Communication method and communication device

Abstract

Provided are a communication method and a communication device, the method being applied to a first VMR, the first VMR comprising a base station module and a user equipment module, the method comprising: sending a first message to a first AMF or an access network device; the first message comprises first identification information of a PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or second identification information of a first VMR, the first AMF is an AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module, and the access network device is an access network device under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; acquiring address information of a second AMF; the second AMF is an AMF under a PLMN corresponding to the base station module, and the address information of the second AMF is used for establishing a connection between the base station module and the second AMF. According to the method and the device, the address information of the AMF for establishing N2 wireless backhaul access by the VMR through the PDU session can be accurately determined.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0002] The SA2 working group of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) proposed mobile base station relay (MBSR) (also known as vehicle mounted relay (VMR)) based on vehicle scenarios in R19. In this topic, VMR is usually deployed on a moving vehicle. VMR consists of a base station module (such as a next generation node B (gNB)) and a user equipment (UE) module (which can be called VMR-gNB and VMR-UE), that is, VMR-gNB and VMR-UE also have mobility. Among them, VMR-UE has the functions of an ordinary UE and can access the core network through the new radio (NR). Usually, the N2 backhaul link between a fixed base station on the ground and the core network can be implemented through optical fibers; the N2 backhaul link between the mobile VMR-gNB and the core network can be carried on the PDU session between VMR-UE and the core network to achieve wireless backhaul. In this way, VMR-gNB can provide wireless access for other UEs near the vehicle.

[0003] Specifically, as Figure 1 shown, VMR-UE accesses the core network through a base station on the ground outside the vehicle and establishes a PDU session with the UPF. The N2 message transfer between VMR-gNB and the AMF is achieved through the PDU session between VMR-UE and the UPF. For example, when VMR-gNB needs to send an N2 message to the AMF, VMR-gNB forwards the N2 message to VMR-UE through the internal interface between VMR-gNB and VMR-UE. VMR-UE takes the N2 message as a data packet payload and transfers it to the corresponding UPF through the established PDU session. The UPF then forwards the data packet payload to the AMF, thus completing the forwarding of the N2 message.

[0004] However, when the VMR-UE and VMR-gNB in the VMR belong to different public land mobile networks (PLMNs), for example, the VMR-UE belongs to PLMN#X and the VMR-gNB belongs to PLMN#Y, in this case, it is impossible to determine which AMF the VMR uses to establish the N2 wireless backhaul access through the PDU session. Therefore, for this situation, how to determine the address information of the AMF used by the VMR to establish the N2 wireless backhaul access through the PDU session is a problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device. Based on the method described in the present application, the address information of the AMF used by the VMR to establish the N2 wireless backhaul access through the PDU session can be accurately determined.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a first vehicle-mounted relay (VMR). The first VMR includes a base station module and a user equipment module. The method includes: sending a first message to a first access and mobility management function (AMF) or an access network device; the first message includes the first identification information of the public land mobile network (PLMN) corresponding to the base station module and / or the second identification information of the first VMR, the first AMF is the AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module, and the access network device is the access network device under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; obtaining the address information of a second AMF; the second AMF is the AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, and the address information of the second AMF is used for the base station module to establish a connection with the second AMF.

[0007] Based on the method described in the first aspect, the first VMR can accurately determine the address information of the AMF used to establish the N2 wireless backhaul access through the PDU session, improving communication efficiency.

[0008] In a possible implementation manner, before obtaining the address information of the second AMF, the method further includes: receiving a second message from a first network element, the second message indicating the operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) address information corresponding to the first identification information; sending a third message to the OAM system corresponding to the OAM address information, the third message being used to request the address information of the second AMF; obtaining the address information of the second AMF includes: receiving the address information of the second AMF from the OAM system.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a fourth message to the second AMF, where the fourth message is used to request the establishment of a connection between the base station module and the second AMF, and the fourth message includes the second identification information; receiving a first response message from the second AMF for the fourth message. Based on this method, it is convenient to perform special processing on the user equipment module of the VMR type in the subsequent process, such as charging, processing of additional user location information, paging optimization, etc., which is beneficial to improving the paging efficiency.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending, by the user equipment module, the address information of the second AMF and the first identification information to the base station module; sending, by the base station module, a fourth message to the user equipment module; sending a fourth message to the second AMF includes: sending a fourth message to the second AMF by the user equipment module. Based on this method, the implementation of the internal interface can be completed.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the base station module and the user equipment module belong to different PLMNs. Based on this method, in the case where the base station module and the user equipment module belong to different PLMNs, the address information of the AMF that needs to be accessed can be accurately determined.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the first network element is the first AMF, and receiving a second message from the first network element includes: receiving a second message from the first AMF, where the second message includes the first identification information and the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the first network element is the policy control function PCF, and the PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the second message includes a user routing selection policy URSP rule and / or the OAM address information; where the URSP rule is generated based on the OAM address information.

[0015] Second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a first AMF. The method includes: receiving a first message from a first VMR, or receiving a ninth message from an access network device; the first message includes first identification information of a PLMN corresponding to a base station module of the first VMR and / or second identification information of the first VMR, and the first AMF is an AMF under the PLMN corresponding to a user equipment module of the first VMR; the ninth message includes first identification information of a PLMN corresponding to a base station module of the first VMR and / or third identification information of the first VMR, and the access network device is an access network device under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; determining OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information; sending a second message to the first VMR, and the second message includes the first identification information and the OAM address information.

[0016] For the beneficial effects of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect, reference may be made to the beneficial effects of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect, which will not be elaborated here.

[0017] In a possible implementation manner, determining the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information includes: sending a fifth message to a unified data management function UDM; the fifth message is used to request subscription information of the first VMR, and the UDM belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; receiving a second response message from the UDM for the fifth message, and the second response message includes the first identification information and the OAM address information.

[0018] Third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a first AMF. The method includes: receiving a first message from a first VMR, or receiving a ninth message from an access network device; the first message includes first identification information of a PLMN corresponding to a base station module of the first VMR and / or second identification information of the first VMR, and the first AMF is an AMF under the PLMN corresponding to a user equipment module of the first VMR; the ninth message includes first identification information of a PLMN corresponding to a base station module of the first VMR and / or third identification information of the first VMR, and the access network device is the access network device under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; sending a sixth message to a policy control function PCF; the sixth message is used to request the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information, and the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: first identification information, second identification information, or address information of a PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; or, the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: first identification information, third identification information, or address information of a PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; the PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module.

[0019] For the beneficial effects of the possible implementation manners of the third aspect, reference may be made to the beneficial effects of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0020] Fourthly, the present application provides a communication method applied to a PCF. The method includes: receiving a sixth message from a first AMF; the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: a first identification information of a PLMN corresponding to a base station module of a first VMR, a second identification information of the first VMR, or an address information of a PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; or, the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: the first identification information, a third identification information of the first VMR, or the address information of the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; the sixth message is used to request OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information; the first AMF is an AMF under the PLMN corresponding to a user equipment module of the first VMR, and the PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; determining the OAM address information based on the sixth message; sending a second message to the first VMR, and the second message indicates the OAM address information.

[0021] For the beneficial effects of the possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, reference may be made to the beneficial effects of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0022] In a possible implementation manner, determining the OAM address information based on the sixth message includes: sending a seventh message to a PLMN network element, the seventh message is used to request the OAM address information, the seventh message includes the first identification information and / or the second identification information, or the seventh message includes the first identification information and / or the third identification information; receiving a third response message from the PLMN network element for the seventh message, and the third response message includes the OAM address information.

[0023] In a possible implementation manner, determining the OAM address information based on the sixth message includes: sending an eighth message to a unified data repository function UDR; the eighth message is used to request the OAM address information, the eighth message includes the first identification information and / or the second identification information, or the eighth message includes the first identification information and / or the third identification information; the UDR belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; receiving a fourth response message from the UDR for the eighth message, and the fourth response message includes the OAM address information.

[0024] In a possible implementation manner, the second message includes a URSP rule and / or the OAM address information; wherein, the URSP rule is generated based on the OAM address information.

[0025] Fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to the UDR. The method includes: receiving first information from a second network element; the first information includes identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of each VMR among a plurality of VMRs, and / or OAM address information corresponding to the identification information of the PLMN; the UDR belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module of the first VMR; receiving an eighth message from the PCF; the eighth message includes the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of the first VMR and / or the second identification information of the first VMR, or the eighth message includes the first identification information and / or the third identification information of the first VMR; the eighth message is used to request the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information, and the PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; determining the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information from the first information based on the second identification information; sending a fourth response message to the PCF for the eighth message, and the fourth response message includes the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information.

[0026] For the beneficial effects of the possible implementation manners of the fifth aspect, reference may be made to the beneficial effects of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect, which will not be elaborated here.

[0027] Sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor. When the processor calls a computer program in a memory, the methods described in the first aspect to the fifth aspect are executed.

[0028] Seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor and a memory, and the processor and the memory are coupled; the processor is used to implement the methods described in the first aspect to the fifth aspect.

[0029] Eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor, a memory and a transceiver, and the processor and the memory are coupled; the transceiver is used to receive and transmit data, and the processor is used to implement the methods described in the first aspect to the fifth aspect.

