User plane positioning method and communication device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a user plane positioning method and a communication device, which can control and reject a user plane positioning service at a terminal side based on a user plane and improve the performance of the user plane positioning service. The method comprises the following steps: sending a first message to a positioning management function network element, wherein the first message is used for performing a user plane positioning service; receiving a second message from the positioning management function network element, the second message being used for rejecting the user plane positioning service, and the second message comprising a reason value for rejecting the user plane positioning service; wherein the reason value is related to at least one of the following information: the number of terminal devices positioned by the user plane and processed by the positioning management function network element, access type preference information used by the positioning management function network element for positioning the user plane, the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element or congestion information of the positioning management function network element on the user plane. The embodiment of the invention is used for the transmission process of uplink user plane positioning.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] The location services user plane protocol (LCS-UPP) requires both the terminal side and the network side to support the LCS-UPP. The terminal side reports the LCS-UPP supported by the terminal to the network side during the registration process, and the network side performs user plane positioning based on information such as the capabilities of the terminal side, the subscribed data of the terminal side, and local configurations. Among them, after establishing a secure user plane connection with the terminal side, based on the secure user plane connection, the terminal side and the network side can initiate the transmission process of the location services user plane (LCS-UP) to transmit information on positioning and other supplementary services. However, currently, for the uplink LCS-UP transmission process, the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standard protocol only describes the scenarios and processing of successful LCS-UP transmissions, and the scenarios and processing for transmission failures are not yet clear. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Embodiments of this application provide a user plane positioning method and a communication device, which can reject the user plane positioning service of the terminal side based on user plane control and improve the performance of the user plane positioning service.

[0004] To achieve the above objective, the embodiments of this application adopt the following technical solutions.

[0005] In a first aspect, a user plane positioning method is provided. Optionally, the execution subject of this method can be a terminal device, or a component or device applied to the terminal device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The method includes: sending a first message to a positioning management function network element, where the first message is used for user plane positioning service; receiving a second message from the positioning management function network element, where the second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service; where the cause value is related to at least one of the following information: the number of terminal devices for which the positioning management function network element processes user plane positioning, the access type preference information used by the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning, the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, or the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane.

[0006] Among them, the positioning management function network element can be an LMF (location management function) network element. The number of terminal devices for user plane positioning can be understood as the number of user equipment (UE) for user plane positioning, or the number of UEs that have been in the transmission process of user plane positioning services with the LMF network element. The number of user plane connections can be understood as the number of UEs that have established user plane connections with the LMF network element. The UEs with user plane connections can include the UEs that are in the transmission process of user plane positioning services with the LMF network element, and also include the UEs that perform other user plane transmissions except for the UEs in the transmission process of user plane positioning services.

[0007] Therefore, in this application, when the terminal device initiates the transmission of user plane positioning services through the first message, for the LMF network element on the network side, the LMF network element can reject providing user plane positioning services for the UE according to at least one of the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning, the access type preference information for user plane positioning, the number of user plane connections, and the congestion information of the user plane, realizing the scenario coverage where the LMF network element rejects the transmission of user plane positioning services sent by the UE. Or rather, as long as when the terminal device initiates the user plane positioning service, if the current network situation of the LMF network element meets the network situation corresponding to at least one of the above reason values, the LMF network element can reject the user plane positioning service initiated by the terminal device and feedback a second message of rejecting the service to the terminal device. The second message carries the reason value, so that the terminal device can make subsequent user plane positioning decisions according to the reason value. At the same time, the performance of user plane positioning services on the network side can also be improved.

[0008] In a possible design, when the reason value is related to the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the reason value is used to indicate that the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the positioning management function network element. That is, when the number of UEs for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of UEs for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the LMF network element, that is, when the maximum number of UEs for user plane positioning supported by the LMF network element is reached, the LMF network element rejects providing user plane positioning services for the UE. In this way, the control of the maximum connection number of UEs for positioning in the user plane by the LMF network element can be realized.

