Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and device, belongs to the technical field of communication, and aims to realize that a terminal can establish 3GPP access type connections with a plurality of cells at the same time so as to meet more and more flexible communication requirements in the future. The method comprises the following steps: a data management network element obtains related information of multiple connections and sends the related information to a terminal; wherein the related information comprises indication information and / or strategy information, the indication information is used for indicating that the terminal needs to establish multi-connection, the strategy information is used for indicating a strategy for establishing the multi-connection, and the multi-connection means that a third generation partnership project (3GPP) access type connection is established with a plurality of cells respectively at the same time.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In the current cell selection process of a User Equipment (UE) defined by the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), when the UE camps on a cell, it will periodically perform a cell reselection evaluation process. If a cell with better signal quality appears, the UE can reselect the cell to camp on. At this time, the newly selected cell will replace the current cell, and the UE cannot maintain the connections to two cells simultaneously. In other words, the UE cannot access two cells simultaneously, so it cannot meet the future more flexible communication requirements. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Embodiments of this application provide a communication method and apparatus to enable a terminal to establish 3GPP access type connections with multiple cells respectively at the same time, so as to meet the future more flexible communication requirements.

[0004] To achieve the above object, this application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0005] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a data management network element and includes: the data management network element obtains multi-connection related information and sends the related information to a terminal. The related information includes indication information and / or policy information. The indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection, and the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing the multi-connection. The multi-connection refers to establishing 3GPP access type connections with multiple cells respectively at the same time.

[0006] Based on the method described in the first aspect, since the network side, that is, the data management network element, can send the multi-connection related information, such as the indication and policy required for establishing the multi-connection, to the terminal, the terminal can establish 3GPP access type connections with multiple cells respectively according to the related information, that is, maintain the connections to multiple cells at the same time, so as to meet the future more flexible communication requirements.

[0007] It can be understood that multi-connection can also be alternatively expressed as: supporting dual (or multiple) radio capabilities, supporting dual (or multiple) 3GPP access technologies, supporting dual (or multiple) steering capabilities, supporting dual (or multiple) 3GPP accesses, supporting dual (or multiple) 3GPP access types, supporting dual (or multiple) registrations, supporting the same access type, supporting the same radio access technology, supporting the same access network, etc. In other words, supporting one or more of the above can be understood as being able to establish multi-connection.

[0008] In a possible design solution, the policy information may include at least one of: service policy, access type policy, location policy, or time policy. Among them, the service policy means that multi-connection needs to be established when the network cannot meet the service requirements, that is, to establish according to the service requirements to avoid redundancy. The access type policy refers to the combination of access types required for establishing multi-connection, such as terrestrial network TN + non-terrestrial network NTN or 5G + 6G, to achieve decoupling of access resources and avoid resource tension caused by using the same access type. The location policy means that multi-connection needs to be established within a preset area, such as a low-signal area where communication signals need to be enhanced, to ensure the communication quality of users in this area. The time policy means that multi-connection needs to be established within a preset time period, such as a time period with a large business demand, to ensure the service experience during this time period.

[0009] In a possible design solution, the data management network element obtains information related to multi-connection, including: the data management network element obtains the capability information of the terminal and, based on the capability information of the terminal, obtains relevant information. Among them, the capability information of the terminal is used to indicate that the terminal supports establishing connections of 3GPP access types with multiple cells simultaneously, so as to avoid wasting communication resources by instructing the terminal to establish multi-connection when the terminal does not support multi-connection.

[0010] Optionally, the data management network element obtains the capability information of the terminal, including: during the registration process of the terminal, the data management network element receives a context registration request message from the access and mobility management network element. The context registration request message includes the capability information of the terminal, that is, reusing the existing registration process to realize the perception of the multi-connection capability of the terminal, or it can also be realized through a newly defined process, decoupled from the existing process, and the cell transmission can be more flexible.

[0011] In a possible design solution, the data management network element obtains multi-connection related information, including: the data management network element obtains the slice information requested by the terminal, and based on that the network slice is the slice corresponding to the multi-connection service, obtains the relevant information. The slice information requested by the terminal is used to indicate the network slice requested by the terminal. At this time, the network slice requested by the terminal requires the network to provide multi-connection to ensure the service requirements of the terminal.

[0012] Optionally, the data management network element obtains the slice information requested by the terminal, including: during the registration process of the terminal, the data management network element receives a context registration request message from the access and mobility management network element. The context registration request message includes the slice information requested by the terminal, that is, reusing the existing registration process to realize the perception of the multi-connection requirements of the terminal, or it can also be realized through a newly defined process, decoupled from the existing process, and the cell transmission can be more flexible.

[0013] In a possible design solution, the data management network element obtains multi-connection related information, including: the data management network element obtains the subscription data of the terminal, and based on the subscription data of the terminal, obtains the relevant information. The subscription data of the terminal includes information indicating that the network can provide multi-connection services for the terminal, that is, it means that the terminal is a subscribed user of multi-connection, avoiding communication redundancy caused by sending multi-connection related information to unsubscribed users.

[0014] Optionally, the data management network element obtains the subscription data of the terminal, including: during the registration process of the terminal, the data management network element receives a subscription data acquisition request message from the access and mobility management network element, and based on the subscription data acquisition request message, obtains the subscription data of the terminal. The subscription data acquisition request message is used to request the data subscribed by the terminal and the network, that is, reusing the existing registration process to realize the perception of the subscription data of the terminal, or it can also be realized through a newly defined process, decoupled from the existing process, and the cell transmission can be more flexible.

[0015] In a possible design solution, the data management network element obtains information related to multi-connection, including: the data management network element receives service information from the access and mobility management network element, and obtains relevant information according to the service information. Among them, the service information is used to indicate that the network cannot meet the service requirements of the terminal. At this time, the network needs to provide additional network resources through multi-connection to meet the service requirements of the terminal.

[0016] Optionally, the network's inability to meet the service requirements of the terminal includes: the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, and / or the signal quality of the network cannot meet the signal quality requirements of the terminal's service, or there may be any other possible situations, which are not limited herein.

[0017] Optionally, when the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, the service information is further used to indicate the additional bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal. In this way, the network can determine how much bandwidth the terminal ultimately needs, so that the subsequent multi-connection can provide this bandwidth to ensure that the service requirements of the terminal can be met.

[0018] In a possible design solution, the data management network element obtains information related to multi-connection, including: the data management network element obtains relevant information according to preset conditions. The preset conditions include at least one of the following: within the time period when the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection currently, or the location of the terminal is within the area where the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection. That is, the data management network element can decide to trigger the establishment of a multi-connection by itself according to the current time and the current location of the terminal, avoiding the additional overhead caused by interacting with other network elements.

[0019] Optionally, the data management network element obtains the location of the terminal from the access and mobility management network element related to the terminal through a subscription service, or the location of the terminal can also be obtained through other means, such as the access network device reports to the data management network element through the access and mobility management network element. Specifically, it can be selected according to actual needs, and no specific limitation is made herein.

[0020] In a possible design solution, the data management network element obtains information related to multi-connection, including: the data management network element obtains the single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) corresponding to the session of the terminal and the data network name (DNN), and obtains relevant information according to the service of the terminal that requires the establishment of a multi-connection. Among them, the S-NSSAI and DNN correspond to the service of the terminal. That is, it is also possible to establish a multi-connection according to the service requirements of the terminal to avoid redundancy.

[0021] Optionally, the data management network element obtains the S-NSSAI and DNN corresponding to the session of the terminal, including: during the session establishment process of the terminal, the data management network element receives a context registration request message from the session management network element, where the context registration request message includes the S-NSSAI and DNN.

[0022] In a possible design solution, the data management network element obtains multi-connection related information, including: the data management network element receives request information from the terminal and obtains the related information according to the request information. Among them, the request information is used to indicate that the terminal requests to establish a multi-connection, that is, the establishment of the multi-connection can be triggered by the terminal itself, making the interaction between the terminal and the network side simpler and the communication overhead smaller.

[0023] Optionally, the data management network element receives request information from the terminal, including: the data management network element receives a subscription data management acquisition request message from the access and mobility management network element. Among them, the subscription data management acquisition request message includes the request information, that is, it is implemented by reusing existing signaling, or it can also be implemented through a newly defined process, decoupled from the existing process, and the cell transfer can be more flexible.

[0024] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to an access and mobility management network element, including: the access and mobility management network element sends service information to the data management network element, receives the multi-connection related information returned by the data management network element according to the service information, and sends the related information to the terminal. Among them, the service information indicates that the network cannot meet the service requirements of the terminal. The related information includes indication information and / or policy information, the indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection, the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing the multi-connection, and the multi-connection refers to establishing connections of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access type with multiple cells respectively at the same time.

[0025] In a possible design solution, the method described in the second aspect may further include: the access and mobility management network element receives an N2 message from the access network device, and the N2 message includes service information, and the service information is specifically used to indicate that the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service.

[0026] Optionally, the service information is further used to indicate the additional bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal.

[0027] In a possible design solution, the method described in the second aspect may further include: the access and mobility management network element obtains service information according to the fact that the terminal is located in a low signal area. Among them, the service information is specifically used to indicate that the signal quality of the network cannot meet the signal quality requirements of the terminal's service.

[0028] It can be understood that the technical effects of the method described in the second aspect can also refer to the relevant introduction of the method described in the first aspect above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0029] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a policy control network element and includes: the policy control network element obtains the single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) corresponding to the session of the terminal and the data network name (DNN), and the policy control network element sends relevant information about multi-connection to the terminal according to whether the service of the terminal requires multi-connection to be established. Among them, the S-NSSAI and the DNN correspond to the service of the terminal. The relevant information includes indication information and / or policy information. The indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish multi-connection, and the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing multi-connection. Multi-connection means establishing connections of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access type with multiple cells simultaneously.

[0030] In a possible design, the policy control network element obtains the S-NSSAI and the DNN corresponding to the session of the terminal, including: during the establishment or modification of the session policy of the terminal, the policy control network element receives the S-NSSAI and the DNN from the session management network element.

[0031] Optionally, the policy information includes at least one of: service policy, access type policy, location policy, or time policy; where the service policy means that multi-connection needs to be established when the network cannot meet the service requirements; the access type policy means the combination of access types required for establishing multi-connection; the location policy means that multi-connection needs to be established within a preset area; the time policy means that multi-connection needs to be established within a preset time period.

[0032] That is to say, the corresponding functions implemented by the data management network element described in the first aspect can also be replaced by the policy control network element described in the third aspect. Specifically, it can also refer to the relevant introduction of the method described in the first aspect, and will not be elaborated here.

[0033] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by the terminal, or by a module applied to the terminal (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal. For the convenience of description, the following takes the method being executed by the terminal as an example for introduction. This method includes: receiving relevant information about multi-connection from the network, and establishing multi-connection with the network according to the relevant information. Among them, the relevant information includes indication information and / or policy information. The indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish multi-connection, and the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing multi-connection. Multi-connection means establishing connections of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access type with multiple cells simultaneously.

[0034] In a possible design solution, the policy information includes at least one of the following: service policy, access type policy, location policy, or time policy. Among them, the service policy means that multi-connections need to be established when the network cannot meet the service requirements; the access type policy means the combination of access types required to establish multi-connections; the location policy means that multi-connections need to be established within a preset area; the time policy means that multi-connections need to be established within a preset time period.

[0035] In a possible design solution, the method described in the fourth aspect may further include: sending the capability information of the terminal to the network. The capability information of the terminal is used to indicate that the terminal supports establishing connections of 3GPP access types with multiple cells simultaneously.

[0036] In a possible design solution, the method described in the fourth aspect may further include: sending the S-NSSAI single network slice selection assistance information and the DNN data network name corresponding to the session of the terminal to the network, where the S-NSSAI and the DNN correspond to the service of the terminal, and the service of the terminal is a service that requires multi-connections to be established.

[0037] In a possible design solution, the method described in the fourth aspect may further include: when the terminal needs to establish multi-connections, sending a request message to the network, where the request message is used to indicate that the terminal requests to establish multi-connections.

[0038] Optionally, the method described in the fourth aspect may further include: in response to the user's operation of enabling multi-connections, determining that the terminal needs to establish multi-connections, that is, implementing on-demand establishment of multi-connections according to the user's needs to ensure the user's usage experience. Or; when the service of the terminal needs to be executed, obtaining a routing selection policy URSP rule that matches the service of the terminal; when the URSP rule indicates that multi-connections need to be established, determining that the terminal needs to establish multi-connections, so that the multi-connections can match the requirements of the service to ensure the user's usage experience.

[0039] Of course, the embodiments of the present application take the URSP rule as an example, but are not limited to the URSP rule. Any policy and / or rule similar to the URSP rule or capable of implementing routing functions can be used to implement the solution in the present application.

[0040] It can be understood that the technical effects of the method described in the fourth aspect can also refer to the relevant introduction of the method described in the first aspect above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0041] In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a terminal, or by a module applied to the terminal (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions. For the convenience of description, the following takes the execution of this method by the terminal as an example. The method includes: when the service of the terminal needs to be executed, obtaining a routing selection policy URSP rule that matches the service of the terminal; if the URSP rule indicates that a multi-connection needs to be established, establishing a multi-connection with the network, where the multi-connection means establishing connections of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 3GPP access type with multiple cells of the network respectively at the same time.

[0042] Based on the method described in the fifth aspect, it can be known that the terminal can, through URSP rule matching, trigger the establishment of a multi-connection with the network side when the service matches the URSP rule that requires the establishment of a multi-connection, so as to ensure that the multi-connection can meet the requirements of the service and ensure the user experience.

[0043] In a possible design, the URSP rule also indicates the access type combination required for establishing the multi-connection.

[0044] In a possible design, the method described in the fifth aspect may further include: the terminal receives the URSP rule from the network.

