an evolved network-side device (eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a next generation system, a Home evolved Node B (HeNB), a relay node, a femto, a pico, etc., and is not limited in the embodiments of this application. In some network structures, the network-side equipment may include centralized unit (CU) nodes and distributed unit (DU) nodes, and the centralized unit and distributed unit may also be geographically separated.

[0083] Network-side equipment and terminal equipment can each use one or more antennas for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission. MIMO transmission can be single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) or multiple-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). Depending on the configuration and number of antenna combinations, MIMO transmission can be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO, or massive-MIMO, and can also be diversity transmission, precoding transmission, or beamforming transmission, etc.

[0084] (I) End-to-end business data transmission path

[0085] End-to-end service data is transmitted directly between the two UE anchor points (UPFs) without needing to be relayed through the data network. A diagram illustrating the data transmission path is shown below. Figure 1 As shown.

[0086] (II) Business Request Process

[0087] In 5G networks, the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) and SMF (Session Management Function) are independent network functions, responsible for access and mobility management and session management, respectively. The only control plane interface between the UE (User Equipment) and the 5G core network is the N1 interface. All control plane messages sent by the UE to the 5G core network are transmitted through the N1 interface, including N1MM (Mobility Management) messages and N1SM (Session Management) messages.

[0088] The functions of the N1 interface include:

[0089] An N1NAS (Non-access stratum) connection is used for registration management, signaling connection management, and SM-related message and procedure processing. The only N1 endpoint on the network side is the AMF. The AMF forwards SM-related information to the SMF. The AMF is responsible for the registration and signaling connection management portions of the NAS signaling. The SMF is responsible for the session management portion of the NAS signaling.

[0090] RM (Registration Management) / CM (Connection Management) NAS messages and SM NAS messages, along with their corresponding processes, are decoupled. Therefore, the AMF needs to support NAS routing capabilities. The AMF can decide whether to accept the RM / CM portion of a NAS request, but is unaware of the SM portion of the NAS signaling. When an SMF is selected to serve a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, the AMF needs to ensure that all NAS signaling associated with that PDU session is handled by the same SMF instance. The SMF notifies the AMF that a PDU session has been released.

[0091] After the PDU session is successfully established, the AMF stores the SMF identifier of the UE, and the SMF stores the AMF identifier of the UE.

[0092] Combination Figure 2 The business request process in the existing technology is described as follows:

[0093] 1. The UE sends a Service Request message, which carries a list of PDU sessions that the UE wishes to activate.

[0094] 2. The Radio Access Network (RAN) sends an N2 request (service request) to the AMF.

[0095] 3. For the PDU session that the UE wishes to activate, the AMF sends an Update Session Management Context Request (Nsmf_PDUSession_Update SM Context Request) to the SMF.

[0096] 4. The SMF interacts with the Policy Control Function (PCF) to modify session management policies.

[0097] 5. SMF should be set to UPF.

[0098] 6. The SMF initiates the N4 Session Modification process and requests the UPF to allocate N3 tunnel information.

[0099] 7. The SMF returns an Update Session Management Context Response message (Nsmf_PDU Session_Update SMContext Response) to the AMF, which carries N2 session management information.

[0100] 8. The AMF sends an N2 Request to the RAN, carrying N2 session management information.

[0101] 9. The RAN (Radio Access Network) reconfigures the Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection. After this process, the UE can send uplink data.

[0102] 10. The RAN sends an N2 Request Ack message to the AMF, which carries N2 session management information.

[0103] 11. The AMF sends an Update Session Management Context Request (Nsmf_PDU Session_Update SMContext Request) to the SMF, carrying N2 session management information.

[0104] 12. SMF may initiate a session management policy update process (SMF initiated SM policyAssociation Modification).

[0105] 13. The SMF initiates the N4 Session Modification process, sending the N3 tunnel information from the N2 session management information returned by the RAN node to the UPF.

[0106] 14. The SMF returns an Update Session Management Context Response message (Nsmf_PDU Session_Update SMContext Response) to the AMF.

[0107] Existing technologies can only activate the user plane of an established PDU session through a service request process. They cannot support scenarios where the UE receives downlink data but has not established a PDU session to transmit that downlink data. Furthermore, existing technologies have long processing latency for scenarios where the user plane of an established PDU session is deactivated. Therefore, this application proposes a solution to support scenarios where the UE receives downlink data but has not established a PDU session to transmit that downlink data, and a method to enhance existing technologies to reduce the latency of activating the user plane of an established PDU session.

[0108] The technical solution of this application and how the technical solution of this application solves the above-mentioned technical problems are described in detail below with specific embodiments. These specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described again in some embodiments. The embodiments of this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0109] This application provides a method for establishing a connection, such as... Figure 3 As shown, this method is applied to the Session Management Function (SMF) and includes:

[0110] S100: Receive data sent by the second user equipment (UE) to the first UE, wherein the data carries the identifier of the first UE;

[0111] S101. Send a first request message to the first UE or the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF). The first request message is used to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or to activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0112] S102. When it is determined that the first UE has established the PDU session or activated the user plane of the PDU session, a connection is established between the first UE and the second UE.

