Communication method, communication apparatus, and communication device

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a communication method, a communication device and a communication equipment. The communication method comprises: receiving a first request message, wherein the first request message indicates a sensing service to be performed; requesting a sensing device corresponding to a sensing function, SF, network element participating in the sensing service to perform the sensing service to obtain a corresponding sensing result; and sending the sensing result to a designated network element in the SF network elements participating in the sensing service for processing.

Description

Communication methods, communication devices and communication equipment Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and more specifically, to a communication method, communication device, and communication equipment. Background Technology

[0002] With the continuous development of communication technology, networks often need to provide corresponding sensing services and execute corresponding sensing operations. Some sensing operations may generate a large amount of data. In the process of executing sensing operations across multiple network elements, some network elements need to frequently transmit and process large amounts of data, resulting in low execution efficiency of sensing operations.

[0003] Therefore, there is a need to improve the execution of perception services. Summary of the Invention

[0004] A brief overview of this disclosure is given below to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of it. However, it should be understood that this overview is not an exhaustive summary of this disclosure. It is not intended to identify key or essential parts of this disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Its purpose is merely to present certain concepts of this disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.

[0005] One of the purposes of this disclosure is to provide a communication method, communication device, and communication equipment.

[0006] According to a first aspect of this disclosure, a communication method is provided, comprising: receiving a first request message, wherein the first request message indicates a sensing service to be executed; requesting a sensing device corresponding to a sensing function SF network element participating in the sensing service to execute the sensing service to obtain a corresponding sensing result; and sending the sensing result to a designated network element in the SF network element participating in the sensing service for processing.

[0007] In some embodiments, the designated network element is determined based on the characteristic information of the SF network element participating in the sensing service.

[0008] In some embodiments, the sensing function SF network element participating in the sensing service includes at least one first SF network element, and the designated network element is determined based on the first feature information of the at least one first SF network element.

[0009] In some embodiments, the designated network element is selected by the Network Open Function (NEF) network element from the at least one first SF network element based on the first characteristic information of the at least one first SF network element, wherein the first characteristic information of the at least one first SF network element is obtained by the NEF network element querying the Network Storage Function (FSF) network element.

[0010] In some embodiments, the first feature information includes at least one of the following: network element capability information of the first SF network element, deployment location information, integrated latency information, integrated transmission capability information, and sensing object density information.

[0011] In some embodiments, the communication method further includes: the designated network element receiving the first request message, and receiving address information and / or identification information of other first SF network elements (excluding the designated network element) sent by the Network Open Function (NEF) network element; and the designated network element sending the first request message to the other first SF network elements according to the address information and / or identification information of the other first SF network elements, so that the other first SF network elements request the corresponding sensing device to perform the sensing service.

[0012] In some embodiments, the first request message is sent by the application function (AF) network element and then sent to the designated network element via the NEF network element. The communication method further includes: the designated network element sending the processed sensing result to the AF network element via the NEF network element.

[0013] In some embodiments, the communication method further includes: the designated network element sending its address information and / or identification information to the other first SF network element, so that the other first SF network element sends the corresponding sensing results to the designated network element according to the address information and / or identification information of the designated network element.

[0014] In some embodiments, the sensing function SF network element participating in the sensing service includes at least one sensing function user SFU network element and a sensing function control SFC network element for controlling the at least one SFU network element, wherein the designated network element is selected by the SFC network element from the at least one SFU network element according to the second characteristic information of the at least one SFU network element.

[0015] In some embodiments, the second feature information includes at least one of the following: network element capability information of the SFU network element, deployment location information, integrated latency information, integrated transmission capability information, and sensing object density information.

[0016] In some embodiments, the communication method further includes: the SFC network element receiving the first request message, and sending the first request message to the at least one SFU network element according to the address information and / or identification information of the at least one SFU network element, so that the at least one SFU network element requests the corresponding sensing device to perform the sensing service.

[0017] In some embodiments, the first request message is sent by an Application Function (AF) network element and transmitted to the SFC network element via a Network Open Function (NEF) network element, wherein the communication method further includes:

[0018] The designated network element sends the processed sensing results to the AF network element via the SFC network element and the NEF network element; and / or

[0019] The designated network element sends the processed sensing results to the AF network element via the user plane function network element; and / or

[0020] The designated network element will directly send the processed sensing results to the AF network element.

[0021] In some embodiments, the communication method further includes: the SFC network element sending the address information and / or identification information of the designated network element to other SFU network elements among the at least one SFU network elements besides the designated network element, so that the other SFU network elements send the corresponding sensing results to the designated network element according to the address information and / or identification information of the designated network element.

[0022] In some embodiments, the communication method further includes: sending a registration request message to a network storage function element, wherein the registration request message includes at least one of the characteristic information, address information, and identification information of the SF network element.