[0045] It can be understood that the technical effects of the method described in the fifth aspect can also refer to the relevant introduction of the method described in the first aspect above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0046] In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a policy control network element and includes: when the routing selection policy URSP rule of the terminal needs to be updated, the policy control network element obtains the new URSP rule of the terminal and sends the new URSP rule to the terminal. Wherein, the new URSP rule is used to indicate that a multi-connection needs to be established, and the multi-connection means establishing connections of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 3GPP access type with multiple cells respectively at the same time. That is, by updating the URSP rule, the terminal can be enabled to have the ability to establish a multi-connection.

[0047] In a possible design, the new URSP rule also indicates the access type combination required for establishing the multi-connection.

[0048] Of course, in the embodiments of the present application, the URSP rule is taken as an example, but it is not limited to the URSP rule. Any policy and / or rule similar to the URSP rule, or that can implement the routing function, can be used to implement the solution in the present application.

[0049] It can be understood that the technical effects of the method described in the sixth aspect can also refer to the relevant introduction of the method described in the first aspect above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0050] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a module for performing the method described in any one of the first to sixth aspects above.

[0051] In a possible design, the communication device described in the seventh aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the seventh aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0052] In a possible design, the communication device described in the seventh aspect may further include a memory. The memory may be integrated with the processor or may be provided separately. The memory may be used to store instructions related to the method in any one of the first to sixth aspects.

[0053] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device described in the seventh aspect may be a network device, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be disposed in the network device, or a device including the network device.

[0054] It can be understood that the technical effects of the device described in the seventh aspect can also refer to the relevant descriptions of the method in any one of the first to sixth aspects above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0055] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory so that the communication device performs the method described in any one of the first to sixth aspects.

[0056] In a possible design, the communication device described in the eighth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the eighth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0057] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device described in the eighth aspect may be the network device described in any one of the first to sixth aspects, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be disposed in the network device, or a device including the network device.

[0058] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the eighth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the method described in any one of the first to sixth aspects, and will not be elaborated here.

[0059] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the communication device is caused to perform the method described in any one of the first to sixth aspects.

[0060] In a possible design, the communication device described in the ninth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the sixth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0061] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device described in the ninth aspect may be the network device described in any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be disposed in the network device, or a device including the network device.

[0062] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the ninth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the method described in any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect, which will not be elaborated here.

[0063] The tenth aspect provides a chip, which includes: a controller and an interface circuit. The controller is used to interact with other devices through the interface circuit to execute the method described in any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect.

[0064] The eleventh aspect provides a communication system. The communication system includes a data management network element for executing the method described in the first aspect and a terminal for executing the method described in the fourth aspect. Alternatively, the communication system includes a terminal for executing the method described in the fifth aspect and a policy control network element for executing the method described in the sixth aspect.

[0065] The twelfth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium, which includes a stored computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is run, the method described in any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect is executed.

[0066] The thirteenth aspect provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is run, the method described in any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect is executed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0067] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the 5GS architecture;

[0068] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the SOR process during registration;

[0069] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the SOR process after registration;

[0070] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the session establishment process;

[0071] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the dual-connection architecture;

[0072] Figure 6 Schematic diagram for cell selection;

[0073] Figure 7 Schematic architecture diagram of the communication system provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0074] Figure 8 Flow schematic of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 1 ;

[0075] Figure 9 Flow schematic of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 2 ;

[0076] Figure 10 Flow schematic of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 3 ;

[0077] Figure 11 Flow schematic of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 4 ;

[0078] Figure 12 Flow schematic of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 5 ;

[0079] Figure 13 Flow schematic of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 6 ;

[0080] Figure 14 Structural schematic of the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 1 ;

[0081] Figure 15 Structural schematic of the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 2 . Detailed implementation manners

[0082] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as wireless network (Wi-Fi) systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, vehicle networking communication systems, fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication systems, such as long-term evolution (LTE) systems, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication systems, such as new radio (NR) systems, and future communication systems, such as 5.5G, sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication systems, etc.

[0083] For ease of understanding, the technical terms involved in this application will be introduced first below.

[0084] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the 5GS architecture. As Figure 1 shown, the 5GS includes: an access network (AN) and a core network (CN), and may also include: terminals.

[0085] The above-mentioned terminal can be a terminal with transceiver functions, or a chip or chip system that can be set in the terminal. The terminal can also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, user station, mobile station (MS), mobile platform, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal in the embodiments of this application can be a mobile phone, cellular phone, smart phone, tablet computer (Pad), wireless data card, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless modem, handset, laptop computer, machine type communication (MTC) terminal, computer with wireless transceiver functions, virtual reality (VR) terminal, augmented reality (AR) terminal, wireless terminal in industrial control, wireless terminal in self-driving, wireless terminal in remote medical, wireless terminal in smart grid, wireless terminal in transportation safety, wireless terminal in smart city, wireless terminal in smart home, in-vehicle terminal, roadside unit (RSU) with terminal functions, etc. The terminal in this application can also be an in-vehicle module, in-vehicle component, in-vehicle chip or in-vehicle unit built into a vehicle as one or more components or units.

[0086] The above-mentioned AN is used to implement access-related functions, can provide network access functions for authorized users, and can determine transmission links of different qualities to transmit user data according to user levels, service requirements, etc. The AN forwards control signals and user data between the terminal and the CN. The AN can include: access network equipment, which can also be referred to as radio access network (RAN) equipment.

[0087] The CN is mainly responsible for maintaining the subscribed data of the mobile network and providing functions such as session management, mobility management, policy management, and security authentication for the terminal. The CN mainly includes all or part of the following functions: User Plane Function (UPF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Unified Data Repository (UDR), and Application Function (AF).

[0088] As Figure 1 shown in the figure, the UE accesses the 5G network through the RAN device. The UE communicates with the AMF through the N1 interface (abbreviated as N1); the RAN communicates with the AMF through the N2 interface (abbreviated as N2); the RAN communicates with the UPF through the N3 interface (abbreviated as N3); the SMF communicates with the UPF through the N4 interface (abbreviated as N4), and the UPF accesses the Data Network (DN) through the N6 interface (abbreviated as N6). In addition, Figure 1 the control plane functions such as the AUSF, AMF, SMF, NSSF, NEF, NRF, PCF, UDM, UDR, or AF shown in the figure interact using service-based interfaces. For example, the service-based interface provided by the AUSF externally is Nausf; the service-based interface provided by the AMF externally is Namf; the service-based interface provided by the SMF externally is Nsmf; the service-based interface provided by the NSSF externally is Nnssf; the service-based interface provided by the NEF externally is Nnef; the service-based interface provided by the NRF externally is Nnrf; the service-based interface provided by the PCF externally is Npcf; the service-based interface provided by the UDM externally is Nudm; the service-based interface provided by the UDR externally is Nudr; the service-based interface provided by the AF externally is Naf.

[0089] A RAN device can be a device that provides access for terminals. For example, a RAN device may include: a next-generation mobile communication system, such as an access network device for 6G, such as a 6G base station, or in a next-generation mobile communication system, this network device may also have other naming methods, all of which are covered by the protection scope of the embodiments of this application, and this application does not make any limitations thereto. Alternatively, a RAN device may also include a 5G device, such as a gNB in a new radio (NR) system, or one or a group (including multiple antenna panels) of antenna panels of a base station in 5G, or may also be a network node that constitutes a gNB, a transmission and reception point (TRP) or a transmission point (TP), or a transmission measurement function (TMF), such as a building base band unit (BBU), or a centralized unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU), an RSU with base station functions, or a wired access gateway, or a 5G core network. Alternatively, a RAN device may also include an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small stations), relay stations, access points, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, and so on.

[0090] The UPF is mainly responsible for user data processing (forwarding, receiving, charging, etc.). For example, the UPF can receive user data from a data network (DN) and forward the user data to the terminal through an access network device. The UPF can also receive user data from the terminal through the access network device and forward the user data to the DN. The DN refers to an operator network that provides data transmission services for users. For example, Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia service (IMS), the Internet, etc. The DN can be an external network of the operator or a network controlled by the operator, and is used to provide service to the terminal. In a protocol data unit (PDU) session, the UPF directly connected to the DN through N6 is also called a protocol data unit session anchor (PSA).

[0091] The AUSF is mainly used to perform security authentication of the terminal.

[0092] AMF is mainly used for mobility management in mobile networks. For example, user location update, user registration to the network, user handover, etc.

[0093] SMF is mainly used for session management in mobile networks. For example, session establishment, modification, and release. Specific functions include, for example, allocating Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for users, selecting UPFs that provide packet forwarding functions, etc.

[0094] PCF mainly supports providing a unified policy framework to control network behavior, providing policy rules to control layer network functions, and is also responsible for obtaining user subscription information related to policy decisions. PCF can provide policies to AMF and SMF, such as quality of service (QoS) policies, slice selection policies, etc.

[0095] NSSF is mainly used for selecting network slices for terminals.

[0096] NEF is mainly used to support the opening of capabilities and events.

[0097] UDM is mainly used to store user data, such as subscription data, authentication / authorization data, etc.

[0098] UDR is mainly used to store structured data, including subscription data and policy data, externally exposed structured data, and application-related data.

[0099] AF mainly supports interacting with the CN to provide services, such as influencing data routing decisions, policy control functions, or providing some third-party services to the network side.

[0100] It can be understood that the functions mentioned in the embodiments of this application can also be expressed as functional network elements or functional entities. For example, UPF can be expressed as a UPF network element, AMF can be expressed as an AMF network element, SMF can be expressed as an SMF network element, PCF can be expressed as a PCF network element, and so on. By analogy, there is no limitation.

[0101] 2. UE Routing Selection Policy (URSP):

[0102] The URSP rule is policy information sent by the PCF network element to the UE. Whenever a new application needs to establish a session to obtain services, the UE will evaluate the URSP rules and select the most suitable URSP rule to match the application. When the UE establishes a session for this application, it will establish the session according to the requirements of the selected URSP rule.

[0103] The specific contents of the URSP rule include the following items:

[0104] 1) Traffic descriptor:

[0105] The traffic descriptor contains some parameters for matching with applications, such as application descriptors (OS ID and APP ID), IP descriptors, domain name descriptors, data network name (DNN), etc. When the UE needs to initiate a new service, the UE needs to match according to the characteristics of the service and the traffic descriptor, and select the most matching URSP rule to serve the UE. For example, when the user wants to use a social software and there is an APP ID for the social software traffic descriptor in the URSP rule, the UE should match this URSP rule and establish a session according to the requirements of the URSP rule to obtain the service.

[0106] 2) Route selection descriptors (RSD):

[0107] A URSP rule can contain one or more route selection descriptors, and different route selection descriptors have different priorities. When the UE establishes a session, it needs to establish the session according to the requirements of the route selection descriptor RSD. Specifically, it can be divided into the following two parts:

[0108] a) Route selection components:

[0109] The route selection components include session and service continuity mode (SSC mode), slice information, DNN information, etc. When the UE establishes a session, the UE needs to establish the corresponding session according to the requirements of the route selection components. Optionally, the route selection components can include access type preference. Currently, this parameter may have 3 values, respectively indicating 3GPP, Non-3GPP, and multi-access. When indicating 3GPP, it means that the session needs to be established through the 3GPP access type. When indicating Non-3GPP, it means that the session needs to be established through the non-3GPP access type. When indicating multi-access, it means that the session needs to be established through both the 3GPP access type and the non-3GPP access type.

[0110] b) Route selection validation criteria:

[0111] The routing selection verification criterion is an optional parameter that can include time window information and geographical location information. These two parameters are used to verify whether the RSD containing this routing selection verification criterion is currently available. Only when the UE's current time meets the requirements of the time window information and the geographical location meets the requirements of the geographical location information, can the UE establish the corresponding session according to this RSD. When the RSD does not contain the corresponding conditional information, it can be considered that the RSD has no such restrictions, and the UE can establish a session at any time and / or at any location.

[0112] 3. Steering of Roaming (SOR):

[0113] The SOR process can be used to update the configuration of the UE, such as updating the network selection list of the UE, so that the UE can select a PLMN for access according to the public land mobile network (PLMN) indicated in the network selection list. The SOR process can be divided into two types: the SOR process initiated during the registration process and the SOR process triggered after the registration process. They are introduced separately below.

[0114] As Figure 2 shown, the specific process of the SOR process initiated during the registration process is as follows:

[0115] S201, the UE sends a registration request message to the AMF.

[0116] The registration request message carries the registration type and the identification information of the UE.

[0117] The registration types are as follows:

[0118] 1) Initial registration: The registration process initiated when the UE is in the deregistered state.

[0119] 2) Mobility registration update: The registration process that the UE needs to initiate due to mobility.

[0120] 3) Periodic registration update: The registration process initiated when the UE is in the registered state due to the expiration of the periodic registration update timer.

[0121] 4) Emergency registration: The registration process initiated when the UE is in a service-restricted state.

[0122] The identification information of the UE can be a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI), or a 5G globally unique temporary identifier (5G-GUTI) assigned by the AMF serving the UE, or a permanent equipment identifier (PEI). If the UE can provide a valid 5G-GUTI, it shall carry the 5G-GUTI in the registration request. If the UE cannot provide a valid 5G-GUTI, it shall carry the SUCI in the registration request. In an emergency registration, if the UE cannot provide a valid 5G-GUTI and cannot provide a SUPI (i.e., no SUCI, and SUCI is the encrypted SUPI), it shall carry the PEI in the registration request.

[0123] S202, after the AMF receives the registration request message of the UE, it needs to authenticate the UE.

[0124] S203, the AMF sends a registration UE context request (Nudm_UECM_Registration request) message to the UDM.

[0125] S204, the UDM sends a registration UE context response (Nudm_UECM_Registration response) message to the AMF.

[0126] After the authentication of the UE is passed, the AMF registers the UE context with the UDM, that is, S203 - S204 are executed.

[0127] S205, the AMF sends a subscribed data acquisition request (Nudm_SDM_Get request) message to the UDM.

[0128] If the AMF does not have the subscribed data of the UE, the AMF also needs to obtain the subscribed data of the UE from the UDM.

[0129] Optionally, S206a, the UDM decides to trigger the SOR process.