[0113] In other words, in this embodiment, the SMF receives data sent by the data sender (the second UE mentioned above) to the data receiver (the first UE mentioned above). Since the data carries the identifier of the data receiver, it can be known that the data is end-to-end service data, and thus a request message can be sent to the data receiver or the AMF.

[0114] Specifically, if the data receiver has not established a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session for transmitting the data, the SMF can send a request message to the data receiver or the AMF to request the data receiver to establish a PDU session. After determining that the data receiver has established the requested PDU session, a connection is established between the data sender and the data receiver, thereby supporting scenarios where the UE has downlink data arriving, but the UE has not established a PDU session for transmitting the downlink data.

[0115] Alternatively, if the data receiver has established a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session for transmitting the data, but the user plane of the PDU session is deactivated (user plane not activated as mentioned above), the SMF can send a request message to the data receiver or the AMF to request the data receiver to activate the user plane of the PDU session. After determining that the data receiver has activated the user plane of the requested PDU session, a connection is established between the data sender and the data receiver, thereby reducing the processing latency in scenarios where the user plane of an established PDU session is deactivated.

[0116] In the above embodiments, if the first UE is in a connected state, the SMF can transmit the first request message to the first UE through the AMF; if the first UE is in an idle state, the SMF needs to send the first request message to the AMF, which then triggers the first UE to execute the operation requested in the first request message. Specifically, the AMF needs to trigger a paging process for the first UE and carry indication information in the paging message to instruct the first UE to execute the operation requested in the first request message. The operation requested in the first request message includes requesting to establish a PDU session or requesting to activate the user plane of a PDU session.

[0117] In another embodiment, prior to S101, the following is also included:

[0118] If the first UE has not established the PDU session, it is determined that the first request message was used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session.

[0119] The first request message carries any one of the following: the data network name (DNN) of the PDU session, the single network slice selection auxiliary resource (S-NSSAI), and the first indication information.

[0120] If the first UE has already established the PDU session, and the user plane of the PDU session is not activated, then the first request message is determined to be used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0121] The first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information.

[0122] In the above embodiments, the first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state;

[0123] The second indication information is used to instruct the user face to activate the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0124] In other words, if the first UE has not established a PDU session, a request message is sent to request the establishment of a PDU session. This request message may include the DNN or S-NSSAI of the PDU session, or an indication message indicating the establishment of a new PDU session.

[0125] If the user plane of the PDU session established by the first UE is deactivated, a request message is sent to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session. The request message may include the ID, DNN, or S-NSSAI of the PDU session, or an indication message indicating the activation of the user plane of the PDU session.

[0126] In the above embodiments, when the request message carries indication information, since the indication information occupies a small number of bits (compared to the number of bits occupied by DNN or S-NSSAI), for example, only 1 bit, resources can be greatly saved.

[0127] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, the parameters of the PCU session are the same as those in the prior art. For example, the PDU session is related to DNN and S-NSSAI. When the parameter takes a specific value, it indicates that the PCU session can be used to transmit end-to-end service data.

[0128] In other embodiments, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message also carries: third indication information, the third indication information being used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0129] In this embodiment, it also includes:

[0130] The system receives a new PDU session ID from the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) or receives a service request message from the first UE. Therefore, the new PDU session ID is included in the list of PDU session IDs to be activated (the list of PDU session IDs to be activated) in the service request message. An N4 session is then established for the corresponding PDU session based on the new PDU session ID.

[0131] In other words, in this embodiment, the request message sent by the SMF to request the establishment of a PDU session may include indication information (the third indication information mentioned above) for instructing the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID. After receiving the new PDU session ID allocated by the first UE from the AMF, an N4 session can be established based on the new PDU session ID. Alternatively, after receiving the service request message sent by the first UE, an N4 session can be established based on the new PDU session ID included in the list of PDU session IDs to be activated in the service request message, thereby reducing the latency of establishing a connection.

[0132] In other embodiments, if the first UE does not establish the PDU session, the method further includes:

[0133] Create a context for the PDU session, the context including DNN and / or S-NSSAI.

[0134] In other words, in this embodiment, the SMF can proactively create a context for an unestablished PDU session without receiving a request from the UE, in order to reduce the latency of establishing a connection.

[0135] This application provides a method for establishing a connection, such as... Figure 4 As shown, the method is applied to a first user equipment (UE) and includes:

[0136] S201. Receive a first request message from the Session Management Function (SMF), the first request message being used to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or activate the user plane of the PDU session;

[0137] S202. Based on the first request message, establish the PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0138] In other words, in this embodiment, the UE establishes a corresponding PDU session based on a request message from the SMF requesting the establishment of a PDU session, or activates the user plane of the corresponding PDU session based on a request message from the SMF requesting the activation of the user plane of the PDU session.

[0139] Specifically, in this embodiment, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following information: the DNN, S-NSSAI, and first indication information of the PDU session;

[0140] If the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information.

[0141] In this embodiment, the first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state.

[0142] In one embodiment, it also includes:

[0143] If the first request message carries the second indication information or the ID of the PDU session, the PDU session ID is added to the list of PDU session IDs to be activated in the service request message. The second indication information is used to indicate the user plane for activating the PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0144] In another embodiment, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message also carries: third indication information, the third indication information being used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0145] Specifically, in this embodiment, it may also include:

[0146] Add the new PDU session ID to the list of PDU session IDs to be activated in the business request message.