[0023] In some embodiments, the perception result includes at least one of the execution status of the perception service and perception data related to the perception service.

[0024] According to a second aspect of this disclosure, a communication device is provided, the communication device comprising:

[0025] The receiving module is configured to receive a first request message, wherein the first request message indicates a sensing service to be executed;

[0026] The request module is configured to request the sensing device corresponding to the sensing function SF network element participating in the sensing service to execute the sensing service in order to obtain the corresponding sensing result; and

[0027] The sending module is configured to send the sensing results to a designated network element among the SF network elements participating in the sensing service for processing.

[0028] According to a third aspect of this disclosure, a communication device is provided, the communication device including a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, implement the steps of the communication method as described above.

[0029] According to a fourth aspect of this disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the communication method as described above.

[0030] According to a fifth aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product is provided, including instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the communication method described above.

[0031] Other features and advantages of this disclosure will become clearer from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0032] The accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of this disclosure and, together with the specification, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure.

[0033] This disclosure will become clearer with reference to the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description, wherein:

[0034] Figure 1 shows a flowchart of a communication method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0035] Figure 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] Figure 3 illustrates a network architecture schematic diagram according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] Figure 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of the network element interaction process according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0038] Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart of network element interaction according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0039] Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0040] Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] Note that in the embodiments described below, the same reference numerals are sometimes used across different figures to denote the same parts or parts having the same function, and repeated descriptions are omitted. In this specification, similar reference numerals and letters are used to denote similar items; therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it does not need to be discussed further in subsequent figures.

[0042] For ease of understanding, the positions, dimensions, and extents of the structures shown in the accompanying drawings and other materials may not represent actual positions, dimensions, and extents. Therefore, the disclosed invention is not limited to the positions, dimensions, and extents disclosed in the accompanying drawings and other materials. Furthermore, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some features may be enlarged to show details of specific components. Detailed Implementation

[0043] Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement, numerical expressions, and values ​​of the components and steps set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0044] The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative and is in no way intended to limit the scope of this disclosure or its application or use. That is, the structures and methods herein are shown in an exemplary manner to illustrate different embodiments of the structures and methods in this disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will understand that they merely illustrate exemplary ways that can be used to implement this disclosure, and not exhaustive ways. Furthermore, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some features may be enlarged to show details of specific components.

[0045] Techniques, methods, and equipment known to those skilled in the art may not be discussed in detail, but where appropriate, such techniques, methods, and equipment should be considered part of the specification.

[0046] In all examples shown and discussed herein, any specific values ​​should be interpreted as merely exemplary and not as limitations. Therefore, other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values.

[0047] With the rapid development of communication technology, the requirements for network sensing services are getting higher and higher, and the amount of data generated in sensing services is also increasing. Each node in the network needs to transmit and process a large amount of data, which makes the execution efficiency of sensing services low.

[0048] In some examples, Sensing Function (SF) network elements can be deployed in the network to handle corresponding sensing services. For instance, SF elements can be used for the collection, storage, and processing of sensing data and results, coordinating with RAN-side devices to execute sensing services, and managing sensing scenarios. This decentralizes the network's sensing capabilities and reduces the workload of corresponding nodes in the network. In some sensing services, the corresponding sensing scenarios or sensing areas are quite large, potentially spanning the sensing coverage of multiple SF elements. However, when executing the same sensing service across multiple SF elements, issues arise such as low coordination among the SF elements and slow service execution efficiency.

[0049] To address the aforementioned issues, this disclosure collects and processes sensing results from various SF network elements participating in sensing services by designating network elements as anchor points. This approach better coordinates and manages sensing services executed across multiple SF network elements, reduces network load, decreases the complexity of network communication processes, and improves the execution efficiency of sensing services.

[0050] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a communication method is provided. As shown in FIG1, the communication method 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure may include steps S110 to S130. In step S110, a first request message is received. The first request message may indicate a sensing service to be executed. In step S120, a sensing device corresponding to an SF network element participating in the sensing service is requested to execute the sensing service to obtain a corresponding sensing result. In step S130, the sensing result is sent to a designated network element among the SF network elements participating in the sensing service for processing.

[0051] A sensing device can be a device with sensing capabilities under the management of a Radio Access Network (RAN). The sensing device is the executor of the corresponding sensing service, responsible for executing the specific sensing service and collecting sensing results and raw sensing data. In some embodiments, the sensing device can be a base station or a user terminal with sensing capabilities.

[0052] In some embodiments, the designated network element may be determined based on the characteristic information of the SF network element participating in the sensing service. The characteristic information of the SF network element may include at least one of the following: network element capability information, deployment location information, integrated latency information, integrated transmission capability information, and sensing object density information.

[0053] Network element capability information can be used to indicate the computing power or storage capacity of a network element. Since a designated network element needs to process and handle the sensing results reported by various SF network elements, network elements with larger computing power or larger storage space are more likely to be identified as designated network elements when performing services.