[0130] If the subscription information of the UE indicates that the SOR process can be triggered based on the UE's initial registration in the visited public land mobile network (VPLMN), when the UE performs an initial registration in the VPLMN (i.e., the AMF is the AMF in the VPLMN, or V-AMF), the UDM (i.e., the UDM in the home public land mobile network (HPLMN), or H-UDM) shall trigger the SOR process for the UE. Alternatively, the UDM can also trigger the SOR process based on the operator policy.

[0131] It can be understood that the UDM mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be understood as the UDM in the HPLMN without special instructions. The AMF mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be understood as the AMF in the VPLMN without special instructions, or can also be understood as the AMF in the HPLMN. For example, if the UE is registered to the HPLMN, the AMF is the AMF of the HPLMN; if the UE is registered to the VPLMN, the AMF is the AMF of the VPLMN.

[0132] Optionally, in S206b, the UDM sends a SOR acquisition request (Nsoraf_SoR_Get request) message to the steering of roaming application function (SOR-AF).

[0133] Optionally, in S206c, the SOR-AF sends a SOR acquisition response (Nsoraf_SoR_Get response) message to the UDM.

[0134] Optionally, in S206d, the UDM performs security verification on the information.

[0135] Among them, if the UDM wants to provide SOR to the UE when the UE performs registration in the VPLMN and there is no HPLMN policy for SOR-AF invocation, S206b - S206c are not executed. The UDM obtains the saved network selection list from the UDR. If the UDM wants to provide SOR to the UE when the UE registers in the VPLMN and there is an HPLMN policy for SOR-AF invocation, the UDM obtains the network selection list from the SOR-AF through S206b - S206c. At this time, after the UDM obtains the network selection list of the UE from the SOR-AF, the UDM can also execute S206d to perform security verification on the network selection list.

[0136] S207, the UDM sends a Subscription Data Retrieval Response (Nudm_SDM_Get response) message to the AMF.

[0137] After the UDM determines the information of the SOR (such as the UE's network selection list), the UDM can send a Subscription Data Retrieval Response message to the AMF, carrying the UE subscription data and the network selection list.

[0138] Optionally, at S208, the AMF sends a Subscription Data Subscription Request (Nudm_SDM_Subscribe request) message to the UDM.

[0139] The Subscription Data Subscription Request message is used to indicate that if the UDM has any changes to the UE's subscription data, the UDM needs to send the latest UE subscription data to the AMF according to the requirements of this Subscription Data Subscription Request message.

[0140] S209, the AMF sends a Registration Accept message to the UE.

[0141] The AMF includes the UE's network selection list received by the AMF in the Registration Accept message.

[0142] S210, the UE sends a Registration Complete message to the AMF.

[0143] The UE performs a security verification on the received network selection list. If the security verification is successful and the UDM does not require a feedback message to be sent, the UE sends a Registration Complete message to the AMF, which does not include a SOR confirmation message. If the security verification fails, or the UE is configured to require SOR information, such as a network selection list, but does not receive the corresponding network selection list in the Registration Accept message, the UE also sends a Registration Complete message to the AMF, which does not include a SOR confirmation message. If the security verification is successful and the UDM requires a feedback message to be sent, the UE sends a Registration Complete message to the AMF, which includes a SOR confirmation message.

[0144] Optionally, at S211, the AMF sends a SOR confirmation message to the UDM.

[0145] If the AMF receives a SOR confirmation message, the AMF shall provide the SOR confirmation message to the UDM. After receiving the SOR confirmation message, the UDM can determine whether it needs to provide feedback to the SOR-AF based on operator policies or requirements in the UE's subscription data. If the UDM needs to provide feedback to the SOR-AF, the UDM provides the SOR confirmation message to the SOR-AF.

[0146] Optionally, in S212, the UE re-performs network selection according to the received network selection list and selects a network with a higher priority for access.

[0147] As Figure 3 shown, the specific process of the SOR process triggered after the registration process is as follows:

[0148] Optionally, in S301, the SOR-AF sends a parameter provision update request (Nudm_ParameterProvision_Update request) message to the UDM.

[0149] If the UDM supports obtaining a list of preferred PLMN / accesstechnology combinations (i.e., the network selection list) from the SOR-AF, the SOR-AF can send a parameter provision update request to the HPLMN UDM to carry this network selection list.

[0150] In S302, the UDM sends a subscription data notification (Nudm_SDM_Notification) message to the AMF.

[0151] The subscription data notification message can include the updated network selection list. Among them, the UDM can obtain the updated network selection list (sent by the SOR-AF in S300 or obtained from the UDR). The UDM notifies the AMF of the user profile update. Optionally, this updated network selection list information can be included in the steering of roaming information. At this time, the UDM can send a subscription data notification message to the AMF to carry this updated network selection list.

[0152] In S303, the AMF sends a downlink NAS transport (DL NAS Transport) message to the UE.

[0153] The downlink NAS transport message can include the information obtained by the AMF from the UDM, that is, the AMF transparently transmits the information obtained from the UDM to the UE. In other words, if the UDM sends an updated network selection list to the AMF, the downlink NAS message includes this network selection list. If the UDM sends steering of roaming information to the AMF and the steering of roaming information includes the updated network selection list, the downlink NAS transport message also includes this steering of roaming information.

[0154] In S304, the UE performs a security check.

[0155] If the UE receives the above roaming handover information or updated network selection list, the UE needs to perform a security check to confirm that this information is provided by the HPLMN. If the security check is successful, the UE uploads this information to the user service identity module (USIM) card, or replaces the information previously stored by the UE.

[0156] S305, the UE sends an uplink NAS transport (UL NAS Transport) message to the AMF.

[0157] If the UDM requests the UE to feedback a response message, the UE can include this response message in the uplink NAS transport message. Optionally, this response message can be a message contained in the roaming handover transparent container (SOR transparent container) included in the uplink NAS transport message, specifically, it can be a subscribed data information request (Nudm_SDM_Inforequest) message.

[0158] S306, the AMF sends a subscribed data information request message to the UDM. The UDM verifies that the subscribed data request information message is sent by the UE.

[0159] Optionally, S307, the UDM sends a subscribed data information request (Nsoraf_SoR_Info request) message to the SOR-AF.

[0160] If the updated network selection list is provided by the SOR-AF, the UDM can execute S307 to indicate that this network selection list has been successfully transmitted to the UE.

[0161] 4. Session establishment procedure:

[0162] As Figure 4 shown, 3GPP defines the session establishment procedure as follows:

[0163] S401, the UE sends a PDU session establishment request message (PDU Session EstablishmentRequest) to the AMF. The PDU session establishment request message is a NAS message, carrying parameters such as a PDU session identifier (PDU session ID), a request type (request type), a data network name requested by the UE (UErequested DNN), and a slice information (S-NSSAI).

[0164] S402, the AMF selects a suitable SMF.

[0165] In S403, the AMF sends an Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request message for creating a session context of the PDU session to the SMF. The Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request message carries parameters such as the SUPI of the UE.

[0166] Optionally, in S404, the SMF sends a request to the UDM to obtain session management subscription data. The subscription data may include information on whether session establishment is allowed.

[0167] In S405, the SMF sends an Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Response message to the AMF.

[0168] Optionally, in S406, the network executes a PDU session authentication or authorization process.

[0169] In S407, the SMF selects a PCF. Among them, if dynamic PCC rules are required, the SMF selects a PCF and establishes a session policy association with this PCF. For example, the SMF sends an SM Policy Association Establishment Request message to the PCF, and the PCF sends an SM Policy Association Establishment Response message to the SMF.

[0170] In S408, the SMF selects a suitable UPF.

[0171] Optionally, in S409, the SMF sends an SMF initiated SM Policy Association Modification message to the PCF. For example, if the PCF has subscribed to events from the SMF in advance, such as UE time zone change or location change, etc., the SMF can report the change information to the PCF through the SMF initiated SM Policy Association Modification message.

[0172] S410, the SMF establishes an N4 connection with the UPF. Specifically, as shown in S410a, the SMF sends an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Request message to the UPF, which includes N4 rules, specifically rules such as packet detection rule (PDR), forwarding action rule (FAR), etc. Also, as shown in S410b, the UPF sends an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Response message to the SMF.

[0173] S411, the SMF sends a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message to the AMF. This message contains information such as a session identifier, N2 SM information, and an N1 SM Container. Among them, the N2 SM information is a message sent by the SMF to the RAN through the AMF. The N2 SM information also contains information such as the tunnel endpoint identifier of the UPF, which is used to inform the RAN where the uplink data should be sent (which can be understood as the destination address of the uplink data). The information in the N1 SM Container is information sent by the SMF to the UE through the AMF. For example, the AMF will send this information to the UE through NAS messages later.

[0174] S412, the AMF sends an N2 PDU Session Request message to the RAN. This message carries the N2 SM information and the NAS message that needs to be sent to the UE. The NAS message includes a session identifier and an N1 SM Container.

[0175] S413, the RAN and the UE establish radio resources. For example, the RAN sends the above NAS message to the UE, and this NAS message can also carry a PDU session establishment acceptance message.

[0176] S414, the RAN sends an N2 PDU Session Response message to the AMF. This message carries the tunnel endpoint identifier on the RAN side, that is, the AN tunnel endpoint identifier information.

[0177] S415. The AMF sends an Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext Request message to the SMF, which carries AN tunnel endpoint identification information.

[0178] S416. The SMF sends the AN tunnel endpoint identification information to the UPF through the N4 session modification process. For example, in S416a, the SMF sends an N4 session modification request message to the UPF, which includes the AN tunnel endpoint identification information, to inform the UPF where the downlink data should be sent. And in S416b, the UPF sends an N4 session modification response message to the SMF.

[0179] S417. The SMF sends an Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext Response message to the AMF.

[0180] 5. Connection architecture of the 3GPP architecture:

[0181] As Figure 5 shown, the existing 3GPP architecture supports the UE to access the network simultaneously through 3GPP access types and non-3GPP access types. The so-called 3GPP access type means that the access type of the access network is a 3GPP access type. 3GPP access types can include the following access technologies: LTE (corresponding to 4G cellular networks), NR (corresponding to 5G cellular networks), or satellite access methods defined by 3GPP, including low-earth orbit satellites, medium-earth orbit satellites, geostationary satellites, etc. Non-3GPP access types include untrusted non-3GPP access technologies, for example, accessing the core network through a personally purchased wireless access node, trusted non-3GPP access technologies, for example, accessing the core network through a wireless access node deployed by an operator, and wireline access technologies. Non-3GPP access types can be in ways such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, etc.

[0182] 6. Cell selection:

[0183] Currently, 3GPP defines cell selection as follows:

[0184] After the UE selects a network and enters the 1 state, if the UE has already saved cell information (previously measured and saved), it selects according to the stored cell information. If not, it initiates initial cell selection. When selecting according to the stored cell information in the cell, if there is a suitable cell (such as the cell with the best signal quality in this network), it selects the suitable cell for residence. If there is no suitable cell, it performs initial cell selection. When performing initial cell selection, if a suitable cell is found, it selects the cell for residence. If there is no suitable cell (such as the signal strength of all cells is lower than the threshold), it enters the any cell selection state (the any cell selection state means that it can select a cell that is not in this network. If there are emergency services later, it can be executed through this cell).

[0185] When the UE is normally resident in a cell, if the UE generates a service and needs to actively send information to the network, or the UE receives a paging message, it triggers the UE to resume the connection with the network. The UE leaves the idle state (IDLE) or the inactive state (INACTIVE) and enters the connected state (CONNECTED). When the UE returns to the idle state from the connected state and reselects a cell for residence, if there is a suitable cell, it directly resides in that cell. If there is no suitable cell, the UE selects a cell according to the saved cell information.

[0186] When the UE is resident in a cell, it will regularly perform a cell reselection evaluation process. If a cell with better signal quality appears, the UE can reselect the cell for residence. If it is measured that there are no available cells around, the UE enters the any cell selection state.

[0187] When the UE is resident in a cell and the NAS message received by the UE indicates that the UE's registration message has been rejected, the UE will also enter the any cell selection state. When the UE does not insert a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, or the UE does not have subscription data for a stand-alone non-public network (SNPN), the UE will also enter the any cell selection. At this time, if the UE inserts a SIM card or obtains the subscription data of the SNPN, the UE can reselect the network and return to the 1 state.

[0188] When the UE is in any cell selection state, if a suitable cell appears, the UE selects the suitable cell and returns to state 2. If an acceptable cell (such as a cell of another network) is found, the UE selects the cell of the other network to camp on and enters the idle state. If a suitable cell appears at this time, the UE selects the suitable cell and enters state 2. Similarly, the UE also periodically performs the cell reselection evaluation process. If a cell with better signal quality appears, the UE reselects it. If there is no cell to select around, the UE enters the any cell selection state.

[0189] When the UE needs to perform an emergency service, the UE resumes from the idle state to the connected state. When the UE returns from the connected state to the idle state, the UE performs cell selection. If an acceptable cell is found, the UE selects the acceptable cell to camp on. If there is no acceptable cell, the UE returns to the any cell selection state.

[0190] It can be seen that in the existing cell selection technology, the UE re - selects a cell triggered by the cell signal quality measurement result. If a cell with better signal quality appears, it will trigger the UE to select a new cell to replace the current cell. However, according to the existing technology solution, the newly selected cell will replace the current cell, and the UE cannot maintain the connection of two cells at the same time. In other words, the UE cannot access two cells simultaneously and cannot meet the future more flexible communication requirements.

[0191] In view of the above - mentioned technical problems, the embodiments of the present application propose the following technical solutions.

[0192] Next, the technical solutions in the present application will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0193] In the embodiments of the present application, "indication" may include direct indication and indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by a certain piece of information is called the information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, but not limited to, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated, etc. It is also possible to indirectly indicate the information to be indicated by indicating other information, where there is an association relationship between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to only indicate a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or pre - agreed. For example, it is also possible to realize the indication of specific information by means of the arrangement order of each piece of information pre - agreed (such as stipulated by the protocol), so as to reduce the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, the common part of each piece of information can be identified and indicated uniformly to reduce the indication overhead caused by separately indicating the same information.

