Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and device. The first control plane network element receives a first request from the first terminal device, wherein the first request comprises information of the first terminal device and information of a group to which the first terminal device belongs; the first control plane network element obtains information of a plurality of terminal devices included in the group according to the information of the group, and the plurality of terminal devices comprise the first terminal device; the first control plane network element obtains information of at least one second terminal device which is allowed to be directly connected with the first terminal device in a plurality of terminal devices included in the group according to the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group; the first control plane network element controls the first terminal device and the third terminal device to directly communicate in the group, the third terminal device belongs to the group and belongs to at least one second terminal device, and the third terminal device has access to the first control plane network element or the second control plane network element. And the terminal devices in one group are interconnected according to needs, so that resource waste can be avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and a device thereof. Background Art

[0002] A local area network (LAN) or virtual network (VN) is mainly used for internal communications in enterprises, governments, or other organizations. It establishes a dedicated network for a group of terminal devices within the same enterprise, government, or other organization to communicate.

[0003] Customers purchase LAN services or VN services from operators, who then create groups for them and configure multiple network elements to provide LAN services or VN services to the groups. For example, the equipment in a factory can form a group, or the office equipment (such as mobile phones, computers, or laptops) of employees in a department of an enterprise can form a group.

[0004] Currently, when customers purchase LAN services or VN services, only full interconnection between group members is supported, that is, any two members in the group can be connected without being transferred through other members. In some application scenarios, there is no business data transmission between some members in a group, and these members do not need to be connected. If only full interconnection between group members is supported, this will not only waste resources, but also be disadvantageous to enterprises, for example, the purchase cost is too expensive. Summary of the invention

[0005] The embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and apparatus thereof, which are used to interconnect terminal devices in a group on demand to avoid wasting resources.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first communication device, or by other equipment including the functions of the first communication device, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional module, which can implement the functions of the first communication device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the first communication device. The method is performed by a first communication device, where the first communication device is a first control plane network element. The method is introduced as an example: the first control plane network element receives a first request from a first terminal device, where the first request is used to request to establish a connection with the first control plane network element, and the first request includes information about the first terminal device and information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs; the first control plane network element obtains information about multiple terminal devices included in the group based on the information about the group, where the multiple terminal devices include the first terminal device; the first control plane network element obtains information about at least one second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device based on the information about the first terminal device and the information about the group; the first control plane network element controls the first terminal device to communicate directly with a third terminal device within the group, where the third terminal device belongs to the group and belongs to the at least one second terminal device, and the third terminal device has been connected to the first control plane network element or the second control plane network element.

[0007] In this embodiment, after determining that the first terminal device is online, the first control plane network element obtains information about multiple terminal devices included in the first group to which the first terminal device belongs, and also obtains information about at least one second terminal device in the first group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device. When it is determined that the third terminal device belongs to the first group and is a terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device, a communication connection between the first terminal device and the third terminal device will be established. This enables on-demand interconnection between terminal devices in a group, which can avoid waste of resources.

[0008] In one possible implementation, after receiving the first request from the first terminal device, the first control plane network element may also send a first message to the data service network element, where the first message includes information of the first terminal device and information of the group to which the first terminal device belongs, so that the data service network element forwards the first message to the second control plane network element.

[0009] In this implementation, the first control plane network element notifies the data service network element that the first terminal device is online, and informs the group to which the first terminal device belongs, so that the data service network element notifies the second control plane network element serving the group that the first terminal device is online.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the first message also includes: information about the first control plane network element and information about the first user plane network element serving the first terminal device.

[0011] In this implementation, the first control plane network element notifies the data service network element of information about the network element serving the first terminal device, so that the data service network element notifies the second control plane network element serving the group of information about the network element serving the first terminal device, so as to establish a connection between terminal devices managed by different control plane network elements.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the third terminal device has been connected to the second control plane network element. Before the first control plane network element controls the first terminal device and the third terminal device to communicate directly within the group, the first control plane network element also includes: the first control plane network element receives a second message from the data service network element, the second message includes information about the third terminal device and information about the group to which the third terminal device belongs; the second message is sent by the second control plane network element to the data service network element; the first control plane network element determines that the information about the group to which the third terminal device belongs is the same as the information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs, and determines that the third terminal device belongs to at least one second terminal device based on the information about the third terminal device.

[0013] In this implementation, the data service network element notifies the first control plane network element of information that the third terminal device managed by the second control plane network element is online, so as to establish a connection between the first terminal device and the third terminal device in the same group.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner, the second message further includes: information about the second control plane network element and information about the second user plane network element serving the third terminal device.

[0015] In this implementation, the data service network element notifies the first control plane network element of information about the network element serving the third terminal device, so as to establish a connection between the first terminal device and the third terminal device in the same group.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the third terminal device has been connected to the first control plane network element. Before controlling the first terminal device and the third terminal device to directly communicate within the group, the first control plane network element also includes: the first control plane network element receives a second request from the third terminal device, the second request is used to request to establish a connection with the first control plane network element, the second request includes information about the third terminal device and information about the group to which the third terminal device belongs; the first control plane network element determines that the information about the group to which the third terminal device belongs is the same as the information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs, and determines that the third terminal device belongs to the at least one second terminal device based on the information about the third terminal device.

[0017] In a possible implementation manner, at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device is determined according to a service requirement of the first terminal device.

[0018] In this implementation, interconnection is performed on demand according to business needs, which can avoid waste of resources.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the first control plane network element obtains information of multiple terminal devices included in the group based on the information of the group, including: the first control plane network element obtains a first list corresponding to the group based on the information of the group, the first list including information of the multiple terminal devices included in the group; the first control plane network element obtains information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the group based on the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, including: the first control plane network element obtains a second list corresponding to the first terminal device based on the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, the second list including information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first list.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the first terminal device is an egress device of a first local area network; the second terminal device is an egress device of a second local area network; and the third terminal device is an egress device of a third local area network.

[0021] In the second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a second communication device, or by other devices including the function of the second communication device, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional module, which can realize the function of the second communication device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the second communication device. Take the method executed by the second communication device, and the second communication device is a data service network element as an example for introduction: the data service network element receives a first message from a first control plane network element, and the first message includes information of a first terminal device and information of a group to which the first terminal device belongs; the data service network element obtains information of multiple terminal devices included in the group based on the information of the group; the data service network element obtains information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the group based on the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group; the data service network element sends the information of the multiple terminal devices and the information of the at least one second terminal device to the first control plane network element.

[0022] In a possible implementation manner, after receiving the first message from the first control plane network element, the data service network element further sends the first message to the second control plane network element.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the first control plane network element is a control plane network element that provides services for the first terminal device; the first message also includes: information about the first control plane network element and information about the first user plane network element; the first user plane network element is a user plane network element that provides services for the first terminal device.

[0024] In a possible implementation manner, before sending the first message to the second control plane network element, the data service network element further determines that the second control plane network element serves the group.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the data service network element further receives a second message from a second control plane network element, where the second message includes information about a third terminal device and information about a group to which the third terminal device belongs; and sends the second message to the first control plane network element.

[0026] In a possible implementation, the second control plane network element is a control plane network element that provides services for the third terminal device; the second message also includes: information about the second control plane network element and information about the second user plane network element; the second user plane network element is a user plane network element that provides services for the third terminal device.

[0027] In a possible implementation manner, before the data service network element sends the second message to the first control plane network element, the step further includes: determining that the first control plane network element serves the group.

[0028] In a possible implementation manner, at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device is determined according to a service requirement of the first terminal device.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the data service network element obtains information of multiple terminal devices included in the group based on the information of the group, including: obtaining a first list corresponding to the group based on the information of the group, the first list including information of the multiple terminal devices included in the group; the data service network element obtains information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the group based on the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, including: obtaining a second list corresponding to the first terminal device based on the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, the second list including information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first list; the data service network element sends the first list and the second list to the first control plane network element.

[0030] The beneficial effects of the second aspect and its various possible implementations can refer to the beneficial effects of the first aspect and its various possible implementations, and will not be repeated here.