[0147] It should be noted that, in the above embodiments, the first request message received by the first UE may be a request message transmitted transparently through the AMF and RAN, or it may be a paging message sent by the RAN after the AMF receives the first request message sent by the SMF. The specific information carried in the paging message is the indication information carried in the first request message.

[0148] Specifically, in this embodiment, if the first UE is in a connected state, it receives a first request message that can be sent by the SMF and is transparently transmitted through the AMF. The first UE performs the operation requested in the first request message according to the first request message. If the first UE is in an idle state, it receives a paging message from the AMF sent through the RAN. The information carried in the paging message is determined by the AMF based on the information in the first request message sent by the SMF and is used to instruct the first UE to perform the operation requested in the first request message. The first UE performs the operation requested in the first request message according to the information carried in the paging message.

[0149] This application provides a method for establishing a connection, such as... Figure 5 As shown, this method is applied to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) and includes:

[0150] S301. Receive a first request message sent by the Session Management Function (SMF), the first request message being used to request the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session;

[0151] S302. Trigger the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session according to the first request message.

[0152] In other words, in this embodiment, when the AMF receives a user plane request message from the SMF requesting the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the PDU session, it triggers the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session according to the first request message. Specifically, if the first UE is in a connected state, the existing technology is used to trigger the first UE to establish a PDU session and establish a connection; if the first UE is in an idle state, a paging process for the first UE needs to be triggered, and the paging message transmitted during the paging process needs to carry indication information.

[0153] In one embodiment, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following: the PDU session ID, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information. In step S302, triggering the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session based on the first request message includes:

[0154] If the first UE is in an idle state, the process of paging the first UE is triggered, and the second indication information is carried in the paging message. The second indication information is used to indicate the user plane to activate the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0155] Specifically, the AMF can send a paging message to the RAN node, which carries the second indication information. The RAN node then transmits the second indication information to the first UE, so that the first UE can activate the user plane of the PDU session related to the DNN or S-NSSAI according to the second indication information.

[0156] In other words, in this embodiment, the paging message carries indication information for activating the user plane of the PDU session. After receiving the paging message, the first UE can activate the user plane of the PDU session according to the indication information so that the SMF can establish a connection.

[0157] In another embodiment, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, and the first request message carries any one of the following information: the DNN, S-NSSAI, first indication information, and third indication information of the PDU session, then triggering the first UE to establish the PDU session according to the first request message includes:

[0158] If the first UE is in an idle state, the process of paging the first UE is triggered, and the paging message carries either the first indication information or the third indication information;

[0159] Wherein, the first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state;

[0160] The third indication information is used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0161] In other words, in this embodiment, for the first UE in the idle state, the paging message may carry indication information for instructing the establishment of a new PDU session. After receiving the paging message, the first UE can establish a PDU session related to DNN or S-NSSAI according to the indication information; or, the paging message may carry indication information for instructing the first UE to establish a new PDU session after entering the connected state. After receiving the paging message, the first UE can establish a PDU session related to DNN or S-NSSAI after entering the connected state according to the indication information.

[0162] Alternatively, the paging message may carry indication information to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID. After receiving the paging message, the first UE can allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or S-NSSAI according to the indication information, so as to establish the corresponding PDU session.

[0163] Specifically, in this embodiment, before triggering the paging of the first UE, the process may further include:

[0164] Create a context for the PDU session, the context including one or more of the following: SMF ID, DNN, and S-NSSAI.

[0165] In other words, in this embodiment, the AMF can proactively create a context for the PDU session before sending the paging message, so as to reduce the latency of establishing a connection later.

[0166] The above embodiments may further include:

[0167] Receive the new PDU session ID assigned to the PDU session by the first UE;

[0168] The new PDU session ID is added to the context created for the PDU session, and the new PDU session ID is fed back to the SMF.

[0169] In other words, in this embodiment, the indication information carried in the paging message can be indication information for establishing a new PDU session, or it can be indication information for allocating a new PDU session ID. After receiving the paging message, the first UE can allocate a new PDU session ID according to the indication information and feed it back to the AMF so that the SMF can establish a connection.

[0170] The above text, combined with the appendix Figure 3-5 This application describes a connection establishment method provided by the embodiments of the present application from the perspectives of SMF, UE, and AMF as the execution subjects. This method can support scenarios where downlink data arrives at the UE, but the UE has not established a PDU session to transmit the downlink data, and can reduce the processing latency in scenarios where the user plane of the established PDU session is deactivated.

[0171] The connection establishment method provided in this application can be applied to end-to-end service data transmission scenarios. A schematic diagram of the end-to-end service data transmission path involved is shown below. Figure 1 As shown.

[0172] When UE1 sends end-to-end service data to UE2, the following scenarios may occur due to the different states of UE2:

[0173] 1. UE2 is in connected state and UE2 has established a PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data.

[0174] 2. UE2 is in connected state, but UE2 has not established a PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data.

[0175] 3. UE2 is in the connected state, but the user plane of the PDU session established by UE2 is deactivated.

[0176] 4. UE2 is in an idle state, and before entering the idle state, UE2 established a PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data. That is, the network control plane stores the information of the PDU session established by UE2.

[0177] 5. UE2 is in an idle state, but no PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data was established before UE2 entered the idle state, that is, the network control plane did not save the information of the above PDU session.