[0194] In addition, the specific indication method can also be various existing indication methods, such as, but not limited to, the above-mentioned indication methods and their various combinations, etc. The specific details of various indication methods can refer to the prior art and will not be elaborated herein. As can be seen from the above, for example, when multiple pieces of information of the same type need to be indicated, there may be a situation where the indication methods of different pieces of information are different. In the specific implementation process, the required indication method can be selected according to specific needs, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the selected indication method. In this way, the indication methods involved in the embodiments of the present application should be understood to cover various methods that can enable the party to be indicated to obtain the information to be indicated.

[0195] It should be understood that the information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending periods and / or sending timings of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. Among them, the sending periods and / or sending timings of these sub-information can be predefined, such as predefined according to a protocol, or can be configured by the sending device by sending configuration information to the receiving device.

[0196] In the present application, "sending information" can be understood as one device sending information to another device, or, it can also be understood as a logical module inside a device sending information to another logical module. For example, "a network device sends information" can be understood as the network device sending information to another device (such as a terminal or another network device), or, it can be understood as logical module 1 in the network device sending information to logical module 2 in the network device.

[0197] In the present application, "receiving information" can be understood as one device receiving information from another device, or, it can also be understood as a logical module inside a device receiving information from another logical module. For example, "a network device receives information" can be understood as the network device receiving information from another device (such as a terminal or another network device), or, it can be understood as logical module 1 in the network device receiving information from logical module 2 in the network device.

[0198] In the present application, "sending information to... (such as a terminal)" or the relevant schematic in the drawings can be understood that the destination of the information is the terminal. It can include directly or indirectly sending information to the terminal. "Receiving information from... (such as a terminal)" or "receiving information sent from... (such as a terminal)" or "receiving the information sent by... (such as a terminal)", or the relevant schematic in the drawings can be understood that the source of the information is the terminal, and it can include directly or indirectly receiving information from the terminal. The information may be subjected to necessary processing, such as format change, etc., between the source and destination of the information sending, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in the present application can be understood similarly and will not be elaborated herein.

[0199] "Pre - definition" or "pre - configuration" can be achieved by pre - saving the corresponding codes, tables or other means that can be used to indicate relevant information in the device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation methods thereof. Among them, "saving" can refer to saving in one or more memories. The one or more memories can be set separately, or integrated in an encoder, a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The one or more memories can also be partially set separately and partially integrated in a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The type of the memory can be any form of storage medium, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0200] The "protocol" involved in the embodiments of the present application can refer to a protocol family in the communication field, a standard protocol with a frame structure similar to that of a protocol family, or a relevant protocol applied to future communication systems. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0201] In the embodiments of the present application, descriptions such as "when...", "in the case of...", "if", and "if" all refer to the device making corresponding processing under a certain objective situation, not limiting time, and not requiring the device to have a judgment action during implementation, nor meaning other limitations exist.

[0202] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B may represent A or B. The "and / or" in the embodiments of the present application is merely a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Here, A and B can be singular or plural. Also, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "a plurality of" means two or more than two. "At least one (item)" or its similar expression refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of a single item or plural items. For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a - b, a - c, b - c, or a - b - c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple. Additionally, for the convenience of clearly describing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish identical or similar items with basically the same functions and roles. Those skilled in the art can understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and "first", "second", etc. do not necessarily mean different. At the same time, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to represent examples, illustrations, or explanations. Any embodiment or design solution described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be construed as being more preferred or having more advantages than other embodiments or design solutions. Exactly speaking, using words such as "exemplary" or "for example" aims to present relevant concepts in a specific way for easy understanding.

[0203] The network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly explaining the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Those of ordinary skill in the art know that with the evolution of the network architecture and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0204] To facilitate the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, first, a communication system will be used as an example to detail the communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0205] Figure 6 and Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system, as Figure 6 and Figure 7 shown. The communication system mainly includes: a network device and a terminal.

[0206] The communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. The network device can specifically be a network element in the core network 200. The network device can be a data management network element, such as the UDM in 5G, or in a future communication system, it can also be any network element / function / entity for implementing related functions such as data management or storage, and no specific limitation is imposed thereon. The network device can also be a policy control network element, such as a PCF, or in a future communication system, it can also be any network element / function / entity for implementing related functions such as policy management or control, and no specific limitation is imposed thereon. Or, the network device can also be an access and mobility management network element, such as an AMF, or in a future communication system, it can also be any network element / function / entity for implementing related functions such as access and mobility management, and no specific limitation is imposed thereon.

[0207] The terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenarios, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0208] The terminal can also be understood as a terminal device having multiple subscribed data. The terminal device can have multiple SIM card modules, and each module can correspond to one subscribed data, and there is an association relationship between the subscribed data. For example, two subscribed data can be associated with the same user. The terminal can be a user equipment with multiple SIM cards, or a system integrating multiple sets of user equipment, where each set of user equipment has a SIM card module and a communication module and can establish a connection with the network.

[0209] In a communication system, multiple connections can be established between a terminal and a network. Multiple connections require the terminal to access the network through a subscription data and simultaneously through two connections of 3GPP access types, that is, to establish connections of 3GPP access types with multiple cells respectively. Taking dual connection as an example of multiple connections, in the future network evolution process, due to further requirements for bandwidth or coverage, it may be necessary for the terminal to access the network through two connections of 3GPP access types simultaneously. At this time, there may be various combinations of access types for dual connection. For example, terrestrial network (TN) + TN, or NR + NR, or TN + non-terrestrial network (NTN), or NR + satellite. Or after the application of the future 6G network, dual connection can also be a combination of networks of different standards, such as 5G + 6G or 6G + satellite, etc. For two connections of 3GPP access types, they can be connected to the same network or different networks.

[0210] It can be understood that multiple connections can also be expressed in other terms: supporting dual (or multiple) radio capabilities, supporting dual (or multiple) 3GPP radio access technologies (RATs), supporting dual (or multiple) steering capabilities, supporting dual (or multiple) 3GPP accesses, supporting dual (or multiple) 3GPP access types, supporting dual (or multiple) registrations, supporting the same access type, supporting the same radio access technology, supporting the same access network, etc. In other words, supporting one or more of the above can be understood as being able to establish multiple connections.

[0211] Establishing multiple connections between a terminal and a cell can also be understood as the terminal device establishing connections with the cell through multiple subscribed data respectively. Taking dual-connection as an example of multiple connections, a terminal device has two SIM card modules, and each SIM card module corresponds to a subscribed data. The terminal device establishes connections with the cell through the two SIM card modules respectively. Or, a terminal device has two subscribed data (such as two SUPIs), and the terminal device accesses the cell (or establishes a connection with the cell) through the two subscribed data respectively. Or, two sets of user equipment are integrated in a terminal device, each set of user equipment has a subscribed data, and each set of user equipment establishes a connection with the cell. At this time, the terminal device as a whole establishes two connections with the cell, and it can be considered that the terminal device has established a dual-connection with the cell.

[0212] In a communication system, there can be multiple ways to trigger the establishment of multiple connections, which are as follows.

[0213] 1) Triggered by registration:

[0214] In the registration process of the terminal, the terminal can actively report its own capability information, such as whether the terminal supports multiple connections. Or, in the registration process of the terminal, the data management network element can determine whether the network can provide multiple-connection services for the terminal according to the subscribed data of the terminal, that is, whether the terminal has subscribed to multiple-connection services. Or, in the registration process of the terminal, the data management network element can determine whether the network slice requested by the terminal requires multiple-connection services. On this basis, if at least one of the following is satisfied: the terminal supports multiple connections, the terminal has subscribed to multiple-connection services, or the network slice requested by the terminal supports multiple-connection services, the data management network element can instruct the terminal to establish multiple connections through the registration process. Optionally, the data management network element can also inform the terminal of the policy for establishing multiple connections through the registration process, such as the access type combination of multiple connections, the time and / or area allowed to establish multiple connections, etc. If the data management network element does not inform the terminal of the policy for establishing multiple connections, it means that the network has no policy restrictions on the terminal to establish multiple connections, and the terminal can make its own decision to establish multiple connections.

[0215] 2) Triggered by services:

[0216] When the terminal uses some services with high requirements for network bandwidth, it may be necessary to use multiple connections to expand the bandwidth. Therefore, the terminal or the network can trigger the establishment of multiple connections according to the services.

[0217] For example, the terminal can trigger the establishment of multiple connections based on URSP rules. The URSP rules can be enhanced to include the indication of establishing multiple connections and the policy for establishing multiple connections. When the terminal determines that it needs to establish a session for a certain service, if the service matches the URSP rules, the terminal establishes multiple connections according to the indication of the URSP rules.

[0218] For example, if the access network device finds that it cannot guarantee the services of the terminal, such as the bandwidth provided by the access network device cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the services, the access network device can report this situation to the data management network element through the access and mobility management network element. Alternatively, if the access and mobility management network element finds that it cannot guarantee the services of the terminal, such as the terminal moves to a low-signal area and its signal quality cannot guarantee the services, the access and mobility management network element can report this situation to the data management network element. In this way, the data management network element can instruct the terminal to establish multi-connections. Optionally, the data management network element can also inform the terminal of the policy for establishing multi-connections.

[0219] For example, during the process of establishing a session, the terminal can report the S-NSSAI and DNN corresponding to the session of the terminal to the data management network element or the policy control network element. If the services corresponding to the S-NSSAI and DNN are services that require establishing multi-connections, the data management network element or the policy control network element can instruct the terminal to establish multi-connections. Optionally, the data management network element or the policy control network element can also inform the terminal of the policy for establishing multi-connections.

[0220] 3) Triggered by the user:

[0221] The terminal can provide the user with the function of enabling or disabling multi-connections. If the user operates to enable multi-connections, the terminal can respond to the user's operation and trigger the establishment of multi-connections. After that, if the user operates to disable multi-connections, the terminal can respond to the user's operation and trigger the release of multi-connections, and restore to establish a single connection with the network, that is, establish a connection of a 3GPP access type or a non-3GPP access type with the network.

[0222] The communication method and device of the embodiments of the present application will be further introduced below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It can be understood that in the present application, the network device and the terminal are used as examples of the execution entities of the interaction schematic, but the present application does not limit the execution entities of the interaction schematic. For example, the method executed by the network device in the present application can also be executed by a module (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor) applied to the network device, and can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device; the method executed by the terminal in the present application can also be executed by a module (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor) applied to the terminal, and can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal.

[0223] The interaction process between the network elements / devices in the above communication system will be specifically introduced below through method embodiments. The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the above communication system and specifically applied to various scenarios mentioned in the above communication system. The following is a specific introduction.

[0224] Figure 8 Flow schematic of the communication method provided by the embodiment of this application Figure 1 This communication method is applicable to the above communication system and mainly involves the interaction between the data management network element and the terminal.

[0225] S801. The data management network element obtains the relevant information of multi-connection.

[0226] Multi-connection may refer to establishing connections of 3GPP access types with multiple cells simultaneously, or accessing the network using multiple 3GPP access types respectively, such as multiple cells in the network. The multiple cells may be in the same network, such as cells within the same PLMN, or may also be cells in different networks, and this is not limited.

[0227] The relevant information of multi-connection may include indication information and / or policy information.

[0228] The indication information may be used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish multi-connection. The indication information may be a 1-bit cell, and when the value of this cell is 1, it indicates that the terminal needs to establish multi-connection. When the value of this cell is 0, it can be understood as that there is no indication information at this time, or the indication information indicates that the terminal does not need to establish multi-connection.

[0229] The policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing multi-connection. For example, the policy information may include at least one of the following: service policy, access type policy, location policy, or time policy.

[0230] The service policy may mean that multi-connection needs to be established when the network cannot meet the service requirements, that is, to establish according to the service requirements to avoid redundancy. For example, the service policy may be a threshold value of the service. When exceeding this threshold value, it is considered that the network cannot meet the service requirements and multi-connection needs to be triggered. For example, the threshold value of the service may be a delay threshold value. At this time, if the transmission delay of the service (such as the air interface transmission delay or the transmission delay from the user plane anchor point to the terminal, etc.) exceeds the delay threshold value, it is considered that the current network cannot meet the service requirements, such as network congestion and other situations. Another example is that the threshold value of the service may also be a threshold value of parameters such as bandwidth and packet loss rate. At this time, if the bandwidth provided by the network for the service is less than the bandwidth threshold value, and / or the packet loss rate of this service is greater than the packet loss rate threshold value, it is considered that the current network cannot meet the service requirements. Of course, the above specific implementations of the threshold value of the service are only some examples and do not limit the embodiments of this application. Any parameter that may be used to evaluate whether the network can meet the service requirements can be considered as the threshold value of the embodiments of this application, such as the queuing waiting time of the service data packet and the number of retransmissions of the service data packet.

[0231] The access type policy refers to the combination of access types required to establish multiple connections. For example, when the multiple connection is a dual connection, the access type combination can be TN+TN, or TN+NTN, or after the application of the future 6G network, the dual connection can also be a combination of networks of different systems, such as 5G+6G or 6G+satellite, etc. Of course, when the multiple connection is a connection of 3 or more 3GPP access types, the access type combination can be more combinations of 3GPP access types, such as TN+TN+TN, or TN+TN+NTN, or NTN+NTN+NTN, or 4G+5G+6G, or 5G+6G+satellite, etc., which can be arbitrarily combined according to actual needs, and so on, without further elaboration. In this way, the decoupling of access resources can be achieved, that is, connections of different 3GPP access types use different network resources, avoiding network resource tension caused by using the same access type.

[0232] The location policy means that the multiple connection needs to be established within a preset area, such as a low-signal area where communication signal enhancement is required, to ensure the communication quality of users in this area. For example, the location policy can include information indicating the location of the preset area, such as information that the network can recognize, such as the identifier of the cell, or it can also be any other possible location information, such as longitude and latitude information.