[0031] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, and the communication device may be the first communication device described in the first aspect. The communication device has the functions of the first communication device. The communication device is, for example, a first communication device, or a larger device including the first communication device, or a functional module in the first communication device, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module). The transceiver unit can implement a sending function and a receiving function. When the transceiver unit implements the sending function, it can be called a sending unit (sometimes also referred to as a sending module), and when the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver unit, and the functional module can implement the sending function and the receiving function; or, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a general term for these functional modules.

[0032] In an optional embodiment, the communication device also includes a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is used to couple with the storage unit and execute the program or instructions in the storage unit, so that the communication device can perform the functions of the first communication device described in the first aspect above.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is used to receive a first request from a first terminal device, the first request is used to request to establish a connection with the communication device, and the first request includes information of the first terminal device and information of the group to which the first terminal device belongs; the processing unit is used to obtain information of multiple terminal devices included in the group based on the information of the group, and the multiple terminal devices include the first terminal device; obtain information of at least one second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device based on the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group; control the first terminal device to communicate directly with a third terminal device within the group, wherein the third terminal device belongs to the group and belongs to the at least one second terminal device, and the third terminal device has been connected to the communication device or the second control plane network element.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to send a first message to a data service network element, wherein the first message includes information of the first terminal device and information of the group to which the first terminal device belongs, so that the data service network element forwards the first message to the second control plane network element.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the first message also includes: information about the communication device serving the first terminal equipment and information about the first user plane network element.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the third terminal device has been connected to the second control plane network element, and the transceiver unit is further used to receive a second message from the data service network element, the second message including information about the third terminal device and information about the group to which the third terminal device belongs; the second message is sent by the second control plane network element to the data service network element; the processing unit is further used to determine that the information about the group to which the third terminal device belongs is the same as the information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs, and determine that the third terminal device belongs to the at least one second terminal device based on the information about the third terminal device.

[0037] In a possible implementation manner, the second message further includes: information about the second control plane network element and information about the second user plane network element serving the third terminal device.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the third terminal device has been connected to the communication apparatus, and the transceiver unit is further used to receive a second request from the third terminal device, the second request is used to request to establish a connection with the communication apparatus, and the second request includes information of the third terminal device and information of the group to which the third terminal device belongs; the processing unit is further used to determine that the information of the group to which the third terminal device belongs is the same as the information of the group to which the first terminal device belongs, and determine that the third terminal device belongs to the at least one second terminal device based on the information of the third terminal device.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the processing unit is specifically used to obtain a first list corresponding to the group based on the information of the group, the first list including information of multiple terminal devices included in the group; and to obtain a second list corresponding to the first terminal device based on the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, the second list including information of at least one second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first list that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device.

[0040] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, and the communication device may be the second communication device described in the second aspect. The communication device has the functions of the second communication device. The communication device is, for example, a second communication device, or a larger device including the second communication device, or a functional module in the second communication device, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module). The transceiver unit can implement a sending function and a receiving function. When the transceiver unit implements the sending function, it can be called a sending unit (sometimes also referred to as a sending module), and when the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver unit, and the functional module can implement a sending function and a receiving function; or, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a general term for these functional modules.

[0041] In an optional embodiment, the communication device also includes a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is used to couple with the storage unit and execute the program or instructions in the storage unit, so as to enable the communication device to perform the functions of the second communication device described in the second aspect above.

[0042] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit is used to receive a first message from a first control plane network element, the first message including information of a first terminal device and information of a group to which the first terminal device belongs; the processing unit is used to obtain information of multiple terminal devices included in the group based on the information of the group; obtain information of at least one second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device based on the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group; the transceiver unit is also used to send information of the multiple terminal devices included in the group and information of at least one second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device to the first control plane network element.

[0043] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to send the first message to the second control plane network element.

[0044] In an optional implementation, the first message further includes: information about the first control plane network element and information about the first user plane network element serving the first terminal device.

[0045] In an optional implementation, the processing unit is further configured to determine that the second control plane network element serves the group.

[0046] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to receive a second message from a second control plane network element, the second message including information of a third terminal device and information of a group to which the third terminal device belongs; and send the second message to the first control plane network element.

[0047] In an optional implementation, the second message further includes: information about the second control plane network element and information about the second user plane network element serving the third terminal device.

[0048] In an optional implementation, the processing unit is used to determine that the first control plane network element serves the group.

[0049] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit is specifically used to obtain a first list corresponding to the group based on the information of the group, the first list including information of multiple terminal devices included in the group; based on the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, obtain a second list corresponding to the first terminal device, the second list including information of at least one second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first list that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device; the transceiver unit is specifically used to send the first list and the second list to the first control plane network element.

[0050] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a first communication device, or a chip or chip system used in the first communication device. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instruction, the communication device executes the method executed by the first communication device in the above aspects.

[0051] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a second communication device, or a chip or chip system used in the second communication device. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instruction, the communication device executes the method executed by the second communication device in the above aspects.

[0052] In the seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and, optionally, a memory; the processor and the memory are coupled; the memory is used to store computer programs or instructions; the processor is used to execute part or all of the computer programs or instructions in the memory, and when the part or all of the computer programs or instructions are executed, it is used to implement the functions of the first communication device in the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible implementation method of the first aspect.

[0053] In a possible implementation, the device may further include a transceiver, the transceiver being configured to send a signal processed by the processor or receive a signal input to the processor. The transceiver may perform the sending action or the receiving action performed by the first communication device in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0054] In a possible implementation, the processing unit in the third aspect may be implemented by the processor, the storage unit in the third aspect may be implemented by the memory, and the transceiver unit in the third aspect may be implemented by the transceiver.

[0055] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and, optionally, a memory; the processor and the memory are coupled; the memory is used to store computer programs or instructions; the processor is used to execute part or all of the computer programs or instructions in the memory, and when the part or all of the computer programs or instructions are executed, it is used to implement the functions of the second communication device in the above-mentioned second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0056] In a possible implementation, the device may further include a transceiver, the transceiver being configured to send a signal processed by the processor or to receive a signal input to the processor. The transceiver may perform the sending action or the receiving action performed by the second communication device in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the processing unit in the fourth aspect may be implemented by the processor, the storage unit in the fourth aspect may be implemented by the memory, and the transceiver unit in the fourth aspect may be implemented by the transceiver.

[0058] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a second communication device and a first communication device, wherein the first communication device is used to execute the method executed by the first communication device as described in the above aspects, and the first communication device is used to execute the method executed by the first communication device as described in the above aspects. For example, the first communication device can be implemented by the communication device as described in the third aspect, and the second communication device can be implemented by the communication device as described in the fourth aspect.

[0059] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is used to store computer programs or instructions, which, when executed, enable the methods described in the above aspects to be implemented.

[0060] According to an eleventh aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a computer, enables the methods described in the above aspects to be implemented.

[0061] In a twelfth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor and an interface, wherein the processor is used to call and execute instructions from the interface so that the chip system implements the above-mentioned methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] Figure 1a A schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided for this application;

[0063] Figure 1b A schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided for this application;

[0064] Figure 2a A schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided for this application;

[0065] Figure 2b A schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided for this application;

[0066] Figure 3 A flow chart of a communication method provided by this application;

[0067] Figure 4A schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided for this application;

[0068] Figure 5 A flow chart of a communication method provided by this application;

[0069] Figure 6 A structural diagram of a communication device provided for this application;

[0070] Figure 7 A structural diagram of a communication device provided in this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] The technical solution of the present application can be applied to various wireless communication systems, and can be applied to, but not limited to, the fourth generation mobile communication technology (the 4th generation, 4G) system (also known as the long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system), 5G system (also known as the new radio (new radio, NR) system), or can also be applied to the next generation mobile communication system or other similar communication systems (such as the sixth generation mobile communication technology (the 6th generation, 6G) system), etc., without specific restrictions. In addition, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to device-to-device (D2D) scenarios, such as NR-D2D scenarios, etc., or can be applied to V2X scenarios, such as NR-V2X scenarios, etc. For example, it can be used in the fields of intelligent driving, assisted driving, or intelligent connected vehicles. For another example, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to factory manufacturing scenarios, etc.