[0030] Ninth aspect, the present application provides a chip. The chip includes a processor and an interface, and the processor and the interface are coupled; the interface is used to receive or output signals, and the processor is used to execute code instructions to enable the methods described in the first aspect to the fifth aspect to be executed.

[0031] Tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the methods described in the first aspect to the fifth aspect are implemented.

[0032] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a first VMR and a first AMF. The first VMR is used to execute the method described in the first aspect, and the first AMF is used to execute the method described in the second aspect.

[0033] In the twelfth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a first VMR, a first AMF, and a PCF. The first VMR is used to execute the method described in the first aspect, the first AMF is used to execute the method described in the third aspect, and the PCF is used to execute the method described in the fourth aspect.

[0034] In the thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a first VMR, a first AMF, a PCF, and a UDR. The first VMR is used to execute the method described in the first aspect, the first AMF is used to execute the method described in the third aspect, the PCF is used to execute the method described in the fourth aspect, and the UDR is used to execute the method described in the fifth aspect.

[0035] In the fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product including instructions. When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer is caused to execute the methods described in the first aspect to the fifth aspect. Description of the Drawings

[0036] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the basic architecture of a VMR provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a network system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a CU-DU architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service-based architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a peer-to-peer interface provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the process in which the base station module of a VMR in an embodiment of the present application establishes N2 radio backhaul access to a second AMF through a PDU session;

[0042] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the process of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the process of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 9 It is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 10 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 11 It is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 12 It is a schematic structural diagram of a chip provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0048] Terms such as "first" and "second" in the specification, claims and drawings of the present application are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally further includes unlisted steps or units, or optionally further includes other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0049] Referring to "embodiment" herein means that a specific feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The phrase appears in various places in the specification and does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it an independent or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments. Those skilled in the art explicitly and implicitly understand that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0050] In the present application, "at least one (item)" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more, "at least two (items)" means two or three or more, and "and / or" is used to describe the corresponding relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and both A and B exist at the same time. Among them, A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally means that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one (one) of the following" or its similar expression means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item (one) or plural items (ones). For example, at least one (one) of a, b or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0051] To better understand the embodiments of the present application, the system architecture related to the embodiments of the present application will be introduced first as follows:

[0052] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as satellite communication systems and traditional mobile communication systems. Among them, satellite communication systems can be integrated with traditional mobile communication systems (i.e., terrestrial communication systems). Mobile communication systems include, for example, wireless local area network (WLAN) communication systems, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD), fifth generation (5G) systems or new radio (NR), and other future communication systems, such as sixth generation (6G) systems, etc. It also supports communication systems that integrate multiple wireless technologies. For example, it can also be applied to systems that integrate non-terrestrial networks (NTN) such as drones, satellite communication systems, and high altitude platform station (HAPS) communication with terrestrial mobile communication networks. It can be understood that the system architecture described in the embodiments of the present application is for more clearly explaining the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0053] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 which is a schematic diagram of a network system architecture provided by the embodiments of the present application. As Figure 2 shown, the next-generation mobile communication network architecture standardized by the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) is called the 5G network architecture. The terminal device can access the wireless network to obtain services from the external network (such as a data network (DN)) through the wireless network, or communicate with other devices through the wireless network, such as communicating with other terminal devices. The wireless network includes a (radio) access network ((R)AN) and a core network (CN). Among them, the (R)AN (described as RAN later) is used to connect the terminal device to the wireless network, and the CN is used to manage the terminal device and provide a gateway for communicating with the DN. The following will be described separatelyFigure 2 Details of the terminal device, RAN, CN, and DN involved in the intermediate network architecture are described in detail.

[0054] I. Terminal Device

[0055] A terminal device includes a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user. For example, a terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water (such as a ship); or it can be deployed in the air (such as on an airplane, balloon, satellite, etc.). Specifically, a terminal device can refer to a user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a user station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device. A terminal device can also be a satellite phone, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a wireless data card, a wireless modem, a machine type communication device, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a PDA, a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a communication device carried on a high-altitude airplane, a wearable device, a drone, a robot, a terminal in device-to-device (D2D) communication, a terminal in vehicle to everything (V2X), a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, 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, or a terminal device in a future communication network, etc., and this application does not make any restrictions. A terminal can also be fixed or mobile. Additionally, in this application, when not specifically stated, "terminal device" can refer to either the terminal device itself or a component within the terminal device, such as a chip system, an SoC, and this component can be installed in the terminal device. It can be understood that all or part of the functions of the terminal in this application can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The terminal device in this application can be a terminal for 5G or a terminal for 6G, and this application does not limit this.

[0056] II. RAN

[0057] The RAN may include one or more RAN devices (or access network devices). The interface between the access network device and the terminal device may be the Uu interface (or the air interface). Of course, in the evolved communication after 5G, the names of these interfaces may remain unchanged, or other names may be used instead. This application does not limit this.

[0058] The access network device is a node or device that connects the terminal device to the wireless network. The access network device includes, for example, but is not limited to: the next generation node B (gNB) in the 5G communication system, the evolved node B (eNB), the next generation evolved node B (ng-eNB), the wireless backhaul device, the radio network controller (RNC), the node B (NB), the home evolved node B (HeNB) or the home node B (HNB), the baseband unit (BBU), the transmitting and receiving point (TRP), the transmitting point (TP), the mobile switching center, the device-to-device (D2D), the vehicle-to-everything (V2X), the device that undertakes the base station function in the machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, etc. It may also include the centralized unit (CU) and the distributed unit (DU) in the cloud radio access network (C-RAN) system, and the network device in the non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication system, that is, it can be deployed on a high-altitude platform or a satellite, etc. The embodiments of this application do not make specific limitations on this. The RAN in this application may be the RAN for 5G or the RAN for 6G. This application does not limit this.

[0059] Taking the RAN including the gNB as an example, the RAN may be connected to the core network (for example, it may be the core network of LTE or the core network of 5G, etc.). As Figure 3As shown, the CU and the DU can be understood as a division of a base station (such as a gNB) from the perspective of logical functions. The CU and the DU can be physically separated or deployed together. Multiple DUs can share a single CU. Of course, a single DU can also be connected to multiple CUs ( Figure 2 not shown in Figure 2 ). The CU and the DU can be connected through an interface, such as the F1 interface. The CU and the DU can be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network. For example, one possible division method is as follows: the CU is used to execute the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) layer, the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, while the DU is used to execute the functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, the physical layer, etc. It can be understood that the division of the processing functions of the CU and the DU according to these protocol layers is only an example, and other division methods can also be used. For example, the CU or the DU can be divided into functions with more protocol layers. For example, the CU or the DU can also be divided into partial processing functions of the protocol layers. In one design, part of the functions of the RLC layer and the protocol layers above the RLC layer are set in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the protocol layers below the RLC layer are set in the DU. In another design, the functions of the CU or the DU can also be divided according to service types or other system requirements. For example, in terms of latency division, the functions that need to meet the latency requirements in terms of processing time are set in the DU, and the functions that do not need to meet this latency requirement are set in the CU. In another design, the CU can also have one or more functions of the core network. One or more CUs can be centrally set or separated. For example, the CU can be set on the network side for convenient centralized management. The DU can have multiple radio frequency functions, or the radio frequency functions can be remotely set.

[0060] III. CN

[0061] The CN can include one or more CN devices (which can be understood as network element devices or network functions (NFs)). Hereinafter, the CN devices are collectively referred to as core network elements.

[0062] Please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 which is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service-based architecture provided by this application. In Figure 4The CN shown includes multiple CN devices: Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), Network Function Repository Function (NRF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Unified Data Repository (UDR), Application Function (AF), Network Slice Specific Authentication and Authorization Function (NSSAAF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), User Plane Function (UPF), Service Communication Proxy (SCP), Network Slice Admission Control Function (NSACF), etc. Additionally, in Figure 4 it also includes a terminal device (UE), an access network device (RAN), a data network (DN), and an Operation Administration and Maintenance (OAM) system. The access network device can communicate with the OAM system. Among them:

[0063] The AMF is a control plane function provided by the operator's network and is responsible for access control and mobility management of the terminal device accessing the operator's network. For example, it includes functions such as mobile status management, allocation of a user's temporary identity, authentication and authorization of the user, etc.

[0064] The SMF is a control plane function provided by the operator network and is responsible for managing the protocol data unit (PDU) sessions of the terminal device. The PDU session is a channel for transmitting PDUs, and the terminal device needs to transmit PDUs to and from the DN through the PDU session. The establishment, maintenance, deletion, etc. of the PDU session are the responsibilities of the SMF. The SMF includes session management (such as session establishment, modification, and release, including the tunnel maintenance between the UPF and the RAN), the selection and control of the UPF, the selection of the service and session continuity (SSC) mode, roaming, and other session-related functions.

[0065] The PCF is a control plane function provided by the operator and includes user subscription data management functions, policy control functions, charging policy control functions, quality of service (QoS) control, etc., and is mainly used to provide policies for PDU sessions to the SMF. Among them, the policies can include charging-related policies, QoS-related policies, authorization-related policies, etc.

[0066] The UPF is a gateway provided by the operator and is the gateway for communication between the operator network and the DN. The UPF includes user plane-related functions such as packet routing and transmission, packet detection, QoS processing, uplink packet detection, and downlink packet storage.