[0233] The time policy means that the multiple connection needs to be established within a preset time period, such as a time period with a large business demand, to ensure the service experience during this time period. For example, the time policy can include information indicating the preset time period. For example, the preset time period is a periodic time period, and the information indicating the preset time period can include information on the interval duration between adjacent periods, and information on the time period during which the multiple connection needs to be established within each period, such as the time period from t1 to t2 after the start time of each period, or the time period from t1 to t2 before the end time of each period.

[0234] It can be understood that for the above-mentioned indication information and policy information, if the relevant information of the multiple connection contains indication information, the policy information can be optional information. If the relevant information of the multiple connection carries policy information, it means that the subsequent terminal needs to establish a multiple connection according to the indication of the policy information when necessary. If the relevant information of the multiple connection does not carry policy information, it means that the network has no policy restrictions on the terminal to establish a multiple connection, and the terminal can make its own decision to establish a multiple connection. If the relevant information of the multiple connection contains policy information, the indication information can be optional information. If the relevant information of the multiple connection carries indication information, it indicates that the terminal needs to establish a multiple connection through the indication information. If the relevant information of the multiple connection does not carry indication information, it can implicitly indicate that the terminal needs to establish a multiple connection through the policy information.

[0235] S802. The data management network element sends the multi-connection related information to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the multi-connection related information from the network.

[0236] S803. The terminal establishes a multi-connection with the network according to the multi-connection related information.

[0237] In summary, since the network side, that is, the data management network element, can send the multi-connection related information, such as the indication and policy required for establishing a multi-connection, to the terminal, the terminal can establish connections of 3GPP access types with multiple cells respectively according to the relevant information, that is, maintain connections with multiple cells simultaneously, so as to meet more future and more flexible communication requirements.

[0238] The following will introduce each step separately.

[0239] S801:

[0240] There are various ways for the data management network element to obtain the multi-connection related information. For example, it can be triggered to obtain according to the report of the terminal, or triggered to obtain according to the report of other network elements on the network side, or the data management network element can also decide to trigger the acquisition by itself. The following will introduce them separately.

[0241] Method 1: The terminal can send the capability information of the terminal to the network. Correspondingly, the data management network element can obtain the capability information of the terminal and obtain the multi-connection related information according to the capability information of the terminal.

[0242] The capability information of the terminal (or the multi-connection capability of the terminal) can be used to indicate whether the terminal supports establishing connections of 3GPP access types with multiple cells respectively, so as to avoid wasting communication resources by instructing the terminal to establish a multi-connection when the terminal does not support multi-connections. For example, the capability information of the terminal can be a 1-bit cell, and the two values of 0 / 1 of this cell are used to indicate whether the terminal supports establishing connections of 3GPP access types with multiple cells respectively, that is, whether it supports multi-connections.

[0243] The capability information of the terminal can be reported to the network through the registration process. For example, during the terminal registration process, the terminal can send a registration request message to the access and mobility management network element. At this time, the capability information of the terminal can be carried as an independent cell in the registration request message, or it can also be carried as a cell in the radio capability report of the terminal in the registration request message. After receiving the capability information of the terminal, the access and mobility management network element can report the capability information of the terminal to the data management network element when registering the terminal context with the data management network element. In other words, during the terminal registration process, the data management network element can receive a context registration request message from the access and mobility management network element, and the context registration request message includes the capability information of the terminal. That is, the existing registration process can be reused to realize the perception of the multi-connection capability of the terminal, or it can also be realized through a newly defined process, decoupled from the existing process, and the cell transfer can be more flexible.

[0244] When the data management network element determines that the terminal supports multi-connection based on the capability information of the terminal, it obtains relevant information about multi-connection. For example, the data management network element can obtain the pre-configured relevant information about multi-connection locally, or it can also obtain the relevant information about multi-connection from other network elements, such as from the data storage network element, and there is no limitation on this. Of course, if the capability information of the terminal indicates that the terminal does not support multi-connection, the data management network element does not need to obtain the relevant information about multi-connection for this terminal. Or, the data management network element can still obtain the relevant information about multi-connection (such as the information obtained in advance for other terminals that support multi-connection), but the relevant information does not need to be sent to this terminal that does not support multi-connection subsequently.

[0245] Method 2: The terminal can send the information of the slice of the terminal to the network. Correspondingly, the data management network element can obtain the slice information requested by the terminal and obtain the relevant information about multi-connection according to whether the network slice is the slice corresponding to the multi-connection service.

[0246] The slice information requested by the terminal can be used to indicate the network slice requested by the terminal, such as one or more network slices. For example, the terminal can indicate in the registration request message that it requests to use S-NSSAI#1 and / or S-NSSAI#2.

[0247] The slice information requested by the terminal can also be reported to the network through the registration process. For example, during the terminal registration process, the terminal can send a registration request message carrying the slice information requested by the terminal to the access and mobility management entity. After receiving the slice information requested by the terminal, the access and mobility management entity can report the terminal's capability information to the data management entity when registering the terminal's context with the data management entity. In other words, during the terminal registration process, the data management entity can receive a context registration request message from the access and mobility management entity, and this context registration request message includes the slice information requested by the terminal. That is, the existing registration process can be reused to realize the perception of the multi-connection requirements of the terminal, or it can also be realized through a newly defined process, decoupled from the existing process, and the cell transmission can be more flexible.

[0248] The data management entity can determine whether there is a network slice corresponding to a service that requires multi-connection (or a multi-connection service) in the network slice requested by the terminal according to the correspondence between the network slice and the service. For example, if the service that requires multi-connection is the extended reality media service (XRM), the XRM service has a relatively high bandwidth requirement, so multi-connection needs to be established to ensure a large bandwidth to meet the bandwidth requirement of the XRM service. In this case, the XRM service can be understood as a multi-connection service. Of course, the XRM service is only an example and is not a limitation. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific service form of the multi-connection service. If there is a network slice corresponding to a multi-connection service in the network slice requested by the terminal, the data management entity can obtain the relevant information about multi-connection. The specific acquisition method can refer to the relevant introduction of Method 1 above and will not be elaborated here.

[0249] Method 3: The data management entity can obtain the subscription data of the terminal and, based on this subscription data, obtain the relevant information about multi-connection.

[0250] The subscription data of the terminal refers to the relevant data when the terminal subscribes to network services in advance, which can be pre - stored in the data management network element. If the subscription data of the terminal contains information indicating that the network can provide multi - connection services for the terminal, that is, it means that the terminal is a user who has subscribed to multi - connection, or the terminal has subscribed to multi - connection services, so as to avoid communication redundancy caused by sending multi - connection - related information to unsubscribed users. If the subscription data of the terminal does not contain information indicating that the network can provide multi - connection services for the terminal, it means that the terminal has not subscribed to multi - connection services. Of course, this information can also be a 1 - bit cell, and the subscription data of the terminal defaultly contains this information. At this time, the 0 / 1 two values of this information can be used to indicate whether the terminal has subscribed to multi - connection services respectively. Or, if the subscription data of the terminal contains services that require multi - connection establishment, such as XRM services, it can also be considered that the terminal has subscribed to multi - connection services.

[0251] The data management network element can obtain the subscription data of the terminal during the terminal registration process. For example, during the terminal registration process, the access and mobility management network element can send a subscription data acquisition request message to the data management network element to request the data subscribed by the terminal with the network. Correspondingly, the data management network element can receive the subscription data acquisition request message from the access and mobility management network element and obtain the subscription data of the terminal according to the subscription data acquisition request message. In this way, the data management network element can determine whether the subscription data of the terminal contains information indicating that the network can provide multi - connection services for the terminal, or determine the value of this information. That is, it can reuse the existing registration process to realize the perception of the terminal's subscription data. Or, it can also be realized through a newly defined process, decoupled from the existing process, and the cell transfer can be more flexible. If the subscription data of the terminal contains information indicating that the network can provide multi - connection services for the terminal, or determines that the value of this information indicates that the terminal has subscribed to multi - connection services, the data management network element can obtain multi - connection - related information. The specific acquisition method can refer to the relevant introduction of Method 1 above and will not be elaborated here.

[0252] It can be understood that the above Method 1 - Method 3 all obtain multi - connection - related information during the terminal registration process, that is, it can be understood as obtaining multi - connection - related information by reusing the terminal registration process.

[0253] Method 4: The data management network element can receive service information from the access and mobility management network element and obtain multi - connection - related information according to the service information.

[0254] Service information is used to indicate that the network cannot meet the service requirements of the terminal. For example, the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, and / or the signal quality of the network cannot meet the signal quality requirements of the terminal's service. Or there may be any other possible situations, which are not limited here. At this time, the network needs to provide additional network resources through multi-connection to meet the service requirements of the terminal. For example, the service information can be a bitmap of multiple bits, and different value combinations of the bitmap are used to indicate various situations where the network cannot meet the service requirements of the terminal. For example, if the bitmap is 2 bits, 00 indicates that the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, 01 indicates that the signal quality of the network cannot meet the signal quality requirements of the terminal's service, 10 indicates that the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service and the signal quality of the network cannot meet the signal quality requirements of the terminal's service, and 11 is reserved. Another example is that the service information can be multiple bits of an enumeration type, and the value of each bit corresponds to a situation indicating whether the network meets the service requirements of the terminal.

[0255] Optionally, when the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, the service information is also used to indicate the additional bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal, such as information including the bandwidth. In this way, the network can determine how much bandwidth the terminal finally needs, so that the subsequent multi-connection can provide this bandwidth to ensure that the service requirements of the terminal can be met.

[0256] The service information can be reported by the access network device to the data management network element through the access and mobility management network element, or it can also be directly reported by the access and mobility management network element to the data management network element.

[0257] For example, when the access network device determines that the bandwidth it can provide for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, the access network device may send an N2 message to the access and mobility management function (AMF). The N2 message includes service information, which is used to indicate that the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service. Optionally, the service information is also used to indicate the additional bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal. For instance, when the access network device determines that the bandwidth it can currently provide for the terminal is 40 megabits per second (Mbps), and the configuration information of the access network device's service indicates that the bandwidth requirement of the terminal's service is 60 Mbps, it means that the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service. At this time, the service information is also used to indicate the additional 20 Mbps bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal. Correspondingly, the AMF can receive the N2 message from the access network device and send the service information to the data management function (DMF). At this time, the service information can be carried in any possible message exchanged between the AMF and the DMF. Alternatively, the access network device may not be aware of the total bandwidth requirement of the terminal. When the bandwidth requested by the service exceeds the bandwidth that the access network device itself can provide, the access network device can report the bandwidth that the access network device itself can currently provide to the AMF. The AMF can calculate the difference between the total bandwidth requirement of the terminal and the currently satisfied bandwidth based on this, which is the additional bandwidth provided for the terminal.

[0258] For another example, the AMF can perform mobility management on the terminal to determine whether the terminal has moved to a low signal area. Among them, the low signal area can be pre-configured in the AMF. The low signal area can be an area at the cell granularity, such as an area containing one or more cells, which can be represented by the identifier of the cell, or the low signal area can also be an area delimited by longitude and latitude information, which is not limited here. If the terminal has currently moved to the low signal area, the AMF can obtain service information based on the fact that the terminal is located in the low signal area, such as obtaining pre-configured service information locally or generating service information locally, and send the service information to the DMF. At this time, the service information can be carried in any possible message exchanged between the AMF and the DMF, which is used to indicate that the signal quality of the network cannot meet the signal quality requirements of the terminal's service.

[0259] It can be understood that when the access and mobility management network element obtains service information, it can also combine the service information reported by the access network device. For example, if the service information reported by the access network device indicates that the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, and at this time the access and mobility management network element also determines that the terminal has moved to a low-signal area, the access and mobility management network element can generate service information indicating that the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, and the signal quality of the network cannot meet the signal quality requirements of the terminal's service.

[0260] In the case where the data management network element obtains service information, the data management network element can obtain relevant information about multi-connection according to the service information. The specific obtaining method can refer to the relevant introduction of Method 1 above and will not be elaborated here. Additionally, if the service information indicates the additional bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal, the relevant information about multi-connection can also include the splitting ratio of multi-connection, or the bandwidth splitting ratio, which can be determined by the data management network element according to the additional bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal. For example, taking multi-connection as dual-connection, if the network needs to provide an additional 20 Mbps bandwidth for the terminal, and the session context of the terminal in the data management network element indicates that the bandwidth requirement of the terminal's service is 60 Mbps, the data management network element can determine that the splitting ratio should be greater than 20 Mbps / 60 Mbps = 1 / 3, such as 0.4, so that the original access network device only needs to provide less than 40 Mbps bandwidth for the terminal's service to relieve the resource tension of this access network device, and the new access network device needs to provide more than 20 Mbps bandwidth to ensure that the overall bandwidth of the dual-connection can meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service.

[0261] Of course, the access network device can also only report the bandwidth that the access network device can currently provide for the terminal, and this bandwidth can be sent to the data management network element through the access and mobility management network element. At this time, the data management network element can determine the additional bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal according to the bandwidth requirement of the terminal's service indicated in the session context of the terminal and the bandwidth that the access network device can currently provide for the terminal, and determine the splitting ratio.

[0262] It can also be understood that the above takes bandwidth and / or location as an example to introduce whether the network can meet the service requirements, which is not a limitation. There can be other implementations for whether the network can meet the service requirements, such as whether the transmission delay of the service on the network side meets the requirements of the service transmission delay, whether the packet queuing waiting time of the service meets the requirements of the packet queuing waiting time of the service, etc. In other words, any parameter that can be used to represent whether the service requirements can be met by the network can be applied to the embodiments of this application.

[0263] Method 5: The data management network element can obtain the relevant information of multi-connection according to preset conditions.

[0264] The preset conditions can be pre-configured locally in the data management network element, and specifically can include at least one of the following: during the time period when the multi-connection needs to be established at the terminal currently, or the location of the terminal is within the area where the multi-connection needs to be established at the terminal. That is to say, the data management network element can decide to trigger the terminal to establish a multi-connection according to the current time and the current location of the terminal, avoiding the additional overhead brought by interacting with other network elements.