[0072] For example, Figure 1a This is a schematic diagram of a 5G communication system architecture that can be applied to this application. Specifically, Figure 1a Schematic diagram of 5G network architecture based on service-oriented architecture.

[0073] For example, Figure 1b This is another 5G communication system architecture diagram that can be applied to this application. Specifically, Figure 1b Schematic diagram of point-to-point 5G architecture. Figure 1a and Figure 1b The main difference is that Figure 1a The interfaces between the various network elements in the system are service-oriented interfaces. Figure 1b The interfaces between network elements are point-to-point interfaces.

[0074] Figure 1a and Figure 1bThe 5G network architecture shown may include a terminal device part, an access network part, and a core network part. Optionally, it also includes a data network (DN) and an application function (AF) network element part. The terminal accesses the core network through the access network, and the core network communicates with the DN or AF. The functions of some of the network elements are briefly introduced below.

[0075] Terminal device, also known as user equipment (UE), is a device with wireless transceiver function, which can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water (such as ships); it can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites). The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc.

[0076] The (R)AN device in this application is a device that provides wireless communication functions for terminal devices, and the (R)AN device is also called an access network device. The RAN devices in this application include but are not limited to: the next generation base station (g nodeB, gNB) in 5G, evolved node B (evolved node B, eNB), radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), node B (node ​​B, NB), base station controller (base station controller, BSC), base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), home base station (for example, home evolved nodeB, or home node B, HNB), baseband unit (baseBand unit, BBU), transmission point (transmitting and receiving point, TRP), transmission point (transmitting point, TP), mobile switching center, etc. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of devices with base station functions may be different. For example, in the fifth generation (5G) system, it is called RAN or gNB (5G NodeB); in the LTE system, it is called evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB); in the third generation (3G) system, it is called Node B, etc.

[0077] Data network DN can deploy multiple services and provide data and / or voice services to terminal devices. For example, DN is the private network of a smart factory. The sensors installed in the workshop of the smart factory can be terminal devices. Sensors and control servers are deployed in DN, and the control server can provide services for sensors. Sensors can communicate with the control server, obtain instructions from the control server, and transmit the collected sensor data to the control server according to the instructions. For another example, DN is the internal office network of a company. The mobile phones or computers of the company's employees can be terminal devices. The employees' mobile phones or computers can access information and data resources on the company's internal office network.

[0078] The application network element mainly supports interaction with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) core network to provide services, such as influencing data routing decisions, policy control functions, or providing some third-party services to the network side. In the 5G communication system, the application network element can be an application function (AF) network element. In future communication systems, the application network element can still be an AF network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0079] The core network may include one or more of the following network elements:

[0080] The access management network element (also called the mobility management network element) is a control plane network element provided by the operator network, which is responsible for the access control and mobility management of the terminal device accessing the operator network, such as mobile state management, allocation of user temporary identity, authentication and user functions. In the 5G communication system, the access management network element can be an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element. In future communication systems, the access management network element can still be an AMF network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0081] The session management network element is mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification, and release. Specific functions include allocating IP addresses to users, selecting user plane network elements that provide message forwarding functions, etc. In the 5G communication system, the session management network element can be a session management function (SMF) network element. In future communication systems, the session management network element can still be an SMF network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0082] The user plane network element is responsible for forwarding and receiving user data in the terminal device. User data can be received from the data network and transmitted to the terminal device through the access network device; the user plane network element can also receive user data from the terminal device through the access network device and forward it to the data network. The transmission resources and scheduling functions that provide services to the terminal devices in the user plane network element are managed and controlled by the SMF network element. In the 5G communication system, the user plane network element can be a user plane function (UPF) network element. In future communication systems, the user plane network element can still be a UPF network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0083] Data management network element, used for generating authentication credentials, user identification processing (such as storing and managing user permanent identities, etc.), access control and contract data management, etc. In the 5G communication system, the data management network element can be a unified data management (UDM) network element. In future communication systems, unified data management can still be a UDM network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0084] The policy control network element mainly supports providing a unified policy framework to control network behavior, provides policy rules to the control layer network functions, and is responsible for obtaining user contract information related to policy decisions. In the 4G communication system, the policy control network element can be a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) network element. In the 5G communication system, the policy control network element can be a policy control function (PCF) network element. In future communication systems, the policy control network element can still be a PCF network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0085] The network storage network element can be used to provide network element discovery function and provide network element information corresponding to the network element type based on the request of other network elements. NRF also provides network element management services, such as network element registration, update, deregistration, network element status subscription and push, etc. In the 5G communication system, the network storage network element can be a network repository function (NRF) network element. In future communication systems, the network storage network element can still be an NRF network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0086] The network exposure function network element can be used to provide services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network function devices for securely opening them to the outside. In a 5G communication system, the network exposure function network element can be a network exposure function (NEF) network element. In future communication systems, the network exposure function network element can still be a NEF network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0087] The network slice selection network element can be used to select a suitable network slice for the terminal's service. In a 5G communication system, the network slice selection network element may be a network slice selection function (NSSF) network element. In future communication systems, the network open function network element may still be an NSSF network element, or it may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0088] The network data analysis network element can collect data from various network functions (NF), such as policy control network elements, session management network elements, user plane network elements, access management network elements, and application function network elements (through network capability exposure function network elements), and perform analysis and prediction. In the 5G communication system, the network data analysis network element can be a network data analysis function (NWDAF). In future communication systems, the network exposure function network element can still be an NWDAF network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0089] The data storage network element is responsible for storing structured data information, including contract information, policy information, and network data or service data defined in a standard format. In the 5G communication system, the data storage network element can be a unified data repository (UDR). In future communication systems, the network open function network element can still be a UDR network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0090] It is understandable that the above network element or function can be a network element in a hardware device, a software function running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualized function instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). In a possible implementation, the above network element or function can be implemented by one device, or by multiple devices together, or can be a functional module in one device, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0091] The local area network (LAN) or virtual network (VN) is mainly used for internal communication of enterprises, governments, or other organizations, such as home communication, corporate office, factory manufacturing, Internet of Vehicles, power grid transformation and public security organs, to establish a dedicated network for communication between a group of terminal devices in enterprises, governments, or other organizations. For example, the equipment in a factory can form a group, and for another example, the office equipment (such as mobile phones, computers or laptops, etc.) of employees in a department of an enterprise can form a group. A group can be managed by one SMF or by multiple SMFs. In addition, multiple members in a group can be served by the same or different UPFs. For example, when the group covers a small area, it can be managed by one SMF, and when the group covers a large area, it can be managed by multiple SMFs. For example, a company has branch 1 in city 1 and branch 2 in city 2. Both branches belong to the group. Branch 1 is managed by SMF1 and branch 2 is managed by SMF2.

[0092] like Figure 2a As shown, a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system is introduced. The members of the group include UE1, UE2 and UE3. The group is managed by an SMF. UE1 and UE2 are served by UPF1, and UE3 is served by UPF2. The forwarding rules of the data packets are configured on the UPF. For example, the data packets between UE1 and UE2 are transmitted by means of UPF1 local switch. For another example, the data packets between UE1 and UE3 are transmitted through the tunnel between UPF1 and UPF2. The communication interface between UPFs is called N19 interface, or other names.

[0093] like Figure 2b As shown, a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system is introduced. The members in the group include UE1, UE2 and UE3. The group is managed by SMF1 and SMF2. UE1 and UE2 are served by SMF1 and UPF2, and UE3 is served by SMF2 and UPF3 (RAN is omitted). The group session management function (Group SMF, GSMF) is a logical functional network element, which is responsible for managing the SMFs where the members of the entire group are located, and is responsible for managing the routing information of the members of the entire group, such as the information of the UPF serving the members. In a specific implementation, GSMF can be other names, such as 5GVN controller, or the functions of GSMF can be integrated into existing network elements, such as UDM or UDR. The communication interface between UPFs is called N19 interface or other names, and the communication interface between SMFs is called Ny interface or other names.