[0178] To support the different scenarios mentioned above, the network behavior also differs accordingly, specifically as follows:

[0179] For scenario 1 above, end-to-end service data sent by UE1 can be directly sent to UE2 through the user plane. No enhancement to existing technology is required.

[0180] In scenario 2 above, data sent by UE1 is routed to UPF1. UPF1 cannot find information about the route for this data and reports it to SMF. SMF notifies UE2 of relevant information, such as the arrival of end-to-end service data and an indication to establish a PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data. UE2, based on the SMF's notification, establishes a PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data.

[0181] In scenario 3 above, data sent by UE1 is routed to UPF1. UPF1 cannot find information about the route for this data and reports it to SMF. SMF then triggers the activation of the PDU session user plane process. Existing technologies can be reused in this scenario.

[0182] In scenario 4 above, data sent by UE1 is routed to UPF1. UPF1 cannot find the route information for this data and reports it to SMF. SMF triggers the user plane process to activate the PDU session. Because UE2 is in IDLE state, AMF needs to page UE2. To reduce latency, the solution in this application enhances the paging message by carrying a first indication, which instructs UE2 to activate the PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data during the service request process. Based on this indication, UE2 includes the PDU session ID in the list of PDU session IDs to be activated in the service request message.

[0183] In scenario 5 above, data sent by UE1 is routed to UPF1. UPF1 cannot find information about the route for this data and reports it to SMF. SMF triggers AMF to page UE2. The network can include an indication in the paging message, notifying the UE to request the establishment of a PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data after entering connected state. Alternatively, the network can page UE2, wait for UE2 to enter connected state, and then reuse the solution described for scenario 2. The network can also enhance the service request process, establishing the aforementioned PDU session during this process.

[0184] Since no enhancements to existing technologies are required for scenarios 1 and 3, the following descriptions will focus on the solutions for scenarios 2, 4, and 5.

[0185] The following is in conjunction with the appendix Figure 6-9 The technical solution of a connection establishment method provided in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail.

[0186] Example 1

[0187] This embodiment applies to scenario 2 above: UE2 is in a connected state, but UE2 has not established the specific process for transmitting end-to-end service data PDU sessions. For example... Figure 6 One method for establishing a connection, as shown, includes:

[0188] S401a, UE1 (i.e., the second UE mentioned above) anchor point UPF1 receives IP packets of end-to-end services sent by UE1 to UE2 (i.e., the first UE mentioned above).

[0189] S401b: If UPF1 does not find information on the route of the IP packet, UPF1 sends a data notification message to SMF, which carries the IP packet.

[0190] S402, SMF could not find the context of the PDU session established by UE2 for transmitting end-to-end service data locally.

[0191] S403. SMF sends an N1N2 message transmission request message (i.e., the first request message mentioned above) to AMF. This message includes an N1 message, which is an end-to-end service data notification message. It may include the data network name (DNN) used by the end-to-end service, and / or Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI).

[0192] S404, AMF sends an N2 request message to the RAN node, which includes the N1 message.

[0193] S405, RAN sends a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to UE2, which includes the N1 message.

[0194] S406, UE2 establishes the PDU session required for transmitting end-to-end services based on the information included in the N1 message.

[0195] S407 and SMF establish a tunnel or connection between UPF1 and UE2's anchor point UPF2.

[0196] Specifically, in this embodiment, the process of establishing a tunnel or connection using SMF can be implemented using existing technologies, and will not be elaborated here for the sake of brevity.

[0197] End-to-end service data is transmitted between S408, UE1, and UE2.

[0198] Specifically, in this embodiment, S408a, UE1 sends the IP packet to UPF2 of UE2 via UPF1; S408b, UPF2 sends the received IP packet to UE2.

[0199] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, since UE2 is in the connected state, when establishing a connection, the first request message sent by the SMF is transparently transmitted to UE2 through the AMF and RAN, which is equivalent to the SMF sending the first request message to UE2.

[0200] Example 2

[0201] This embodiment applies to scenario 4 above: UE2 is in an idle state, and UE2 established a PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data before entering the idle state, that is, the network control plane stores the information of the PDU session established by UE2.

[0202] In this scenario, according to existing technology, the SMF sends a message to the AMF to trigger the user plane activation process. Because the UE is in IDLE state, the AMF triggers a paging process. After receiving the paging, the UE enters connected state through the Service Request process, carrying a list of PDU session IDs for which the user plane should be activated in the Service Request message. When the AMF receives this information, if the PDU session ID for which the SMF wants to activate the user plane does not appear in the list, the AMF returns an event notification to the SMF, indicating that the UE has entered connected state but does not want to activate the user plane for that PDU session. The SMF needs to resend the user plane activation request or reject the downlink data notification. To avoid this problem, this embodiment proposes that in this scenario, the paging message carries indication information related to end-to-end data. After receiving this indication information, the UE carries the PDU session ID for transmitting end-to-end data in the list of user plane PDU sessions for which it wants to activate in the Service Request message, thereby reducing the latency of activating the end-to-end data connection. The specific process is as follows... Figure 7 As shown.

[0203] like Figure 7 One method for establishing a connection, as shown, includes:

[0204] S501a, UE1 (i.e., the second UE mentioned above) anchor point UPF1 receives the IP packets of end-to-end service sent by UE1 to UE2 (i.e., the first UE mentioned above).