[0265] The time period when the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection is similar to the preset time period indicated by the above time policy, and can be understood by reference. Therefore, when the current time is the start time of the preset time period, the data management network element can obtain the relevant information of the multi-connection. The specific obtaining method can refer to the relevant introduction of Method 1 above, and will not be elaborated here. For example, the preset time period is the time period from t1 to t2 after the start time of each cycle, such as 18:00-22:00 every day. That is to say, the time period when the user uses frequently. When the current time is 18:00, the data management network element can obtain the relevant information of the multi-connection, and execute the subsequent process of the embodiment of the present application to trigger the terminal to establish a multi-connection to ensure the service experience of the user during this time period. After that, when the current time is 22:00, the data management network element can instruct the terminal to release the multi-connection to reduce the communication overhead and facilitate the terminal to save energy.

[0266] The area where the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection is similar to the preset area indicated by the above location policy, such as the above low-signal area, and can be understood by reference. The data management network element obtains the location of the terminal through the subscription service from the access and mobility management network element related to the terminal (or the access and mobility management network element serving the terminal). Or, the location of the terminal can also be obtained through other means, such as the access network device reports to the data management network element through the access and mobility management network element, which can be specifically selected according to actual needs, and no specific limitation is made on this. In this way, when the terminal currently moves into the preset area, the data management network element can obtain the relevant information of the multi-connection. The specific obtaining method can refer to the relevant introduction of Method 1 above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0267] Method 6: The terminal sends the S-NSSAI and / or DNN corresponding to the session of the terminal to the network. Correspondingly, the data management network element can obtain the S-NSSAI and / or DNN corresponding to the session of the terminal, and obtain the relevant information of the multi-connection according to whether the service of the terminal is a service that needs to establish a multi-connection.

[0268] The S-NSSAI and / or DNN can correspond to the service of the terminal, such as the service of the corresponding terminal is a multi-connection service.

[0269] The S-NSSAI and / or DNN corresponding to the session of the terminal can be reported to the network through the session establishment process. For example, during the process of the terminal establishing a session, the terminal can send a PDU session establishment request message carrying the S-NSSAI and / or DNN to the access and mobility management network element. The access and mobility management network element can select a session management network element and send the S-NSSAI and / or DNN to the session management network element through a PDU session create session context request message. After receiving the S-NSSAI and / or DNN, the session management network element can report the S-NSSAI and / or DNN to the data management network element when registering the session context of the terminal with the data management network element. In other words, during the process of the terminal registration, during the session establishment process of the terminal, the data management network element receives a context registration request message from the session management network element, and the context registration request message can include the S-NSSAI and / or DNN.

[0270] The data management network element can determine whether the service corresponding to the S-NSSAI and / or DNN in the context registration request message is a multi-connection service, such as the XRM service, or any other possible service, without limitation, according to the correspondence between the S-NSSAI or DNN and the service. If the service corresponding to the S-NSSAI and / or DNN in the context registration request message is a multi-connection service, the data management network element can obtain the relevant information of the multi-connection. The specific obtaining method can refer to the relevant introduction of Method 1 above and will not be elaborated here.

[0271] Method 7: When the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection, the terminal can send a request message to the network. Correspondingly, the data management network element can receive the request message from the terminal and obtain the relevant information of the multi-connection according to the request message.

[0272] The request message is used to indicate that the terminal requests to establish a multi-connection. That is, the establishment of the multi-connection can be triggered by the terminal itself, making the interaction between the terminal and the network side simpler and the communication overhead smaller. For example, the terminal can provide the user with a function to turn on or off the multi-connection. For example, the terminal provides a user interface for the multi-connection, and the user interface is provided with buttons to turn on or off the multi-connection. The user can select to turn on or off the multi-connection function by clicking the button. Another example is that the terminal can provide an interface for selecting the network mode. On this interface, if the user selects the network model as a multi-connection of a single network, it means turning on the multi-connection function. If the user then selects the network model as a single connection of a single network, it means turning off the multi-connection function. At this time, it is necessary to release the multi-connection and establish a single connection. Or, there can be other implementations for the user to turn on or off the multi-connection function, and this application does not make any restrictions.

[0273] If the user operates to enable multi-connection, the terminal can respond to the user's operation and send a request message to the network, such as sending a UL NAS message carrying the request message to the access and mobility management network element. After obtaining the request message, the access and mobility management network element can send the request message to the data management network element, such as sending a subscription data acquisition request message carrying the request message. Correspondingly, the data management network element can receive the request message from the terminal, such as receiving a subscription data acquisition request message carrying the request message, that is, it is implemented by multiplexing existing signaling, or it can also be implemented through a newly defined process, decoupled from the existing process, and the cell transfer can be more flexible. The data management network element can obtain the relevant information of the multi-connection according to the request message. The specific acquisition method can refer to the relevant introduction of the above method 1 and will not be elaborated here.

[0274] It can be understood that since method 7 is for the terminal to actively request to establish a multi-connection, the network does not need to additionally instruct the terminal to establish a multi-connection. In other words, the relevant information of the multi-connection obtained by the data management network element in method 7 may not include the above-mentioned indication information.

[0275] It should be noted that the above methods 1 - 7 can also be combined for implementation. For example, when method 1 and method 2 are combined for implementation, the data management network element can obtain the relevant information of the multi-connection when the terminal supports multi-connection and the network slice requested by the terminal is the network slice corresponding to the multi-connection service. Another example is that when method 1 and method 3 are combined for implementation, the data management network element can obtain the relevant information of the multi-connection when the terminal supports multi-connection and the terminal has subscribed to the multi-connection service. Another example is that when method 1, method [missing number in the original] and method 3 are combined for implementation, the data management network element can obtain the relevant information of the multi-connection when the terminal supports multi-connection, the network slice requested by the terminal is the network slice corresponding to the multi-connection service, and the terminal has subscribed to the multi-connection service. Of course, there are other combination methods, such as when method 1 and method 4 are combined for implementation, when method 1 and method 5 are combined for implementation, etc. It can be understood by reference, and the embodiments of the present application will not be elaborated here.

[0276] S802:

[0277] The data management network element sends multi-connection related information to the access and mobility management network element. For example, in the registration process, it sends a subscribed data acquisition response message carrying multi-connection related information, or in the session establishment process, it sends a session management notification (Nudm_SDM_Notification notify) message carrying multi-connection related information. Or it can also be carried in any possible message exchanged between the data management network element and the access and mobility management network element, and there is no limitation on this. Correspondingly, the access and mobility management network element receives the multi-connection related information returned by the data management network element according to the service information. The access and mobility management network element can send multi-connection related information to the terminal. For example, in the registration process, it sends a registration acceptance message carrying multi-connection related information, or in the session establishment process, it sends a DL NAS message carrying multi-connection related information, such as a DL NAS transport container. Or it can also be carried in any possible NAS message exchanged between the access and mobility management network element and the terminal, and there is no limitation on this.

[0278] S803:

[0279] Since S801 - S803 are executed when the terminal has already accessed a cell, such as the first cell, after receiving the multi-connection related information, the terminal can, according to the multi-connection related information, continue to select one or more second cells (the selection method can refer to the relevant introduction in "6. Cell Selection" above), and access these second cells, that is, establish a connection of 3GPP access type with these second cells. In other words, the terminal establishing multi-connection can also be understood as the terminal selecting a second cell, or the terminal selecting multiple cells, etc.

[0280] Among them, if the multi-connection related information indicates policy information, the terminal can, according to the policy information, trigger the establishment of multi-connection with the network. For example, the terminal triggers the establishment of multi-connection with the network within a preset time period, or within a preset area, or when the network cannot meet the service requirements of the terminal.

[0281] It can be understood that the above takes the interaction between the data management network element and the terminal as an example, and is not a limitation. The data management network element can also be replaced by other network elements, such as a policy control network element. For example, the policy control network element can obtain the S-NSSAI and / or DNN corresponding to the terminal's session, and the S-NSSAI and / or DNN correspond to the terminal's service. In this way, the policy control network element can, according to whether the terminal's service requires establishing multi-connection, send multi-connection related information to the terminal. The specific implementation principle is also similar to S801 - S803 above, and can be referred to and understood, and will not be elaborated here.

[0282] The above combined with Figure 8The sorting process of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application is introduced. The following combines Figures 9 - 12 to detail the specific process of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application in a specific scenario.

[0283] Scenario 1:

[0284] Figure 9 is the process schematic Figure 2 of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application. In Scenario 1, the UDM (the above-mentioned data management network element) can send the relevant information of multi-connection to the UE through the registration process of the UE (the above-mentioned terminal).

[0285] Specifically, as Figure 9 shown, the process of this communication method is as follows:

[0286] S901, the UE sends an AN message to the RAN (the above-mentioned access network device).

[0287] The AN message can contain a NAS message, such as a registration request message. Optionally, the registration request message can carry the UE's capability information (such as the capability information of the above-mentioned terminal) to indicate whether the UE supports multi-connection.

[0288] S902, the RAN selects the AMF (the above-mentioned access and mobility management network element).

[0289] Among them, the specific implementation principle of S902 can refer to the relevant introduction in the registration process defined by 3GPP and will not be elaborated here.

[0290] S903, the RAN sends a registration request message to the AMF.

[0291] S904, the AMF selects the AUSF.

[0292] S905, the network executes the authentication process of the UE.

[0293] Among them, the specific implementation principles of S903 - S805 can refer to the relevant introduction in the registration process defined by 3GPP and will not be elaborated.

[0294] S906a, the AMF sends a registration UE context request message to the UDM.

[0295] In the case where the UE provides the UE's capability information, the UE context request message can carry the UE's capability information.

[0296] S906b, the UDM sends a registration UE context response message to the AMF.

[0297] S907, the AMF sends a subscribed data acquisition request message to the UDM.

[0298] Among them, the specific implementation principle of S906a - S907 can refer to the relevant introduction in the registration process defined by 3GPP, and will not be elaborated here.

[0299] S908, the UDM obtains the relevant information of multi - connection.

[0300] The UDM can adopt the above - mentioned method 1 - method 3, and the scheme implemented by combining one or more of the methods in method 5 to obtain the relevant information of multi - connection. The specific implementation principle can refer to the relevant introduction in the above - mentioned S801, and will not be elaborated here.

[0301] S909, the UDM sends a subscription data acquisition response message to the AMF.

[0302] The subscription data acquisition response message can carry the relevant information of multi - connection. The specific implementation principle can refer to the relevant introduction in the above - mentioned S802, and will not be elaborated here.

[0303] S910, the AMF sends a registration acceptance message to the UE.

[0304] The registration acceptance message can carry the relevant information of multi - connection. The specific implementation principle can also refer to the relevant introduction in the above - mentioned S802, and will not be elaborated here.

[0305] S911, the UE establishes a multi - connection with the network.

[0306] Among them, the specific implementation principle of S911 can also refer to the relevant introduction in the above - mentioned S803, and will not be elaborated here.

[0307] Scenario 2:

[0308] Figure 10 It is a schematic flow of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 3 . In Scenario 2, the UDM (the above - mentioned data management network element) can trigger the relevant information of multi - connection to be sent to the UE according to the information reported by the AMF (the above - mentioned access and mobility management network element).

[0309] Specifically, as Figure 10 shown, the flow of this communication method is as follows:

[0310] S1001, the UE sends an AN message to the RAN (such as the above - mentioned access network device).

[0311] The AN message can include a NAS message, such as a registration request message. Optionally, the registration request message can carry the UE's capability information (such as the capability information of the above - mentioned terminal) to indicate whether the UE supports multi - connection.

[0312] S1002, the RAN selects an AMF (such as the above - mentioned access and mobility management network element).

[0313] Among them, the specific implementation principle of S1002 can refer to the relevant introduction in the registration process defined by 3GPP, which will not be elaborated here.

[0314] S1003, the RAN sends a registration request message to the AMF.

[0315] S1004, the AMF selects the AUSF.

[0316] S1005, the AUSF triggers the execution of the UE authentication process.

[0317] Among them, the specific implementation principle of S903 - S805 can refer to the relevant introduction in the registration process defined by 3GPP and will not be elaborated further.

[0318] S1006a, the AMF sends a registration UE context request message to the UDM.

[0319] In the case where the UE provides the UE's capability information, the UE context request message can carry the UE's capability information.

[0320] S1006b, the UDM sends a registration UE context response message to the AMF.

[0321] S1007, the AMF sends a subscription data acquisition request message to the UDM.

[0322] S1008, the UDM sends a subscription data acquisition response message to the AMF.

[0323] S1009, the AMF sends a registration acceptance message to the UE.

[0324] Among them, the specific implementation principle of S1006a - S1009 can refer to the relevant introduction in the registration process defined by 3GPP and will not be elaborated further.

[0325] S1010, the RAN sends an N2 message to the AMF.

[0326] The N2 message can carry service information to indicate that the network cannot meet the UE's service requirements.

[0327] S1011, the AMF sends service information to the UDM.

[0328] S1012, the UDM obtains the relevant information on multi - connection.

[0329] Among them, the specific implementation principle of S1010 - S1012 can refer to the relevant introduction of Method 4 in S801 above and will not be elaborated here.

[0330] S1013, the UDM sends the relevant information on multi - connection to the AMF.

[0331] S1014. The AMF sends a DL NAS message to the UE.

[0332] The DL NAS message carries information related to multi-connection.

[0333] For the specific implementation principle of S1013 - S1014, reference can be made to the relevant introduction in S802 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0334] S1015. The UE establishes a multi-connection with the network.

[0335] Among them, for the specific implementation principle of S1015, reference can also be made to the relevant introduction in S803 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0336] Scenario 3:

[0337] Figure 11 It is a flowchart of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 . In Scenario 3, the UDM (the above-mentioned data management network element) can send information related to multi-connection to the UE through the session establishment process of the UE (the above-mentioned terminal).

[0338] Specifically, as Figure 11 shown, the process of this communication method is as follows:

[0339] S1101. Session establishment process.

[0340] The session establishment process can execute S401 - S416b shown above. Specifically, reference can be made to the relevant introduction above. Figure 4 Figure 4 Figure 4 which will not be elaborated here.