[0094] In current technology, in a group, it is assumed that any two members can communicate with each other without being transferred through other members, that is, any two members are directly connected. The members of the group are fully interconnected, and when any member needs to communicate with another member, a network path is directly established between the two. This requires that when enterprise customers purchase this service, the operator manually establishes a group for the enterprise customer in advance, and then manually configures multiple network elements to provide this service to the enterprise customer.

[0095] There are many types of terminal devices in an enterprise customer, such as wireless mobile terminals, wired servers, printers, sensors, cameras, etc. Some terminal devices have no communication requirements. If these terminal devices are placed in a group, network paths will be established between terminal devices that have no communication requirements, which will not only waste resources, but also make the enterprise's rent more expensive.

[0096] In addition, the network of an enterprise branch is usually a LAN that can connect various terminal devices, not just one terminal device. There is a variety of mutual access traffic between the two LANs, such as the camera of the branch regularly reporting monitoring information to the server at the headquarters, the servers of the same type of service in different branches regularly synchronizing data, the user office terminal of the branch accessing the company business database of the headquarters LAN, and the attendance terminal of the branch accessing the attendance database located in the headquarters LAN. In this case, there is always traffic carrying on the connection between the networks of the two branches, that is, the wide area network (WAN) link connecting the networks of the two branches will continuously carry traffic. This is not like the traffic between two terminal devices, once there is no need for calls or data exchange, the connection path between the two terminal devices can be removed. Instead, it is hoped that a direct WAN connection path can be established between the networks of any two branches to achieve mutual access, but if multiple WAN links are rented, the rent is too expensive, and few enterprises do this. At present, the WAN connection market for enterprise customers allows enterprises to directly specify which branches of their own to establish WAN connections, and branches that are not specified do not need to establish WAN connections.

[0097] Based on this, the present application proposes a communication method. For any terminal device in a group, members in the group that are allowed to directly connect to the terminal device can be pre-configured. In this way, communication connections are established between members that are allowed to directly connect, and communication connections are not established between members that are not allowed to directly connect.

[0098] In order to better describe the embodiments of the present application, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Unless otherwise specified in the following text, the steps indicated by dotted lines in the accompanying drawings corresponding to the various embodiments of the present application are all optional steps.

[0099] The following is an introduction to the various terms involved in this application:

[0100] The first terminal device belongs to a first group, which includes at least a first terminal device and a second terminal device. The second terminal device is a terminal device among multiple terminal devices included in the first group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device. That is, the second terminal device can be one or more terminal devices in the first group that can be directly connected to the first terminal device, and the third terminal device can be any one of the one or more second terminal devices.

[0101] The first terminal device is served by the first control plane network element and the first user plane network element; the third terminal device is served by the first control plane network element or the second control plane network element, and the first control plane network element and the second control plane network element are different; in other words, the control plane network elements serving the first terminal device and the third terminal device are the same or different.

[0102] In addition, the third terminal device is served by the second user plane network element. When the first terminal device and the third terminal device are both served by the first control plane network element, the first user plane network element and the second user plane network element are the same or different. When the first terminal device is served by the first control plane network element and the third terminal device is served by the second control plane network element, the first user plane network element and the second user plane network element are different.

[0103] The methods provided in each embodiment of the present application can be applied to Figure 1a , Figure 1b , Figure 2a and Figure 2b The network architecture shown or other network architectures. Figure 2a For example, the first terminal device, the second terminal device and the third terminal device may be UE1, UE2 and UE3, the first control plane network element is SMF1, the first user plane network element is UPF1, and the second user plane network element is UPF2. Figure 2b For example, the first terminal device, the second terminal device and the third terminal device may be UE1, UE2 and UE3, the first user plane network element may be UPF2, the first control plane network element may be SMF1, the second user plane network element may be UPF3, and the second control plane network element may be SMF2.

[0104] Direct connection between two terminal devices in a group means that the two terminal devices can communicate with each other directly point-to-point without being transferred through other terminal devices in the group.

[0105] The control plane network element may be SMF, AMF, etc. The user plane network element may be UPF, etc. The data service network element may be UDR, UDM, NRF, USDF, etc.

[0106] In an optional example, the first terminal device may be an egress device of a first local area network. The second terminal device may be an egress device of a second local area network. The third terminal device may be an egress device of a third local area network. The first local area network, the second local area network and the third local area network are different.

[0107] A local area network can be represented by a site. A site can be a private local area network (Private LAN) of an office branch of an enterprise / government organization, or an offline data center LAN, or an enterprise's virtual private cloud (VPC) in an edge cloud / public cloud, etc.

[0108] When the terminal device is an egress device of a local area network, the terminal device can be called a customer premises equipment (CPE). For example, a private LAN accesses a public 5G network (Public 5G Network) through a CPE, such as a wide area network WAN, or other LAN, or VN Group, etc.

[0109] Figure 3 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0110] Step 301: A first terminal device sends a first request to a first control plane network element. Correspondingly, the first control plane network element receives the first request from the first terminal device.

[0111] The first request is used to request to establish a connection with the first control plane network element, and the first request includes information about the first terminal device and information about a first group to which the first terminal device belongs. Exemplarily, the information about the first terminal device includes an identifier of the first terminal device. Exemplarily, the information about the first group includes an identifier of the first group.

[0112] Step 302: The first control plane network element obtains information of a plurality of terminal devices included in the first group according to the information of the first group.

[0113] In a possible implementation manner, the first control plane network element obtains information of the multiple terminal devices included in the first group from the data service network element.

[0114] For example, the first control plane network element sends information of the first group to the data service network element, and correspondingly, the data service network element receives the information of the first group; the data service network element obtains information of multiple terminal devices included in the first group based on the information of the first group; the data service network element sends information of multiple terminal devices included in the first group to the first control plane network element, and correspondingly, the first control plane network element receives information of multiple terminal devices included in the first group.

[0115] The data service network element maintains relevant information of multiple groups, and the relevant information of the groups includes but is not limited to the following: the name of the group, information of multiple terminal devices included in the group, information of the network element serving any terminal device, topological connection structure information of the group, etc. The data service network element can find the first group from the multiple groups maintained according to the information of the first group, and then obtain the information of the multiple terminal devices included in the first group and send it to the first control plane network element.

[0116] In another possible implementation, the first control plane network element has previously obtained information about the multiple terminal devices included in the first group from the data service network element and saved the information. The first control plane network element can obtain the information about the multiple terminal devices included in the first group from itself.

[0117] The first control plane network element manages one or more groups. The first control plane network element obtains information about multiple terminal devices included in the first group from the data service network element. In addition, the first control plane network element may also obtain information about terminal devices included in other groups. The first control plane network element stores at least information about multiple terminal devices included in the first group, and may also store information about terminal devices included in other groups. Based on the information about the first group, the first control plane network element may obtain information about multiple terminal devices included in the first group from information about terminal devices included in each of the multiple groups stored in the first control plane network element.

[0118] For a certain group, the information of multiple terminal devices included in the group is located in a list, and the name of the list may be Internal Group ID-list. It is defined that the information of multiple terminal devices included in the first group is located in the first list. The first control plane network element / data service network element obtains the information of the multiple terminal devices included in the first group based on the information of the first group. Specifically, it may be: the first control plane network element / data service network element obtains the first list corresponding to the first group based on the information of the first group, and the first list includes the information of the multiple terminal devices included in the first group.

[0119] Step 303: The first control plane network element obtains information of at least one second terminal device allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first group according to the information of the first terminal device and the information of the first group.

[0120] In a possible implementation, the first control plane network element may obtain from the data service network element at least one second terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device.

[0121] For example, the first control plane network element sends information about the first group and information about the first terminal device to the data service network element, and correspondingly, the data service network element receives the information about the first group and information about the first terminal device; the data service network element obtains information about at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device from among the multiple terminal devices included in the first group based on the information about the first group and information about the first terminal device; the data service network element sends information about the at least one second terminal device to the first control plane network element. Relevant information about the group maintained in the data service network element also includes: information about the terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected in the group. The data service network element can find the first group from the multiple groups maintained based on the information about the first group, and then, based on the information about the first terminal device, obtain information about the second terminal device in the first group and send it to the first control plane network element.