[0067] The UDM is mainly used to manage the subscription data and authentication data of users, as well as perform authentication credit processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration / mobility management, subscription management, and short message management, etc. In some embodiments, the UDM may also include a unified data repository (UDR). Alternatively, in some other embodiments, the 3GPPSBA of the 5G system may also include the UDR. Among them, the UDR is used for the storage and retrieval of PCF policies, the storage and retrieval of open structured data, and the storage of user information for application function requests, etc.

[0068] The UDR is mainly used to store and retrieve subscription data, policy data, and common architecture data, etc.; for the UDM, PCF, and NEF to obtain relevant data. The UDR should be able to have different data access authentication mechanisms for different types of data such as subscription data and policy data to ensure the security of data access; the UDR should be able to return a failure response with an appropriate cause value for illegal service operation or data access requests.

[0069] The OAM system generally divides the network management work into three categories according to the actual needs of the operator network operation: operation, administration, and maintenance. Operation mainly completes the analysis, prediction, planning, and configuration work for the daily network and services; maintenance mainly conducts daily operation activities such as testing and fault management of the network and its services.

[0070] It should be noted that the above CN devices can also be called network elements or functional network elements. In the 5G communication system, each functional network element can be Figure 4 the names of the respective functional network elements shown in, and in the communication systems evolved after 5G (such as the 6G communication system), each functional network element can still be Figure 4 the names of the respective functional network elements shown in, or can also have other names. For example, in the 5G communication system, the user plane function can be UPF, and in the communication systems evolved after 5G (such as the 6G communication system), the user plane function can still be UPF, or can also have other names, which is not limited in this application.

[0071] It should also be noted that in the 5G communication system, the functions implemented by each functional network element can be as Figure 4 shown to be independent, and in the communication systems evolved after 5G (such as the 6G communication system), each functional network element can still be as Figure 4 shown in an independent state, or can also be implemented by an integrated functional network element Figure 4 for the functions of multiple functional network elements in. For example, in the 5G communication system, the functions related to the user plane are implemented by UPF, and the functions related to access and mobility management are implemented by AMF. In the communication systems evolved after 5G (such as the 6G communication system), the functions related to the user plane can still be implemented by UPF, and the functions related to access and mobility management can still be implemented by AMF, or can also be implemented by an integrated functional network element for both the functions related to the user plane and the functions related to access and mobility management at the same time, which is not limited in this application.

[0072] Figure 4 In, Nnssf, Nnef, Nnrf, Npcf, Nudm, Naf, Nudr, Nnssaaf, Nausf, Namf, Nsmf, Nnsacf, N1, N2, N3, N4, and N6 are interface sequence numbers. The meanings of these interface sequence numbers can be referred to the meanings defined in the relevant standard protocols and are not restricted here.

[0073] IV. DN

[0074] DN can also be referred to as a packet data network (PDN), which is a network outside the operator's network. The operator's network can access multiple DNs, and application servers corresponding to various services can be deployed in the DN to provide various possible services for terminal devices.

[0075] In addition, Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on point-to-point interfaces; the introduction of the functions of the network elements therein can be referred to Figure 4 the introduction of the functions of the corresponding network elements in, and will not be elaborated here. Figure 4 Compared with Figure 5 the main difference is that: Figure 5 the interfaces (N1, N2, N3, N4, N5, N6, N7, N8, N9, N10, N11, N12, N13, N14, N15, N58, N59, N60, N61) between the network elements in are point-to-point interfaces, rather than service-based interfaces.

[0076] To facilitate the understanding of the solution provided in the embodiments of the present application, the basic architecture of the vehicle-mounted relay (VMR) involved in the embodiments of the present application will be introduced below:

[0077] The 3GPPSA2 working group proposed a mobile base station relay (MBSR) (also known as VMR) based on the vehicle-mounted scenario in R19. VMR is usually deployed on a moving vehicle. VMR consists of a base station module (such as gNB) and a user equipment (UE) module (which can be called VMR-gNB and VMR-UE), that is, VMR-gNB and VMR-UE also have mobility. Among them, VMR-UE has the functions of an ordinary UE and can access the core network through NR. Exemplarily, the user equipment module can be a mobile integrated access backhaul (mobile IAB) UE or a module with similar functions, and the base station module can be a module for providing access functions for other UEs. Usually, the N2 backhaul link between the base station fixed on the ground and the core network can be realized through optical fibers; the N2 backhaul link between the mobile VMR-gNB and the core network can be carried on the PDU session between VMR-UE and the core network to realize wireless backhaul, so that VMR-gNB can provide wireless access for other UEs near the vehicle.

[0078] It should be noted that for the vehicle-mounted relay, VMR or MBSR is only used as an exemplary name, and other names can also be used to represent it, and the actual name is not limited here.

[0079] Specifically, as Figure 1 shown, the VMR includes a VMR-gNB and a VMR-UE. The terminal device can communicate with the VMR-gNB. The VMR-UE accesses the core network through a base station belonging to PLMN#X on the ground outside the vehicle, and establishes a PDU session with the UPF through the Donor. The N2 message transfer between the VMR-gNB and the AMF under PLMN#Y can be implemented through the PDU session between the VMR-UE and the UPF. PLMN#X can be the same as PLMN#Y or different from PLMN#Y. For example, when the VMR-gNB needs to send an N2 message to the AMF under PLMN#Y, the VMR-gNB forwards the N2 message to the VMR-UE through the internal interface between the VMR-gNB and the VMR-UE. The VMR-UE takes the N2 message as the data packet payload and transfers it to the corresponding UPF through the established PDU session. The UPF then forwards the data packet payload to the AMF under PLMN#Y, thus completing the forwarding of the N2 message. It should be noted that the internal interface between the VMR-gNB and the VMR-UE may be based on internal implementation and is not defined in the standard protocol.

[0080] Exemplarily, the process of the base station module of the VMR establishing N2 wireless backhaul to access the second AMF through the PDU session can refer to Figure 6 , and the specific description includes the following steps 1 to 7. Among them, the first AMF is the AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module, and the second AMF is the AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module.

[0081] 1. The VMR-gNB encapsulates the N2 request message and sends it to the VMR-UE.

[0082] Among them, the source IP address of the N2 request message is the VMR-UE IP address, and the destination address is the address information of the second AMF. The IP address of the N2 request message can be added by the VMR-gNB or by the VMR-UE.

[0083] 2. The VMR-UE matches the correct PDU session (PDUsession) according to the destination address and sends uplink data to the UPF through the PDU session.

[0084] Among them, the VMR-UE takes the N2 request message as the payload of the uplink data packet and forwards it to the UPF through the user plane path of the PDU session.

[0085] 3. After receiving the uplink data packet, the UPF forwards it to the second AMF according to the destination address of the payload.

[0086] 4. After the second AMF processes the N2 request message from the VMR-gNB, it constructs an N2 response message.

[0087] Among them, the destination address is the VMR-UE IP address, and the source address is the address of the second AMF.

[0088] 5. The second AMF forwards the N2 request message to the UPF.

[0089] 6. After the UPF receives the N2 request message, it uses the N2 request message as the payload of the downlink data packet and forwards it to the VMR-UE through the user plane path of the PDU session of the VMR-UE.

[0090] 7. The VMR-UE receives the downlink data packet, de-encapsulates it to obtain the N2 request message, and forwards it to the VMR-gNB.

[0091] So far, the forwarding process of the N2 message between the VMR-gNB and the second AMF is completed.

[0092] However, in the case where the VMR-UE and the VMR-gNB in the VMR belong to different public land mobile networks (PLMNs), for example, the VMR-UE belongs to PLMN#X and the VMR-gNB belongs to PLMN#Y. At this time, it is impossible to determine which AMF the VMR uses to establish the N2 radio backhaul access through the PDU session (for example, whether it is the AMF under PLMN#X or the AMF under PLMN#Y). Therefore, for this situation, how to determine the address information of the AMF that the VMR uses to establish the N2 radio backhaul access through the PDU session is a problem to be solved.

[0093] In order to accurately determine the address information of the AMF that the VMR uses to establish the N2 radio backhaul access through the PDU session and improve the transmission efficiency, this application provides a communication method and a communication device. The communication method and the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application are further described in detail below.

[0094] Figure 7 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. As Figure 7 shown, this communication method includes the following steps S701 and S702. Figure 7 The execution subject of the method shown can be the first VMR and the first AMF. Or, Figure 7 The execution subject of the method shown can be the chip in the first VMR and the chip in the first AMF. The embodiments of this application do not make any limitations. Figure 7 Taking the first VMR and the first AMF as the execution subjects of the method as an example for illustration. Optionally,Figure 7 The method execution entity shown may further include an access network device. Among them, the first VMR includes a user equipment module (such as the VMR-UE mentioned above) and a base station module (such as the VMR-gNB mentioned above).

[0095] S701. The first VMR sends a first message; the first message includes the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or the second identification information of the first VMR.

[0096] In the embodiments of the present application, the specific implementation manner of the first VMR sending the first message may adopt one of the following two solutions. The following two solutions will be described in detail.

[0097] Solution 1: The first VMR directly sends the first message to the first AMF.

[0098] Step 1. The first VMR sends the first message to the first AMF; the first message includes the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or the second identification information of the first VMR, and the first AMF is the AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module. Correspondingly, the first AMF receives the first message from the first VMR.