[0054] Deployment location information can be used to indicate the area or location where a network element is deployed. Sensing services can be targeted at specific scenarios or specific areas. The closer a network element is to the center of a specific scenario or the closer its deployment location is to the center of a specific area, the more likely it is to be identified as a designated network element.

[0055] The comprehensive delay information can be used to indicate the communication delay between a network element and other SF network elements (e.g., the average delay between a network element and other SF network elements, or the cumulative delay between a network element and other SF network elements). The lower the communication delay between a network element and other SF network elements, the higher the execution efficiency of the corresponding sensing service, and the more likely it is to be identified as a designated network element.

[0056] Comprehensive transmission capability information can be used to indicate the data transmission capability between a network element and other SF network elements, such as transmission bandwidth. The stronger the data transmission capability between a network element and other SF network elements, such as the larger the transmission bandwidth and the more data it can carry, the more likely it is to be identified as a designated network element.

[0057] Sensing object density information can be used to indicate the number or density of sensing objects targeted by a network element. The more sensing objects a network element targets, or the higher its density, the heavier its load, and the more likely it is to be identified as a designated network element, thus reducing unnecessary data transmission and lowering network load. When an Application Function (AF) network element provides information about the sensing objects in the requested sensing service, the sensing object density information of each SF network element can be determined based on this information to facilitate the identification of the designated network element.

[0058] In some embodiments, a designated network element can be determined according to the priority of the network element capability information, deployment location information, integrated latency information, integrated transmission capability information, and sensing object density information of the SF network elements participating in the sensing service, in descending order. The priorities of these four information categories can be preset. In a specific example, sensing object density information may have a higher priority than network element capability information, deployment location information, integrated latency information, and integrated transmission capability information, thus the designated network element can be determined based on the sensing object density information of the SF network elements participating in the sensing service. Furthermore, if there are multiple designated network elements determined based on sensing object density information, a designated network element can be selected from these multiple designated network elements based on the network element capability information, deployment location information, integrated latency information, and integrated transmission capability information. In some embodiments, a registration request message can be sent to the Network Repository Function (NRF) network element, wherein the registration request message may include at least one of the SF network element's characteristic information, address information, and identification information. In this way, at least one of the characteristic information, address information, and identification information of the SF network element can be stored in the NRF network element in advance, so that relevant information of the SF network element can be obtained from the NRF network element when needed.

[0059] In some embodiments, the sensing results may include at least one of the execution status of sensing services and sensing data related to the sensing services. Thus, a designated network element can process the execution status of sensing services acquired by each SF network element, and can also process the sensing data acquired by each SF network element, so as to subsequently send the processed service execution status and / or processed data to the service requester, such as an AF network element. In some embodiments, the processing of sensing results by the designated network element may include filtering and aggregating the sensing results acquired by each SF network element. This disclosure proposes two deployment methods for sinking and distributing the network's sensing capabilities, improving the scalability of the network's sensing capabilities, facilitating subsequent upgrades to the network's sensing capabilities, enabling the network to provide more diversified services, and also making the load of network elements in the network more balanced to ensure the orderly execution of services. As shown in Figure 2, in one deployment method, a converged deployment can be adopted to integrate the control plane function and user plane (also known as data plane) function of SF network element 210, and the network perception capability can be distributed based on this converged deployment method to deploy multiple first SF network elements 211 (in this paper, the SF network element whose control plane function and user plane function are integrated is called the first SF network element 211). Each first SF network element 211 has independent control plane function and user plane function, and each first SF network element 211 is independent of each other. Figure 2 shows n first SF network elements 211, namely SF (1) network element, SF (2) network element, ..., SF (n) network element. As shown in Figure 3, in another deployment method, a separate deployment can be adopted to separate the control plane function and user plane function of SF network element 210, so as to deploy Sensing Function User (SFU) network element 212 and Sensing Function Control (SFC) network element 213. Based on this separate deployment method, the network's sensing capability is distributed, so that one SFC network element 213 controls one or more SFU network elements 212. Figure 3 exemplarily shows that an SFC (1) network element controls n SFU network elements 212, namely SFU (1) network element, SFU (2) network element, ..., SFU (n) network element.

[0060] The following describes some embodiments of this disclosure with reference to a network architecture shown in Figure 2.

[0061] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, in some embodiments, the SF network element 210 participating in the sensing service may include at least one first SF network element 211, wherein the designated network element can be determined based on the first feature information of at least one first SF network element 211. The first feature information may include at least one of the following: network element capability information, deployment location information, integrated delay information, integrated transmission capability information, and sensing object density information of the corresponding first SF network element 211.