[0009] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the access type preference information for user plane positioning, the cause value is used to indicate that the access type used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning is different from the access type preference used by the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning; or, the access type used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning is not allowed. In other words, when the access protocol type of the first message sent by the UE is inconsistent with the access protocol type preference used by the LMF network element for user plane positioning, the LMF network element rejects or does not provide user plane positioning services to the UE. In this way, the LMF network element can control the access preference of the UE for user plane positioning.

[0010] In a possible design, the method further includes: when initiating a registration process, receiving a registration acceptance message from the access and mobility management function network element, where the registration acceptance message includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate the access type preference used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning. That is, the network side can configure the access type preference for user plane positioning for the first terminal device when the first terminal device initiates a registration process. In this way, for the first terminal device, when successfully receiving the registration acceptance message, if it wants to initiate user plane positioning services, it can determine the access type that meets the requirements of the network side according to the access type preference for user plane positioning, realizing the access type control of the network side when the terminal device performs user plane positioning, and also enabling the terminal device to successfully initiate the user plane positioning process, improving the service experience of the terminal device.

[0011] In a possible design, the method further includes: when initiating a user plane positioning connection management process, receiving user plane information from the positioning management function network element, where the user plane information includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate the access type preference used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning. That is, the network side can configure the access type preference for user plane positioning for the first terminal device when the first terminal device initiates a user plane positioning connection management process. In this way, for the first terminal device, when successfully receiving the user plane information, if it wants to initiate user plane positioning services, it can determine the access type that meets the requirements of the network side according to the access type preference for user plane positioning, enabling the terminal device to successfully initiate the user plane positioning process, improving the service experience of the terminal device.

[0012] In a possible design, the access type preference includes one of the following access types: 3GPP access; non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of 3GPP access is higher than that of non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of non-3GPP access is higher than that of 3GPP access. Among them, non-3GPP access can be, for example, Wi-Fi access or other access types, and this application does not limit the non-3GPP access type. In this way, when the first terminal device supports user plane access, if the first terminal device initiates a user plane access transmission process, it can select an access type that meets the requirements of the network side access type preference according to the access type preference configured by the network side, improving the success rate of the user plane positioning process initiated by the terminal device.

[0013] In a possible design, the method further includes: establishing a secure user plane connection with the positioning management function network element based on the access type preference determined by the first information. That is, when the first terminal device has received the first information and determined the access type preference of the network side, the first terminal device can select an access type according to the access type preference of the network side when initiating a secure user plane connection, so that the access type of the terminal side initiating the secure user plane connection meets the requirements of the network side access type preference, improving the success rate of the terminal side establishing a secure user plane connection and enhancing the user's service experience.

[0014] In a possible design, the method further includes: sending a third message to the positioning management function network element, where the third message is used for user plane positioning service, and the access type of the third message is the same as the access type preference. That is, when the first terminal device determines the access type preference of the network side, the terminal side selects an access type according to the access type preference of the network side when initiating a user plane positioning service, so that the access type of the terminal side initiating the user plane positioning service meets the requirements of the network side access type preference, improving the success rate of the terminal side establishing a secure user plane connection and enhancing the user's service experience.

[0015] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the positioning management function network element. That is, when the number of user plane connections of the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the LMF network element, the LMF network element refuses to provide user plane positioning service to the UE. In this way, the maximum number of user plane connections of the UE on the user plane of the LMF network element can be controlled.

[0016] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane, the cause value is used to indicate that the positioning management function network element is in a congested state in the user plane. That is, when the user plane of the LMF network element is in a congested state, the LMF network element refuses to provide user plane positioning services to the UE. In this way, congestion control of the LMF network element in the user plane can be achieved.

[0017] In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving a user plane connection release message, where the user plane connection release message is used to indicate the release of the secure user plane connection between the positioning management network element and the first terminal device. That is, on the network side, when the LMF network element refuses the user plane positioning service on the terminal side, the secure user plane connection with the terminal side can also be released, realizing the control of the user plane connection on the network side over the terminal side.