[0341] S1102. The SMF sends a UE session context registration request (Nudm_UECM_Registrationrequest) message to the UDM.

[0342] The UE session context registration request can carry the S-NSSAI / DNN of the UE (the S-NSSAI / DNN of the above-mentioned terminal).

[0343] S1103. The UDM obtains information related to multi-connection.

[0344] Among them, for the specific implementation principle of S1102 - S1103, reference can be made to the relevant introduction of Method 6 in S801 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0345] S1104. The UDM sends a session management notification message to the AMF.

[0346] S1105, the AMF sends a DL NAS message to the UE.

[0347] The DL NAS message carries information related to multi-connection.

[0348] For the specific implementation principle of S1104 - S1105, reference can be made to the relevant introduction in S802 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0349] S1106, the UE establishes a multi-connection with the network.

[0350] Among them, for the specific implementation principle of S1106, reference can also be made to the relevant introduction in S803 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0351] It can be understood that Figure 11 The UDM shown can also be replaced by the PCF. At this time, the differences from the execution of the UDM are as follows. The PCF can obtain session-related information from the SM policy association, such as obtaining the UE's S-NSSAI / DNN from the policy association establishment request message in S407 above, and then obtaining the information related to multi-connection. The PCF can use the same method as the UDM to send the information related to multi-connection to the UE. Or, the PCF can also carry the information related to multi-connection in the SM policy through the policy association establishment response message in S407 above, send it to the SMF first, and then the SMF sends it to the UE through the AMF, as shown in the process of S411 - S413 above.

[0352] Scenario 4:

[0353] Figure 12 Schematic diagram of the process of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application Figure 5 . In Scenario 4, the UDM (the above-mentioned data management network element) can trigger the sending of information related to multi-connection to the UE according to the request of the UE (the above-mentioned terminal) to establish a multi-connection.

[0354] Specifically, as Figure 12 shown, the process of this communication method is as follows:

[0355] S1201, the UE enables the multi-connection function.

[0356] S1202, the UE completes registration in the network.

[0357] Among them, for the specific implementation principle of S1201, reference can be made to the relevant introduction of Method 7 in S801 above, which will not be elaborated here. For the specific implementation principle of S1202, reference can be made to the relevant introduction of the registration process defined in 3GPP, which will not be elaborated here. Additionally, the execution order of S1201 and S1202 is not restricted.

[0358] S1203, the UE sends a UL NAS message to the AMF.

[0359] S1204, the AMF sends a subscription data acquisition request message to the UDM.

[0360] The UL NAS message and the subscription data acquisition request message carry the UE's request information. The specific implementation principle can refer to the relevant introduction of Method 7 in S801 above and will not be elaborated here.

[0361] S1205, the UDM sends a subscription data acquisition response message to the AMF.

[0362] S1206, the AMF sends a DL NAS message to the UE.

[0363] The DL NAS message carries information related to multi-connection.

[0364] The specific implementation principle of S1205 - S1206 can refer to the relevant introduction in S802 above and will not be elaborated here.

[0365] S1207, the UE establishes a multi-connection with the network.

[0366] Among them, the specific implementation principle of S1207 can also refer to the relevant introduction in S803 above and will not be elaborated here.

[0367] Figure 13 It is a flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 This communication method is applicable to the above communication system and mainly involves the interaction between the terminal and the network.

[0368] S1301, when the service of the terminal needs to be executed, the terminal acquires a URSP rule that matches the service of the terminal.

[0369] The URSP rule can be an enhanced URSP rule, which can indicate multi-connection. For example, it defines that the terminal needs to establish connections of 3GPP access types with multiple cells of the network respectively at the same time. That is, similar to the meaning of the above indication information, it can be specifically understood and will not be elaborated here. Optionally, the URSP rule can also indicate the policy information of multi-connection, such as the access type combination required to establish a multi-connection, or other policies. The specific details can also refer to the relevant introduction of the above policy information and will not be elaborated here.

[0370] When a terminal needs to execute a certain service, for example, when the terminal responds to a user's operation to open a certain application, such as an XRM application or any other possible application, then the terminal needs to execute the service corresponding to the application, such as an XRM service or any other possible service. At this time, the terminal can determine the URSP rule according to the service volume descriptor, for example, according to the service characteristics indicated by the service volume descriptor, match the URSP rule similar to the service characteristics, that is, determine the URSP rule matching the service.

[0371] S1302. If the URSP rule indicates that multiple connections need to be established, the terminal establishes multiple connections with the network.

[0372] If the URSP rule matching the service is the above enhanced URSP rule, the terminal can establish multiple connections with the network according to the indication of the URSP rule (such as according to the policy information or the terminal's own decision). The specific implementation principle is similar to S803 above and can be understood by reference. It will not be elaborated here.

[0373] It can be understood that the embodiments of the present application take the URSP rule as an example, but are not limited to the URSP rule. Any policy and / or rule similar to the URSP rule, or that can implement the routing function, can be used to implement the solution in the present application.

[0374] In summary, the terminal can trigger the establishment of multiple connections with the network side by URSP rule matching when the service matches the URSP rule that requires the establishment of multiple connections, so as to ensure that the multiple connections can meet the service requirements and ensure the user experience.

[0375] In a possible design solution, in combination with the above S1301 - S1302, before S1301, the method may further include: when the URSP rule of the terminal needs to be updated, the policy control network element can obtain the new URSP rule of the terminal and send the new URSP rule to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal can also receive the URSP rule from the network and configure it locally at the terminal. At this time, the new URSP rule may be the above enhanced URSP rule. Among them, the policy control network element can obtain the new URSP rule from the application function, or the new URSP rule can be configured to the PCF manually, and this is not limited.

[0376] The above combines Figures 8 - 13 The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail. The following combines Figures 14 - 15 Describe in detail the communication device for executing the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0377] Figure 14 It is a schematic structure of the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 1 . Exemplarily, such as Figure 14As shown, the communication device 1400 includes a transceiver module 1401 and a processing module 1402. For ease of explanation, Figure 14 only the main components of the communication device are shown.

[0378] In a first possible embodiment, the communication device 1400 can be applied to the data management network element in the above communication method to implement the functions of the data management network element, as follows.

[0379] The processing module 1402 is used to obtain relevant information about multi-connection, and the transceiver module 1401 is used to send the relevant information to the terminal. Among them, the relevant information includes indication information and / or policy information. The indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection, and the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing a multi-connection. A multi-connection means establishing connections of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access type with multiple cells simultaneously.

[0380] In a possible design, the policy information may include at least one of: service policy, access type policy, location policy, or time policy. Among them, the service policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established when the network cannot meet the service requirements. The access type policy means the combination of access types required to establish a multi-connection. The location policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established within a preset area. The time policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established within a preset time period.

[0381] In a possible design, the processing module 1402 is used to obtain the capability information of the terminal and, based on the capability information of the terminal, obtain the relevant information. Among them, the capability information of the terminal is used to indicate that the terminal supports establishing connections of the 3GPP access type with multiple cells simultaneously.

[0382] Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 is used to receive a context registration request message from the access and mobility management network element during the registration process of the terminal. Among them, the context registration request message includes the capability information of the terminal.

[0383] In a possible design, the processing module 1402 is used to obtain the slice information requested by the terminal and, based on the network slice being the slice corresponding to the multi-connection service, obtain the relevant information. Among them, the slice information requested by the terminal is used to indicate the network slice requested by the terminal.

[0384] Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 is used to receive a context registration request message from the access and mobility management network element during the registration process of the terminal. The data management network element receives the context registration request message. Among them, the context registration request message includes the slice information requested by the terminal.

[0385] In a possible design, the processing module 1402 is configured to obtain the subscription data of the terminal and obtain relevant information according to the subscription data of the terminal. The subscription data of the terminal includes information indicating that the network can provide multi-connection services for the terminal.

[0386] Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 is configured to receive a subscription data acquisition request message from an access and mobility management network element during the registration process of the terminal, and obtain the subscription data of the terminal according to the subscription data acquisition request message. The subscription data acquisition request message is used to request the data subscribed by the terminal and the network.

[0387] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is configured to receive service information from an access and mobility management network element, and the processing module 1402 is configured to obtain relevant information according to the service information. The service information is used to indicate that the network cannot meet the service requirements of the terminal.

[0388] Optionally, the network's inability to meet the service requirements of the terminal includes: the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, and / or the signal quality of the network cannot meet the signal quality requirements of the terminal's service, or there may be any other possible situations, which are not limited herein.

[0389] Optionally, when the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, the service information is further used to indicate the additional bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal.

[0390] In a possible design, the processing module 1402 is configured to obtain relevant information according to a preset condition. The preset condition includes at least one of the following: within the time period when the terminal needs to establish multi-connections currently, or the location of the terminal is within the area where the terminal needs to establish multi-connections.

[0391] Optionally, the processing module 1402 is configured to obtain the location of the terminal from an access and mobility management network element related to the terminal through a subscription service, or the location of the terminal can also be obtained through other means.

[0392] In a possible design, the processing module 1402 is configured to obtain the single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) corresponding to the session of the terminal and the data network name (DNN), and obtain relevant information according to the service of the terminal that needs to establish multi-connections. The S-NSSAI and DNN correspond to the service of the terminal.

[0393] Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 is configured to, during the session establishment process of the terminal, receive a context registration request message from a session management network element by a data management network element, where the context registration request message includes the S-NSSAI and DNN.

[0394] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is configured to receive request information from a terminal, and the processing module 1402 is configured to obtain relevant information according to the request information. The request information is used to indicate that the terminal requests to establish a multi-connection.

[0395] Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 is configured to receive a subscription data management acquisition request message from an access and mobility management network element. The subscription data management acquisition request message includes the request information.

[0396] Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 may include a sending module ( Figure 14 not shown in the figure) and a receiving module ( Figure 14 not shown in the figure). The sending module is configured to implement the sending function of the communication device 1400, and the receiving module is configured to implement the receiving function of the communication device 1400.

[0397] Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a storage module ( Figure 14 not shown in the figure), and the storage module stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1402 executes the programs or instructions, the communication device 1400 can execute the functions in the Figures 6 - 8 method shown above.

[0398] It can be understood that the communication device 1400 may be a network device, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be disposed in a network device, or a device including a network device. The present application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0399] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1400 may refer to the technical effects of the above communication method, which will not be elaborated here.

[0400] In a second possible embodiment, the communication device 1400 may be applied to the access and mobility management network element in the above communication method to implement the functions of the access and mobility management network element, as follows.

[0401] The transceiver module 1401 is configured to send service information to a data management network element, receive relevant information of a multi-connection returned by the data management network element according to the service information, and send the relevant information to the terminal. The service information indicates that the network cannot meet the service requirements of the terminal. The relevant information includes indication information and / or policy information. The indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection, and the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing a multi-connection. A multi-connection means establishing connections of the 3GPP access type with multiple cells simultaneously.

[0402] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is configured to receive an N2 message from an access network device. The N2 message includes service information, which is specifically used to indicate that the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service.

[0403] Optionally, the service information is further used to indicate the additional bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal.

[0404] In a possible design, the processing module 1402 is configured to obtain service information based on the fact that the terminal is located in a low-signal area. The service information is specifically used to indicate that the signal quality of the network cannot meet the signal quality requirements of the terminal's service.

[0405] Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 may include a sending module ( Figure 14 not shown in the figure) and a receiving module ( Figure 14 not shown in the figure). The sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device 1400, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device 1400.

[0406] Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a storage module ( Figure 14 not shown in the figure), and the storage module stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1402 executes the programs or instructions, the communication device 1400 can perform the functions in the method Figures 6 - 8 shown above.

[0407] It can be understood that the communication device 1400 may be a network device, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be set in a network device, or a device including a network device. The present application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0408] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1400 can refer to the technical effects of the above communication method, which will not be elaborated here.

[0409] In the third possible embodiment, the communication device 1400 can be applied to the policy control network element in the above communication method to implement the functions of the policy control network element, as follows.

[0410] A processing module 1402 is configured to obtain the single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) corresponding to the session of the terminal and the data network name (DNN). The processing module 1402 is further configured to control the transceiver module 1401 to send multi-connection related information to the terminal according to whether the service of the terminal requires establishing a multi-connection. Herein, the S-NSSAI and the DNN correspond to the service of the terminal. The related information includes indication information and / or policy information. The indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection, and the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing a multi-connection. A multi-connection means establishing connections of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access type with multiple cells simultaneously.

[0411] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is configured to, during the establishment or modification of the session policy of the terminal, the policy control network element receives the S-NSSAI and the DNN from the session management network element.

[0412] Optionally, the policy information includes at least one of the following: service policy, access type policy, location policy, or time policy. The service policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established when the network cannot meet the service requirements. The access type policy means the combination of access types required for establishing a multi-connection. The location policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established within a preset area. The time policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established within a preset time period.

[0413] Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 may include a sending module ( Figure 14 (not shown in the figure)) and a receiving module ( Figure 14 (not shown in the figure)). The sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device 1400, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device 1400.

[0414] Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a storage module ( Figure 14 (not shown in the figure)), which stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1402 executes the programs or instructions, the communication device 1400 can perform the functions in the method Figures 6 - 8 shown above.

[0415] It can be understood that the communication device 1400 may be a network device, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be set in a network device, or a device including a network device. The present application does not make any limitation thereto.

[0416] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1400 may refer to the technical effects of the above communication method, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0417] In a fourth possible embodiment, the communication device 1400 can be implemented by a module (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) of the terminal in the above communication method, and can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions. For the convenience of description, the following takes the execution of this method by the terminal as an example for introduction.

[0418] A transceiver module 1401, configured to receive multi-connection related information from a network, and a processing module 1402, configured to establish a multi-connection with the network according to the related information. The related information includes indication information and / or policy information. The indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection, and the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing a multi-connection. A multi-connection means establishing connections of the 3GPP access type with multiple cells respectively at the same time.