[0099] In specific implementation, the first VMR may directly send the first message to the first AMF through a non-access stratum (NAS) message. The NAS message here may be a registration request message, a service request message, or a UE configuration update request message, which is not limited in the present invention. The first message here may include the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or the second identification information of the first VMR.

[0100] Among them, the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module may be composed of a mobile country code (MCC) and a mobile network code (MNC). For example, 460 and 461 represent China, 00 represents China Mobile, 01 represents China Unicom, and 03 represents China Telecom.

[0101] A possible example is that the second identification information of the first VMR can be an indication identifier (indication type). For example, when the second identification information is 1, it indicates that the user equipment module is of the VMR type or indicates that the user equipment module is of the VMR type of Rel-19; when the second identification information is 0, it indicates that the user equipment module is not of the VMR type or indicates that the user equipment module is of the VMR type of Rel-19. Here, the indication identifier can be part of the UE capability (UEcapability), or the UE radio capability (UEradiocapability), or the UE core network capability (UECoreNetworkcapability), or can be an independent indication identifier, which is not limited in the present invention. Of course, the second identification information of the first VMR can also be other identification information, which is not limited herein.

[0102] Another possible example is that the second identification information of the first VMR can be the identification information of the user equipment module (such as the subscription permanent identifier (SUPI), or the globally unique temporary identifier (GUTI), or the subscription concealed identifier (SUCI)). The third identification information of the first VMR can also be the identification information of the user equipment module (such as SUPI, GUTI, SUCI, etc.). Of course, the second identification information of the first VMR can also be other identification information, which is not limited herein.

[0103] Solution 2: The first VMR sends a first message to the access network device, and the access network device sends a ninth message to the first AMF according to the first message.

[0104] Step a: The first VMR sends a first message to the access network device; the first message includes the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or the second identification information of the first VMR, and the access network device is the access network device under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module. Accordingly, the access network device receives the first message from the first VMR.

[0105] Step b: The access network device sends a ninth message to the first AMF, and the ninth message includes the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or the third identification information of the first VMR.

[0106] In a specific implementation, the first VMR may send a first message to the access network device via a radio resource control (RRC) message. The first message includes the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or the second identification information of the first VMR. Thereafter, the access network device sends a ninth message to the first AMF. The ninth message includes the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or the third identification information of the first VMR. It should be noted that the second identification information included in the first message and the third identification information included in the ninth message may be the same or different, which is not limited in the present invention.

[0107] Among them, the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module may be composed of MCC and MNC.

[0108] A possible example is that the second identification information of the first VMR may be the identification information of the user equipment module (such as the Subscriber Permanent Identity (SUPI), or the Globally Unique Temporary Identity (GUTI), or the Subscriber Concealed Identity (SUCI)). The third identification information of the first VMR may also be the identification information of the user equipment module (such as SUPI, GUTI, SUCI, RAN UE NGAP ID or AMF UE NGAP ID, etc.). It should be noted that the second identification information and the third identification information may be the same or different.

[0109] Exemplarily, the first VMR includes the second identification information of the first VMR in the RRC message (i.e., the first message) sent to the access network device. In the next generation application protocol (NGAP) message (i.e., the ninth message) sent by the access network device to the first AMF, it not only includes the third identification information of the first VMR, but also includes an indication message of the Rel-19 VMR. In this way, it can also be indicated that the user equipment module is of the Rel-19 VMR type or the user equipment module is not of the Rel-19 VMR type.

[0110] Another possible example is that the second identification information of the first VMR can be an indication identifier (indication type). For example, when the second identification information is 1, it indicates that the user equipment module is of the VMR type or indicates that the user equipment module is of the VMR type of Rel-19; when the second identification information is 0, it indicates that the user equipment module is not of the VMR type or indicates that the user equipment module is of the VMR type of Rel-19. The third identification information of the first VMR can also be an indication identifier. The indication identifier in this example can be part of the UE capability (UEcapability), or the UE radio capability (UEradiocapability), or the UE core network capability (UECoreNetworkcapability), or can be an independent indication identifier, which is not limited in the present invention. It should be noted that the second identification information and the third identification information can be the same or different.

[0111] S702. The first VMR obtains the address information of the second AMF; the second AMF is the AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, and the address information of the second AMF is used for the base station module to establish a connection with the second AMF.

[0112] In the embodiment of the present application, the first VMR can directly obtain the address information of the second AMF from a network element (such as the first AMF) under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module, or can obtain the address information of the second AMF from the OAM system under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, which is not limited herein. The following details these two methods. Among them, the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module can refer to the PLMN to which the user equipment module is connected; the PLMN corresponding to the base station module can refer to the PLMN to which the user equipment served by the base station module belongs, or the PLMN to which the base station module belongs, etc.

[0113] Method 1: The first VMR directly obtains the address information of the second AMF from a network element (such as the first AMF) under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module.

[0114] In a specific implementation, the network element under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module can be the first AMF or the PCF, etc., which is not limited herein. Taking the first AMF as an example, after the first VMR sends a first message to the first AMF, the first AMF can obtain the address information of the second AMF from the UDM, and then send the address information of the second AMF to the first VMR, that is, the first VMR can obtain the address information of the second AMF from the first AMF.

[0115] Method 2: The first VMR obtains the address information of the second AMF from the OAM system under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module.

[0116] In a specific implementation, the first VMR can obtain the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information from the first network element; then, it sends a third message to the OAM system corresponding to the OAM address information, and this third message is used to request the address information of the second AMF, so as to obtain the address information of the second AMF from the OAM system. Herein, the first network element can be the first AMF or the PCF under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module, and no limitation is made here. When the first network element is the first AMF, the specific implementation method can refer to the following description of Figure 8 and will not be elaborated here. When the first network element is the PCF under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module, the specific implementation method can refer to the following description of Figure 9 and will not be elaborated here.

[0117] In a possible implementation manner, after the first VMR obtains the address information of the second AMF, the method further includes the following steps s11 and s12.

[0118] s11. The first VMR sends a fourth message to the second AMF, and this fourth message is used to request to establish a connection between the base station module and the second AMF, and this fourth message includes the second identification information. Correspondingly, the second AMF receives the fourth message from the first VMR.

[0119] Among them, a possible solution for step s11 is that the base station module of the first VMR sends a fourth message to the second AMF, and this fourth message is used to request to establish a connection between the base station module and the second AMF. For example, this fourth message can be a next generation application protocol setup request (NGAP SETUP REQUEST) message, and this fourth message includes the second identification information. Correspondingly, the second AMF receives the fourth message from the base station module of the first VMR.

[0120] s12. The second AMF sends a first response message to the first VMR for this fourth message. Correspondingly, the first VMR receives the first response message from the second AMF for this fourth message.

[0121] Among them, a possible solution for s12 is that the second AMF sends a first response message for the fourth message to the base station module of the first VMR. For example, the first response message can be a next generation (interface) setup response (NGAP SETUP RESPONSE) message. Correspondingly, the base station module of the first VMR receives the first response message for the fourth message from the second AMF.

[0122] Optionally, as an implementation of the internal interface, the method further includes step A and step B.

[0123] Step A: The user equipment module sends the address information of the second AMF and the first identification information to the base station module. Correspondingly, the base station module receives the address information of the second AMF and the first identification information from the user equipment module.

[0124] Step B: The base station module sends a fourth message to the user equipment module.

[0125] Correspondingly, the user equipment module receives the fourth message from the base station module and forwards the fourth message to the second AMF. Further, the second AMF receives the fourth message from the user equipment module, and then sends a first response message for the fourth message to the user equipment module. Correspondingly, after receiving the first response message for the fourth message from the second AMF, the user equipment module forwards the first response message to the base station module.

[0126] It can be understood that the fourth message is an NGAP setup request message sent by the base station module to the address information of the second AMF, and needs to be forwarded to the second AMF through the user equipment module of the first VMR. That is to say, the fourth message can be a next generation (interface) setup request (NGAP SETUP REQUEST) message sent by the base station module of the first VMR to the second AMF through the user equipment module. The first response message for the fourth message can be a next generation (interface) setup response (NGAP SETUP RESPONSE) message sent by the second AMF to the base station module through the user equipment module. After receiving the first response message for the fourth message, it means that the second AMF and the base station module have established a connection.

[0127] Among them, the fourth message may include second identification information of the first VMR. The second AMF may determine, based on the second identification information, that the user equipment module is of the VMR type or indicates that the user equipment module is a VMR of Rel-19 type. Subsequently, special processing can be performed on the user equipment module of the VMR type, such as charging, processing of additional User Location Information (ULI), paging optimization, etc. Taking paging as an example, when the second AMF needs to page a vehicle-mounted UE, based on the second identification information, it can page only the user equipment module of the VMR type, so as to find the corresponding VMR, without paging within the entire range, greatly improving the paging efficiency and saving power consumption.

[0128] In a possible implementation, the base station module and the user equipment module belong to different PLMNs. It can be understood that the PLMN to which the user equipment module is attached is different from the PLMN to which the base station module belongs, or the PLMN to which the user equipment module is attached is different from the PLMN to which the user equipment served by the base station module belongs. Based on this method, in the case where the base station module and the user equipment module belong to different PLMNs, the address information of the AMF that needs to be accessed can be accurately determined.

