Terminal communication method and device, communication equipment, storage medium and program product

Abstract

The invention relates to a terminal communication method and device, communication equipment, a storage medium and a program product. The method comprises the following steps: a UNMF network element creates a target group comprising a UEGF gateway of at least two user networks under the condition of receiving registration requests for corresponding user networks sent by terminals of the at least two user networks, and issues group session parameters of the target group, so that the UEGF gateway initiates a group session establishment request for the target group, and under the condition that the group session of the target group is successfully established, the UNMF network element issues a routing rule, so that the UEGF gateway controls cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network. By adopting the method, cross-user network communication can be realized among terminals of a plurality of user networks, and a plurality of UEGF gateways can control the cross-user network communication of the corresponding terminals, so that safe intercommunication and service sharing among different user networks are realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of mobile network technology, and in particular to a terminal communication method, apparatus, communication equipment, storage medium and program product. Background Art

[0002] User networks refer to terminal-specific networks that meet the needs of individuals, families or enterprises, such as personal area networks and home networks, and mainly occur between adjacent terminals. User networks will be an indispensable network extension method and an important service method for 6G (6th Generation Mobile Communication Technology). In the integrated ecosystem of 6G ubiquitous connectivity, there will be demands for communication and service delivery between user networks.

[0003] However, in the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) scenario, the user network, as an independent and autonomous edge network, can only access the Internet through gateway devices or communicate with remote terminals belonging to the same user network. Communication or service sharing cannot be achieved between different user networks. Summary of the invention

[0004] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a terminal communication method, apparatus, communication device, storage medium and program product that can realize communication and service sharing between terminals of different user networks in order to solve the above technical problems.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a terminal communication method, which is applied to a UNMF network element, including:

[0006] In the case of receiving a registration request for a corresponding user network sent by a terminal of at least two user networks, creating a target group according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks; wherein the target group includes UEGF gateways corresponding to the at least two user networks respectively; sending a group session parameter of the target group to the at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the group session parameter is used for the UEGF gateway to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group;

[0007] When the group session of the target group is successfully established, routing rules are sent to at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the routing rules are used for the UEGF gateway to control cross-user network communications of terminals of the corresponding user network.

[0008] In one of the embodiments, creating a target group according to at least one of intercommunication subscription information between at least two terminals or intercommunication subscription information between at least two user networks includes:

[0009] When intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals is found from the terminal contract information corresponding to the at least two terminals, and intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks is not found from the network contract information corresponding to the at least two user networks, creating a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals;

[0010] When intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals is not found from the terminal contract information corresponding to the at least two terminals, and intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks is found from the network contract information corresponding to the at least two user networks, creating a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks;

[0011] When the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals is found from the terminal contract information corresponding to the at least two terminals, and the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks is found from the network contract information corresponding to the at least two user networks, a target group is created according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals and the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks.

[0012] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0013] Send an inter-access identifier to at least two terminals; wherein the inter-access identifier is used to instruct the terminal to send an inter-communication service preparation request to the corresponding UEGF gateway, and the inter-communication service preparation request is used to instruct the corresponding UEGF gateway to send a group session establishment request for the target group to the target network element with session management function based on the group session parameters.

[0014] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0015] Sending a mutual access identifier to at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the mutual access identifier is used to indicate that the UEGF gateway responds to the intercommunication service preparation request sent by the corresponding terminal.

[0016] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0017] Send the target group's group session parameters and group information to the target network element; wherein the group session parameters are used to instruct the target network element to respond to the group session establishment request for the target group sent by the UEGF gateway, and the group information is used for the target network element to identify the legitimate terminals that join the group session of the target group under the instruction of the group session establishment request, and the group session includes a user-level session and a group-level session.

[0018] In one of the embodiments, when the group session of the target group is successfully established, sending routing rules to at least two UEGF gateways includes:

[0019] When the group session of the target group is successfully established, receiving address update requests sent by at least two terminals; wherein the address update request carries the terminal IP address, and the terminal IP address is allocated to the corresponding terminal by the UEGF gateway from the allocated address segment of the target group;

[0020] According to the terminal IP address, routing rules are sent to at least two UEGF gateways.

[0021] In one embodiment, the group session parameters include S-NSSAI and DNN.

[0022] In one of the embodiments, the group information includes group identification information and gateway identification information of at least two UEGF gateways.

[0023] In a second aspect, the present application provides a terminal communication method, applied to a UEGF gateway, comprising:

[0024] Receive the group session parameters of the target group sent by the UNMF network element; wherein the target group is a group of UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks, which is created by the UNMF network element according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks, when the UNMF network element receives a registration request for the corresponding user network sent by the terminals of the at least two user networks;

[0025] Initiate a group session establishment request for the target group according to the group session parameters;

[0026] When the group session of the target group is successfully established, receiving the routing rules sent by the UNMF network element;

[0027] According to the routing rules, the cross-user network communication of the terminals of the corresponding user network is controlled.

[0028] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0029] Receive the first mutual access identifier sent by the UNMF network element;

[0030] Receive an intercommunication service preparation request carrying a second intercommunication identifier sent by a corresponding terminal; wherein the second intercommunication identifier is sent by a UNMF network element to the corresponding terminal.

[0031] In one embodiment, initiating a group session establishment request for a target group according to the group session parameter includes:

[0032] When it is identified that the first mutual visit identifier matches the second mutual visit identifier, a group session establishment request for the target group is sent to a target network element with a session management function according to the group session parameters; wherein the group session establishment request is used to instruct the target network element to identify a legitimate terminal joining the group session of the target group based on the group session parameters and group information of the target group, and the group session includes a user-level session and a group-level session.

[0033] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0034] When the group session of the target group is successfully established, a terminal IP address is allocated to the corresponding terminal from the address segment of the allocated target group; wherein the terminal IP address is used to instruct the corresponding terminal to send an address update request to the UNMF network element, and the address update request is used to instruct the UNMF network element to send routing rules to the UEGF gateway.

[0035] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0036] When the rule configuration is completed according to the routing rule, a preparation completion response of the intercommunication service preparation request is sent to the corresponding terminal.

[0037] In one embodiment, the group session parameters include S-NSSAI and DNN.

[0038] In one of the embodiments, the group information includes group identification information and gateway identification information of at least two UEGF gateways.

[0039] In a third aspect, the present application further provides a terminal communication device, configured in a UNMF network element, including:

[0040] A group creation module, configured to create a target group according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks, upon receiving a registration request for a corresponding user network sent by a terminal of at least two user networks; wherein the target group includes UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks respectively; a parameter sending module, configured to send group session parameters of the target group to at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the group session parameters are used for the UEGF gateway to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group;

[0041] The rule sending module is used to send routing rules to at least two UEGF gateways when the group session of the target group is successfully established; wherein the routing rules are used for the UEGF gateway to control the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network.

[0042] In a fourth aspect, the present application also provides a terminal communication device, configured in a UEGF gateway, including:

[0043] A parameter receiving module, configured to receive a group session parameter of a target group sent by a UNMF network element; wherein the target group is a group of UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks, created by the UNMF network element upon receiving a registration request for a corresponding user network sent by terminals of at least two user networks, according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks;

[0044] A request sending module, used to initiate a group session establishment request for a target group according to group session parameters;

[0045] A rule receiving module, used for receiving the routing rules sent by the UNMF network element when the group session of the target group is successfully established;

[0046] The communication control module is used to control the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network according to the routing rules.