[0122] In another possible implementation, the first control plane network element may have previously obtained information about at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device from the data service network element and saved the information. The first control plane network element may obtain information about at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device from the first control plane network element.

[0123] For a terminal device in a certain group, the terminal devices that the terminal device is allowed to directly connect with in the group, and the information of these terminal devices can be located in a list, and the name of the list can be: Correspondent List. This list can be defined as a second list, and the information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to directly connect with the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first group is located in the second list. When the first control plane network element obtains the information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to directly connect with the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first group based on the information of the first group and the information of the first terminal device, it can specifically obtain the second list corresponding to the first terminal device based on the information of the first group and the information of the first terminal device, and the second list includes the information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to directly connect with the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first list.

[0124] In another possible implementation, at least one second terminal device in the first group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device may be predetermined according to a service requirement of the first terminal device. On-demand interconnection according to service requirements can avoid resource waste.

[0125] The order of step 302 and step 303 is not limited.

[0126] In a possible implementation, a parameter is added to the SubscriptionData of each "Site" (corresponding to the UE in the current standard): the list of interconnected sites. This is equivalent to adding an attribute in the "Session ManagementSubscription data" category in the "Subscription Data Type" in Table 5.2.3.3.1-1: UESubscription data types in TS23.702: Correspondent List. The Correspondent List is used to indicate the Site (UE) ID list that is allowed to establish a direct network with this Site (corresponding to the UE in the current standard).

[0127] As shown in Table 1 below, the modified Subscription data type is introduced, wherein "CorrespondentList" is newly added compared to the prior art.

[0128] Table 1: UE Subscription data types.

[0129]

[0130]

[0131] Step 304: Control the first terminal device to communicate directly with a third terminal device within the first group, wherein the third terminal device belongs to the first group and belongs to the at least one second terminal device, that is, the third terminal device can be any one of the at least one second terminal device. In general, the third terminal device has access to the first control plane network element or the second control plane network element.

[0132] In this embodiment, after determining that the first terminal device is online, the first control plane network element obtains information about multiple terminal devices included in the first group to which the first terminal device belongs, and also obtains information about at least one second terminal device in the first group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device. When it is determined that the third terminal device belongs to the first group and is a terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device, a communication connection between the first terminal device and the third terminal device is established, so that the terminal devices in a group can be interconnected on demand, thereby avoiding waste of resources.

[0133] After the first control plane network element receives the first request from the first terminal device (step 301), the first control plane network element sends the information of the first terminal device and the information of the first group to which the first terminal device belongs to the data service network element. On the one hand, the first control plane network element can obtain the information of the terminal devices included in the first group and the information of the second terminal devices in the first group that are allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device through the information of the first terminal device and the information of the first group. On the other hand, this process can be understood as that after the first terminal device goes online, the first control plane network element that serves it notifies the data service network element of the message that the first terminal device is online, so that the data service network element knows the status of the first terminal device.

[0134] Optionally, the first control plane network element may notify the data service network element of the information of the network element serving the first terminal device. For example, after the first control plane network element receives the first request of the first terminal device (step 301), the first control plane network element sends the information of the first control plane network element to the data service network element. Optionally, the first user plane network element serving the first terminal device may also be sent to the data service network element. In order for the data service network element to maintain the topology of the first group,

[0135] This information can be sent to the data service network element in one message or in different messages. Taking sending to the data service network element through one message as an example, for example, after the first control plane network element receives the first request of the first terminal device (step 301), the first control plane network element sends a first message to the data service network element, and the first message includes: information of the first terminal device, information of the first group to which the first terminal device belongs, information of the first control plane network element serving the first terminal device, and information of the first user plane network element.

[0136] The following describes the process of the third terminal device going online and after going online, which is divided into the following two situations 1) and 2):

[0137] 1) The first control plane network element serves the third terminal device:

[0138] The third terminal device sends a second request to the first control plane network element, and the first control plane network element receives the second request from the third terminal device, where the second request is used to request to establish a connection with the first control plane network element, and the second request includes information about the third terminal device and information about the first group to which the third terminal device belongs.

[0139] After the first control plane network element receives the second request from the third terminal device, the first control plane network element will send the information of the third terminal device and the information of the first group to which the third terminal device belongs to the data service network element. On the one hand, the second control plane network element can obtain the information of the terminal devices included in the first group and the information of the terminal devices in the first group that are allowed to be directly connected to the third terminal device through the information of the third terminal device and the information of the group. On the other hand, this process can be understood as that after the third terminal device goes online, the first control plane network element serving it notifies the data service network element of the news that the third terminal device is online, so that the data service network element knows the status of the third terminal device.

[0140] Optionally, the first control plane network element may notify the data service network element of the information of the network element serving the third terminal device. For example, after the first control plane network element receives the second request of the third terminal device, the first control plane network element sends the information of the first control plane network element to the data service network element. Optionally, the first control plane network element may also send the information of the second user plane network element serving the third terminal device to the data service network element. In order for the data service network element to maintain the topological structure of the first group, this information may be sent to the data service network element in one message or in different messages.

[0141] In a possible implementation, if the first control plane network element receives a second request from the third terminal device after step 303, the first control plane network element has learned the information of the multiple terminal devices included in the first group, and also learned the information of at least one second terminal device in the first group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device. The first control plane network element can determine, based on the information of the group in the second request, that the group to which the third terminal device belongs is the same as the group to which the first terminal device belongs. The first control plane network element can also determine whether the third terminal device belongs to the at least one second terminal device based on the information of the third terminal device, for example, the first control plane network element determines whether the information of the third terminal device belongs to the Correspondent List of the first terminal device. If so, the first control plane network element controls the first terminal device to communicate directly with the third terminal device within the group. Optionally, if the third terminal device only belongs to the first group and does not belong to the at least one second terminal device, for example, the Correspondent List of the first terminal device, the first control plane network element will not control the first terminal device to communicate directly with the third terminal device within the group. In another example, the first control plane network element may also obtain information about terminal devices in the first group that are allowed to directly connect to the third terminal device based on the information of the third terminal device. When the first control plane network element determines that the first terminal device belongs to a terminal device that is allowed to directly connect to the third terminal device (for example, the CorrespondentList of the third terminal device), the first control plane network element controls the first terminal device and the third terminal device to directly communicate within the group.

[0142] If there are multiple control plane network elements managing the first group, after the data service network element learns that the first terminal device is online, the data service network element may also notify the second control plane network element managing the first group that the first terminal device is online, so as to control the establishment of a connection between the terminal devices in the first group that are allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device. For example, the data service network element sends to the second control plane network element: information about the first terminal device and information about the first group, and correspondingly, the second control plane network element receives information about the first terminal device and information about the first group.

[0143] The data service network element may also notify the second control plane network element of information about the network element serving the first terminal device, so as to control the establishment of a connection between the terminal devices in the first group that are allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device. For example, the data service network element sends to the second control plane network element: information about the first control plane network element and information about the first user plane network element, and correspondingly, the second control plane network element receives information about the first control plane network element and information about the first user plane network element.

[0144] This information can be sent to the second control plane network element in one message or in different messages. Taking sending to the second control plane network element through one message as an example, for example, the data service network element forwards the first message to the second control plane network element, and the first message includes: information of the first terminal device, information of the first group to which the first terminal device belongs, information of the first control plane network element serving the first terminal device, and information of the first user plane network element. In other examples, the data service network element may also use other messages different from the first message to send this information to the second control plane network element.

[0145] 2) The second control plane network element serves the third terminal device:

[0146] The third terminal device sends a request to the second control plane network element, and the second control plane network element receives the request from the third terminal device, where the request is used to request to establish a connection with the second control plane network element, and the request includes information about the third terminal device and information about the first group to which the third terminal device belongs.

[0147] After receiving the request from the third terminal device, the second control plane network element will send the information of the third terminal device and the information of the first group to which the third terminal device belongs to the data service network element. On the one hand, the second control plane network element can obtain the information of the terminal devices included in the first group and the information of the terminal devices in the first group that are allowed to be directly connected to the third terminal device through the information of the third terminal device and the information of the group. On the other hand, this process can be understood as that after the third terminal device goes online, the second control plane network element serving it notifies the data service network element of the news that the third terminal device is online, so that the data service network element knows the status of the third terminal device.