[0129] It can be seen that based on Figure 7 the method described above, the first VMR can accurately determine the address information of the AMF for establishing N2 wireless backhaul access through the PDU session, improving communication efficiency.

[0130] Figure 8 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 8 shown, the communication method includes the following steps S801 to S805. Figure 8 The execution subject of the method shown can be the first VMR, the first AMF, and the OAM system. Or, Figure 8 the execution subject of the method shown can be the chip in the first VMR, the chip in the first AMF, and the chip in the OAM system, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. Figure 8 Taking the first VMR, the first AMF, and the OAM system as the execution subject of the method as an example for illustration. Among them, the first VMR includes a user equipment module (such as the VMR-UE mentioned above) and a base station module (such as the VMR-gNB mentioned above). Taking the first network element as the first AMF as an example for illustration.

[0131] S801. The first VMR sends a first message; the first message includes the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or the second identification information of the first VMR.

[0132] Among them, the specific implementation manner of step S801 can refer to the specific implementation manner of the above-mentioned step S701, which will not be elaborated here.

[0133] S802. The first AMF determines the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information.

[0134] In the embodiment of the present application, the first AMF is the AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module.

[0135] In a possible implementation manner, the first AMF can obtain the OAM address information from the UDM. Among them, the UDM belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module. The following will be described in detail for two different cases.

[0136] Case 1: The UDM does not need to determine the OAM address information according to the first identification information and / or the second identification information (the third identification information), which specifically includes the following steps s21 and s22.

[0137] s21. The first AMF sends a fifth message to the UDM, and the fifth message is used to request the subscription information of the first VMR. Correspondingly, the UDM receives the fifth message from the first AMF.

[0138] s22. The UDM sends a second response message for the fifth message to the first AMF, and the second response message includes the first identification information and the OAM address information. Correspondingly, the first AMF receives the second response message from the UDM.

[0139] It can be understood that the first AMF sends a fifth message to the UDM. Here, the fifth message can be regarded as a user data management acquisition request message (Nudm_SDM_Get request message), which is used to request the subscription information of the first VMR. After receiving the fifth message, if the authorization of the first VMR is successful, the UDM determines the OAM address information corresponding to the PLMN authorized for the base station module in the subscription information of the first VMR, and then sends a second response message for the fifth message to the first AMF. The second response message includes the first identification information and the OAM address information. Here, the second response message can be regarded as a user data management acquisition response message (Nudm_SDM_Get response message).

[0140] Among them, the address information of the OAM can be: (1) IP address + port number information; (2) fully qualified domain name (FQDN) information, for example, somehost.example.com. Of course, the address information of the OAM can also adopt other forms, which are not limited here.

[0141] Scenario 2: The UDM needs to determine the OAM address information based on the first identification information and / or the second identification information (the third identification information), which specifically includes the following steps s31 and s32.

[0142] s31. The first AMF sends a fifth message to the UDM, and this fifth message is used to request the subscription information of the first VMR; this fifth message includes the first identification information and / or the second identification information, or this fifth message includes the first identification information and / or the third identification information. Correspondingly, the UDM receives the fifth message from the first AMF.

[0143] s32. The UDM sends a second response message for the fifth message to the first AMF, and this second response message includes the first identification information and the OAM address information. Correspondingly, the first AMF receives the second response message from the UDM.

[0144] Method 1: The UDM determines the OAM address information based on the second identification information.

[0145] It can be understood that based on the second identification information, the UDM can find the following stored information: the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information, and the authorization information (which can also be called identification information) of the base station module. Then the UDM can send the information found through the second response message of the fifth message to the first AMF.

[0146] Among them, the address information of the OAM can be: (1) IP address + port number information; (2) FQDN information. Of course, the address information of the OAM can also take other forms, which are not limited here.

[0147] It should be noted that the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information, and the authorization information of the base station module can be integrated into one piece of information, or can be represented in the form of a list, which is not limited here. As shown in Table 1, when the first identification information is 460-00 (China Mobile), the OAM address information is somehostx.example1.com, and the authorization information (identification information) of the base station module is key A; when the first identification information is 460-01 (China Unicom), the OAM address information is somehostx.example2.com, and the authorization information (identification information) of the base station module is key B. It should be noted that the authorization information (identification information) of the base station module is optional information.

[0148] Table 1

[0149] First identification information (such as PLMN ID) Address information of OAM Authorization information (identification information) of the base station module 460 - 00 (China Mobile somehostx.example1.com Key A 460 - 01 (China Unicom) somehostx.example2.com Key B

[0150] Method 2: The UDM determines the OAM address information based on the first identification information.

[0151] It can be understood that the UDM can find the OAM address information corresponding to the stored first identification information according to the first identification information. Then, the UDM can send the found OAM address information and the first identification information to the first AMF through the second response message of the fifth message. Among them, the address information of the OAM can be: (1) IP address + port number information; (2) FQDN information. Of course, the address information of the OAM can also be in other forms, which are not limited here.

[0152] S803. The first AMF sends a second message to the first VMR, and the second message includes the first identification information and the OAM address information. Correspondingly, the first VMR receives the second message from the first AMF.

[0153] In the embodiment of the present application, the first AMF sends the first identification information, the OAM address information, and the authorization information (identification information) of the base station module obtained from the UDM through the second message to the first VMR. The second message here can be a registration acceptance message, a response message to the first message, or other messages, which are not limited here.

[0154] S804. The first VMR sends a third message to the OAM system corresponding to the OAM address information, and the third message is used to request the address information of the second AMF. Correspondingly, the OAM system receives the third message from the first VMR.

[0155] In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving the second message, the first VMR needs to establish a PDU session and send a third message to the OAM system corresponding to the OAM address information through the PDU session. The third message is used to request the address information of the second AMF. The third message here can be a parameter request message. The third message can include the authorization information (identification information) of the base station module. Among them, the second AMF is the AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, and the address information of the second AMF is used for the base station module to establish a connection with the second AMF.

[0156] S805. The OAM system sends the address information of the second AMF to the first VMR. Correspondingly, the first VMR receives the address information of the second AMF from the OAM system.

[0157] In the embodiment of the present application, after the OAM system receives the third message, it may send the configuration parameters of the base station module to the first VMR. The configuration parameters of the base station module may include one or more of the following information: the address information of the second AMF, or the radio interface configuration information of the base station module (such as tracking area (TA) identifier, cell identifier (CellID), frequency information, etc.). In this way, the first VMR obtains the address information of the second AMF.

[0158] Further, in a possible implementation manner, after the first VMR obtains the address information of the second AMF, the method further includes the above steps s11 and s12, that is: the first VMR sends a fourth message to the second AMF. The fourth message is used to request to establish a connection between the base station module and the second AMF. The fourth message includes the second identification information. Correspondingly, the second AMF receives the fourth message from the first VMR. The second AMF sends a first response message to the first VMR for the fourth message. Correspondingly, the first VMR receives the first response message from the second AMF for the fourth message.

[0159] Optionally, as an implementation of the internal interface, the method further includes step A and step B, that is: the user equipment module sends the address information of the second AMF and the first identification information to the base station module; the base station module sends a fourth message to the user equipment module. Correspondingly, the user equipment module receives the fourth message from the base station module and forwards the fourth message to the second AMF. Further, the second AMF receives the fourth message from the user equipment module, and then sends a first response message to the user equipment module for the fourth message. Correspondingly, after the user equipment module receives the first response message from the second AMF for the fourth message, it forwards the first response message to the base station module.

[0160] That is to say, the fourth message here may be a message generated by the base station module according to the configuration parameters of the base station module and the first identification information, and the fourth message is forwarded to the second AMF through the user equipment module. For details, reference may be made to the description in the above step S702, which will not be elaborated here.

[0161] In a possible implementation manner, the base station module and the user equipment module belong to different PLMNs. It can be understood that the PLMN accessed by the user equipment module is different from the PLMN to which the base station module belongs, or the PLMN accessed by the user equipment module is different from the PLMN to which the user equipment served by the base station module belongs. Based on this method, in the case where the base station module and the user equipment module belong to different PLMNs, the address information of the AMF that needs to be accessed can be accurately determined.

[0162] It can be seen that based on Figure 8In the described method, the first VMR can accurately determine the address information of the AMF for establishing N2 wireless backhaul access through a PDU session via the first AMF, improving communication efficiency.

[0163] Figure 9 It is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of this application. As Figure 9 shown, this communication method includes the following steps S901 to S905. Figure 9 The execution subject of the method shown can be the first VMR, the first AMF, the PCF, and the OAM system. Or, Figure 9 the execution subject of the method shown can be the chips in the first VMR, the chips in the first AMF, the chips in the PCF, and the chips in the OAM system, which is not limited in the embodiments of this application. Figure 9 Taking the first VMR, the first AMF, the PCF, and the OAM system as the execution subjects of the method as an example for illustration. Among them, the first VMR includes a user equipment module (such as the VMR-UE mentioned above) and a base station module (such as the VMR-gNB mentioned above). Taking the first network element as the PCF as an example for illustration.

[0164] S901. The first VMR sends a first message; the first message includes the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or the second identification information of the first VMR.

[0165] Among them, the specific implementation manner of step S901 can refer to the specific implementation manner of step S701 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0166] S902. The first AMF sends a sixth message to the PCF; the sixth message is used to request the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the sixth message from the first AMF.