[0047] In a fifth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, including a transmitter, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a computer program;

[0048] The processor is used to execute a computer program, and when receiving a registration request for a corresponding user network sent by a terminal of at least two user networks, creates a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks; wherein the target group includes UEGF gateways corresponding to the at least two user networks respectively; the transmitter is used to send group session parameters of the target group to the at least two UEGF gateways, and when the group session of the target group is successfully established, send routing rules to the at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the group session parameters are used for the UEGF gateway to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group, and the routing rules are used for the UEGF gateway to control the cross-user network communication of the terminals of the corresponding user network.

[0049] In a sixth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, including a transmitter, a receiver, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a computer program;

[0050] The receiver is used to receive the group session parameters of the target group sent by the UNMF network element; wherein the target group is a group of UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks, which is created by the UNMF network element according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks, when the UNMF network element receives a registration request for the corresponding user network sent by the terminals of the at least two user networks;

[0051] The sender is used to initiate a group session establishment request for a target group according to the group session parameters;

[0052] The receiver is also used to receive the routing rules sent by the UNMF network element when the group session of the target group is successfully established;

[0053] The processor is used to execute a computer program to control the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network according to the routing rule.

[0054] In a seventh aspect, the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which implements the steps of the method of the first aspect or the second aspect when the computer program is executed by a processor.

[0055] In an eighth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product, comprising a computer program, which implements the steps of the method of the first aspect or the second aspect when executed by a processor.

[0056] The above-mentioned terminal communication method, apparatus, communication equipment, storage medium and program product, when receiving a registration request for a corresponding user network sent by a terminal of at least two user networks, the UNMF network element creates a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals or at least one of the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks; wherein the target group includes UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks respectively; sends group session parameters of the target group to at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the group session parameters are used for the UEGF gateway to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group; when the group session of the target group is successfully established, sends routing rules to at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the routing rules are used for the UEGF gateway to control the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network. The present application creates a target group including UEGF gateways of multiple user networks through the UNMF network element, and then sends the group session parameters and routing rules of the target group to multiple UEGF gateways, realizes cross-user network communication between terminals of multiple user networks, and enables multiple UEGF gateways to control the cross-user network communication of the corresponding terminals, thereby realizing secure intercommunication and service sharing between different user networks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0057] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or related technologies, the drawings required for use in the embodiments of the present application or related technical descriptions will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0058] FIG1 is an application environment diagram of a terminal communication method in one embodiment;

[0059] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a terminal communication method in one embodiment;

[0060] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a process of issuing routing rules in one embodiment;

[0061] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a terminal communication method in another embodiment;

[0062] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a process of receiving an interworking service preparation request in one embodiment;

[0063] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a terminal communication method in yet another embodiment;

[0064] FIG7 is a block diagram of a terminal communication device in one embodiment;

[0065] FIG. 8 is a structural block diagram of a terminal communication device in one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present application more clearly understood, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and are not used to limit the present application.

[0067] The terminal communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the application environment shown in Figure 1. Among them, the UNMF (User Network Management Function) network element of the core network provides functions such as registration of the terminal UNE (User Network Equipment), joining the user network UN (User Network), authorization and auxiliary discovery of the user network UN role, and implements unified management of the user network UN. Each user network UN corresponds to one or more terminal UNEs and at least one UEGF (User Network Equipment with Gateway Function) gateway. The UEGF gateway can act as a relay to provide Internet access for the terminal UNE. Exemplarily, the application scenarios involved in the embodiments of the present application may also include NG-RAN (Next Generation- Radio Access Network), where NG-RAN may be a base station of a 5G network, and the core network elements may also include SMF (Session Management Function) network elements, AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) network elements and UPF (User Plane Function) network elements, and the user network UN also corresponds to UEMF (User Network Equipment with Management Function) equipment.

[0068] Specifically, two user networks UN1 and UN2 are used as examples for explanation: when the UNMF network element receives a registration request for the corresponding user network UN1 sent by the terminal UNE1 of the user network UN1, and receives a registration request for the corresponding user network UN2 sent by the terminal UNE2 of the user network UN2, the UNMF network element creates a target group including the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the terminals UNE1 and UNE2 or the intercommunication contract information between the user networks UN1 and UN2, and then sends a group message of the target group to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway. Group session parameters, UEGF1 gateway and UEGF2 gateway can initiate a group session establishment request for the target group based on the group session parameters. Furthermore, when the group session of the target group is successfully established, the UNMF network element sends routing rules to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, so that the UEGF1 gateway controls the cross-user network communication of the terminal UNE1 based on the routing rules, and the UEGF2 gateway controls the cross-user network communication of the terminal UNE2 based on the routing rules, that is, the communication between the terminal UNE1 of the user network UN1 and the terminal UNE2 of the user network UN2 is controlled.

[0069] The terminals may be, but are not limited to, various personal computers, laptops, smart phones, tablet computers, IoT devices and portable wearable devices. IoT devices may be smart speakers, smart TVs, smart air conditioners, smart car devices, projection devices, etc. Portable wearable devices may be smart watches, smart bracelets, head-mounted devices, etc. Head-mounted devices may be virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, smart glasses, etc.

[0070] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG2 , a terminal communication method is provided, which is described by taking the method applied to the UNMF network element in FIG1 as an example, including:

[0071] S201, upon receiving registration requests for corresponding user networks sent by terminals of at least two user networks, creating a target group according to at least one of intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks.

[0072] Terminals of different user networks can register with the UNMF network element to join the corresponding user network. Exemplarily, the UNMF network element receives a registration request to join user network UN1 sent by terminal UNE1 of user network UN1, and receives a registration request to join user network UN2 sent by terminal UNE2 of user network UN2, and obtains relevant intercommunication contract information when it is identified that terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2 are from different user networks.

[0073] The relevant intercommunication contract information may be the intercommunication contract information between the terminal UNE1 and the terminal UNE2, or the intercommunication contract information between the user network UN1 and the user network UN2. It is understandable that the intercommunication contract information between the terminals may include the authorization relationship and policy for communication or service between the terminals, and correspondingly, the intercommunication contract information between the user networks may include the intercommunication authorization relationship between the user networks.

[0074] There is no necessary connection between the intercommunication contract information between terminals and the intercommunication contract relationship between user networks. That is, there may be intercommunication contract information between terminals of different user networks, but there is no intercommunication contract information between corresponding user networks, or there may be intercommunication contract information between different user networks, but there is no intercommunication contract information between corresponding terminals.

[0075] The UNMF network element can create a corresponding target group based on at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the terminal UNE1 and the terminal UNE2 or the intercommunication contract information between the user network UN1 and the user network UN2. The created target group is a temporary group, including all terminal gateway devices with intercommunication relationship between the user network UN1 and the user network UN2, specifically including UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks, that is, the UEGF1 gateway of the user network UN1 and the UEGF2 gateway of the user network UN2.

[0076] It should be noted that, as a prerequisite for the UNMF network element to create a target group including the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway have previously completed registration in the UNMF network element and established a default session respectively.

[0077] S202: Send group session parameters of the target group to at least two UEGF gateways.

[0078] After the UNMF network element creates the corresponding target group, it sends the group session parameters of the target group to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, so that both the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway can initiate a group session establishment request for the target group based on the group session parameters.

[0079] Exemplarily, after receiving the group session parameters of the target group, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway can both initiate a group session establishment request for the target group to the SMF network element based on the group session parameters, and then the SMF network element establishes a user-level session at both ends, and when the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway are anchored to different UPF network elements, continue to establish a group-level session between the UPF network elements, thereby completing the establishment of the group session of the target group.