[0148] Optionally, the second control plane network element may also notify the data service network element of information about the network element serving the third terminal device. For example, after the second control plane network element receives a request from the third terminal device, the second control plane network element sends information about the second control plane network element to the data service network element. Optionally, information about the second user plane network element serving the third terminal device may also be sent. In order for the data service network element to maintain the topology structure,

[0149] This information can be sent to the data service network element in one message or in different messages. Taking sending a message to the data service network element as an example, for example, after the second control plane network element receives a request from the third terminal device, the second control plane network element sends a second message to the data service network element, and the second message includes: information about the third terminal device, information about the first group to which the third terminal device belongs, information about the second control plane network element serving the third terminal device, and information about the second user plane network element.

[0150] After the data service network element learns that the third terminal device is online, the data service network element may also notify the first control plane network element that the third terminal device is online, so as to control the establishment of a connection between the terminal devices in the first group that are allowed to be directly connected to the third terminal device. For example, the data service network element sends to the first control plane network element: information about the third terminal device and information about the first group, and correspondingly, the first control plane network element receives the information about the third terminal device and information about the first group.

[0151] Optionally, the data service network element may also notify the first control plane network element of information about the network element serving the third terminal device, so as to control the establishment of a connection between the terminal devices in the first group that are allowed to be directly connected to the third terminal device. For example, the data service network element sends to the first control plane network element: information about the second control plane network element and information about the second user plane network element, and correspondingly, the first control plane network element receives the information about the second control plane network element and the information about the second user plane network element.

[0152] After receiving information about the third terminal device from the data service network element and information about the first group to which the third terminal device belongs, the first control plane network element can determine that the group to which the third terminal device belongs is the same as the group to which the first terminal device belongs. The first control plane network element can also determine whether the third terminal device belongs to the at least one second terminal device based on the information about the third terminal device. For example, the first control plane network element determines whether the third terminal device belongs to the Correspondent List of the first terminal device. If so, the first control plane network element controls the first terminal device and the third terminal device to communicate directly within the group. Optionally, if the third terminal device only belongs to the first group and does not belong to the at least one second terminal device, such as the CorrespondentList of the first terminal device, the first control plane network element will not control the first terminal device and the third terminal device to communicate directly within the group. In another example, the first control plane network element may also obtain information about terminal devices in the first group that are allowed to directly connect to the third terminal device based on the information of the third terminal device. When the first control plane network element determines that the first terminal device belongs to a terminal device that is allowed to directly connect to the third terminal device (for example, the Correspondent List of the third terminal device), the first control plane network element controls the first terminal device and the third terminal device to directly communicate within the group.

[0153] The following takes the establishment of a group based on the 5G WAN service as an example, and the group is identified as WAN1. Figure 4As shown, the members in the group include CPE1, CPE2, and CPE3, UPF1 and SMF1 serve CPE1 and CPE2, and UPF2 and SMF2 serve CPE3. This is the initial network topology, and the movement of members may cause changes in the UPF that serves them.

[0154] CPE1 is the egress device of site1, CPE2 is the egress device of site2, and CPE3 is the egress device of site3. The connection topology of the three sites is: Site1 and Site2 are connected to each other, Site3 and Site1 are connected to each other, and accordingly, the connection topology of the three CPEs is: CPE1 and CPE2 are connected to each other, and CPE3 and CPE1 are connected to each other. This connection topology information has been written into the Correspondent Lists of the three sites when the enterprise customer purchases this 5GWAN service, that is, the Correspondent List1 of Site1 contains Site2 ID and Site3 ID, the Correspondent List2 of Site2 contains Site1 ID, and the Correspondent List3 of Site3 contains Site1 ID. It can also be understood that it has been written into the Correspondent Lists of the three CPEs, that is, the Correspondent List1 of CPE1 contains CPE2 ID and CPE3 ID, the Correspondent List2 of CPE2 contains CPE1 ID, and the Correspondent List3 of CPE3 contains CPE1 ID. The relationship between site and CPE has been introduced above. In this example, CPE is used to describe the site to which it belongs.

[0155] CPEs can be connected to each other through the IPv4 type PDU session in the default slice, and the default QoS can be used between CPEs. Default slice: A terminal device can be configured with several slices that it is allowed to access, but there must be a default slice. When other slices do not meet the access conditions, the terminal device can access the default slice. In other words, the default slice is the slice that the terminal device can definitely access. IPv4 type PDU session: The types of PDU Session include: IPV4 type, IPv6 type, Ethernet type, and unstructured type. IPV4 type means that the packet on the Protocol Data Unit carried by the PDU is an IPv4 packet, and IPv6 type means that the packet on the Protocol Data Unit carried by the PDU is an IPv6 packet. Default QoS refers to the default QoS in the UE's QoS configuration, which is generally the best effort type. It can be understood that the default QoS is the most basic, public QoS without special requirements.

[0156] Application programming interface (API) service (Server): SMF and SDB communicate and interact through API service (Server).

[0157] A service database (SDB) is deployed in the data service network element to store the subscription data of enterprise customers. The SDB pre-stores the information of WAN1 (the requirements and subscription package information that have been clearly defined in advance are formed by the information input by the customer when self-ordering, and also constitute the initial information of WAN1: including the table entries of the three sites Site1, Site2, and Site3; and the information of WAN1 in operation is filled in by the system in real time). Among them, the Subscriptiondata of each CPE is stored in the form of a table, and each item (such as topology connection information) is a table entry of Subscription Data. You can refer to Table 5.2.3.3.1-1 in TS23.502 corresponding to the Subscription Data of UE.

[0158] Set in Figure 4 In the system architecture shown, the order in which the three CPEs go online is CPE1, CPE2, and CPE3.

[0159] Figure 5 A flow chart of a communication method is shown.

[0160] Step 01: CPE1 sends a request to SMF1, and SMF1 receives the request. The request is used to request CPE1 to establish a connection with SMF1, and the request may be a request from CPE1 to SMF1 to establish a PDU session 1 to access WAN1. The request includes CPE1ID and the identifier WAN1 of the group to which CPE1 belongs.

[0161] Step 02: SMF1 sends the following information to SDB: CPE1 ID, WAN1, SMF1 information and UPF1 information.

[0162] CPE1 does not know UPF1, but SMF1 finds it. After the session connection is completed, SMF1 writes the information of SMF1 and UPF1 serving CPE1 into SDB, or SMF1 writes the information of SMF1 serving CPE1 into SDB without writing the information of UPF1. Then SMF2 can learn from SDB that CPE1 is managed by SMF1, and then obtain the information of UPF1 from SMF1.

[0163] For example, SMF1 sends multiple messages to SDB through the API server.

[0164] Step 03: SDB sends information of multiple terminal devices included in WAN1 and Correspondent List 1 corresponding to CPE1 to SMF1.

[0165] Based on the information of WAN1, SDB finds the information of multiple terminal devices included in WAN1, such as CPE1 ID, CPE2 ID and CPE3 ID. Based on CPE1ID and WAN1, SDB finds Correspondent List1 corresponding to CPE1, which includes CPE2 ID and CPE3 ID.

[0166] For example, SDB sends this information to SMF1 based on the API server.

[0167] Step 04: SMF1 determines that CPE1 is allowed to connect to CPE2 and CPE3 respectively based on the information of multiple terminal devices included in WAN1 and the corresponding terminal device list 1 (Correspondent List1) of CPE1, but CPE2 and CPE3 are not online, so it waits.

[0168] When SDB detects that the relevant information of any CPE in WAN1 (for example, the UPF and SMF serving it, and the current status such as online or offline) has changed, it will send the CPE change information to each SMF serving WAN1.

[0169] In addition to determining that CPE1 is online based on step 02, if no other CPE is found to be online, SDB may not push the message to SMF2 first.