[0167] In the embodiments of this application, the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: the first identification information, the second identification information, or the address information of the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; or, the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: the first identification information, the third identification information, or the address information of the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module. The PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module (i.e., the first PCF). Optionally, after receiving the first message from the user equipment module, the first AMF authenticates the first message. Specifically, the first AMF can determine whether to accept the first message according to the subscription information of the first VMR. If the authentication is successful, the first AMF further sends a sixth message to the PCF to request the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information. If the authentication fails, the first AMF sends a rejection message to the user equipment module.

[0168] The sixth message here can be a policy association request message or other messages, which is not limited herein. The sixth message may include one or more of the following information: the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, the second identification information (the third identification information) of the first VMR, or the address information of the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module. Among them, the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module may be composed of a mobile country code and a mobile network code; the second identification information (the third identification information) of the first VMR may be an indication identification or the identification information of the user equipment module. For specific details, please refer to the description of step S701, which will not be elaborated herein. The PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module refers to the network element under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, such as the second PCF under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, the second UDM under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, or other network elements (NFs) under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module.

[0169] In addition, the address information of the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module may be: (1) IP address + port number information; (2) FQDN information, for example, somehost.example.com. Of course, it can also be represented in other ways, which is not limited herein.

[0170] Optionally, the method further includes: when the authentication of the first message is successful, the first AMF sends a fourth response message corresponding to the first message to the first VMR. When the first message is a registration request message, the fourth response message may be a registration acceptance message.

[0171] Optionally, the method further includes: the PCF sends a fifth response message corresponding to the sixth message to the first AMF. Correspondingly, the first AMF receives the fifth response message from the PCF. When the sixth message is a policy association request message, the fifth response message may be regarded as a policy association response message.

[0172] S903. The PCF determines the OAM address information based on the sixth message.

[0173] In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving the sixth message from the first AMF, the PCF further confirms the OAM address information according to the information included in the sixth message.

[0174] In a possible implementation manner, the specific implementation manner for the PCF to determine the OAM address information based on the sixth message may adopt the following two methods, and the following describes these three methods in detail.

[0175] Method A: The PCF can determine the OAM address information through local configuration.

[0176] Mode B: The PCF can obtain the OAM address information from the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module. Specifically, it includes the following steps s41 and s42.

[0177] s41. The PCF sends a seventh message to the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module. This seventh message is used to request the OAM address information. Correspondingly, the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module receives the seventh message from the PCF.

[0178] Among them, the seventh message includes the first identification information and / or the second identification information, or the seventh message includes the first identification information and / or the third identification information.

[0179] s42. The PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module sends a third response message to the PCF for the seventh message. This third response message includes the OAM address information. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the third response message from the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module.

[0180] In a specific implementation, when the sixth message includes the address information of the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module, the PCF can send a seventh message to the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module to request the OAM address information. After receiving the seventh message, the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module queries the OAM address information and returns the OAM address information to the PCF through the third response message.

[0181] Mode C: The PCF obtains the OAM address information from the UDR. Specifically, it includes the following steps s51 - s54.

[0182] s51. The UDR receives the first information from the second network element; this first information includes the identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of each VMR among multiple VMRs, and / or the OAM address information corresponding to the identification information of the PLMN.

[0183] In a specific implementation, the UDR belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module (i.e., the first UDR). The UDR will obtain and store the first information from the second network element in advance. This first information can be regarded as an external parameter provision message. This first information includes one or more of the following information: the identification information of each VMR among multiple VMRs, the identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of each VMR, or the OAM address information corresponding to the identification information of the PLMN.

[0184] For example, the first information includes: the identification information of VMR 1, the identification information 1 of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of VMR 1, and the OAM address information corresponding to the identification information 1; the identification information of VMR 1, the identification information 2 of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of VMR 1, and the OAM address information corresponding to the identification information 2; the identification information of VMR 2, the identification information 3 of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of VMR 2, and the OAM address information corresponding to the identification information 3.

[0185] Among them, the second network element may be the NEF network element under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, or other network elements (such as the AF network element) under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, or network elements under other PLMNs, which is not limited here.

[0186] Another implementation manner of step s51 is that the UDR obtains the first information through pre-configuration. A possible implementation manner is that the pre-configuration can be executed by the OAM system managed by the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module.

[0187] s52. The PCF sends an eighth message to the UDR; the eighth message is used to request the OAM address information. Correspondingly, the UDR receives the eighth message from the PCF.

[0188] Among them, the eighth message includes the first identification information and / or the second identification information, or the eighth message includes the first identification information and / or the third identification information.

[0189] s53. The UDR determines the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information from the first information based on the second identification information.

[0190] s54. The UDR sends a fourth response message for the eighth message to the PCF, and the fourth response message includes the OAM address information. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the fourth response message from the UDR.

[0191] In a specific implementation, the PCF may send an eighth message to the UDR to request the OAM address information. The eighth message here can be regarded as a data management query request (Nudr_DM_Query request) message. After receiving the eighth message from the PCF, the UDR can query the identification information (i.e., the first identification information) of the PLMN corresponding to the first VMR and the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information from the previously stored first information, and return the OAM address information to the PCF through the fourth response message. The fourth response message here can be regarded as a data management query response (Nudr_DM_Queryresponse) message.

[0192] S904. The PCF sends a second message to the first VMR, and this second message indicates the OAM address information. Correspondingly, the first VMR receives the second message from the PCF.

[0193] In a specific implementation, the PCF may send the second message to the first VMR through the first AMF. After determining the OAM address information, the PCF may indicate the OAM address information to the first VMR through the second message.

[0194] In a possible implementation manner, the specific form of this second message is as follows:

[0195] Way a: This second message includes the OAM address information.

[0196] Way b: This second message includes a user equipment route selection policy (URSP) rule. The URSP rule contains the OAM address information.

[0197] Way c: This second message includes the URSP rule and the OAM address information.

[0198] Among them, the URSP rule is generated based on the OAM address information. That is to say, the PCF may generate the URSP rule according to the OAM address information.

[0199] S905. The first VMR sends a third message to the OAM system corresponding to the OAM address information, and this third message is used to request the address information of the second AMF. Correspondingly, the OAM system receives the third message from the first VMR.

[0200] S906. The OAM system sends the address information of the second AMF to the first VMR. Correspondingly, the first VMR receives the address information of the second AMF from the OAM system.

[0201] In a possible implementation manner, after the first VMR obtains the address information of the second AMF, the method further includes the above steps s11 and s12, that is: the first VMR sends a fourth message to the second AMF, and this fourth message is used to request to establish a connection between the base station module and the second AMF, and this fourth message includes the second identification information. Correspondingly, the second AMF receives the fourth message from the first VMR. The second AMF sends a first response message for this fourth message to the first VMR. Correspondingly, the first VMR receives the first response message for this fourth message from the second AMF.

[0202] Optionally, as an implementation of the internal interface, this method further includes step A and step B, that is: the user equipment module sends the address information of the second AMF and the first identification information to the base station module; the base station module sends a fourth message to the user equipment module. Correspondingly, the user equipment module receives the fourth message from the base station module and forwards the fourth message to the second AMF. Further, the second AMF receives the fourth message from the user equipment module and then sends a first response message for the fourth message to the user equipment module. Correspondingly, after receiving the first response message for the fourth message from the second AMF, the user equipment module forwards the first response message to the base station module.

[0203] In a possible implementation manner, the base station module and the user equipment module belong to different PLMNs. It can be understood that the PLMN accessed by the user equipment module is different from the PLMN to which the base station module belongs, or the PLMN accessed by the user equipment module is different from the PLMN to which the user equipment served by the base station module belongs. Based on this method, in the case where the base station module and the user equipment module belong to different PLMNs, the address information of the AMF that needs to be accessed can be accurately determined.

[0204] Among them, the specific implementation manners of steps S905 and S906 can refer to the specific implementation manners of the above steps S804 and S805, and will not be elaborated here.

[0205] It can be seen that based on Figure 9 the described method, the first VMR can accurately determine the address information of the AMF for establishing N2 wireless backhaul access through the PDU session via the PCF, improving communication efficiency.

[0206] Please refer to Figure 10 , Figure 10 which shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 10 The shown communication device can be the first VMR, the first AMF, the PCF or the UDR, or a device in the first VMR, the first AMF, the PCF or the UDR, or a device that can be used in matching with the first VMR, the first AMF, the PCF or the UDR. Specifically, as Figure 10 shown, the communication device 1000 may include a communication unit 1001 and a processing unit 1002. Among them, the processing unit 1002 is used for data processing. The communication unit 1001 is used for communication. Optionally, the communication unit 1001 integrates a receiving unit and a sending unit. The communication unit 1001 can also be referred to as a transceiver unit. Or, the communication unit 1001 can also be split into a receiving unit and a sending unit.

[0207] In one implementation, when the communication device 1000 can be the first VMR, or a device in the first VMR, or a device that can be used in combination with the first VMR, the first VMR includes a base station module and a user equipment module, where:

[0208] A communication unit 1001, configured to send a first message to a first AMF or an access network device; the first message includes first identification information of a PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or second identification information of the first VMR, the first AMF is an AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module, and the access network device is an access network device under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module;

[0209] The communication unit 1001 is further configured to obtain address information of a second AMF; the second AMF is an AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, and the address information of the second AMF is used for the base station module to establish a connection with the second AMF.