[0080] Optionally, in order to prevent a long period of no traffic after the group session of the target group is successfully established, the establishment of the group session of the target group can be triggered only when a specific business request occurs. Therefore, one party (such as UEGF1 gateway) may initiate a request to establish a group session for the target group, while the other party (such as UEGF2 gateway) does not initiate a request to establish a group session for the target group. At this time, the notification mechanism may be used to trigger the other party to initiate a request to establish a group session for the target group.

[0081] Optionally, group session parameters include but are not limited to S-NSSAI (Single Network Slice SelectionAssistance Information) and DNN (Data Network Name).

[0082] S203: When the group session of the target group is successfully established, routing rules are sent to at least two UEGF gateways.

[0083] Specifically, after the group session of the target group is successfully established, the UEGF1 gateway allocates an IP (Internet protocol) address to the terminal UNE1 based on the address segment of the group session of the target group allocated to it by the network side, so that the terminal UNE1 registers and updates the IP address of its group session with the UNMF network element, and then the UNMF network element sends the routing rules to the UEGF1 gateway; accordingly, the UEGF2 gateway allocates an IP address to the terminal UNE2 based on the address segment of the group session of the target group allocated to it by the network side, so that the terminal UNE2 registers and updates the IP address of its group session with the UNMF network element, and then the UNMF network element sends the routing rules to the UEGF2 gateway.

[0084] Among them, the routing rules sent by the UNMF network element can be the routing rules sent for the first time, or they can be the routing rules updated when the routing rules already exist. The routing rules refer to the access control and access rules based on the IP address of the terminal, including the entry rules or exit rules with the IP address as the judgment condition, which are used for the UEGF gateway to control the cross-user network communication of the terminals in the corresponding user network. If the IP address of the terminal UNE1 affects the entry rules or exit rules of UEGF2, the UNMF network element needs to send routing rules to UEGF2 after obtaining the IP address of the terminal UNE1, and vice versa.

[0085] Furthermore, after UEGF1 gateway and UEGF2 gateway complete the rule configuration based on routing rules, terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2 can visit each other through UEGF1 gateway and UEGF2 gateway, so that UEGF1 gateway controls the cross-user network communication between terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2, and UEGF2 gateway controls the cross-user network communication between terminal UNE2 and terminal UNE1.

[0086] It should be noted that the above examples are all described based on scenarios occurring between two user networks. The method provided in this embodiment can also be applied between more user networks. The steps and effects involved are similar to those described above and will not be described in detail.

[0087] In the above terminal communication method, when the UNMF network element receives the registration request for the corresponding user network sent by the terminal of at least two user networks, according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks, a target group including at least two UEGF gateways is created; wherein the target group includes the user network equipment gateway function UEGF gateway corresponding to the at least two user networks respectively; the group session parameters of the target group are sent to the at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the group session parameters are used for the UEGF gateway to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group; when the group session of the target group is successfully established, routing rules are sent to the at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the routing rules are used for the UEGF gateway to control the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network. In this embodiment, the UNMF network element creates a target group including UEGF gateways of multiple user networks, and then sends the group session parameters and routing rules of the target group to the multiple UEGF gateways, realizes cross-user network communication between the terminals of the multiple user networks, and enables the multiple UEGF gateways to control the cross-user network communication of the corresponding terminals, thereby realizing secure intercommunication and service sharing between different user networks.

[0088] In an exemplary embodiment, the above S201 includes:

[0089] When the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals is found from the terminal contract information corresponding to at least two terminals, and the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks is not found from the network contract information corresponding to at least two user networks, a target group is created according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals.

[0090] When intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals is not found from the terminal contract information corresponding to the at least two terminals, and intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks is found from the network contract information corresponding to the at least two user networks, creating a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks;

[0091] When the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals is found from the terminal contract information corresponding to the at least two terminals, and the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks is found from the network contract information corresponding to the at least two user networks, a target group is created according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals and the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks.

[0092] When there is a communication and service demand between terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2, the UNMF network element completes the access contract between terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2. The intercommunication contract information between terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2 can be stored in the terminal contract information corresponding to terminal UNE1 and the terminal contract information corresponding to terminal UNE2.

[0093] When there is communication and service demand between user network UN1 and user network UN2, the UNMF network element completes the access contract between user network UN1 and user network UN2. The intercommunication contract information between user network UN1 and user network UN2 can be stored in the network contract information corresponding to user network UN1 and the network contract information corresponding to user network UNE2.

[0094] Therefore, when receiving the registration request from terminal UNE1 for user network UN1 and the registration request from terminal UNE2 for user network UN2, the UNMF network element searches for relevant intercommunication contract information from both the terminal contract information and the network contract information.

[0095] Furthermore, if the intercommunication contract information between terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2 is found, a corresponding target group is created based on the intercommunication contract information between terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2; if the intercommunication contract information between user network UN1 and user network UN2 is found, a corresponding target group is created based on the intercommunication contract information between user network UN1 and user network UN2; if the intercommunication contract information between terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2, and the intercommunication contract information between user network UN1 and user network UN2 are found at the same time, a corresponding target group is created by combining the two.

[0096] Optionally, when the UNMF network element creates a corresponding target group based only on the intercommunication contract information between terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2, the created target group includes UEGF1 gateway, UEGF2 gateway, terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2. When the UNMF network element creates a corresponding target group based on the intercommunication contract information between user network UN1 and user network UN2, the created target group includes UEGF1 gateway, UEGF2 gateway, terminal UNE1, terminal UNE2, and other terminals in user network UN1 and user network UN2.

[0097] In this embodiment, the UNMF network element can create a target group including at least two UEGF gateways under different circumstances, so as to meet the needs of intercommunication between terminals of different user networks, avoid the creation of the target group due to the lack of any intercommunication contract information, and ensure the reliability and stability of the creation of the target group, thereby expanding the scope of application of intercommunication between terminals of different user networks.

[0098] In an exemplary embodiment, the terminal communication method further includes:

[0099] A mutual access identifier is sent to at least two terminals.

[0100] The mutual visit identifier is used to instruct the terminal to send an intercommunication service preparation request to the corresponding UEGF gateway. The mutual visit identifier can be set to visit, and this embodiment does not impose any specific restrictions on this.

[0101] Exemplarily, after the UNMF network element creates the target group, it not only sends the group session parameters of the target group to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, but also sends the mutual access identifier to the terminal UNE1 and the terminal UNE2, so that the terminal UNE1 and the terminal UNE2 request the corresponding UEGF gateway to establish the group session of the target group through the mutual access identifier. That is, the terminal UNE1 sends the intercommunication service preparation request to the UEGF1 gateway through the mutual access identifier, and the terminal UNE2 sends the intercommunication service preparation request to the UEGF2 gateway through the mutual access identifier.

[0102] Further, under the instruction of the intercommunication service preparation request, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway send a group session establishment request of the target group to the target network element with the session management function based on the group session parameter.

[0103] It is understandable that in the 5G scenario, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway can send a group session establishment request of the target group to the SMF network element; in the 6G scenario, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway can send a group session establishment request to the SMF network element, or to other network elements with session management functions. That is, the target network element with session management function is not necessarily an SMF network element.

[0104] In this embodiment, the UNMF network element sends an inter-access identifier to the terminal so that the terminal actively requests the corresponding UEGF gateway to establish a group session of the target group. This can ensure the accuracy of establishing the group session of the target group in a complex network environment, avoid conflicts between interactive messages of different user networks, and achieve targeted establishment of the group session of the target group.