[0018] In a possible design, the second message further includes timing information, and the method further includes: starting a first timer according to the timing information, and before the first timer times out, performing at least one of the following actions: not requesting to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; not performing user plane positioning services with the positioning management network element. That is, when the network side refuses the user plane positioning service on the terminal side, timing information can also be configured for the terminal side, so that the terminal side does not initiate a secure user plane connection or user plane positioning services within the timing duration, which can reduce the resource overhead of the terminal side and the network side and also improve the management mechanism of the user plane positioning service.

[0019] In a possible design, the method further includes: starting a second timer configured locally; before the second timer times out, performing at least one of the following actions: not requesting to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; not performing user plane positioning services with the positioning management network element. That is, when the network side does not configure a timer, once the terminal side determines that the network side refuses the user plane positioning service, the terminal side can, according to the locally configured timing duration, not initiate a secure user plane connection or user plane positioning services within the timing duration, which can reduce the resource overhead of the terminal side and the network side and also improve the management mechanism of the user plane positioning service.

[0020] In a possible design, the first message includes an uplink user plane positioning transmission message, and the user plane positioning service includes uplink user plane positioning transmission. In this way, when the terminal side performs uplink user plane positioning services, the network side can perform access control on the terminal side, realizing the scenario coverage of the network side refusing the uplink user plane positioning service of the terminal side.

[0021] In a possible design, the second message includes one of the following messages: an uplink user plane positioning transmission rejection message; an uplink user plane positioning transmission failure message; or, a downlink user plane positioning transmission message. The message type of the second message is not limited in this application.

[0022] In a second aspect, a user plane positioning method is provided. Optionally, the execution subject of this method can be a positioning management function network element, or a component or device applied to the positioning management function network element (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the positioning management function network element. The method includes: receiving a first message from a first terminal device, where the first message is used for user plane positioning services; sending a second message to the first terminal device, where the second message is used to reject user plane positioning services, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting user plane positioning services; where the cause value is related to at least one of the following information: the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the access type preference information of the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning, the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, or the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane.

[0023] For the beneficial effects of the second aspect, please refer to the description of the first aspect.

[0024] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the positioning management function network element.

[0025] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the access type preference information of user plane positioning, the cause value is used to indicate: the access type for user plane positioning of the first terminal device is different from the access type preference of the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning; or, the access type for user plane positioning of the first terminal device is not allowed.

[0026] In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving first configuration information from an access and mobility management function network element, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the access type preference of the first terminal device for user plane positioning.

[0027] In a possible design, the method further includes: sending user plane information to the first terminal device through the access and mobility management function network element, where the user plane information includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate the access type preference of the first terminal device for user plane positioning.

[0028] In a possible design, the access type preference includes one of the following access types: 3GPP access; non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of 3GPP access is higher than that of non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of non-3GPP access is higher than that of 3GPP access.

[0029] In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving a third message from a first terminal device, where the third message is used for user plane positioning service, and the access type of the third message is the same as the access type preference.

[0030] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the positioning management function network element.

[0031] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane, the cause value is used to indicate that the positioning management function network element is in a congested state in the user plane.

[0032] In a possible design, the method further includes: sending a user plane connection release message to the first terminal device, where the user plane connection release message is used to indicate the release of the secure user plane connection between the positioning management function network element and the first terminal device.

[0033] In a possible design, the second message further includes timing information, where the timing information is used to indicate the first terminal device to perform one of the following actions: not requesting to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; not performing user plane positioning service with the positioning management network element.

[0034] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, where the communication device includes: a sending unit, configured to send a first message to a positioning management function network element, where the first message is used for user plane positioning service; a receiving unit, configured to receive a second message from the positioning management function network element, where the second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service; where the cause value is related to at least one of the following information: the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the access type preference information of the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning, the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, or the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane.

[0035] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the number of user plane located terminal devices processed by the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane located terminal devices processed in parallel by the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane located terminal devices that the positioning management function network element can process in parallel.