[0062] In some embodiments, a designated network element can be selected from at least one first SF network element 211 based on its first characteristic information. In a specific example, the designated network element can be selected by a Network Exposure Function (NEF) network element 230 from at least one first SF network element 211 based on its first characteristic information. Thus, in a converged deployment, the NEF network element 230 can perform the selection of the designated network element. In some embodiments, the first characteristic information of at least one first SF network element 211 can be obtained by the NEF network element 230 querying the NRF network element 240, so that the NEF network element 230 and the NRF network element 240 can cooperate to select the designated network element. Compared with a single network element storing the characteristic information and determining the designated network element based on the stored characteristic information, this reduces the workload of the network element, reduces the possibility of network element failure, and ensures that the network can effectively execute the corresponding sensing services.

[0063] After the designated network element is determined, messages can be transmitted and sensing results from various network elements can be processed through the designated network element. In order to notify each network element in the SF network element 210 participating in the execution of sensing services, the designated network element can receive a first request message indicating the sensing service to be executed, and transmit the first request message to at least one other first SF network element 211 besides the designated network element, so that each of the at least one first SF network element 211 requests the corresponding sensing device 220 to execute the sensing service and obtain the corresponding sensing results.

[0064] In some embodiments, a first request message can be sent to other first SF network elements 211 based on their address information and / or identification information. The address information and / or identification information can be used to indicate the corresponding network element, and transmitting messages based on the address information and / or identification information of the network elements can improve the accuracy of message transmission. In a specific example, a designated network element can receive the address information and / or identification information of at least one first SF network element 211 other than the designated network element, sent by the NEF network element 230. Based on the address information and / or identification information of the other first SF network elements 211, the designated network element sends the first request message to the other first SF network elements 211, so that the other first SF network elements 211 request the corresponding sensing device 220 to perform sensing services to obtain corresponding sensing results. The designated network element serves as the anchor network element for this sensing service. When other first SF network elements 211 obtain the corresponding sensing results, they can send the sensing results to the designated network element for unified processing. To enable other first SF network elements 211 to accurately send the corresponding sensing results to the designated network element for processing, in some embodiments, the designated network element can send its address information and / or identification information to other first SF network elements 211, so that the other first SF network elements 211 can send the corresponding sensing results to the designated network element based on the address information and / or identification information of the designated network element. In some embodiments, the first request message can be sent by the AF network element 250 and then sent to the designated network element via the NEF network element 230. When at least one first SF network element 211 requests the corresponding sensing device 220 to perform sensing services to obtain the corresponding sensing results, and the designated network element processes the sensing results, the designated network element can send the processed sensing results to the AF network element 250 via the NEF network element 230.

[0065] In some embodiments, each of the at least one first SF network element 211 can send a registration request message to the NRF network element 240, wherein the registration request message may include at least one of the characteristic information, address information, and identification information of the corresponding first SF network element 211. Thus, at least one of the characteristic information, address information, and identification information of the first SF network element 211 can be pre-stored in the NRF network element 240 so that it can be retrieved from the NRF network element 240 when relevant information of the corresponding first SF network element 211 is needed.

[0066] The following describes some embodiments of network element interaction in the network architecture shown in Figure 2, with reference to Figure 4.

[0067] In step S410, each first SF network element 211 registers with the NRF network element 240 side of the core network and provides relevant information, such as identification information, address information, network element capability information, deployment location information, comprehensive delay information, comprehensive transmission capability information, and sensing object density information.

[0068] In step S420, the AF network element 250 requests the NEF network element 230 on the network side to execute related sensing services (sensing services or sensing operations). For example, it can send a first request message to the NEF network element 230, wherein the first request message may include the sensing scenario or sensing range, sensing object information, the sensing operation or specific sensing service to be executed, etc.

[0069] In step S430, after receiving the request from AF network element 250, NEF network element 230 queries NRF network element 240 for information on the relevant first SF network element 211, discovers the first SF network element 211, and selects all the first SF network elements 211 required by AF network element 250's request (e.g., SF(1) network element and SF(2) network element) according to the request content of AF network element 250.

[0070] In step S440, after discovering and selecting all the required first SF network elements 211, the NEF network element 230 can select a first SF network element 211 as the designated network element for this sensing service (e.g., SF (1) network element) according to the service requirements of the AF network element 250 and the characteristic information of the SF. Then, the request of the AF network element 250 and other relevant information of the first SF network element 211 (e.g., identification information and / or address information) are sent to the designated network element.

[0071] In step S450, after receiving the request from AF network element 250 forwarded by NEF and information from other first SF network elements 211, the designated network element distributes the request to the other first SF network elements 211 according to the specific request content of AF network element 250. The request asks the other first SF network elements 211 to execute the sensing service requested by AF network element 250 and send the sensing result back to the designated network element. The sensing result may include the execution status of the sensing service (e.g., successful execution, partial execution, or execution failure) and the sensing data generated during the sensing of the sensing object.