[0419] In a possible design, the policy information includes at least one of: a service policy, an access type policy, a location policy, or a time policy; wherein, the service policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established when the network cannot meet the service requirements; the access type policy means the combination of access types required to establish a multi-connection; the location policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established within a preset area; the time policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established within a preset time period.

[0420] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is configured to send the capability information of the terminal to the network. The capability information of the terminal is used to indicate that the terminal supports establishing connections of the 3GPP access type with multiple cells respectively at the same time.

[0421] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is configured to send the S-NSSAI single network slice selection assistance information corresponding to the session of the terminal and the DNN data network name to the network, where the S-NSSAI and the DNN correspond to the service of the terminal, and the service of the terminal is a service that requires establishing a multi-connection.

[0422] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is configured to send request information to the network when the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection, where the request information is used to indicate that the terminal requests to establish a multi-connection.

[0423] Optionally, the processing module 1402 is configured to determine that the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection in response to an operation of the user to enable the multi-connection. Or; the processing module 1402 is configured to obtain a routing selection policy URSP rule that matches the service of the terminal when the service of the terminal needs to be executed, and determine that the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection when the URSP rule indicates that a multi-connection needs to be established.

[0424] Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 may include a sending module ( Figure 14not shown) and a receiving module ( Figure 14 not shown). Among them, the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device 1400, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device 1400.

[0425] Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a storage module ( Figure 14 not shown), and the storage module stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1402 executes the programs or instructions, the communication device 1400 can execute the above Figures 6 - 8 functions in the shown method.

[0426] It can be understood that the communication device 1400 can be a terminal, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be set in the terminal, or a device including the terminal. The present application does not limit this.

[0427] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1400 can refer to the technical effects of the above communication method, which will not be elaborated here.

[0428] In the fifth possible embodiment, the communication device 1400 can be executed by a module (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) of the terminal in the above communication method, or can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions. For the convenience of description, the following takes the method executed by the terminal as an example for introduction.

[0429] The processing module 1402 is used to obtain a routing selection policy URSP rule that matches the service of the terminal when the service of the terminal needs to be executed; the processing module 1402 is used to establish a multi-connection with the network if the URSP rule indicates that a multi-connection needs to be established, where the multi-connection means establishing connections of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 3GPP access type with multiple cells of the network respectively at the same time.

[0430] In a possible design, the URSP rule also indicates the access type combination required for establishing a multi-connection.

[0431] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is used to receive the URSP rule from the network.

[0432] Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 may include a sending module ( Figure 14 not shown) and a receiving module ( Figure 14 not shown). Among them, the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device 1400, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device 1400.

[0433] Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a storage module ( Figure 14(not shown in the figure), and the storage module stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1402 executes the programs or instructions, the communication device 1400 can perform the functions in the above Figures 6 - 8 shown method.

[0434] It can be understood that the communication device 1400 can be a terminal, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be set in the terminal, or a device including the terminal. The present application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0435] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1400 can refer to the technical effects of the above communication method, which will not be elaborated here.

[0436] In the sixth possible embodiment, the communication device 1400 can be applied to the policy control network element in the above communication method to implement the functions of the policy control network element, as follows.

[0437] The processing module 1402 is configured to obtain a new URSP rule of the terminal when the routing selection policy URSP rule of the terminal needs to be updated, and the transceiver module 1401 is configured to send the new URSP rule to the terminal. Among them, the new URSP rule is used to indicate that multiple connections need to be established. Multiple connections refer to establishing connections of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 3GPP access type with multiple cells respectively at the same time. That is, by updating the URSP rule, the terminal can be enabled to have the ability to establish multiple connections.

[0438] In a possible design, the new URSP rule further indicates the access type combination required for establishing multiple connections.

[0439] Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 may include a sending module ( Figure 14 not shown in the figure) and a receiving module ( Figure 14 not shown in the figure). Among them, the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device 1400, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device 1400.

[0440] Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a storage module ( Figure 14 not shown in the figure), and the storage module stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1402 executes the programs or instructions, the communication device 1400 can perform the functions in the above Figures 6 - 8 shown method.

[0441] It can be understood that the communication device 1400 can be a network device, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be set in the network device, or a device including the network device. The present application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0442] In addition, for the technical effects of the communication device 1400, reference may be made to the technical effects of the above-mentioned communication method, which will not be elaborated here.

[0443] Figure 15 Structural schematic of the communication device provided by the embodiments of this application Figure 2 . Exemplarily, the communication device may be a terminal, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be set in a terminal. As Figure 15 shown, the communication device 1500 may include a processor 1501. Optionally, the communication device 1500 may further include a memory 1502 and / or a transceiver 1503. Among them, the processor 1501 is coupled to the memory 1502 and the transceiver 1503, and may be connected through a communication bus, for example.

[0444] The following will Figure 15 introduce each component of the communication device 1500 in detail:

[0445] Among them, the processor 1501 is the control center of the communication device 1500, and may be a single processor or a collective term for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 1501 is one or more central processing units (CPUs), or may be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of this application, for example: one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0446] Optionally, the processor 1501 may execute various functions of the communication device 1500 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 1502 and calling data stored in the memory 1502, such as executing the Figures 8 - 13 shown communication method.

[0447] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 1501 may include one or more CPUs, such as Figure 15 the CPU0 and CPU1 shown in

[0448] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 1500 may also include multiple processors, such as Figure 15The processors 1501 and 1504 shown in []. Each of these processors can be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). The processor here can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (such as computer program instructions).

[0449] Among them, the memory 1502 is used to store the software program for implementing the solution of this application and is controlled by the processor 1501 for execution. The specific implementation manner can refer to the above method embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

[0450] Optionally, the memory 1502 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or it can also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 1502 can be integrated with the processor 1501 or exist independently and is coupled to the processor 1501 through the interface circuit of the communication device 1500 ( Figure 15 not shown in []). This application embodiment does not make specific limitations on this.

[0451] The transceiver 1503 is used for communication with other communication devices. For example, when the communication device 1500 is a terminal, the transceiver 1503 can be used for communication with a network device or with another terminal device. Another example is that when the communication device 1500 is a network device, the transceiver 1503 can be used for communication with a terminal or with another network device.

[0452] Optionally, the transceiver 1503 can include a receiver and a transmitter ( Figure 15 not shown separately in []). Among them, the receiver is used to implement the receiving function, and the transmitter is used to implement the sending function.

[0453] Optionally, the transceiver 1503 can be integrated with the processor 1501 or exist independently and is coupled to the processor 1501 through the interface circuit of the communication device 1500 (Figure 15 is not shown) is coupled to the processor 1501, and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0454] It can be understood that Figure 15 the structure of the communication device 1500 shown in does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. The actual communication device may include more or fewer components than those shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements.

[0455] In addition, for the technical effects of the communication device 1500, reference may be made to the technical effects of the method described in the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not described herein again.

[0456] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0457] It should also 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 PROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable PROM (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 random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0458] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware (such as circuits), firmware, or any other combination. When implemented using software, the above embodiments 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 or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer programs are loaded or 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 can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or a data center that contains one or more collections of available media. The available media can be magnetic media (such as floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (such as DVDs), or semiconductor media. The semiconductor media can be a solid-state drive.

[0459] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this document is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Here, A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after, but it may also represent an "and / or" relationship. The specific meaning can be understood by referring to the context.

[0460] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or its similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a - b, a - c, b - c, or a - b - c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0461] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the magnitudes of the sequence numbers of the above processes do not imply the order of execution. The order of execution of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0462] Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware, or by a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are executed in a hardware or software manner depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods for each specific application to implement the described functions, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of this application.

[0463] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0464] In several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the displayed or discussed couplings or direct couplings or communication connections to each other can be through some interfaces. The indirect couplings or communication connections of the devices or units can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0465] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated. The components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0466] In addition, the functional units in each embodiment of this application can be integrated in a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically alone, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0467] When the above-mentioned functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art or a part of this technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical discs that can store program codes.

[0468] As described above, the above is only the specific implementation manner of this application, but the protection scope of this application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by this application can easily think of changes or substitutions, and all should be covered by the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a data management network element, including: The data management network element obtains multi-connection related information, where the related information includes indication information and / or policy information. The indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection, and the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing a multi-connection. A multi-connection means establishing connections of the 3GPP access type with multiple cells simultaneously; The data management network element sends the related information to the terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The policy information includes at least one of: a service policy, an access type policy, a location policy, or a time policy; where the service policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established when the network cannot meet the service requirements; the access type policy means the combination of access types required to establish a multi-connection; the location policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established within a preset area; the time policy means that a multi-connection needs to be established within a preset time period.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The data management network element obtains multi-connection related information, including: The data management network element obtains the capability information of the terminal, where the capability information of the terminal is used to indicate that the terminal supports establishing connections of the 3GPP access type with multiple cells simultaneously; The data management network element obtains the related information according to the capability information of the terminal.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The data management network element obtains multi-connection related information, including: The data management network element obtains the slice information requested by the terminal, where the slice information requested by the terminal is used to indicate the network slice requested by the terminal; The data management network element obtains the related information according to the network slice being the slice corresponding to the multi-connection service.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The data management network element obtains multi-connection related information, including: The data management network element obtains the subscription data of the terminal, where the subscription data of the terminal includes information used to indicate that the network can provide multi-connection services for the terminal; The data management network element obtains the related information according to the subscription data of the terminal.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The data management network element obtains multi-connection related information, including: The data management network element receives service information from an access and mobility management network element, where the service information is used to indicate that the network cannot meet the service requirements of the terminal; The data management network element obtains the related information according to the service information.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The network cannot meet the service requirements of the terminal includes: the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, and / or, the signal quality of the network cannot meet the signal quality requirements of the terminal's service.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that: When the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the terminal's service, the service information is further used to indicate the additional bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal.

9. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The data management network element obtains multi-connection related information, including: The data management network element obtains relevant information according to preset conditions, where the preset conditions include at least one of the following: within the time period when the terminal needs to establish multi-connections currently, or the location of the terminal is within the area where the terminal needs to establish multi-connections.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The data management network element obtains relevant information about multi-connections, including: The data management network element obtains the S-NSSAI single network slice selection assistance information and DNN data network name corresponding to the session of the terminal, where the S-NSSAI and the DNN correspond to the service of the terminal; The data management network element obtains the relevant information according to the service of the terminal being a service that needs to establish multi-connections.

11. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The data management network element obtains relevant information about multi-connections, including: The data management network element receives request information from the terminal, where the request information is used to indicate that the terminal requests to establish multi-connections; The data management network element obtains the relevant information according to the request information.

12. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to the access and mobility management network element, including: The access and mobility management network element sends service information to the data management network element, where the service information indicates that the network cannot meet the service requirements of the terminal; The access and mobility management network element receives the relevant information about multi-connections returned by the data management network element according to the service information, where the relevant information includes indication information and / or policy information, the indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish multi-connections, and the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing multi-connections. Multi-connections refer to establishing connections of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access type with multiple cells simultaneously; The access and mobility management network element sends the relevant information to the terminal.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The method further includes: The access and mobility management network element receives an N2 message from the access network device, where the N2 message includes the service information, and the service information is specifically used to indicate that the bandwidth provided by the network for the terminal cannot meet the bandwidth requirement of the service of the terminal.

14. According to the method described in claim 13, characterized in that: The service information is further used to indicate the additional bandwidth that the network needs to provide for the terminal.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein The method further includes: The access and mobility management network element obtains the service information according to the terminal being in a low signal area, where the service information is specifically used to indicate that the signal quality of the network cannot meet the signal quality requirement of the service of the terminal.

16. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to the policy control network element, including: The policy control network element obtains the S-NSSAI single network slice selection assistance information and DNN data network name corresponding to the session of the terminal, where the S-NSSAI and the DNN correspond to the service of the terminal; The policy control network element sends multi-connection related information to the terminal according to the service of the terminal that requires establishing multi-connections, where the related information includes indication information and / or policy information, the indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish multi-connections, and the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing multi-connections. Multi-connections refer to establishing connections of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access type with multiple cells simultaneously.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein The policy control network element obtains the S-NSSAI and DNN corresponding to the session of the terminal, including: During the establishment or modification of the session policy of the terminal, the policy control network element receives the S-NSSAI and the DNN from the session management network element.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that: The policy information includes at least one of: service policy, access type policy, location policy, or time policy; where the service policy means that multi-connections need to be established when the network cannot meet the service requirements; the access type policy means the combination of access types required for establishing multi-connections; the location policy means that multi-connections need to be established within a preset area; the time policy means that multi-connections need to be established within a preset time period.

19. A communication method, characterized in that, including: Receiving multi-connection related information from the network, where the related information includes indication information and / or policy information, the indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to establish multi-connections, and the policy information is used to indicate the policy for establishing multi-connections. Multi-connections refer to establishing connections of the 3GPP access type with multiple cells simultaneously; Establishing multi-connections with the network according to the related information.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that: The policy information includes at least one of: service policy, access type policy, location policy, or time policy; where the service policy means that multi-connections need to be established when the network cannot meet the service requirements; the access type policy means the combination of access types required for establishing multi-connections; the location policy means that multi-connections need to be established within a preset area; the time policy means that multi-connections need to be established within a preset time period.

21. The method according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending the capability information of the terminal to the network, where the capability information of the terminal is used to indicate that the terminal supports establishing connections of the 3GPP access type with multiple cells simultaneously.

22. The method according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending the single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) and the data network name (DNN) corresponding to the session of the terminal to the network, where the S-NSSAI and the DNN correspond to the service of the terminal, and the service of the terminal is a service that requires establishing multi-connections.

23. The method according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the terminal needs to establish multi-connections, sending a request information to the network, where the request information is used to indicate that the terminal requests to establish multi-connections.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein The method further includes: In response to the user's operation of enabling multi-connections, determining that the terminal needs to establish multi-connections; Or; When the service of the terminal needs to be executed, obtain a routing selection policy URSP rule that matches the service of the terminal; When the URSP rule indicates that a multi-connection needs to be established, determine that the terminal needs to establish a multi-connection.

25. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes: a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-24.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the communication device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-24.

27. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-24.

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