[0205] S501b: If UPF1 does not find information on the route of the IP packet, UPF1 sends a data notification message to SMF, which carries the IP packet.

[0206] S502, SMF finds the context of the PDU session established by UE2 for transmitting end-to-end service data, but the user plane of the PDU session is deactivated.

[0207] S503, SMF sends an N1N2 message transmission request message (i.e., the first request message mentioned above) to AMF. This message carries one or more of the following: PDU session ID, S-NSSAI, DNN of the PDU session, and the first indication (i.e., the second indication information mentioned above).

[0208] S504. The AMF detects that the UE is in an idle state. Based on the PDU session ID in the N1N2 message, or the S-NSSAI, DNN, or first indication of the PDU session, the AMF determines that the PDU session for which the SMF wants to activate the user plane is for transmitting end-to-end service data. The AMF then sends a paging message to the RAN node, which carries the first indication. This first indication is used to instruct the activation of the user plane associated with the aforementioned PDU session.

[0209] The paging message sent by the S505 RAN node carries the first indication.

[0210] S506, UE2 carries the ID of the PDU session that is to be activated in the Service Request message as a list of PDU session IDs.

[0211] S507 and SMF establish a tunnel or connection between UPF1 and UPF2.

[0212] End-to-end service data is transmitted between S508, UE1, and UE2.

[0213] Specifically, in this embodiment, the specific implementation process of S508 can be referred to the relevant description of S408 in Embodiment 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0214] It should be noted that in this embodiment, since UE2 is in an idle state, the AMF needs to page UE2 before establishing a connection, and an indication message is added to the paging message of UE2, which can reduce the processing latency of the user plane for activating the PDU session.

[0215] In other words, in this embodiment, after the SMF sends the first request message, it needs to go through the AMF and RAN to page UE2. Therefore, the SMF sends the first request message to the AMF.

[0216] Example 3

[0217] This embodiment applies to scenario 5 above: UE2 is in an idle state, but no PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data was established before UE2 entered the idle state, that is, the network control plane did not save the information of the PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data. The specific process is as follows: Figure 8 As shown.

[0218] like Figure 8 One method for establishing a connection, as shown, includes:

[0219] S601a, UE1 (i.e., the second UE mentioned above) anchor point UPF1 receives the IP packets of end-to-end service sent by UE1 to UE2 (i.e., the first UE mentioned above).

[0220] S601b If UPF1 does not find information on the route of the IP packet, UPF1 sends a data notification message to SMF, which carries the IP packet.

[0221] S602, SMF could not find the context of the PDU session established by UE2 for transmitting end-to-end service data locally.

[0222] S603, SMF sends a first request message to AMF, which carries an N1 message. The N1 message is a message formed by SMF and sent to UE2. It can be an indication message (i.e., the first indication message mentioned above) used to instruct UE2 to establish a PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data.

[0223] S604-S605, because UE2 is in an idle state, AMF triggers the process of paging UE2.

[0224] S606 and UE2 enter the connected state through the Service Request process.

[0225] S607, AMF sends an N2 request message to the RAN node, which includes the N1 message.

[0226] S608, RAN sends N1 message to UE2.

[0227] S609 and UE2 establish the PDU session required for transmitting end-to-end services based on the information included in the N1 message.

[0228] S610 and SMF establish a tunnel or connection between UPF1 and UPF2.

[0229] End-to-end service data is transmitted between S611, UE1 and UE2.

[0230] Specifically, in this embodiment, the specific implementation process of S611 can be referred to the relevant description of S408 in Embodiment 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0231] In this embodiment, to further reduce latency, steps S603-S609 of the above process can be optimized:

[0232] The indication information carried in the first request message in S603 is used to instruct UE2 to immediately establish a PDU session required for transmitting end-to-end service data after entering the connected state.

[0233] The paging messages in S604 and S605 include the aforementioned instruction information.

[0234] Since the instruction information instructs UE2 to immediately establish a PDU session required for transmitting end-to-end service data after entering the connected state, S607 and S608, which follow S606 (UE2 enters the connected state through the service request process), can be skipped and not executed.

[0235] S609 and UE2 establish a PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data immediately after entering the connected state, based on the indication information included in the paging message.

[0236] Example 4

[0237] This embodiment is a further optimization based on embodiment three. By creating a new PDU session through the business request process, the latency of establishing end-to-end business data transmission can be further reduced.

[0238] In this embodiment, after receiving downlink data, the SMF creates a context for a PDU session without a PDU session ID. The DNN and S-NSSAI of this PDU session are related to the end-to-end service. Before this, the SMF can interact with the PCF to obtain QoS rules. At this point, from the network's perspective, the user plane of this PDU session is deactivated. The SMF sends an indication message, or PDU session information (such as S-NSSAI, DNN), to the AMF, which carries this indication in the paging message. After receiving the paging message, UE2 knows from the indication that the network has completed the context of the PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data in the control plane. UE2 allocates a PDU session ID and carries the new PDU session ID in the Service Request. The specific process is as follows: Figure 9 As shown.