[0072] In step S460, after receiving a request from the AF network element 250, all first SF network elements 211 participating in this sensing service request the corresponding sensing device 220 to execute the specific sensing service and collect the corresponding sensing results. The sensing device 220 is a device with sensing capabilities, such as a base station with sensing capabilities and / or a user terminal with sensing capabilities.

[0073] In step S470, after collecting the sensing results under the current sensing service request, all the first SF network elements 211 participating in this sensing service send the collected sensing results to the designated network element (e.g., SF (1) network element) for processing.

[0074] In step S480, after receiving the sensing results from all the first SF network elements 211 participating in this sensing service, the designated network element collects and processes the sensing results, and then sends the result of the sensing service request in response to the AF network element 250 back to the NEF network element 230. The NEF network element 230 then forwards it to the AF network element 250, the requester of the sensing service.

[0075] Some embodiments of this disclosure are described below with reference to another network architecture shown in Figure 3.

[0076] As shown in Figures 1 and 3, in some embodiments, the sensing function SF network element 210 participating in the sensing service may include at least one SFU network element 212 and an SFC network element 213 for controlling the at least one SFU network element 212, wherein the designated network element can be determined based on the second characteristic information of the at least one SFU network element 212. The second characteristic information may include at least one of the following: network element capability information, deployment location information, integrated delay information, integrated transmission capability information, and sensing object density information of the corresponding SFU network element 212.

[0077] In some embodiments, a designated network element can be selected from at least one SFU network element 212 based on the second characteristic information of at least one SFU network element 212. In a specific example, the designated network element can be selected by SFC network element 213 from at least one SFU network element 212 based on the second characteristic information of at least one SFU network element 212. Thus, in a split deployment, the selection of the designated network element can be implemented by SFC network element 213. In some embodiments, SFC network element 213 can store the second characteristic information of at least one controlled SFU network element 212 so as to determine the designated network element based on the second characteristic information of SFU network element 212 stored by SFC network element 213 itself. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the second characteristic information of at least one SFU network element 212 can be sent to SFC network element 213 via NEF network element 230 so as to determine the designated network element based on the second characteristic information of SFU network element 212 sent by NEF network element 230. The second characteristic information of the SFU network element 212 sent by the NEF network element 230 can be obtained by the NEF network element 230 querying the NRF network element 240.

[0078] SFC network element 213 can transmit messages to at least one controlled SFU network element 212 to instruct the SFU network element 212 to request the sensing device 220 to perform sensing services and obtain corresponding sensing results. SFC network element 213 can receive a first request message. In some embodiments, after SFC network element 213 determines a designated network element, SFC network element 213 can send the first request message to the designated network element and forward the first request message to other SFU network elements 212 besides the designated network element via the designated network element. Alternatively, in other embodiments, SFC network element 213 can send the first request message to at least one SFU network element 212 without forwarding it via the designated network element.

[0079] In some embodiments, a first request message can be sent to SFU network element 212 based on the address information and / or identification information of SFU network element 212 to improve the accuracy of message transmission. In a specific example, SFC network element 213 can send the first request message to at least one SFU network element 212 based on the address information and / or identification information of at least one SFU network element 212, so that at least one SFU network element 212 requests the corresponding sensing device 220 to perform sensing services. In some embodiments, SFC network element 213 can store the address information and / or identification information of at least one controlled SFU network element 212, so as to transmit messages to at least one SFU network element 212 based on the address information and / or identification information of at least one SFU network element 212 stored by SFC network element 213 itself. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the address information and / or identification information of at least one SFU network element 212 can be sent to the SFC network element 213 via the NEF network element 230, so that the SFC network element 213 can transmit messages to at least one SFU network element 212 based on the address information and / or identification information of at least one SFU network element 212 sent by the NEF network element 230. The address information and / or identification information of the SFU network element 212 sent by the NEF network element 230 can be obtained by the NEF network element 230 querying the NRF network element 240.

[0080] The designated network element serves as the anchor network element for this sensing service. Other SFU network elements 212, upon obtaining the corresponding sensing results, can send these results to the designated network element for processing. To ensure that other SFU network elements 212 can accurately send the corresponding sensing results to the designated network element for processing, in some embodiments, the SFC network element 213 can send the address information and / or identification information of the designated network element to at least one other SFU network element 212 besides the target SFU network element 212, so that the other SFU network elements 212 can send the corresponding sensing results to the designated network element based on the address information and / or identification information of the designated network element.