[0105] In an exemplary embodiment, the terminal communication method further includes:

[0106] Send mutual access identification to at least two UEGF gateways.

[0107] Among them, the mutual visit identifier is used to indicate that the UEGF gateway responds to the intercommunication service preparation request sent by the corresponding terminal. The mutual visit identifier can be set to visit, and this embodiment does not impose specific restrictions on this.

[0108] The mutual access identifier sent by the UNMF network element to the terminal and the mutual access identifier sent to the UEGF gateway can be the same mutual access identifier or an associated mutual access identifier. Optionally, the same mutual access identifier is used in the same user network, and different mutual access identifiers are used between different user networks. Different mutual access identifiers can be associated through sessions.

[0109] Exemplarily, after the UNMF network element creates the target group, it not only sends the group session parameters of the target group to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, but also sends the mutual access identifier to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, so that the UEGF1 gateway can respond promptly after receiving the intercommunication service preparation request sent by the terminal UNE1 through the mutual access identifier, and the UEGF2 gateway can respond promptly after receiving the intercommunication service preparation request sent by the terminal UNE2 through the mutual access identifier.

[0110] Specifically, after receiving the intercommunication service preparation request, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway identify that the intercommunication service preparation request corresponds to the intercommunication service of the target group, and then trigger the sending of a group session establishment request of the target group to the SMF network element.

[0111] In this embodiment, the UNMF network element sends an inter-access identifier to the UEGF gateway so that the UEGF gateway promptly responds to the inter-communication service preparation request initiated by the corresponding terminal, and requests the target network element to establish a group session of the target group. This can ensure the accuracy of establishing the group session of the target group in a complex network environment, avoid conflicts between interactive messages of different user networks, and achieve targeted establishment of the group session of the target group.

[0112] In an exemplary embodiment, the terminal communication method further includes:

[0113] Send the target group's group session parameters and group information to the target network element.

[0114] Among them, the group session parameter is a specific parameter that can only be used in the target group, which may include but is not limited to S-NSSAI and DNN, and the group information includes but is not limited to group identification information and gateway identification information of at least two UEGF gateways.

[0115] Exemplarily, the group identification information is the groupID of the target group, and the gateway identification information includes the ID (identity) of the UEGF1 gateway and the ID of the UEGF2 gateway.

[0116] Exemplarily, after the UNMF network element creates the target group, it not only sends the group session parameters of the target group to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, but also sends the group session parameters and group information of the target group to the target network element, so that the target network element responds to the group session establishment request for the target group sent by the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, identifies the legitimate terminals joining the group session of the target group, and creates the group session of the target group through the group information.

[0117] The group session includes user-level session and group-level session.

[0118] Specifically, the target network element, such as the SMF network element, creates a user-level session for the target group for the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway. After the user-level sessions on both ends are established, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway continue to establish group-level sessions between different UPF network elements while anchoring different UPF network elements, and configure group forwarding rules in the UPF network elements.

[0119] In this embodiment, the UNMF network element sends group session parameters and group information to the target network element, so that the target network element can promptly respond to the group session establishment request initiated by the UEGF gateway, determine whether it is a legitimate terminal to join the group session of the target group, and create a group session of the target group. In a complex network environment, the accuracy of establishing the group session of the target group can be guaranteed, conflicts between interactive messages of different user networks can be avoided, and targeted establishment of the group session of the target group can be achieved.

[0120] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG3 , the above S203 includes:

[0121] S301: When a group session of a target group is successfully established, receiving address update requests sent by at least two terminals.

[0122] The UEGF gateway allocates an IP address to the corresponding terminal in the address segment allocated by the network side for its group session. Exemplarily, the UEGF1 gateway allocates an IP address to the terminal UNE1 from the address segment of the target group, i.e., the terminal IP address of the terminal UNE1, and the UEGF2 gateway allocates an IP address to the terminal UNE2 from the address segment of the target group, i.e., the terminal IP address of the terminal UNE2. It should be noted that the network side allocates different address segments to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway.

[0123] Further, terminal UNE1 sends an address update request carrying the terminal IP address of terminal UNE1 to the UNMF network element, and terminal UNE2 sends an address update request carrying the terminal IP address of terminal UNE2 to the UNMF network element, thereby registering and updating the IP address of its group session with the UNMF network element.

[0124] Correspondingly, the UNMF network element receives the address update request sent by the terminal UNE1 and the terminal UNE2.

[0125] S302: Send routing rules to at least two UEGF gateways according to the terminal IP address.

[0126] The UNMF network element sends or updates routing rules to the UEGF1 gateway and UEGF2 gateway respectively according to the terminal IP address carried in the address update request. The routing rules include access control rules based on the source address and target address generated according to the access authorization relationship and policy. The UEGF gateway can perform traffic control and distribution based on the routing rules.

[0127] It should be noted that the routing rule may be generated based on the terminal IP address of the initiator (such as the terminal UNE1), or based on the terminal IP address of the called party (such as the terminal UNE2), or based on the terminal IP addresses of both.

[0128] Optionally, when establishing a group session of the target group, if the UEGF gateway does not reallocate an IP address for the corresponding terminal, the UEGF gateway performs NAT (Network Address Translation), and the UNMF network element can send the routing rules together with the group session parameters and the mutual access identifier to the UEGF gateway.

[0129] Optionally, after completing the rule configuration based on the routing rules, the UEGF gateway feeds back a response message of the intercommunication service preparation request to the corresponding terminal to notify the corresponding terminal that the intercommunication access is ready and can be accessed via the access gateway (ie, the corresponding UEGF gateway).

[0130] In this embodiment, the UNMF network element sends routing rules to the UEGF gateways of different user networks to enable terminals of different user networks to visit each other through the UEGF gateways. The UEGF gateways of different user networks can control the cross-user network communications of the corresponding terminals, improve the reliability of intercommunication between terminals of different user networks, and improve the entire communication service establishment process.

[0131] On the basis of the above embodiments, in an exemplary embodiment, the UNMF network element determines that the intercommunication contract information has changed, such as when the intercommunication contract expires, and can instruct the target network element, such as the SMF network element, to release the group session of the target group and generate a call bill for the previous intercommunication. Among them, the target network element releases the group session of the target group, including releasing the user-level session and the group-level session. The release of the group-level session needs to be performed when all cross-network intercommunication requirements related to the group-level session do not exist, and then the target network element notifies the UNMF network element that the group session of the target group has been released.

[0132] Furthermore, the UNMF network element may instruct the target network element, UEGF gateway and terminal UNE to delete relevant parameters of the target group, ie, group session parameters, mutual access identifier and group information, etc. The UNMF network element reclaims the target group and related group session resources.

[0133] In this embodiment, the UNMF network element can flexibly control the target group and promptly stop the remote communication between different user networks after the communication contract information changes. It has high operability and is conducive to the implementation of communication between terminals of different user networks.

[0134] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG4 , a terminal communication method is provided, and the method is applied to the UEGF gateway in FIG1 as an example for explanation, which may be any UEGF gateway among the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, including:

[0135] S401, receiving group session parameters of a target group sent by a UNMF network element.

[0136] Terminals of different user networks can register with the UNMF network element to join the corresponding user network. Exemplarily, the UNMF network element receives a registration request to join user network UN1 sent by terminal UNE1 of user network UN1, and receives a registration request to join user network UN2 sent by terminal UNE2 of user network UN2, and obtains relevant intercommunication contract information when it is identified that terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2 are from different user networks.