[0239] like Figure 9 One method for establishing a connection, as shown, includes:

[0240] S701a, UE1 (i.e., the second UE mentioned above) anchor point UPF1 receives IP packets of end-to-end services sent by UE1 to UE2 (i.e., the first UE mentioned above).

[0241] S701b: If UPF1 does not find information on the route of the IP packet, UPF1 sends a data notification message to SMF, which carries the IP packet.

[0242] S702 and SMF could not find the context of the PDU session established by UE2 for transmitting end-to-end service data locally.

[0243] Specifically, in this embodiment, SMF can create a context for the PDU session, which includes S-NSSAI, DNN, etc.

[0244] In addition, SMF can also determine the QoS of a PDU session based on the received IP packets.

[0245] S703, SMF sends a first request message to AMF, which includes information about the PDU session (e.g., DNN, S-NSSAI) or indication information.

[0246] This indication information is used to indicate to UE2 that the network has received end-to-end service data and that the network has established a PDU session context for transmitting the data in the control plane, or to instruct UE2 to allocate a new ID for establishing a PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data (the third indication information mentioned above).

[0247] This instruction information can be an instruction for creating a new PDU session (i.e., the first instruction information mentioned above), or an instruction for assigning a new PDU session ID.

[0248] After receiving the first request message, S704 and AMF create a context for the PDU session, which includes SMF ID, DNN, S-NSSAI, etc.

[0249] S705-S706, the AMF triggers the paging process for the UE, wherein the paging message includes indication information for establishing a new PDU session or indication information for allocating a new PDU session ID.

[0250] Upon receiving the aforementioned indication information, S707 and UE2 can ascertain that: the network side has triggered the creation of a new PDU session for transmitting end-to-end service data, and the network side has already established the context of this PDU session in the control plane. UE2 allocates a new PDU session ID to the context of this PDU session and stores the PDU session ID, DNN, and S-NSSAI information locally. UE2 then sends a service request message to the network, which carries the new PDU session ID.

[0251] S708 and AMF associate the new PDU session ID with the PDU session context created in S704 locally.

[0252] S709, AMF sends an Update Session Management Context Request message to SMF, which carries the new PDU session ID.

[0253] S710 and SMF establish an N4 session for the PDU session corresponding to the new PDU session ID.

[0254] S711, SMF sends an update session management context reply to AMF, the message carrying N2 SM information.

[0255] S712 and AMF send an N2 request to the RAN, with the message carrying N2 SM information.

[0256] S713, RAN node triggers RRC connection reconfiguration.

[0257] S714, RAN returns N2 response to AMF.

[0258] S715 and AMF send an update session management context request to SMF, with the message carrying N2 SM information.

[0259] S716, SMF updates the N4 session based on the N2 SM information returned by the RAN node.

[0260] S717, SMF returns an update session management context response to AMF.

[0261] S718 and SMF establish a tunnel / connection between UPF1 and UPF2.

[0262] End-to-end service data is transmitted between S719, UE1, and UE2.

[0263] Specifically, in this embodiment, the specific implementation process of S719 can be referred to the relevant description of S408 in Embodiment 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0264] It should be noted that in this embodiment, the specific processes of S710-S718 can be implemented using existing technologies, and will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0265] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a session management function device, including:

[0266] A receiving module is used to receive data sent by a second user equipment (UE) to a first UE, wherein the data carries the identifier of the first UE;

[0267] The sending module is used to send a first request message to the first UE or the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF). The first request message is used to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or to activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0268] The processing module is used to establish a connection between the first UE and the second UE after determining that the first UE has established the PDU session or activated the user plane of the PDU session.

[0269] In some embodiments, the processing module is further configured to:

[0270] If the first UE has not established the PDU session, it is determined that the first request message was used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session.

[0271] The first request message carries any one of the following: the data network name (DNN) of the PDU session, the single network slice selection auxiliary resource (S-NSSAI), and the first indication information.

[0272] If the first UE has already established the PDU session, and the user plane of the PDU session is not activated, then the first request message is determined to be used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0273] The first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information.

[0274] Specifically, in this embodiment, the first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state;

[0275] The second indication information is used to instruct the user face to activate the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0276] In other embodiments, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message also carries: third indication information, the third indication information being used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0277] In this embodiment, the receiving module is also used to receive a new PDU session ID fed back by the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or to receive a service request message sent by the first UE. Therefore, the list of PDU session IDs to be activated in the service request message includes the new PDU session ID, so as to establish an N4 session for the corresponding PDU session based on the new PDU session ID.

[0278] In some embodiments, it also includes:

[0279] A creation module is configured to create a context for the PDU session if the first UE has not established the PDU session, the context including DNN and / or S-NSSAI.

[0280] For details not described in the session management function device provided in this application embodiment, please refer to... Figure 3 , Figures 6 to 9 The methods provided in the illustrated embodiments and the beneficial effects that the session management function device provided in this application can achieve are the same as those shown in the embodiments. Figure 3 , Figures 6 to 9The methods provided in the illustrated embodiments are the same and will not be repeated here.

[0281] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a user equipment, including:

[0282] The receiving module is configured to receive a first request message from the Session Management Function (SMF), wherein the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or to activate the user plane of the PDU session;

[0283] The processing module is configured to establish the PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session based on the first request message.

[0284] Specifically, in this embodiment, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following information: the DNN, S-NSSAI, and first indication information of the PDU session;

[0285] If the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information.