[0081] In some embodiments, the first request message may be sent by AF network element 250 and then transmitted to SFC network element 213 via NEF network element 230. When at least one SFU network element 212 requests the corresponding sensing device 220 to perform sensing services to obtain corresponding sensing results, and a designated network element processes the sensing results, in some embodiments, the designated network element may send the processed sensing results to AF network element 250 via SFC network element 213 and NEF network element 230; or, in some embodiments, the designated network element may send the processed sensing results to AF network element 250 via User Plane Function (UPF) network element (not shown). The designated network element can determine whether to send the processed sensing results to AF network element 250 via SFC network element 213 and NEF network element 230 or via UPF network element based on the data size of the processed sensing results. In a specific example, when the amount of data in the processed sensing results is large—for instance, when the raw sensing data from various SFU network elements 212 is aggregated, causing the amount of data in the processed sensing results to exceed a preset threshold—some network elements in the core network (such as SFC network element 213 and NEF network element 230) may not be able to handle the excessively large amount of data. In this case, a designated network element can send the processed sensing results to AF network element 250 via UPF network element. Considering that SFU network elements can be deployed in various ways, in some embodiments, the designated network element can directly send the processed sensing results to AF network element 250. For example, the designated network element can directly send the processed sensing results to AF network element 250 through the N6 interface.

[0082] In some embodiments, each of the SFC network element 213 and at least one SFU network element 212 can send a registration request message to the NRF network element 240. The registration request message may include at least one of the characteristic information, address information, and identification information of the corresponding SFC network element 213 or SFU network element 212. Thus, at least one of the characteristic information, address information, and identification information of the SFC network element 213 and at least one of the characteristic information, address information, and identification information of the at least one SFU network element 212 can be stored in the NRF network element 240 in advance, so that relevant information of the corresponding SFC network element 213 or the corresponding SFU network element 212 can be obtained from the NRF network element 240 when needed. In some embodiments, the NRF network element 240 may only store and manage the relevant information of the SFC network element 213, while the relevant information of the at least one SFU network element 212 may be stored and managed by the corresponding SFC network element 213, so as to make the workload of each network element more balanced, reduce the possibility of network element failure, and thus ensure that the network can effectively execute the corresponding sensing services.

[0083] The following describes some embodiments of network element interaction in the network architecture shown in Figure 3, with reference to Figure 5.

[0084] In step S510, each SFC network element 213 and SFU network element 212 registers with the NRF network element 240 side of the core network and provides relevant information, such as identification information, address information, network element capability information, deployment location information, comprehensive delay information, comprehensive transmission capability information, and sensing object density information.

[0085] In step S520, the AF network element 250 requests the NEF network element 230 on the network side to execute related sensing services (sensing services or sensing operations). For example, it can send a first request message to the NEF network element 230, wherein the first request message may include the sensing scenario or sensing range, sensing object information, the sensing operation or specific sensing service to be executed, etc.

[0086] In step S530, after receiving a request from AF network element 250, NEF network element 230 queries NRF network element 240 for information on relevant SFC network element 213, discovers SFC network element 213, and selects the corresponding SFC network element 213 based on the request content of AF network element 250 (e.g., the content of the first request message). In some embodiments, NEF network element 230 can select the SFC network element 213 under the corresponding sensing scene or sensing area based on the sensing scene or sensing area information in the request content of AF network element 250.

[0087] In step S540, after NEF network element 230 selects the corresponding SFC network element 213 (e.g., SFC (1) network element), it sends the request of AF network element 250 to the corresponding SFC network element 213.

[0088] In step S550, after receiving the request from AF network element 250, SFC network element 213 discovers and selects all SFU network elements 212 (e.g., SFU (1) and SFU (2) network elements) that need to participate in the current sensing service based on the request content of AF network element 250, specific service requirements, and characteristic information of each SFU network element 212, and selects a suitable SFU network element 212 as the designated network element (e.g., SFU (1) network element). SFC network element 213 sends the request from AF network element 250 to the SFU network elements 212 participating in the current sensing service, and provides these SFU network elements 212 with the address information and / or identification information of the designated network element, so as to instruct all SFU network elements 212 to send the collected sensing results to the designated network element for processing.

[0089] In step S560, after receiving the request from AF network element 250, all SFU network elements 212 participating in this sensing service request the corresponding sensing device 220 to execute the specific sensing service and collect the corresponding sensing results (such as the sensing service execution status and sensing data).

[0090] In step S570, after collecting the sensing results under the current sensing service request, all SFU network elements 212 participating in this sensing service send the collected sensing results to the designated network element (e.g., SFU (1) network element) for processing according to the instructions of SFC network element 213.

[0091] In step S580, the designated network element reports a brief perception result of the perception service requested by the current AF network element 250 to the SFC network element 213. The brief perception result includes information on the execution status of the perception service in response to the current AF network element 250 request, such as whether the service was successfully executed, partially executed, or failed.

[0092] In step S590, the designated network element uploads the detailed sensing results of the sensing service requested by the current AF network element 250 to the AF network element 250. The detailed sensing results may include, for example, the specific progress of service execution and sensing data generated during the sensing of the sensing object. In some embodiments, if the amount of data responding to the detailed sensing results is small (e.g., the amount of data is less than or equal to a preset threshold), the designated network element may send the detailed sensing results to the AF network element 250 via the SFC network element 213 and the NEF network element 230. In other embodiments, if the amount of data responding to the detailed sensing results is large (e.g., the amount of data is greater than a preset threshold), the designated network element may send the detailed sensing results to the AF network element 250 via the UPF network element.