[0036] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the access type preference information of user plane positioning, the cause value is used to indicate that: the access type for the first terminal device to perform user plane positioning is different from the access type preference used by the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning; or, the access type for the first terminal device to perform user plane positioning is not allowed.

[0037] In a possible design, the receiving unit is further configured to, when initiating a registration procedure, receive a registration acceptance message from the access and mobility management function network element, where the registration acceptance message includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate the access type preference for the first terminal device to perform user plane positioning.

[0038] In a possible design, the receiving unit is further configured to, when initiating a user plane positioning connection management procedure, receive user plane information from the positioning management function network element, where the user plane information includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate the access type preference for the first terminal device to perform user plane positioning.

[0039] In a possible design, the access type preference includes one of the following access types: 3GPP access; non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of 3GPP access is higher than that of non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of non-3GPP access is higher than that of 3GPP access.

[0040] In a possible design, it further includes a connection unit configured to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management function network element based on the access type preference determined by the first information.

[0041] In a possible design, the sending unit further sends a third message to the positioning management function network element, where the third message is used for user plane positioning service, and the access type of the third message is the same as the access type preference.

[0042] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the positioning management function network element.

[0043] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane, the cause value is used to indicate that the positioning management function network element is in a congested state in the user plane.

[0044] In a possible design, a receiving unit is configured to receive a user plane connection release message, where the user plane connection release message is used to indicate the release of the secure user plane connection between the positioning management network element and the first terminal device.

[0045] In a possible design, the second message further includes timing information, and a timing unit is further included, configured to start a first timer according to the timing information. Before the first timer times out, at least one of the following actions is performed: not requesting to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; not performing user plane positioning services for the positioning management network element.

[0046] In a possible design, a timing unit is further included, configured to start a locally configured second timer; before the second timer times out, at least one of the following actions is performed: not requesting to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; not performing user plane positioning services for the positioning management network element.

[0047] In a possible design, the first message includes an uplink user plane positioning transmission message, and the user plane positioning service includes uplink user plane positioning transmission.

[0048] In a possible design, the second message includes one of the following messages: an uplink user plane positioning transmission rejection message; an uplink user plane positioning transmission failure message; or, a downlink user plane positioning transmission message.

[0049] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first message from a first terminal device, where the first message is used to perform user plane positioning services; a sending unit, configured to send a second message to the first terminal device, where the second message is used to reject user plane positioning services, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting user plane positioning services; where the cause value is related to at least one of the following information: the number of terminal devices for which the positioning management function network element processes user plane positioning, the access type preference information used by the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning, the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, or the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane.

[0050] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the number of terminal devices for which the positioning management function network element processes user plane positioning, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of terminal devices for which the positioning management function network element processes user plane positioning in parallel is greater than or equal to the maximum number of terminal devices for which the positioning management function network element processes user plane positioning in parallel.

[0051] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the access type preference information for user plane positioning, the cause value is used to indicate that the access type for the first terminal device to perform user plane positioning is different from the access type preference used by the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning; or, the access type for the first terminal device to perform user plane positioning is not allowed.

[0052] In a possible design, the receiving unit is further configured to receive first configuration information from the access and mobility management function network element, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the access type preference for the first terminal device to perform user plane positioning.

[0053] In a possible design, the sending unit is further configured to send user plane information to the first terminal device through the access and mobility management function network element, where the user plane information includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate the access type preference for the first terminal device to perform user plane positioning.

[0054] In a possible design, the access type preference includes one of the following access types: 3GPP access; non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of 3GPP access is higher than that of non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of non-3GPP access is higher than that of 3GPP access.

[0055] In a possible design, the receiving unit is further configured to receive a third message from the first terminal device, where the third message is used to perform user plane positioning service, and the access type of the third message is the same as the access type preference.

[0056] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the positioning management function network element.

[0057] In a possible design, when the cause value is related to the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane, the cause value is used to indicate that the positioning management function network element is in a congested state in the user plane.