[0286] In the above embodiments, the first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state.

[0287] In another embodiment, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message also carries: third indication information, the third indication information being used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0288] In this embodiment, the processing module is further configured to:

[0289] Add the new PDU session ID to the list of PDU session IDs that need to be activated in the business request message.

[0290] In one embodiment, the processing module is further configured to:

[0291] If the first request message carries the second indication information or the ID of the PDU session, the PDU session ID is added to the list of PDU session IDs to be activated in the service request message. The second indication information is used to indicate the user plane for activating the PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0292] For details not described in the user equipment provided in this application's embodiments, please refer to... Figure 4 , Figures 6 to 9 The methods provided in the illustrated embodiments and the beneficial effects that the user equipment provided in this application can achieve are the same as those described in the embodiments. Figure 4 , Figures 6 to 9 The methods provided in the illustrated embodiments are the same and will not be repeated here.

[0293] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide an access and mobility management function device, including:

[0294] The receiving module is used to receive a first request message sent by the Session Management Function (SMF), which is used to request the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session.

[0295] The processing module is used to trigger the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session according to the first request message.

[0296] In one embodiment, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following: the PDU session ID, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information. When the processing module triggers the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session according to the first request message, it can specifically be used to:

[0297] If the first UE is in an idle state, the process of paging the first UE is triggered, and the second indication information is carried in the paging message. The second indication information is used to indicate the user plane to activate the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0298] In one embodiment, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following information: the DNN, S-NSSAI, first indication information, and third indication information of the PDU session. When the processing module triggers the first UE to establish the PDU session based on the first request message, it specifically performs the following:

[0299] If the first UE is in an idle state, the process of paging the first UE is triggered, and the paging message carries either the first indication information or the third indication information;

[0300] Wherein, the first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state;

[0301] The third indication information is used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

[0302] The above embodiments may further include:

[0303] A creation module is used to create a context for the PDU session, the context including one or more of SMF ID, DNN, and S-NSSAI.

[0304] Specifically, in this embodiment, a sending module is also included, wherein,

[0305] The receiving module is further configured to: receive a new PDU session ID assigned to the PDU session by the first UE;

[0306] The processing module is used to add the new PDU session ID to the context created for the PDU session;

[0307] The sending module is used to send the new PDU session ID back to the SMF.

[0308] For details not described in the access and mobility management function device provided in this application, please refer to... Figures 5 to 9 The methods provided in the illustrated embodiments and the beneficial effects that the access and mobility management function device provided in this application can achieve are... Figures 5 to 9 The methods provided in the illustrated embodiments are the same and will not be repeated here.

[0309] Based on the same principle as the method provided in the embodiments of this application, the embodiments of this application provide a communication device, which includes: a memory and a processor; at least one program, stored in the memory, which, when executed by the processor, can support scenarios where the UE has downlink data arriving but the UE has not established a PDU session for transmitting the downlink data, and can reduce the processing latency in scenarios where the user plane of the established PDU session is deactivated.

[0310] The communication device provided in this application embodiment can be the user equipment in the above embodiments, or the session management function, or the access and mobility management function.

[0311] In one alternative embodiment, a communication device is provided, such as Figure 10 As shown, Figure 10 The communication device 80 shown includes a processor 803 and a memory 801. The processor 803 and the memory 801 are connected, for example, via a bus interface. Optionally, the communication device 80 may further include a transceiver 802, which can be used for data interaction between the communication device and other communication devices, such as sending and / or receiving data. It should be noted that in practical applications, the transceiver 802 is not limited to one type, and the structure of this communication device 80 does not constitute a limitation on the embodiments of this application.

[0312] It should be understood that in the above embodiments, Figure 10 The bus architecture can include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 803 and memory represented by memory 801 together. The bus architecture can also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 802 can be multiple elements, including transmitters and receivers, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical fibers, and other transmission media.

[0313] The processor 803 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, while the memory 802 can store the data used by the processor 803 when performing operations.

[0314] Optionally, the processor 803 can be a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), and the processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0315] The processor executes any of the methods described in the embodiments of this application according to the obtained executable instructions by calling a computer program stored in memory. The processor and memory may also be physically separated.

[0316] This application provides a processor-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when run on a computer, enables the processor to execute the corresponding content described in the aforementioned method embodiments. Compared with the prior art, this can support scenarios where downlink data arrives at the UE, but the UE has not established a PDU session to transmit the downlink data, and can reduce processing latency in scenarios where the user plane of an established PDU session is deactivated.

[0317] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of this application is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated units described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional units.

[0318] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0319] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage and optical storage) containing computer-usable program code.

[0320] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, generate instructions for implementing the flowchart... Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0321] These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means, which are implemented in a process Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The function specified in one or more boxes.

[0322] These processors can execute instructions that can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device, causing a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable device for implementing the process. Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps of the function specified in one or more boxes.

[0323] It should be understood that although the steps in the flowcharts of the accompanying figures are shown sequentially as indicated by the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless explicitly stated herein, there is no strict order restriction on the execution of these steps, and they can be executed in other orders. Moreover, at least some steps in the flowcharts of the accompanying figures may include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages. These sub-steps or stages are not necessarily completed at the same time, but can be executed at different times, and their execution order is not necessarily sequential, but can be performed alternately or in turn with other steps or at least some of the sub-steps or stages of other steps.