[0093] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a communication device is provided. As shown in FIG6, the communication device 600 according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure may include a receiving module 610, a requesting module 620, and a sending module 630. The receiving module 610 may be configured to receive a first request message. The first request message indicates a sensing service to be executed. The requesting module 620 may be configured to request a sensing device corresponding to a sensing function SF network element participating in the sensing service to execute the sensing service in order to obtain a corresponding sensing result. The sending module 630 may be configured to send the sensing result to a designated network element among the SF network elements participating in the sensing service for processing.

[0094] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a communication device is also provided. As shown in FIG7, in an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the communication device 700 may include a processor 710 and a memory 720. The memory 720 stores instructions that, when executed by the processor 710, implement the steps of the communication method described in any of the foregoing embodiments of this disclosure. In some embodiments, the communication device 700 may be the SF network element 210 described above, or the first SF network element 211, SFU network element 212, or SFC network element 213 described above.

[0095] The processor 710 can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. The processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components, to implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this disclosure. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, and can be an x86 architecture or an ARM architecture, etc.

[0096] Memory 720 may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDRSDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus random access memory (DRRAM). It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0097] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is also provided, on which instructions are stored, which, when executed, can implement the steps of the communication method described in any of the foregoing embodiments of this disclosure.

[0098] Similarly, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in the embodiments of this disclosure may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. It should be noted that the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0099] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product is also provided, which includes a computer program that, when executed by a processor, can implement the steps of the communication method described in any of the foregoing embodiments of this disclosure.

[0100] Instructions can be any set of instructions that will be executed directly by one or more processors, such as machine code, or any set of instructions that will be executed indirectly, such as a script. The terms “instruction,” “application,” “procedure,” “step,” and “program” (including “computer program”) used herein are interchangeable. Instructions can be stored in object code format for direct processing by one or more processors, or stored in any other computer language, including scripts or sets of independent source code modules that are interpreted on demand or compiled in advance. The function, methods, and routines of instructions are explained in more detail in other parts of this document.

[0101] In the technical solution disclosed herein, service results and data from different sensing network elements are collected, stored, and processed centrally in a designated network element, and then uniformly sent to the service requester by the designated network element. This allows for effective collaborative execution of the network when a sensing service spans the coverage of multiple sensing network elements, ensuring the orderliness of the service, efficiently utilizing network resources, and reducing network load and process complexity. This disclosure proposes two methods for distributed deployment of sensing function network elements on the core network side: converged deployment and separate deployment. This decentralized and distributed deployment of the network's sensing capabilities reduces the workload of corresponding nodes in the network, better meets the needs of more sensing services, and enables the network to provide more diversified services.

[0102] As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration” and not as a “model” to be precisely copied. Any implementation described herein by example is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. Moreover, this disclosure is not limited to any theory expressed or implied as given in the field of art, background art, summary of invention, or detailed description.

[0103] As used herein, the term "substantially" means any minor variation resulting from design or manufacturing defects, device or component tolerances, environmental influences, and / or other factors. The term "substantially" also allows for differences from the perfect or ideal situation due to parasitic effects, noise, and other practical considerations that may exist in the actual implementation.

[0104] Furthermore, terms such as “first,” “second,” etc., may be used in this document for reference purposes only and are not intended to be limiting. For example, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the words “first,” “second,” and other such numerical terms relating to structures or elements do not imply order or sequence.

[0105] It should also be understood that when the term “including / contains” is used herein, it indicates the presence of the indicated feature, whole, step, operation, unit and / or component, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, wholes, steps, operations, units and / or components and / or combinations thereof.

[0106] In this disclosure, the term “provide” is used broadly to cover all ways of obtaining an object, and therefore “provide an object” includes, but is not limited to, “purchasing,” “preparing / manufacturing,” “arranging / setting up,” “installing / assembling,” and / or “ordering” an object.

[0107] As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed items in association. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of this disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0108] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the boundaries between the above operations are merely illustrative. Multiple operations may be combined into a single operation, a single operation may be distributed among additional operations, and operations may be performed with at least partial overlap in time. Moreover, alternative embodiments may include multiple instances of a particular operation, and the order of operations may be changed in various other embodiments. However, other modifications, variations, and substitutions are equally possible. Aspects and elements of all the embodiments disclosed above may be combined in any way and / or in combination with aspects or elements of other embodiments to provide multiple additional embodiments. Therefore, this specification and the accompanying drawings should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.