[0137] The relevant intercommunication contract information may be the intercommunication contract information between the terminal UNE1 and the terminal UNE2, or the intercommunication contract information between the user network UN1 and the user network UN2. It is understandable that the intercommunication contract information between the terminals may include the authorization relationship and policy for communication or service between the terminals, and correspondingly, the intercommunication contract information between the user networks may include the intercommunication authorization relationship between the user networks.

[0138] There is no necessary connection between the intercommunication contract information between terminals and the intercommunication contract relationship between user networks. That is, there may be intercommunication contract information between terminals of different user networks, but there is no intercommunication contract information between corresponding user networks, or there may be intercommunication contract information between different user networks, but there is no intercommunication contract information between corresponding terminals.

[0139] The UNMF network element can create a corresponding target group based on at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the terminal UNE1 and the terminal UNE2 or the intercommunication contract information between the user network UN1 and the user network UN2. The created target group is a temporary group, including all terminal gateway devices with intercommunication relationship between the user network UN1 and the user network UN2, specifically including the UEGF1 gateway of the user network UN1 and the UEGF2 gateway of the user network UN2.

[0140] It should be noted that, as a prerequisite for the UNMF network element to create a target group including the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway have previously completed registration in the UNMF network element and established a default session respectively.

[0141] After the UNMF network element creates the corresponding target group, it sends the group session parameters of the target group to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway.

[0142] Correspondingly, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway receive the group session parameters of the target group sent by the UNMF network element.

[0143] S402: Initiate a group session establishment request for a target group according to the group session parameters.

[0144] Both the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway may initiate a group session establishment request for the target group based on the group session parameters.

[0145] Exemplarily, after receiving the group session parameters of the target group, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway can both initiate a group session establishment request for the target group to the SMF network element based on the group session parameters, and then the SMF network element establishes a user-level session at both ends, and when the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway are anchored to different UPF network elements, continue to establish a group-level session between the UPF network elements, thereby completing the establishment of the group session of the target group.

[0146] Optionally, in order to prevent a long period of no traffic after the group session of the target group is successfully established, the establishment of the group session of the target group can be triggered only when a specific business request occurs. Therefore, one party (such as UEGF1 gateway) may initiate a request to establish a group session for the target group, while the other party (such as UEGF2 gateway) does not initiate a request to establish a group session for the target group. At this time, the notification mechanism may be used to trigger the other party to initiate a request to establish a group session for the target group.

[0147] Optionally, the group session parameters include but are not limited to S-NSSAI and DNN.

[0148] S403: When the group session of the target group is successfully established, receive the routing rules sent by the UNMF network element.

[0149] Specifically, after the group session of the target group is successfully established, the UEGF1 gateway allocates an IP address to the terminal UNE1 based on the address segment of the group session of the target group, so that the terminal UNE1 registers and updates the IP address of its group session with the UNMF network element, and then the UNMF network element sends the routing rules to the UEGF1 gateway; accordingly, the UEGF2 gateway allocates an IP address to the terminal UNE2 based on the address segment of the group session of the target group, so that the terminal UNE2 registers and updates the IP address of its group session with the UNMF network element, and then the UNMF network element sends the routing rules to the UEGF2 gateway.

[0150] Correspondingly, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway receive the routing rules sent by the UNMF network element.

[0151] Among them, the routing rules sent by the UNMF network element can be the routing rules sent for the first time, or the routing rules updated when the routing rules already exist. The routing rules refer to the access control and access rules based on the IP address of the terminal, including the entry rules or exit rules with the IP address as the judgment condition, which are used for the UEGF gateway to control the cross-user network communication of the terminals in the corresponding user network. If the IP address of the terminal UNE1 affects the entry rules or exit rules of UEGF2, the UNMF network element needs to send routing rules to UEGF2 after obtaining the IP address of the terminal UNE1, and vice versa.

[0152] S404: Control the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network according to the routing rule.

[0153] Furthermore, after UEGF1 gateway and UEGF2 gateway complete the rule configuration based on routing rules, terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2 can visit each other through UEGF1 gateway and UEGF2 gateway, so that UEGF1 gateway controls the cross-user network communication between terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2, and UEGF2 gateway controls the cross-user network communication between terminal UNE2 and terminal UNE1.

[0154] It should be noted that the above examples are all described based on scenarios occurring between two user networks. The method provided in this embodiment can also be applied between more user networks. The steps and effects involved are similar to those described above and will not be described in detail.

[0155] In the above terminal communication method, the UEGF gateway receives the group session parameters of the target group sent by the UNMF network element; wherein the target group is a group of UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks, which is created by the UNMF network element according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks when the UNMF network element receives a registration request for the corresponding user network sent by the terminals of at least two user networks; according to the group session parameters, a group session establishment request for the target group is initiated; when the group session of the target group is successfully established, the routing rules sent by the UNMF network element are received; according to the routing rules, the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network is controlled. In this embodiment, the UNMF network element creates a target group of UEGF gateways including multiple user networks, and then sends the group session parameters and routing rules of the target group to multiple UEGF gateways, realizes cross-user network communication between terminals of multiple user networks, and enables multiple UEGF gateways to control the cross-user network communication of the corresponding terminals, thereby realizing secure intercommunication and service sharing between different user networks.

[0156] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG5 , the terminal communication method further includes:

[0157] S501, receiving a first mutual access identifier sent by a UNMF network element.

[0158] Among them, the first mutual visit identifier is used to indicate that the UEGF gateway responds to the intercommunication service preparation request sent by the corresponding terminal. The first mutual visit identifier can be set to visit, and this embodiment does not impose specific restrictions on this.

[0159] Exemplarily, after the UNMF network element creates the target group, it not only sends the group session parameters of the target group to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, but also sends the first mutual access identifier to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway.

[0160] S502: Receive an intercommunication service preparation request carrying a second intercommunication identifier sent by a corresponding terminal.

[0161] The second mutual visit identifier is sent by the UNMF network element to the corresponding terminal. The second mutual visit identifier is used to instruct the terminal to send an intercommunication service preparation request to the corresponding UEGF gateway. The mutual visit identifier can be set to visit, and this embodiment does not impose specific restrictions on this. The first mutual visit identifier and the second mutual visit identifier can be the same mutual visit identifier or an associated mutual visit identifier.

[0162] Exemplarily, after the UNMF network element creates the target group, it not only sends the group session parameters of the target group to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, but also sends the second mutual access identifier to the terminal UNE1 and the terminal UNE2, so that the terminal UNE1 and the terminal UNE2 request the corresponding UEGF gateway to establish a group session of the target group through the second mutual access identifier. That is, the terminal UNE1 sends the intercommunication service preparation request to the UEGF1 gateway through the second mutual access identifier, and the terminal UNE2 sends the intercommunication service preparation request to the UEGF2 gateway through the second mutual access identifier.

[0163] Optionally, when it is identified that the first mutual access identifier matches the second mutual access identifier, a group session establishment request for the target group is sent to the SMF network element according to the group session parameters.

[0164] After receiving the intercommunication service preparation request sent by the corresponding terminal through the second intercommunication identifier, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway respond promptly, identify that the first intercommunication identifier and the second intercommunication identifier match, and determine that the intercommunication service preparation request corresponds to the intercommunication service of the target group, thereby triggering the sending of a group session establishment request for the target group to the target network element with session management function based on the group session parameters.