[0170] Step 05: CPE2 sends a request to SMF1, and SMF1 receives the request. The request is used to request CPE2 to establish a connection with SMF1, and the request may be a request from CPE2 to SMF1 to establish a PDU session 2 to access WAN1. The request includes CPE2 ID and the identifier WAN1 of the group to which CPE2 belongs.

[0171] Step 06: SMF1 sends the following information to SDB: CPE2 ID, WAN1, SMF1 information and UPF1 information.

[0172] CPE2 does not know UPF1, but SMF1 finds it. After the session connection is completed, SMF1 writes the information of SMF1 and UPF1 serving CPE2 into SDB, or SMF1 writes the information of SMF1 serving CPE2 into SDB without writing the information of UPF1. SMF2 can then learn from SDB that CPE2 is managed by SMF1, and then obtain the information of UPF1 from SMF1.

[0173] For example, SMF1 sends multiple messages to SDB through the API server.

[0174] Step 07: SDB sends information of multiple terminal devices included in WAN1 and Correspondent List 2 corresponding to CPE2 to SMF1.

[0175] Based on the information of WAN1, the SDB searches for information of multiple terminal devices included in WAN1, for example, CPE1 ID, CPE2 ID, and CPE3 ID.

[0176] Based on CPE2 ID and WAN1, SDB finds Correspondent List2 corresponding to CPE2, and Correspondent List2 includes CPE1 ID.

[0177] For example, SDB sends this information to SMF1 based on the API server.

[0178] Step 08: SMF1 determines to allow CPE1 to connect to CPE2 based on the information of multiple terminal devices included in WAN1 and the corresponding terminal device list 2 (Correspondent List2) of CPE2 / the corresponding terminal device list 1 (Correspondent List1) of CPE1, and finds that CPE1 is online.

[0179] Step 09: SMF1 determines that both CPE1 and CPE2 are online, and then controls the establishment of a connection between CPE1 and CPE2 within the WAN1.

[0180] For example, PDU session1 and PDU session2 are connected. Specifically, IP packets with a destination IP address in the CPE2 IP address prefix range are forwarded to PDU Session1, and IP packets with a destination IP address in the CPE1 IP address prefix range are forwarded to PDU Session1.

[0181] There is no restriction on the order of step 07 and step 09.

[0182] Step 10: CPE3 sends a request to SMF2, and SMF2 receives the request.

[0183] The request is used to request CPE3 to establish a connection with SMF2. The request may be a request from CPE3 to SMF2 to establish a PDU session 3 to access WAN1.

[0184] The request includes the ID of CPE3 and the identifier WAN1 of the group to which CPE3 belongs.

[0185] Step 11: SMF2 sends the following information to SDB: CPE3 ID, WAN1, SMF2 information and UPF2 information.

[0186] CPE3 does not know UPF2, it is found by SMF1.

[0187] After the session connection is completed, SMF2 writes the information of SMF2 and UPF2 serving CPE3 into SDB, or SMF2 writes the information of SMF2 serving CPE3 into SDB without writing the information of UPF2. SMF1 can then obtain the information of UPF2 from SMF2 after learning from SDB that CPE3 is managed by SMF2.

[0188] For example, SMF2 sends multiple messages to SDB through the API server.

[0189] Step 12: SDB sends information of multiple terminal devices included in WAN1 and corresponding counterpart device list 3 (Correspondent List3) of CPE3 to SMF2.

[0190] Based on the information of WAN1, the SDB searches for information of multiple terminal devices included in WAN1, for example, CPE1 ID, CPE2 ID, and CPE3 ID.

[0191] Based on the CPE3 ID and WAN1 information, the SDB finds the Correspondent List3 corresponding to CPE3, which includes the CPE1 ID.

[0192] For example, SDB sends this information to SMF2 based on the API server.

[0193] Step 13a: SDB notifies SMF2 that CPE1 is online.

[0194] For example, SDB detects that the service data of WAN1 has changed, and SMF2 subscribes to this change, and can notify SMF2 through APIServer that CPE1 is online. In addition, SDB notifies SMF1 of the information of SMF1 and UPF1 serving CPE1.

[0195] For example, SDB notifies SMF2 that CPE1 is online based on the API server.

[0196] Step 13b: SDB notifies SMF1 that CPE3 is online.

[0197] For example, SDB detects changes in WAN1 service data, and SMF1 subscribes to this change. The APIServer can notify SMF1 that CPE3 is online, and SDB notifies SMF2 of the information of SMF2 and UPF2 serving CPE3.

[0198] For example, SDB notifies SMF1 that CPE3 is online based on the API server.

[0199] There is no restriction on the order of step 13a and step 13b.

[0200] Step 14a: SMF2 identifies Correspondent List3 corresponding to CPE3, determines that CPE3 is allowed to connect to CPE1, and based on the notification in step 13a, learns that CPE1 is online, so a connection is established between CPE1 and CPE3.

[0201] For example, based on the content notified in step 13a, according to the information of SMF1 serving CPE1 and the information of UPF1, a tunnel endpoint and a forwarding table entry from UPF2 to UPF1 are formed.

[0202] Exemplarily, the configuration of the tunnel interface Tunnel2 on the UPF2 side: the IP address of the tunnel peer; and protocol-specific encapsulation information.

[0203] The forwarding table includes the following: IP packets with a destination address within the CPE3 IP address prefix range have an outbound interface of PDUSession3; IP packets with a destination address within the CPE1 IP address prefix range enter Tunnel2; IP packets with a destination address within the CPE2 IP address prefix range enter Tunnel2.

[0204] Step 14b: Based on step 13b, after SMF1 learns that CPE3 has come online, it checks the CorrespondentList1 of CPE1 and determines that CPE3 is allowed to connect to CPE1, and then establishes a connection between CPE1 and CPE3.

[0205] For example, based on the content notified in step 13b, according to the information of SMF2 serving CPE3 and the information of UPF2, a tunnel endpoint and a forwarding table entry from UPF1 to UPF2 are formed.

[0206] Exemplarily, the tunnel interface Tunnel1 on the UPF1 side is configured with: the tunnel peer IP address and protocol-specific encapsulation information.

[0207] The forwarding table includes the following contents: IP packets whose destination address is within the CPE3 IP address prefix range have the tunnel as the outgoing interface; IP packets whose destination address is within the CPE1 IP address prefix range enter PDU Session 1; IP packets whose destination address is within the CPE2 IP address prefix range enter PDU Session 2.

[0208] It is understandable that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the terminal equipment, the control plane network element and the data service network element include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0209] Figure 6 and Figure 7The schematic diagram of the structure of possible communication devices provided by the embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device, control plane network element and data service network element in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments.

[0210] like Figure 6 As shown, the communication device 600 includes a processing unit 610 and a transceiver unit 620 .

[0211] For example, the communication device 600 is used to implement the above Figure 3 The function of the first control plane network element or the first terminal device in the method embodiment shown. For another example, the communication device 600 is used to implement the above Figure 6 The functions of CPE1, CPE2, CPE3, SMF1, SMF2, and SDB in the method embodiment shown. The transceiver unit 620 can perform the receiving action and sending action performed by each network element / device in the above method embodiment. The processing unit 610 can perform other actions except the sending action and the receiving action in the actions performed by each network element / device in the above method embodiment.

[0212] For example, when the communication device 600 is used to implement Figure 3 The functions of the first control plane network element in the method embodiment shown are as follows: the transceiver unit 620 is used to receive a first request; the processing unit 610 is used to parse the first request, obtain information of multiple terminal devices included in the first group based on information of the first group, obtain at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first group based on the information of the first group and the information of the first terminal device, and control the first terminal device to communicate directly with the third terminal device within the group.

[0213] When the communication device 600 is used to implement the above Figure 3 When the function of the first terminal device in the method embodiment shown is performed, the transceiver unit 620 can perform the receiving action and the sending action performed by the first terminal device in the above method embodiment. The processing unit 610 can perform the actions performed by the first terminal device in the above method embodiment, except for the sending action and the receiving action.

[0214] For example, when the communication device 600 is used to implement Figure 3 In the method embodiment shown, the functions of the first terminal device are: the transceiver unit 620 is used to send a first request; the processing unit 610 is used to generate the first request and directly communicate with the third terminal device in the group.