[0058] In a possible design, the sending unit is further configured to send a user plane connection release message to the first terminal device, where the user plane connection release message is used to indicate the release of the secure user plane connection between the positioning management function network element and the first terminal device.

[0059] In a possible design, the second message further includes timing information, where the timing information is used to indicate that the first terminal device performs one of the following actions: does not request to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; does not perform user plane positioning service with the positioning management network element.

[0060] In a fifth aspect, a user plane positioning method is provided. Optionally, the execution entity of this method can be an access and mobility management function network element, or a component or device applied to the access and mobility management function network element (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the access and mobility management function network element. The method includes: receiving the subscription information of a first terminal device from a unified data management network element, where the subscription information includes the access type preference information used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning; sending a registration acceptance message to the first terminal device, where the registration acceptance message includes the access type preference information used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning.

[0061] In this way, for the access and mobility management function network element, when the terminal side initiates a registration process, the access and mobility management function network element can configure the access type preference information used for user plane positioning to the terminal side through the registration acceptance message, so as to implement the access control of the network side to the user plane positioning service initiated by the terminal side. When the access type of the user plane positioning service initiated by the terminal side is consistent with the access type preference information of the network side, the success rate of the user plane positioning service initiated by the terminal side can be improved, and the service experience of the terminal side can be enhanced.

[0062] In a possible design, the method further includes: when the first terminal device initiates the establishment of a secure user plane connection, sending the access type preference information used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning to a positioning management function network element. In this way, when the terminal side initiates a secure user plane connection, if the access type of the terminal side is consistent with the access type preference information saved by the positioning management function network element, the success rate of the user plane positioning service initiated by the terminal side can be improved, and the service experience of the terminal side can be enhanced.

[0063] In a possible design, the method further includes: when the first terminal device initiates a user plane positioning connection management process, sending the access type preference information used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning to a positioning management function network element. In this way, when the terminal side initiates a user plane positioning connection management process, if the access type of the terminal side is consistent with the access type preference information saved by the positioning management function network element, the success rate of the user plane positioning service initiated by the terminal side can be improved, and the service experience of the terminal side can be enhanced.

[0064] Sixth aspect, a user plane positioning method is provided. Optionally, the execution entity of this method can be a unified data management network element, or a component or device applied to the unified data management network element (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the unified data management network element. The method includes: receiving a registration request from a first terminal device; sending the subscription information of the first terminal device to an access and mobility management function network element, where the subscription information includes the access type preference information used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning.

[0065] In this way, for the unified data management network element, in the case where the terminal side initiates a registration process, the unified data management network element can send the access type preference information used for user plane positioning to the access and mobility management function network element through the subscription information, so as to implement the access control of the network side to the user plane positioning service initiated by the terminal side. When the access type of the user plane positioning service initiated by the terminal side is consistent with the access type preference information of the network side, the success rate of the user plane positioning service initiated by the terminal side can be improved, and the service experience of the terminal side can be enhanced.

[0066] In the fifth and sixth aspects:

[0067] In a possible design, the access type preference information includes one of the following information: 3GPP access; non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of 3GPP access is higher than that of non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of non-3GPP access is higher than that of 3GPP access.

[0068] Seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive the subscription information of a first terminal device from a unified data management network element, where the subscription information includes the access type preference information used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning; a sending unit, configured to send a registration acceptance message to the first terminal device, where the registration acceptance message includes the access type preference information used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning.

[0069] In a possible design, the sending unit is further configured to send the access type preference information used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning to a positioning management function network element when the first terminal device initiates the establishment of a secure user plane connection.

[0070] In a possible design, the sending unit is further configured to send the access type preference information used by the first terminal device for user plane positioning to a positioning management function network element when the first terminal device initiates a user plane positioning connection management process.

[0071] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a receiving unit configured to receive a registration request from a first terminal device; and a transmitting unit configured to send subscription information of the first terminal device to an access and mobility management function network element, where the subscription information includes access type preference information of the first terminal device for user plane positioning.