[0109] While specific embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail by way of example, those skilled in the art should understand that the examples are for illustrative purposes only and not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. The various embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in any way without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art should also understand that various modifications can be made to the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of this disclosure. The scope of this disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The communication method includes: receiving a first request message, wherein the first request message indicates a sensing service to be executed; requesting a sensing device corresponding to a sensing function SF network element participating in the sensing service to execute the sensing service to obtain a corresponding sensing result; and sending the sensing result to a designated network element among the SF network elements participating in the sensing service for processing, wherein the designated network element is determined based on the characteristic information of the SF network elements participating in the sensing service, wherein for each SF network element participating in the sensing service, the characteristic information includes the network element capability information, deployment location information, comprehensive latency information, comprehensive transmission capability information, and sensing object density information of the SF network element, the network element capability information is used to indicate the size of the computing power or storage capacity of the SF network element, the deployment location information is used to indicate the area or location where the SF network element is deployed, the comprehensive latency information is used to indicate the communication latency between the SF network element and other SF network elements participating in the sensing service, the comprehensive transmission capability information is used to indicate the data transmission capability between the SF network element and other SF network elements participating in the sensing service, and the sensing object density information is used to indicate the number or density of sensing objects targeted by the SF network element.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sensing function SF network element participating in the sensing service includes at least one first SF network element, and the designated network element is determined based on the feature information of the at least one first SF network element.

3. The communication method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The designated network element is selected by the Network Open Function (NEF) network element from the at least one first SF network element based on the feature information of the at least one first SF network element, wherein the feature information of the at least one first SF network element is obtained by the NEF network element querying the Network Storage Function (FSF) network element.

4. The communication method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The communication method further includes: the designated network element receiving the first request message, and receiving address information and / or identification information of other first SF network elements (excluding the designated network element) sent by the Network Open Function (NEF) network element; and the designated network element sending the first request message to the other first SF network elements according to the address information and / or identification information of the other first SF network elements, so that the other first SF network elements request the corresponding sensing device to perform the sensing service.

5. The communication method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first request message is sent by the application function (AF) network element and then sent to the designated network element via the NEF network element. The communication method further includes: the designated network element sending the processed sensing result to the AF network element via the NEF network element.

6. The communication method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The communication method further includes: the designated network element sending its address information and / or identification information to the other first SF network elements, so that the other first SF network elements send the corresponding sensing results to the designated network element according to the address information and / or identification information of the designated network element.

7. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sensing function SF network element participating in the sensing service includes at least one sensing function user SFU network element and a sensing function control SFC network element for controlling the at least one SFU network element, wherein the designated network element is selected by the SFC network element from the at least one SFU network element according to the feature information of the at least one SFU network element.

8. The communication method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The communication method further includes: the SFC network element receiving the first request message, and sending the first request message to the at least one SFU network element according to the address information and / or identification information of the at least one SFU network element, so that the at least one SFU network element requests the corresponding sensing device to perform the sensing service.

9. The communication method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The first request message is sent by the Application Function (AF) network element and transmitted to the SFC network element via the Network Open Function (NEF) network element. The communication method further includes: the designated network element sending the processed sensing result to the AF network element via the SFC network element and the NEF network element; and / or the designated network element sending the processed sensing result to the AF network element via the User Plane Function (MPF) network element; and / or the designated network element sending the processed sensing result directly to the AF network element.

10. The communication method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The communication method further includes: the SFC network element sending the address information and / or identification information of the designated network element to other SFU network elements among the at least one SFU network elements besides the designated network element, so that the other SFU network elements send the corresponding sensing results to the designated network element according to the address information and / or identification information of the designated network element.

11. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The communication method further includes: sending a registration request message to a network storage function element, wherein the registration request message includes at least one of the characteristic information, address information, and identification information of the SF network element.

12. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The perception results include at least one of the execution status of perception services and perception data related to perception services.

13. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: a receiving module configured to receive a first request message, wherein the first request message indicates a sensing service to be executed; a requesting module configured to request a sensing device corresponding to a sensing function SF network element participating in the sensing service to execute the sensing service to obtain a corresponding sensing result; and a sending module configured to send the sensing result to a designated network element among the SF network elements participating in the sensing service for processing, wherein the designated network element is determined based on the feature information of the SF network elements participating in the sensing service, wherein for each SF network element participating in the sensing service, the feature information includes the SF network element's... The network element capability information, deployment location information, comprehensive latency information, comprehensive transmission capability information, and sensing object density information are as follows: network element capability information indicates the computing power or storage capacity of the SF network element; deployment location information indicates the area or location where the SF network element is deployed; comprehensive latency information indicates the communication latency between the SF network element and other SF network elements participating in the sensing service; comprehensive transmission capability information indicates the data transmission capability between the SF network element and other SF network elements participating in the sensing service; and sensing object density information indicates the number or density of sensing objects targeted by the SF network element.

14. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, implement the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

16. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

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