[0215] For more detailed description of the processing unit 610 and the transceiver unit 620, please refer to Figure 3The relevant description in the method embodiment shown is directly obtained and is not repeated here. The processing unit 610 can be implemented by a processor, and the transceiver unit 620 can be implemented by a transceiver.

[0216] like Figure 7 As shown, the communication device 700 includes a processor 710 and an interface circuit 720. The processor 710 and the interface circuit 720 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 720 can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 700 may also include a memory 730 for storing instructions executed by the processor 710 or storing input data required by the processor 710 to execute instructions or storing data generated after the processor 710 executes instructions.

[0217] For example, the communication device 700 is used to implement the above Figure 3 The function of the first control plane network element or the first terminal device in the method embodiment shown. For another example, the communication device 700 is used to implement the above Figure 6 The functions of CPE1, CPE2, CPE3, SMF1, SMF2, and SDB in the method embodiment shown are as follows. For example, the processor 710 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 610, and the interface circuit 720 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 620.

[0218] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to the first control plane network element, the first control plane network element chip implements the function of the first control plane network element in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The first control plane network element chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first control plane network element, and the information is sent by the first terminal device to the first control plane network element; or, the first control plane network element chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first control plane network element, and the information is sent by the first control plane network element to the first terminal device.

[0219] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to the first terminal device, the first terminal device module implements the function of the first terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The first terminal device module receives information from other modules in the first terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the first control plane network element to the first terminal device; or, the first terminal device module sends information to other modules in the first terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the first terminal device to the first control plane network element. The first terminal device module here can be a baseband chip of the first terminal device, or it can be a DU or other modules. The DU here can be a DU under the open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture.

[0220] It is understandable that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0221] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to perform the above communication method. In other words, the computer program includes instructions for implementing the above communication.

[0222] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including: computer program code, when the computer program code is executed on a computer, the computer can execute the communication method provided above.

[0223] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes: a control plane network element and a terminal device that execute the above-mentioned communication method, and optionally, also includes a data service network element.

[0224] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware, or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. Of course, the processor and the storage medium can also be present in a base station or a terminal as discrete components.

[0225] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instruction is loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is executed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a first control plane network element, a user device or other programmable device. The computer program or instruction may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer program or instruction may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a tape; it may also be an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; it may also be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state hard disk. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0226] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or provided for in any logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between the different embodiments are consistent and may be referenced to each other, and the technical features in the different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0227] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "plural" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there may be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A or B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B means: A or B. "At least one of the following" or "one or more of them" and other similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c, or one or more of a, b, or c, means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c. Each of a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0228] The ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects. Moreover, this name does not indicate the difference in content, sender / receiver, sending order, size, application scenario, priority or importance of the two information. In addition, the numbering of the steps in the various embodiments introduced in this application is only for distinguishing different steps, and is not used to limit the order of the steps.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applicable to the first control plane network element, including: receiving a first request from a first terminal device, where the first request is used to request to establish a connection with the first control plane network element, and the first request includes information about the first terminal device and information about a group to which the first terminal device belongs; According to the information of the group, acquiring information of a plurality of terminal devices included in the group, the plurality of terminal devices including the first terminal device; According to the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, obtaining information of at least one second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices included in the group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device; Control the first terminal device and the third terminal device to directly communicate within the group, wherein the third terminal device belongs to the group and belongs to the at least one second terminal device, and the third terminal device has access to the first control plane network element or the second control plane network element.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that After receiving the first request from the first terminal device, the method further includes: A first message is sent to a data service network element, where the first message includes information about the first terminal device and information about a group to which the first terminal device belongs, so that the data service network element forwards the first message to the second control plane network element.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first message also includes: information about the first control plane network element and the first user plane network element serving the first terminal device.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The third terminal device has been connected to the second control plane network element, and before controlling the first terminal device and the third terminal device to communicate directly within the group, the method further includes: receiving a second message from the data service network element, the second message including information about the third terminal device and information about the group to which the third terminal device belongs; the second message is sent by the second control plane network element to the data service network element; It is determined that the information of the group to which the third terminal device belongs is the same as the information of the group to which the first terminal device belongs, and based on the information of the third terminal device, it is determined that the third terminal device belongs to the at least one second terminal device.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The second message also includes: information about the second control plane network element and the second user plane network element serving the third terminal device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The third terminal device has accessed the first control plane network element, and before controlling the first terminal device to communicate directly with the third terminal device within the group, the method further includes: receiving a second request from a third terminal device, where the second request is used to request to establish a connection with the first control plane network element, and the second request includes information about the third terminal device and information about a group to which the third terminal device belongs; It is determined that the information of the group to which the third terminal device belongs is the same as the information of the group to which the first terminal device belongs, and based on the information of the third terminal device, it is determined that the third terminal device belongs to the at least one second terminal device.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The at least one second terminal device allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device is determined according to the service requirements of the first terminal device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: According to the information of the group, obtaining information of a plurality of terminal devices included in the group includes: Acquire, according to the information of the group, a first list corresponding to the group, wherein the first list includes information of a plurality of terminal devices included in the group; Acquiring information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device from among the plurality of terminal devices included in the group according to the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, includes: According to the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, a second list corresponding to the first terminal device is obtained, wherein the second list includes information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first list.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The first terminal device is an egress device of the first local area network; the second terminal device is an egress device of the second local area network.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to data service network elements, including: receiving a first message from a first control plane network element, where the first message includes information about a first terminal device and information about a group to which the first terminal device belongs; According to the information of the group, obtaining information of a plurality of terminal devices included in the group; According to the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, obtaining information of at least one second terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices included in the group that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device; Send information of the multiple terminal devices and information of the at least one second terminal device to the first control plane network element.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that After receiving the first message from the first control plane network element, the method further includes: Send the first message to the second control plane network element.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The first control plane network element is a control plane network element that provides services for the first terminal device; the first message also includes: information about the first control plane network element and information about the first user plane network element; the first user plane network element is a user plane network element that provides services for the first terminal device.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that: Before sending the first message to the second control plane network element, the method further includes: Determine that the second control plane network element serves the group.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that: Also includes: receiving a second message from a second control plane network element, where the second message includes information about a third terminal device and information about a group to which the third terminal device belongs; Send the second message to the first control plane network element.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The second control plane network element is a control plane network element that provides services for the third terminal device; The second message further includes: information about the second control plane network element and information about the second user plane network element; The second user plane network element is a user plane network element that provides services for the third terminal device.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that Before sending the second message to the first control plane network element, the method further includes: Determine that the first control plane network element serves the group.

17. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, characterized in that: The at least one second terminal device allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device is determined according to the service requirements of the first terminal device.

18. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, characterized in that: According to the information of the group, obtaining information of a plurality of terminal devices included in the group includes: Acquire, according to the information of the group, a first list corresponding to the group, wherein the first list includes information of a plurality of terminal devices included in the group; Acquiring information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device from among the plurality of terminal devices included in the group according to the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, includes: Acquire, according to the information of the first terminal device and the information of the group, a second list corresponding to the first terminal device, wherein the second list includes information of at least one second terminal device that is allowed to be directly connected to the first terminal device among the multiple terminal devices included in the first list; Sending information of the multiple terminal devices and information of the at least one second terminal device to the first control plane network element includes: Send the first list and the second list to the first control plane network element.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising means for performing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 18.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: comprising a processor coupled to a memory; The memory is used to store computer programs or instructions; The processor is used to execute part or all of the computer programs or instructions in the memory, and when the part or all of the computer programs or instructions are executed, it is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

21. A communication device, characterized in that: including a processor and a memory; The memory is used to store computer programs or instructions; The processor is used to execute part or all of the computer programs or instructions in the memory, and when the part or all of the computer programs or instructions are executed, it is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-18 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

23. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system comprises: a first control plane network element executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 and a data service network element executing the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or an instruction. When the computer program or the instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 is implemented.

25. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises: computer instructions, and when the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 is implemented.

Images