[0072] In the seventh aspect and the eighth aspect:

[0073] In a possible design, the access type preference information includes one of the following: 3GPP access; non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of 3GPP access is higher than that of non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of non-3GPP access is higher than that of 3GPP access.

[0074] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, including at least one processor. The at least one processor is connected to a memory. The at least one processor is configured to read and execute a program stored in the memory, so that the device executes the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or executes the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, or executes the method described in the fifth aspect or any possible design of the fifth aspect; or executes the method described in the sixth aspect or any possible design of the sixth aspect.

[0075] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is configured to execute the method described in the third aspect and any possible design of the third aspect, and the second communication device is configured to execute the method described in the fourth aspect and any possible design of the fourth aspect.

[0076] In a possible design, the communication system further includes a third communication device and a fourth communication device. The third communication device is configured to execute the method described in the fifth aspect and any possible design of the fifth aspect, and the fourth communication device is configured to execute the method described in the sixth aspect and any possible design of the sixth aspect.

[0077] In an eleventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. Computer instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium. When the computer instructions run on a communication device, the communication device is caused to execute the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, and / or execute the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, and / or execute the method described in the fifth aspect or any possible design of the fifth aspect, and / or execute the method described in the sixth aspect or any possible design of the sixth aspect.

[0078] In a twelfth aspect, a chip is provided. The chip is coupled to a memory and is used to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, and / or execute the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, and / or execute the method described in the fifth aspect or any possible design of the fifth aspect, and / or execute the method described in the sixth aspect or any possible design of the sixth aspect. Description of the Drawings

[0079] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a core network provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] Figure 3 It is a schematic flowchart of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] Figure 4 It is a schematic flowchart of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] Figure 5 It is a schematic flowchart of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0084] Figure 6 It is a schematic flowchart of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0085] Figure 7 It is a schematic flowchart of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0086] Figure 8 It is a schematic flowchart of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] Figure 9 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] Figure 10 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed Embodiments

[0089] For ease of understanding, some descriptions of concepts related to the embodiments of the present application are given as examples for reference as follows.

[0090] Secure user plane connection: An end-to-end connection between the terminal side and the network side based on the transport layer security (TLS) mechanism for LCS-UPP. For example, an end-to-end connection between a user equipment (UE) and a location management function (LMF) based on TLS for LCS-UPP.

[0091] Maximum number of user plane positioning terminals of LMF: An LMF capability that can characterize the maximum number of UEs that the LMF can process for user plane positioning in parallel.

[0092] User plane positioning: For example, positioning based on the user plane follows the Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) specification of the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), which uses existing standards to transmit auxiliary data and positioning data on the user plane, aiming to make full use of the relevant characteristics of the mobile network to provide better location services for users.

[0093] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Among them, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means "or". For example, A / B can mean A or B; the "and / or" herein is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, "a plurality of" means two or more than two.

[0094] Hereinafter, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more.

[0095] Embodiments of the present application can be applied to wireless communication systems such as fifth-generation mobile networks (5G), sixth-generation mobile networks (6G), satellite communication, and future possible communication technologies, including but not limited to narrow band-internet of things (NB-IoT), global system for mobile communications (GSM), enhanced data rate for GSM evolution (EDGE), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), code division multiple access 2000 (CDMA2000), time division-synchronization code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), long term evolution (LTE), and the three application scenarios of 5G mobile communication systems: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and enhanced machine-type communication (eMTC), 6G mobile communication systems, and future possible mobile communication systems, etc.

[0096] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system 1000 to which the embodiments of the present application are applied. As Figure 1 shown, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100. Among them, the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as Figure 1 110a and 110b in, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal (such as Figure 1 120a - 120j in, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes. For example, wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices ( Figure 1(not shown in the figure). The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 wirelessly. Terminals can be connected to each other, and RAN nodes can be connected to each other, either in a wired or wireless manner. The communication system 1000 may further include a core network 200. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 either wirelessly or wired. The core network devices in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be independent and different physical devices, or may be the same physical device integrating the logical functions of the core network devices and the logical functions of the RAN nodes. The communication system 1000 may further include the Internet 300.