[0165] The group session establishment request is used to instruct the target network element to create a group session of the target group based on the group session parameters and group information of the target group. The group session includes a user-level session and a group-level session. The target network element can be an SMF network element or other network elements with corresponding functions.

[0166] Among them, the group session parameters may include but are not limited to S-NSSAI and DNN, and the group information may include but is not limited to group identification information and gateway identification information of at least two UEGF gateways.

[0167] Exemplarily, the group identification information is the groupID of the target group, and the gateway identification information includes the ID of the UEGF1 gateway and the ID of the UEGF2 gateway.

[0168] Exemplarily, after the UNMF network element creates the target group, it not only sends the group session parameters of the target group to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, but also sends the group session parameters and group information of the target group to the target network elements such as the SMF network elements, so that the target network elements respond to the group session establishment request for the target group sent by the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway, and create the group session of the target group through the group information.

[0169] Specifically, the target network element such as the SMF network element creates a user-level session for the target group for the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway. After the user-level sessions on both ends are established, the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway anchor different UPF network elements. Then, group-level sessions are established between different UPF network elements, and group forwarding rules are configured in the UPF network elements.

[0170] In this embodiment, the UNMF network element sends a first mutual access identifier to the UEGF gateway and a second mutual access identifier to the terminal, so that the UEGF gateway promptly responds to the intercommunication service preparation request initiated by the corresponding terminal and requests the target network element to establish a group session of the target group. In a complex network environment, the accuracy of establishing the group session of the target group can be guaranteed, conflicts between interactive messages of different user networks can be avoided, and targeted establishment of the group session of the target group can be achieved.

[0171] In an exemplary embodiment, the terminal communication method further includes:

[0172] When the group session of the target group is successfully established, a terminal IP address is allocated to the corresponding terminal from the allocated address segment of the target group.

[0173] Among them, the terminal IP address is used to instruct the corresponding terminal to send an address update request to the UNMF network element, and the address update request is used to instruct the UNMF network element to send routing rules to the UEGF gateway.

[0174] The UEGF gateway allocates an IP address to the corresponding terminal in the address segment allocated by the network side for its group session. Exemplarily, the UEGF1 gateway allocates an IP address to the terminal UNE1 from the address segment of the target group, i.e., the terminal IP address of the terminal UNE1, and the UEGF2 gateway allocates an IP address to the terminal UNE2 from the address segment of the target group, i.e., the terminal IP address of the terminal UNE2. It should be noted that the network side allocates different address segments to the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway.

[0175] Further, terminal UNE1 sends an address update request carrying the terminal IP address of terminal UNE1 to the UNMF network element, and terminal UNE2 sends an address update request carrying the terminal IP address of terminal UNE2 to the UNMF network element, thereby registering and updating the IP address of its group session with the UNMF network element.

[0176] The UNMF network element sends or updates routing rules to the UEGF1 gateway and UEGF2 gateway respectively according to the terminal IP address carried in the address update request. The routing rules include access control rules based on the source address and target address generated according to the access authorization relationship and policy. The UEGF gateway can perform traffic control and distribution based on the routing rules.

[0177] It should be noted that the routing rule may be generated based on the terminal IP address of the initiator (such as the terminal UNE1), or based on the terminal IP address of the called party (such as the terminal UNE2), or based on the terminal IP addresses of both.

[0178] Optionally, when establishing a group session for the target group, if the UEGF gateway does not reallocate an IP address for the corresponding terminal, the UEGF gateway performs NAT, and the UNMF network element can send the routing rules together with the group session parameters and the mutual access identifier to the UEGF gateway.

[0179] Optionally, when the rule configuration is completed according to the routing rule, a preparation completion response of the intercommunication service preparation request is sent to the corresponding terminal.

[0180] After the UEGF gateway completes the rule configuration based on the routing rules, it feeds back a response message of the intercommunication service preparation request to the corresponding terminal, that is, the preparation completion response, to notify the corresponding terminal that the intercommunication access is ready and can be accessed through the access gateway (that is, the corresponding UEGF gateway).

[0181] In this embodiment, the UEGF gateway allocates a terminal IP address to the corresponding terminal, triggering the corresponding terminal to register with the UNMF network element to update the IP address of its group session, so that the UNMF network element sends routing rules to the UEGF gateway to enable terminals of different user networks to visit each other through the UEGF gateway. The UEGF gateways of different user networks can control the cross-user network communication of the corresponding terminals, improve the reliability of intercommunication between terminals of different user networks, and improve the entire communication service establishment process.

[0182] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG6 , a terminal communication method is provided, including:

[0183] 0. The UEGF gateways of user network UN1 and user network UN2 have registered with the UNMF network element and established default sessions for each of them; 1. The terminal UNE1 of user network UN1 registers with the UNMF network element to join user network UN1, and the terminal UNE2 of user network UN2 registers with the UNMF network element to join user network UN2; 2. The UNMF network element finds that the terminal UNE1 and the terminal UNE2 have intercommunication contracts based on the contract (i.e., intercommunication contract information), so it sets up a temporary group (i.e., target group) for the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway; 3. The UNMF network element transmits group session parameters (S-NSSAI, DNN) and group information (groupID, UEGF1 ID, UEGF2 ID); 4. UNMF network element allocates mutual visit identification (visit) to terminal UNE1 of user network UN1 and terminal UNE2 of user network UN2 and passes it to them; 5. UNMF network element sends the mutual visit identification and group session parameters to UEGF1 gateway and UEGF2 gateway; 6. Terminals UNE1 and UNE2 request to establish a group session through the mutual visit identification; 7. UEGF1 gateway and UEGF2 gateway recognize the mutual visit identification and use the group session parameters to request to establish a user-level session respectively; 8. SMF network element establishes a group session for UEGF1 gateway and UEGF2 gateway, and after the user-level sessions at both ends are established, a group-level session is established between UPF network elements (UEGF1 gateway and UFGF2 gateway anchor different UPF network elements), and further configures group forwarding rules on UPF network elements; 9. UEGF1 gateway establishes a group session for its group in the network An IP address is allocated to terminal UNE1 in the address segment allocated for the session; 10. After obtaining the IP address, terminal UNE1 registers and updates the IP address related to its group session with the UNMF network element; 11. Based on the IP address of the terminal UNE1 group session, the UNMF network element sends or updates the routing rules to the UEGF1 gateway. The routing rules contain the inbound rule or outbound rule with the IP address as the judgment condition. If the IP address affects the inbound rule or outbound rule of the UEGF2 gateway, it is necessary to send or update the routing rules to the UEGF2 gateway; 12. After the UEGF1 gateway completes the rule configuration, the terminal UN1's inter-access service preparation request replies with a response message, indicating that the inter-access is ready; 13. Similar to terminal UN1, terminal UN2 synchronously performs steps 9-12; 14. Terminal UNE1 and terminal UNE2 visit each other via the UEGF1 gateway and the UEGF2 gateway.

[0184] It should be understood that, although the various steps in the flowcharts involved in the above-mentioned embodiments are displayed in sequence according to the indication of the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in sequence according to the order indicated by the arrows. Unless there is a clear explanation in this article, the execution of these steps does not have a strict order restriction, and these steps can be executed in other orders. Moreover, at least a part of the steps in the flowcharts involved in the above-mentioned embodiments can include multiple steps or multiple stages, and these steps or stages are not necessarily executed at the same time, but can be executed at different times, and the execution order of these steps or stages is not necessarily to be carried out in sequence, but can be executed in turn or alternately with other steps or at least a part of the steps or stages in other steps.