[0210] In a possible implementation, before obtaining the address information of the second AMF, the communication unit 1001 is further configured to: receive a second message from a first network element, the second message indicating OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information; send a third message to an OAM system corresponding to the OAM address information, the third message being used to request the address information of the second AMF; when obtaining the address information of the second AMF, the communication unit 1001 is specifically configured to: receive the address information of the second AMF from the OAM system.

[0211] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 1001 is further configured to: send a fourth message to the second AMF, the fourth message being used to request to establish a connection between the base station module and the second AMF, the fourth message including the second identification information; receive a first response message from the second AMF for the fourth message.

[0212] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 1001 is further configured to: send the address information of the second AMF and the first identification information to the base station module through the user equipment module; send a fourth message to the user equipment module through the base station module; sending a fourth message to the second AMF includes: sending a fourth message to the second AMF through the user equipment module.

[0213] In a possible implementation, the base station module and the user equipment module belong to different PLMNs.

[0214] In a possible implementation, the first network element is a first AMF, and when receiving the second message from the first network element, the communication unit 1001 is specifically configured to: receive the second message from the first AMF, the second message including the first identification information and the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information.

[0215] In a possible implementation, the first network element is a PCF, and the PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module.

[0216] In a possible implementation, the second message includes a URSP rule and / or the OAM address information; wherein, the URSP rule is generated based on the OAM address information.

[0217] In an implementation, when the communication device 1000 can be the first AMF, or a device in the first AMF, or a device that can be used in matching with the first AMF, wherein:

[0218] A communication unit 1001 is configured to receive a first message from a first VMR, or receive a ninth message from an access network device; the first message includes first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of the first VMR and / or second identification information of the first VMR, and the first AMF is an AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module of the first VMR; the ninth message includes first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of the first VMR and / or third identification information of the first VMR, and the access network device is an access network device under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module.

[0219] A processing unit 1002 is configured to determine the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information.

[0220] The communication unit 1001 is further configured to send a second message to the first VMR, and the second message includes the first identification information and the OAM address information.

[0221] In a possible implementation, when the processing unit 1002 determines the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information, the communication unit 1001 is configured to: send a fifth message to a unified data management function UDM; the fifth message is used to request subscription information of the first VMR, and the UDM belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; receive a second response message for the fifth message from the UDM, and the second response message includes the first identification information and the OAM address information.

[0222] In an implementation, when the communication device 1000 can be the first AMF, or a device in the first AMF, or a device that can be used in matching with the first AMF, wherein:

[0223] A communication unit 1001, configured to receive a first message from a first VMR or a ninth message from an access network device; the first message includes first identification information of a PLMN corresponding to a base station module of the first VMR and / or second identification information of the first VMR, and the first AMF is an AMF under the PLMN corresponding to a user equipment module of the first VMR; the ninth message includes first identification information of a PLMN corresponding to a base station module of the first VMR and / or third identification information of the first VMR, and the access network device is an access network device under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module;

[0224] The communication unit 1001 is further configured to send a sixth message to a PCF; the sixth message is used to request OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information, and the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: the first identification information, the second identification information, or address information of a PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; or the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: the first identification information, the third identification information, or address information of a PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; the PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module.

[0225] In one implementation, when the communication device 1000 may be a PCF, or a device in the PCF, or a device that can be used in matching with the PCF, where:

[0226] The communication unit 1001 is configured to receive a sixth message from a first AMF; the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: first identification information of a PLMN corresponding to a base station module of the first VMR, second identification information of the first VMR, or address information of a PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; or the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: the first identification information, third identification information of the first VMR, or address information of a PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; the sixth message is used to request OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information; the first AMF is an AMF under the PLMN corresponding to a user equipment module of the first VMR, and the PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module;

[0227] A processing unit 1002, configured to determine the OAM address information based on the sixth message;

[0228] The communication unit 1001 is further configured to send a second message to the first VMR, and the second message indicates the OAM address information.

[0229] In a possible implementation, when the processing unit 1002 determines the OAM address information based on the sixth message, the communication unit 1001 is configured to: send a seventh message to a PLMN network element, where the seventh message is used to request the OAM address information, and the seventh message includes the first identification information and / or the second identification information, or the seventh message includes the first identification information and / or the third identification information; receive a third response message from the PLMN network element for the seventh message, where the third response message includes the OAM address information.

[0230] In a possible implementation, when the processing unit 1002 determines the OAM address information based on the sixth message, the communication unit 1001 is configured to: send an eighth message to the UDR; the eighth message is used to request the OAM address information, and the eighth message includes the first identification information and / or the second identification information, or the eighth message includes the first identification information and / or the third identification information; the UDR belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; receive a fourth response message from the UDR for the eighth message, where the fourth response message includes the OAM address information.

[0231] In a possible implementation, the second message includes a URSP rule and / or the OAM address information; where the URSP rule is generated based on the OAM address information.

[0232] In an implementation, when the communication device 1000 can be the UDR, or a device in the UDR, or a device that can be used in matching with the UDR, where:

[0233] The communication unit 1001 is configured to receive first information from a second network element; the first information includes the identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of each VMR in a plurality of VMRs, and / or the OAM address information corresponding to the identification information of the PLMN; the UDR belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module of the first VMR;

[0234] The communication unit 1001 is further configured to receive an eighth message from the PCF; the eighth message includes the first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of the first VMR and / or the second identification information of the first VMR, or the eighth message includes the first identification information and / or the third identification information; the eighth message is used to request the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information, and the PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module;

[0235] The processing unit 1002 is configured to determine the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information from the first information based on the second identification information;

[0236] The communication unit 1001 is further configured to send a fourth response message for the eighth message to the PCF, where the fourth response message includes the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information.

[0237] Figure 11 The structural schematic diagram of another communication device is shown. The communication device 1100 may be the first VMR, the first AMF, the PCF, or the UDR in the foregoing method embodiments, or may also be a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the first VMR, the first AMF, the PCF, or the UDR to implement the foregoing method. This communication device can be used to implement the method described in the foregoing method embodiments. For details, reference may be made to the description in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0238] The communication device 1100 may include one or more processors 1101. The processor 1101 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, etc. For example, it may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit may be used to control a communication device (such as a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal, a terminal chip, a DU, or a CU, etc.), execute software programs, and process data of software programs.

[0239] Optionally, the communication device 1100 may include one or more memories 1102, on which instructions 1104 may be stored. The instructions may be run on the processor 1101, so that the communication device 1100 executes the method described in the foregoing method embodiments. Optionally, data may also be stored in the memory 1102. The processor 1101 and the memory 1102 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0240] Optionally, the communication device 1100 may further include a transceiver 1105 and an antenna 1106. The transceiver 1105 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit, etc., and is used to implement transceiver functions. The transceiver 1105 may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver may be referred to as a receiver or a receiving circuit, etc., and is used to implement receiving functions; the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, etc., and is used to implement transmitting functions. Among them, Figure 10 The shown processing unit 1002 may be the processor 1101. The communication unit 1001 may be the transceiver 1105.

[0241] In another possible design, the processor 1101 may include a transceiver for implementing the receiving and sending functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, or an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and sending functions may be separate or integrated. The above-mentioned transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the above-mentioned transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0242] In another possible design, optionally, the processor 1101 may store an instruction 1103, and the instruction 1103 runs on the processor 1101, so that the communication device 1100 can execute the method described in the above method embodiment. The instruction 1103 may be solidified in the processor 1101, in which case the processor 1101 may be implemented by hardware.

[0243] In another possible design, the communication device 1100 may include a circuit that can implement the functions of sending or receiving or communicating in the aforementioned method embodiments. The processor and transceiver described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit RFIC, a mixed signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver can also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (nMetal-oxide-semiconductor, NMOS), P-type metal oxide semiconductor (positive channelmetal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (Bipolar Junction Transistor, BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

[0244] The communication device described in the above embodiments may be a first VMR, a first AMF, a PCF or a UDR, but the scope of the communication device described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device may not be limited thereto. Figure 11 The communication device may be an independent device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be:

[0245] (1) An independent integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem;

[0246] (2) A set having one or more ICs, optionally, the IC set may also include a storage component for storing data and instructions;

[0247] (3) ASIC, such as a modem (MSM);

[0248] (4) A module that can be embedded in other devices;

[0249] (5) A receiver, a terminal, a smart terminal, a cellular phone, a wireless device, a handheld device, a mobile unit, a vehicle-mounted device, a network device, a cloud device, an artificial intelligence device, etc.;

[0250] (6) Others, etc.

[0251] For the case where the communication device can be a chip or a chip system, reference can be made to Figure 12 The structural schematic diagram of the chip shown. Figure 12 The chip 1200 shown includes a processor 1201 and an interface 1202. Optionally, a memory 1203 may also be included. Among them, the number of processors 1201 can be one or more, and the number of interfaces 1202 can be multiple.

[0252] For the case where the chip is used to implement the first VMR, the first AMF, the PCF or the UDR in the embodiments of the present application:

[0253] The interface 1202 is used to receive or output signals;

[0254] The processor 1201 is used to perform data processing operations of the first VMR, the first AMF, the PCF or the UDR.