[0097] The terminal 120 may be a device with wireless transceiver functions, capable of sending signals to the network side or receiving signals from the network side. The terminal may 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 in various scenarios, such as 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 functions, a wearable device, a vehicle, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the terminal.

[0098] In the present application, the terminal 120 may further receive the positioning access preference information sent by the network side and perform access based on this information.

[0099] The RAN 100 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, and a future wireless access system defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). The RAN 100 may further include two or more different wireless access systems as described above. The RAN 100 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0100] A RAN node, also known as a radio access network device, RAN entity, or access node, is used to assist a terminal in accessing a communication system wirelessly. In one application scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, evolved NodeB (eNodeB), transmission reception point (TRP), next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, next generation NodeB in a 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. The RAN node can be a macro base station (such as Figure 1 110a in Figure 1 ), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as

[0101] 110b in

[0102] ), or a relay node or donor node. In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can cooperate to assist a terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement some functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). Here, the CU completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete some or all of the functions of the physical layer. For specific descriptions of the above protocol layers, reference can be made to the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP. The RU can be used to implement the functions of transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or integrated in the same RAN node, for example, integrated in the baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in the radio frequency device, for example, included in the remote radio unit (RRU) or active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in the O-RAN system, the CU can be called an open CU (O-CU), the DU can be called an open DU (O-DU), and the RU can be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN nodes in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in the form of software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software modules and hardware modules. For example, the RAN node can be a server loaded with the corresponding software module. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the RAN nodes. For the convenience of description, in the following, the base station is used as an example of the RAN node for description.

[0103] Based on the architecture schematic diagram of the communication system 1000 shown in Figure 1 , as shown in Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a core network 200. The core network 200 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, an LMF network element, a unified data management (UDM) network element, a network exposure function (NEF) network element, a network data analytics function (NWDAF) network element, a gateway mobile location center (GMLC), a location registration function (LRF) network element, and an application function (AF) network element. In addition, the communication system 1000 may further include a location service client (LCS client). Figure 2 The Nx shown in

[0104] such as N1, N2, and N51, etc., are interfaces between network elements and can be used for data transmission between network elements.

[0105] The LMF network element can be used to manage and locate mobile resources and time, and provide the Nlmf_location service to the AMF network element for immediate or delayed location information requests on the NL1 interface. The LMF uses the Namf_communcation service on the NL1 interface to request terminal location from the access network through the N2 interface, or communicate with the terminal through the N1 interface for terminal-based or terminal-assisted location. The LMF network element can also request to estimate motion, speed, and direction, or estimate the accuracy of location information when initiating a request. In this application, the LMF network element can implement user plane location access control and processing, and can also feedback to the terminal the reasons for rejecting user plane location access and the timing time.

[0106] The UDM network element can be used to manage user data. For example, it is used for user subscription data management; user authentication data management; user identification data management; 3GPP AKA authentication parameter generation; terminal access authentication, authorization, and authorization based on subscription data; registration management; mobility management; subscription management, etc. In this application, the UDMA can also add terminal location access preference information to the terminal's subscription information and send it back to the terminal.

[0107] The NEF network element can provide the function of opening up network data, enabling non-3GPP networks to access the 5G core network. The main functions and scenarios include: supporting the external exposure of network capabilities, and the externally exposed service capabilities mainly include monitoring functions, supply capabilities, policy / charging functions, and analysis and reporting functions. In addition, the NEF can also provide open security service capabilities for third-party applications.

[0108] The NWDAF network element can be understood as a data perception and analysis network element, which automatically perceives and analyzes the network based on network data and participates in the entire life cycle of network planning, construction, operation and maintenance, network optimization, and operation, making the network easy to maintain and control, improving the efficiency of network resource use, and enhancing the user service experience.

[0109] The GMLC is the first node for an external location program to access the public land mobile network (PLMN) of the global system for mobile communications (GSM). It can perform registration authorization checks and request routing information from the home location register (HLR). A PLMN may have multiple GMLCs.