[0185] Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiment of the present application also provides a terminal communication device for implementing the terminal communication method involved above. The implementation scheme for solving the problem provided by the device is similar to the implementation scheme recorded in the above method, so the specific limitations in one or more terminal communication device embodiments provided below can refer to the limitations on the terminal communication method above, and will not be repeated here.

[0186] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG7 , a terminal communication device 1 is provided, including:

[0187] A group creation module 10 is used to create a target group according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks when receiving a registration request for the corresponding user network sent by terminals of at least two user networks; wherein the target group includes UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks respectively; a parameter sending module 20 is used to send group session parameters of the target group to at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the group session parameters are used for the UEGF gateway to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group;

[0188] The rule sending module 30 is used to send routing rules to at least two UEGF gateways when the group session of the target group is successfully established; wherein the routing rules are used for the UEGF gateway to control the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network.

[0189] In one embodiment, the group creation module 10 includes:

[0190] A first creating unit, configured to create a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals, if intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals is found from the terminal contract information corresponding to the at least two terminals, and if intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks is not found from the network contract information corresponding to the at least two user networks;

[0191] A second creating unit, configured to create a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks, if the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals is not found from the terminal contract information corresponding to the at least two terminals, and the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks is found from the network contract information corresponding to the at least two user networks;

[0192] The third creation unit is used to create a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals and the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks, when the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals is found from the terminal contract information corresponding to the at least two terminals, and the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks is found from the network contract information corresponding to the at least two user networks.

[0193] In one embodiment, the terminal communication device 1 further includes:

[0194] The first identification sending module is used to send an inter-access identification to at least two terminals; wherein the inter-access identification is used to instruct the terminal to send an inter-communication service preparation request to the corresponding UEGF gateway, and the inter-communication service preparation request is used to instruct the corresponding UEGF gateway to send a group session establishment request of the target group to the target network element with session management function based on the group session parameters.

[0195] In one embodiment, the terminal communication device 1 further includes:

[0196] The second identification sending module is used to send mutual access identifications to at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the mutual access identification is used to indicate that the UEGF gateway responds to the intercommunication service preparation request sent by the corresponding terminal.

[0197] In one embodiment, the terminal communication device 1 further includes:

[0198] An information sending module is used to send group session parameters and group information of a target group to a target network element; wherein the group session parameters are used to instruct the target network element to respond to a group session establishment request for the target group sent by a UEGF gateway, and the group information is used for the target network element to identify a legitimate terminal that joins the group session of the target group under the instruction of the group session establishment request, and the group session includes a user-level session and a group-level session.

[0199] In one embodiment, the rule sending module 30 includes:

[0200] A request receiving unit, configured to receive an address update request sent by at least two terminals when the group session of the target group is successfully established; wherein the address update request carries the terminal IP address, and the terminal IP address is allocated by the UEGF gateway to the corresponding terminal from the address segment of the allocated target group;

[0201] The rule sending unit is used to send routing rules to at least two UEGF gateways according to the terminal IP address.

[0202] In one embodiment, the group session parameters include S-NSSAI and DNN.

[0203] In one of the embodiments, the group information includes group identification information and gateway identification information of at least two UEGF gateways.

[0204] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG8 , a terminal communication device 2 is provided, including:

[0205] The parameter receiving module 40 is used to receive the group session parameters of the target group sent by the UNMF network element; wherein the target group is a group of UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks, which is created by the UNMF network element according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks, when the UNMF network element receives a registration request for the corresponding user network sent by the terminals of the at least two user networks;

[0206] A request sending module 50, configured to initiate a group session establishment request for a target group according to the group session parameters;

[0207] A rule receiving module 60, configured to receive a routing rule sent by a UNMF network element when a group session of a target group is successfully established;

[0208] The communication control module 70 is used to control the inter-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network according to the routing rules.

[0209] In one embodiment, the terminal communication device 2 further includes:

[0210] An identification receiving module, used to receive a first mutual access identification sent by a UNMF network element;

[0211] The request receiving module is used to receive an intercommunication service preparation request carrying a second intercommunication identifier sent by a corresponding terminal; wherein the second intercommunication identifier is sent by a UNMF network element to the corresponding terminal.

[0212] In one embodiment, the request sending module 50 includes:

[0213] A request sending unit is used to send a group session establishment request for a target group to a target network element with a session management function according to the group session parameters when it is identified that the first mutual visit identifier matches the second mutual visit identifier; wherein the group session establishment request is used to instruct the target network element to identify a legitimate terminal joining the group session of the target group based on the group session parameters and group information of the target group, and the group session includes a user-level session and a group-level session.

[0214] In one embodiment, the terminal communication device 2 further includes:

[0215] The address allocation module is used to allocate a terminal IP address to the corresponding terminal from the address segment of the allocated target group when the group session of the target group is successfully established; wherein the terminal IP address is used to instruct the corresponding terminal to send an address update request to the UNMF network element, and the address update request is used to instruct the UNMF network element to send routing rules to the UEGF gateway.

[0216] In one embodiment, the terminal communication device 2 further includes:

[0217] The response sending module is used to send a preparation completion response of the intercommunication service preparation request to the corresponding terminal when the rule configuration is completed according to the routing rule.

[0218] In one embodiment, the group session parameters include S-NSSAI and DNN.

[0219] In one of the embodiments, the group information includes group identification information and gateway identification information of at least two UEGF gateways.

[0220] Each module in the above terminal communication device can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware or a combination thereof. Each module can be embedded in or independent of a processor in a computer device in the form of hardware, or can be stored in a memory in a computer device in the form of software, so that the processor can call and execute operations corresponding to each module.

[0221] In an exemplary embodiment, a communication device is provided, including a transmitter, a processor, and a memory, wherein the memory stores a computer program;

[0222] The processor is used to execute a computer program, and when receiving a registration request for a corresponding user network sent by a terminal of at least two user networks, creates a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks; wherein the target group includes UEGF gateways corresponding to the at least two user networks respectively; the transmitter is used to send group session parameters of the target group to the at least two UEGF gateways, and when the group session of the target group is successfully established, send routing rules to the at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the group session parameters are used for the UEGF gateway to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group, and the routing rules are used for the UEGF gateway to control the cross-user network communication of the terminals of the corresponding user network.

[0223] In an exemplary embodiment, a communication device is provided, including a transmitter, a receiver, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a computer program;

[0224] The receiver is used to receive the group session parameters of the target group sent by the UNMF network element; wherein the target group is a group of UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks, which is created by the UNMF network element according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks, when the UNMF network element receives a registration request for the corresponding user network sent by the terminals of the at least two user networks;

[0225] The sender is used to initiate a group session establishment request for a target group according to the group session parameters;

[0226] The receiver is also used to receive the routing rules sent by the UNMF network element when the group session of the target group is successfully established;

[0227] The processor is used to execute a computer program to control the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network according to the routing rule.

[0228] In an exemplary embodiment, a computer device is provided, including a memory and a processor, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor implements the steps of the above-mentioned terminal communication method when executing the computer program.

[0229] In one embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the terminal communication method described above are implemented.

[0230] In one embodiment, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program, which implements the steps of the above-mentioned terminal communication method when executed by a processor.