[0324] The above description is only a partial embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a connection, characterized in that, Applied to the Session Management Function (SMF), the method includes: Receive data sent by a second user equipment (UE) to a first UE, wherein the data carries the identifier of the first UE; If the first UE has not established a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, a first request message is determined to be used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session. The first request message carries any one of the following: the Data Network Name (DNN) of the PDU session, the Single Network Slice Selection Auxiliary Resource (S-NSSAI), or first indication information; or... If the first UE has established the PDU session and the user plane of the PDU session is not activated, it is determined that the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, wherein the first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information; Send the first request message to the first UE or the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF); Once it is determined that the first UE has established the PDU session or activated the user plane of the PDU session, a connection is established between the first UE and the second UE.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, If the first UE does not establish the PDU session, the method further includes: Create a context for the PDU session, the context including DNN and / or S-NSSAI.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state; The second indication information is used to instruct the user face to activate the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, If the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message also carries: third indication information, the third indication information being used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Also includes: The system receives a new PDU session ID from the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or receives a service request message from the first UE, wherein the service request message includes the new PDU session ID in the list of PDU session IDs to be activated, so as to establish an N4 session for the corresponding PDU session based on the new PDU session ID.

6. A method for establishing a connection, characterized in that, Applied to a first user equipment (UE), the method includes: Receive a first request message from the Session Management Function (SMF), the first request message being used to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or activate the user plane of the PDU session; Based on the first request message, establish the PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session; Wherein, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following information: the DNN, S-NSSAI, and first indication information of the PDU session; If the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the first request message carries the second indication information or the ID of the PDU session, the PDU session ID is added to the list of PDU session IDs to be activated in the service request message. The second indication information is used to indicate the user plane for activating the PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state.

9. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, If the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message also carries: third indication information, the third indication information being used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: Add the new PDU session ID to the list of PDU session IDs to be activated in the business request message.

11. A method for establishing a connection, characterized in that, The method, applied to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), includes: Receive a first request message sent by the Session Management Function (SMF), the first request message being used to request the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session; The first request message triggers the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session; Wherein, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information; If the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following information: the DNN, S-NSSAI, first indication information, and third indication information of the PDU session.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, If the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, and the first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information, then triggering the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session according to the first request message includes: If the first UE is in an idle state, the process of paging the first UE is triggered, and the second indication information is carried in the paging message. The second indication information is used to indicate the user plane to activate the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

13. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, If the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, and the first request message carries any one of the following information: the DNN, S-NSSAI, first indication information, and third indication information of the PDU session, then triggering the first UE to establish the PDU session according to the first request message includes: If the first UE is in an idle state, the process of paging the first UE is triggered, and the paging message carries either the first indication information or the third indication information; Wherein, the first indication information is used to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI, or to instruct the first UE to establish a PDU session related to the DNN or the S-NSSAI after entering the connected state; The third indication information is used to instruct the first UE to allocate a new PDU session ID for the PDU session associated with the DNN or the S-NSSAI.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, Before triggering the paging of the first UE, the method further includes: Create a context for the PDU session, the context including one or more of the following: SMF ID, DNN, and S-NSSAI.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive the new PDU session ID assigned to the PDU session by the first UE; The new PDU session ID is added to the context created for the PDU session, and the new PDU session ID is fed back to the SMF.

16. A session management function device, characterized in that, include: A receiving module is used to receive data sent by a second user equipment (UE) to a first UE, wherein the data carries the identifier of the first UE; The processing module is configured to, if the first UE has not established a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, determine that a first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, wherein the first request message carries any one of the following: the Data Network Name (DNN) of the PDU session, the Single Network Slice Selection Auxiliary Resource (S-NSSAI), and first indication information; or... If the first UE has established the PDU session and the user plane of the PDU session is not activated, it is determined that the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, wherein the first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information; The sending module is used to send a first request message to the first UE or the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF). The first request message is used to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or to activate the user plane of the PDU session. The processing module is further configured to establish a connection between the first UE and the second UE after determining that the first UE has established the PDU session or activated the user plane of the PDU session.

17. A user equipment, characterized in that, include: The receiving module is configured to receive a first request message from the Session Management Function (SMF), wherein the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or to activate the user plane of the PDU session; The processing module is configured to establish the PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session based on the first request message. Wherein, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following information: the DNN, S-NSSAI, and first indication information of the PDU session; If the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information.

18. An access and mobility management function device, characterized in that, include: The receiving module is used to receive a first request message sent by the Session Management Function (SMF), which is used to request the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session. The processing module is used to trigger the first UE to establish a PDU session or activate the user plane of the PDU session according to the first request message; Wherein, if the first request message is used to request the first UE to establish the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following information: the DNN, S-NSSAI, and first indication information of the PDU session; If the first request message is used to request the first UE to activate the user plane of the PDU session, the first request message carries any one of the following: the ID of the PDU session, DNN, S-NSSAI, and second indication information.

19. A communication device, characterized in that, include: Memory, used to store computer programs; A transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of a processor. A processor for reading a computer program from the memory and executing the method of any one of claims 1-5, 6-10, or 11-15.

20. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program that causes a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-5, 6-10, or 11-15.

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