[0255] It can be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application can, in certain scenarios, be implemented independently without relying on other features, such as the current scheme they are based on, to solve the corresponding technical problems and achieve the corresponding effects. They can also, in certain scenarios, be combined with other features according to requirements. Correspondingly, the communication devices given in the embodiments of the present application can also implement these features or functions accordingly, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0256] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with the ability to process signals. In the implementation process, the steps of the above method embodiments may be completed by the integrated logic circuit in the hardware of the processor or instructions in the form of software. The above processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components.

[0257] It can be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0258] The present application also provides a computer-readable medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the functions of any of the above method embodiments are implemented.

[0259] The present application also provides a computer program product including instructions. When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer is enabled to implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0260] The present application provides a communication system, which includes a first VMR and a first AMF; wherein, the first VMR is configured to execute the method executed by the first VMR in the above embodiments, and the first AMF is configured to execute the method executed by the first AMF in the above embodiments.

[0261] The present application provides a communication system, which includes a first VMR, a first AMF, and a PCF; wherein, the first VMR is configured to execute the method executed by the first VMR in the above embodiments, the first AMF is configured to execute the method executed by the first AMF in the above embodiments, and the PCF is configured to execute the method executed by the PCF in the above embodiments.

[0262] The present application provides a communication system, which includes a first VMR, a first AMF, a PCF, and a UDR; wherein, the first VMR is configured to execute the method executed by the first VMR in the above embodiments, the first AMF is configured to execute the method executed by the first AMF in the above embodiments, the PCF is configured to execute the method executed by the PCF in the above embodiments, and the UDR is configured to execute the method executed by the UDR in the above embodiments.

[0263] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wirelessly (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). 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 includes one or more integrated available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (such as a floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (such as a high-definition digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (such as a solid state disk (SSD)), etc.

[0264] As described above, the above are only specific embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application can easily think of changes or substitutions, which should all be covered by the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to the first vehicle-mounted relay VMR, the first VMR includes a base station module and a user equipment module, and the method includes: Sending a first message to a first mobility management function AMF or an access network device; the first message includes first identification information of a public land mobile network PLMN corresponding to the base station module and / or second identification information of the first VMR, the first AMF is the AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module, and the access network device is the access network device under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; Obtaining address information of a second AMF; the second AMF is the AMF under the PLMN corresponding to the base station module, and the address information of the second AMF is used for the base station module to establish a connection with the second AMF.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before obtaining the address information of the second AMF, the method further includes: Receiving a second message from a first network element, the second message indicating operation and maintenance management OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information; Sending a third message to an OAM system corresponding to the OAM address information, the third message being used to request the address information of the second AMF; The obtaining the address information of the second AMF includes: Receiving the address information of the second AMF from the OAM system.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending a fourth message to the second AMF, the fourth message being used to request to establish a connection between the base station module and the second AMF, the fourth message including the second identification information; Receiving a first response message from the second AMF for the fourth message.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending the address information of the second AMF and the first identification information to the base station module through the user equipment module; Sending a fourth message to the user equipment module through the base station module; The sending the fourth message to the second AMF includes: Sending a fourth message to the second AMF through the user equipment module.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 - 4, characterized in that, The base station module and the user equipment module belong to different PLMNs.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 - 5, characterized in that, The first network element is the first AMF, and the receiving the second message from the first network element includes: Receiving a second message from the first AMF, the second message including the first identification information and the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 - 5, characterized in that, The first network element is a policy control function PCF, and the PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The second message includes a user routing selection policy URSP rule and / or the OAM address information; Wherein, the URSP rule is generated based on the OAM address information.

9. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first mobility management function AMF, the method includes: Receive a first message from a first vehicle-mounted relay VMR, or receive a ninth message from an access network device; the first message includes first identification information of a public land mobile network PLMN corresponding to a base station module of the first VMR and / or second identification information of the first VMR, and the first AMF is an AMF under the PLMN corresponding to a user equipment module of the first VMR; the ninth message includes first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of the first VMR and / or third identification information of the first VMR, and the access network device is an access network device under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; Determine operation and maintenance management OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information; Send a second message to the first VMR, where the second message includes the first identification information and the OAM address information.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The determining the operation and maintenance management OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information includes: Send a fifth message to a unified data management function UDM; the fifth message is used to request subscription information of the first VMR, and the UDM belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; Receive a second response message for the fifth message from the UDM, where the second response message includes the first identification information and the OAM address information.

11. A communication method, characterized in that,Applied to a first mobility management function AMF, the method includes: Receive a first message from a first vehicle-mounted relay VMR, or receive a ninth message from an access network device; the first message includes first identification information of a public land mobile network PLMN corresponding to a base station module of the first VMR and / or second identification information of the first VMR, and the first AMF is an AMF under the PLMN corresponding to a user equipment module of the first VMR; the ninth message includes first identification information of the PLMN corresponding to the base station module of the first VMR and / or third identification information of the first VMR, and the access network device is an access network device under the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; Send a sixth message to a policy control function PCF; the sixth message is used to request operation and maintenance management OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information, and the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: the first identification information, the second identification information, or the address information of the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; or the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: the first identification information, the third identification information, or the address information of the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; the PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module.

12. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a policy control function PCF, the method includes: Receive a sixth message from a first Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF); the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: a first identification information of a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) corresponding to a base station module of a first Vehicular Mobile Relay (VMR), a second identification information of the first VMR, or an address information of a PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; or, the sixth message includes one or more of the following information: the first identification information, a third identification information of the first VMR, or the address information of the PLMN network element corresponding to the base station module; the sixth message is used to request an Operation, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) address information corresponding to the first identification information; the first AMF is the AMF under the PLMN corresponding to a user equipment module of the first VMR, and the Policy and Charging Function (PCF) belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; Determine the OAM address information based on the sixth message; Send a second message to the first VMR, and the second message indicates the OAM address information.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The determining the OAM address information based on the sixth message includes: Send a seventh message to the PLMN network element, the seventh message is used to request the OAM address information, and the seventh message includes the first identification information and / or the second identification information; or, the seventh message includes the first identification information and / or the third identification information; Receive a third response message from the PLMN network element for the seventh message, and the third response message includes the OAM address information.

14. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The determining the OAM address information based on the sixth message includes: Send an eighth message to a Unified Data Repository Function (UDR); the eighth message is used to request the OAM address information, the eighth message includes the first identification information and / or the second identification information, or the eighth message includes the first identification information and / or the third identification information; the UDR belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module of the first VMR; Receive a fourth response message from the UDR for the eighth message, and the fourth response message includes the OAM address information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12-14, characterized in that, The second message includes a User Routing Selection Policy (URSP) rule and / or the OAM address information; Wherein, the URSP rule is generated based on the OAM address information.

16. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a Unified Data Repository Function (UDR), the method includes: Receive first information from a second network element; the first information includes identification information of a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) corresponding to a base station module of each Vehicular Mobile Relay (VMR) among a plurality of VMRs, and / or, an Operation, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) address information corresponding to the identification information of the PLMN; the UDR belongs to the PLMN corresponding to a user equipment module of a first VMR; Receive the eighth message from a Policy Control Function (PCF); the eighth message includes first identification information of a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) corresponding to a base station module of the first VMR and / or second identification information of the first VMR, or the eighth message includes the first identification information and / or third identification information of the first VMR; the eighth message is used to request OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information, and the PCF belongs to the PLMN corresponding to the user equipment module; Determine the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information from the first information based on the second identification information; Send a fourth response message for the eighth message to the PCF, where the fourth response message includes the OAM address information corresponding to the first identification information.

17. A communication system, characterized in that, Comprising a first VMR and a first Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF); wherein, the first VMR is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8, and the first AMF is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 9 or 10.

18. A communication system, characterized in that, Comprising a first VMR, a first AMF, and a PCF; wherein, the first VMR is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8, the first AMF is used to execute the method according to claim 11, and the PCF is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 12-15.

19. A communication system, characterized in that, Comprising a first VMR, a first AMF, a PCF, and a Unified Data Repository (UDR); wherein, the first VMR is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8, the first AMF is used to execute the method according to claim 11, the PCF is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 12-15, and the UDR is used to execute the method according to claim 16.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, Comprising a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-8, or comprising a unit for executing the method according to claim 9 or 10, comprising a unit for executing the method according to claim 11, comprising a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 12-15, and comprising a unit for executing the method according to claim 16.

21. A communication device, characterized in that, Comprising a processor and a memory, the processor and the memory being coupled, the processor being used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1-8, or the processor being used to implement the method according to claim 9 or 10, or the processor being used to implement the method according to claim 11, or the processor being used to implement the method according to any one of claims 12-15, or the processor being used to implement the method according to claim 16.

22. A chip, characterized in that, Comprising a processor and an interface, the processor and the interface being coupled; the interface is used to receive or output signals, and the processor is used to execute code instructions to cause the method according to any one of claims 1-8 to be executed, or to cause the method according to claim 9 or 10 to be executed, or the processor is used to implement the method according to claim 11, or the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 12-15, or the processor is used to implement the method according to claim 16.

23. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, which, when called by the computer, cause the computer to execute the method described in any one of claims 1-8 above, or cause the computer to execute the method described in claim 9 or 10 above, or cause the computer to execute the method described in claim 11 above, or cause the computer to execute the method described in any one of claims 12-15 above, or cause the computer to execute the method described in claim 16 above.

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