[0231] A person of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiment method can be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program, and the computer program can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed, it can include the processes of the embodiments of the above-mentioned methods. Among them, any reference to the memory, database or other medium used in the embodiments provided in the present application can include at least one of non-volatile memory and volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can include read-only memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory, optical memory, high-density embedded non-volatile memory, resistive random access memory (ReRAM), magnetic random access memory (MRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), phase change memory (PCM), graphene memory, etc. Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory, etc. As an illustration and not limitation, RAM can be in various forms, such as static random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The database involved in each embodiment provided in this application may include at least one of a relational database and a non-relational database. Non-relational databases may include distributed databases based on blockchains, etc., but are not limited to this. The processor involved in each embodiment provided in this application may be a general-purpose processor, a central processing unit, a graphics processor, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic device, a data processing logic device based on quantum computing, an artificial intelligence (AI) processor, etc., but are not limited to this.

[0232] The technical features of the above embodiments may be combined arbitrarily. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this application.

[0233] The above-described embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the present application. It should be pointed out that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the attached claims.

Claims

1. A terminal communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a user network management function UNMF network element, the method comprises: In the case of receiving a registration request for a corresponding user network sent by a terminal of at least two user networks, creating a target group according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks; wherein the target group includes user network equipment gateway function UEGF gateways corresponding to the at least two user networks respectively; Sending group session parameters of the target group to at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the group session parameters are used by the UEGF gateway to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group; When the group session of the target group is successfully established, routing rules are sent to the at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the routing rules are used for the UEGF gateway to control cross-user network communications of terminals of the corresponding user network.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The creating a target group according to at least one of the intercommunication subscription information between at least two terminals or the intercommunication subscription information between at least two user networks includes: When intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals is found from the terminal contract information corresponding to the at least two terminals, and intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks is not found from the network contract information corresponding to the at least two user networks, creating a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals; When intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals is not found from the terminal contract information corresponding to the at least two terminals, and intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks is found from the network contract information corresponding to the at least two user networks, creating a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks; When the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals is found from the terminal contract information corresponding to the at least two terminals, and the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks is found from the network contract information corresponding to the at least two user networks, a target group is created according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals and the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending a mutual access identifier to at least two terminals; wherein the mutual access identifier is used to instruct the terminal to send an intercommunication service preparation request to the corresponding UEGF gateway, and the intercommunication service preparation request is used to instruct the corresponding UEGF gateway to send a group session establishment request for the target group to the target network element with a session management function based on the group session parameters.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending a mutual access identifier to at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the mutual access identifier is used to indicate that the UEGF gateway responds to the intercommunication service preparation request sent by the corresponding terminal.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Sending group session parameters and group information of the target group to the target network element; wherein the group session parameters are used to instruct the target network element to respond to the group session establishment request for the target group sent by the UEGF gateway, and the group information is used for the target network element to identify the legitimate terminal joining the group session of the target group under the instruction of the group session establishment request, and the group session includes a user-level session and a group-level session.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that When the group session of the target group is successfully established, sending routing rules to the at least two UEGF gateways includes: When the group session of the target group is successfully established, receiving address update requests sent by at least two terminals; wherein the address update request carries the terminal Internet Protocol IP address, and the terminal IP address is allocated by the UEGF gateway to the corresponding terminal from the allocated address segment of the target group; According to the terminal IP address, routing rules are sent to at least two UEGF gateways.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The group session parameters include single network slice selection auxiliary information S-NSSAI and data network name DNN.

8. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The group information includes group identification information and gateway identification information of at least two UEGF gateways.

9. A terminal communication method, characterized in that: Applied to the UEGF gateway, the method comprises: Receive the group session parameters of the target group sent by the UNMF network element; wherein the target group is a group of UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks, which is created by the UNMF network element according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks, when the UNMF network element receives a registration request for the corresponding user network sent by terminals of at least two user networks; Initiating a group session establishment request for the target group according to the group session parameters; When the group session of the target group is successfully established, receiving the routing rule sent by the UNMF network element; According to the routing rule, cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network is controlled.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receiving a first mutual access identifier sent by the UNMF network element; Receive an intercommunication service preparation request carrying a second intercommunication identifier sent by a corresponding terminal; wherein the second intercommunication identifier is sent by the UNMF network element to the corresponding terminal.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The initiating a group session establishment request for the target group according to the group session parameter includes: When it is identified that the first mutual visit identifier matches the second mutual visit identifier, a group session establishment request for the target group is sent to a target network element with a session management function according to the group session parameters; wherein the group session establishment request is used to instruct the target network element to identify a legitimate terminal joining the group session of the target group based on the group session parameters and group information of the target group, and the group session includes a user-level session and a group-level session.

12. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: When the group session of the target group is successfully established, a terminal IP address is allocated to the corresponding terminal from the allocated address segment of the target group; wherein the terminal IP address is used to instruct the corresponding terminal to send an address update request to the UNMF network element, and the address update request is used to instruct the UNMF network element to send the routing rules to the UEGF gateway.

13. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: When the rule configuration is completed according to the routing rule, a preparation completion response of the interworking service preparation request is sent to the corresponding terminal.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that: The group session parameters include S-NSSAI and DNN.

15. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The group information includes group identification information and gateway identification information of at least two UEGF gateways.

16. A terminal communication device, characterized in that: Configured in a UNMF network element, the device comprises: A group creation module, configured to create a target group according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks, upon receiving a registration request for the corresponding user network sent by the terminals of the at least two user networks; wherein the target group includes UEGF gateways corresponding to the at least two user networks respectively; A parameter sending module, used to send the group session parameters of the target group to at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the group session parameters are used for the UEGF gateway to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group; A rule sending module is used to send routing rules to the at least two UEGF gateways when the group session of the target group is successfully established; wherein the routing rules are used for the UEGF gateway to control the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network.

17. A terminal communication device, characterized in that: Configured in the UEGF gateway, the device includes: A parameter receiving module, configured to receive a group session parameter of a target group sent by a UNMF network element; wherein the target group is a group of UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks, created by the UNMF network element upon receiving a registration request for a corresponding user network sent by terminals of at least two user networks, according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks; A request sending module, configured to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group according to the group session parameters; A rule receiving module, configured to receive a routing rule sent by the UNMF network element when the group session of the target group is successfully established; The communication control module is used to control the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network according to the routing rule.

18. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A transmitter, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a computer program; The processor is used to execute the computer program, and when receiving a registration request for a corresponding user network sent by a terminal of at least two user networks, creates a target group according to the intercommunication contract information between the at least two terminals or at least one of the intercommunication contract information between the at least two user networks; wherein the target group includes UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks respectively; the transmitter is used to send group session parameters of the target group to at least two UEGF gateways, and when the group session of the target group is successfully established, send routing rules to the at least two UEGF gateways; wherein the group session parameters are used for the UEGF gateway to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group, and the routing rules are used for the UEGF gateway to control the cross-user network communication of the terminals of the corresponding user network.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: include: a transmitter, a receiver, a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer program; The receiver is used to receive the group session parameters of the target group sent by the UNMF network element; wherein the target group is a group of UEGF gateways corresponding to at least two user networks, which is created by the UNMF network element according to at least one of the intercommunication contract information between at least two terminals or the intercommunication contract information between at least two user networks, when the UNMF network element receives a registration request for the corresponding user network sent by the terminals of at least two user networks; The transmitter is used to initiate a group session establishment request for the target group according to the group session parameter; The receiver is further configured to receive a routing rule sent by the UNMF network element when the group session of the target group is successfully established; The processor is used to execute the computer program and control the cross-user network communication of the terminal of the corresponding user network according to the routing rule.

20. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 are implemented.

21. A computer program product, comprising a computer program, characterized in that When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 are implemented.

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