[0110] The LRF network element can provide service logic and service data functions, and manage the mobility unique to wireless users, including LRFH and LRFV. Among them, LRFH completes the mobility management function of HLR, and LRFV completes the mobility management function of VLR.

[0111] The AF network element can interact with the core network to provide services, and its functions include: accessing network open functions, interacting with the policy framework for policy control, etc. The trusted AF can directly access the internal network element functions of the 5G core network.

[0112] 3GPP defined the scenarios and requirements of LCS-UP, as well as the functions and processes of stage 2 in Release 18. When defining the protocol implementation of stage 3 of LCS-UP, after evaluation and analysis, a new LCS-UPP was finally defined. LCS-UPP requires both the terminal and the network to support the user plane positioning protocol. The terminal reports its support for the user plane positioning protocol to the network during the registration process. The network decides to use user plane positioning based on information such as the terminal's capabilities, the terminal's subscription data, and local configurations. The network actively sends the user plane connection information to the terminal based on the terminal's request, thereby triggering the terminal to initiate the establishment of a packet data unit (PDU) session connection for user plane positioning. Based on the PDU session connection, the terminal can initiate the establishment of an end-to-end secure user plane connection to the LMF network element.

[0113] Based on the secure user plane connection, the terminal and the LMF network element can initiate the LCS-UP transmission process to realize the transmission of long term evolution position protocol (LPP) messages and positioning supplementary service messages between the terminal and the LMF network element. For the uplink LCS-UP transmission, only the scenarios and processing of successful transmission are described in the current 3GPP standard protocol, but the scenarios and processing of transmission failure are not described.

[0114] Among them, the LCS-UP feature is a newly defined standard feature in 3GPP R18, and there is no directly related user plane technology in 3GPP stage 2 and stage 3. The terminal can initiate the LCS-UPP process to transmit positioning and other supplementary service information. In some scenarios, the LMF network element will reject the process request initiated by the terminal. However, currently in TS24.572, the scenarios and processing mechanisms for this situation remain to be defined. For example, in the positioning function of the terminal, the terminal supports both 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the appropriate access type should be determined by Qos policies and operator policies. However, how the operator distributes the user plane positioning access preference information to the terminal, and the processing mechanism after the terminal accepts the user plane positioning access preference information from the operator remain to be defined.

[0115] Therefore, the present application proposes a user plane positioning method, which describes the scenario where the LMF network element rejects the LCS-UPP process initiated by the terminal during the LCS-UPP process initiated by the terminal, and the processing mechanisms on the LMF network element side and the terminal side in case of rejection. In addition, in the present application, the network side can implement the access preference control information issued by the network side to the terminal side based on the registration process of the terminal side and the user plane connection process initiated by the terminal side. The terminal side can receive the access type preference information issued by the network side and perform corresponding processing mechanisms based on the access preference information. If the access type of the terminal side does not meet the requirements of the access type preference, the LMF network element can perform access rejection management on the terminal side of the user plane positioning.

[0116] As Figure 3 is a schematic flow chart of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application, and the method includes the following processes.

[0117] 301. The first terminal device sends a first message to the positioning management function network element, and the first message is used for user plane positioning service.

[0118] In some embodiments, the positioning management function network element may be an LMF network element. Exemplarily, when the first terminal device is a UE, the UE can send a first message to the LMF network element when establishing a secure user plane connection with the LMF network element to trigger the LMF to provide user plane positioning service for the UE, which can also be understood as the UE initiating the process of user plane positioning service transmission.

[0119] Correspondingly, the positioning management function network element can receive the first message from the first terminal device.

[0120] In some embodiments, the first message includes an uplink user plane positioning transmission message, and the user plane positioning service includes uplink user plane positioning transmission. Exemplarily, the uplink user plane positioning transmission message is a "UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT" (uplink location services user plane transport) message, which can also be referred to as an uplink user plane positioning service transmission message. The user plane positioning service includes uplink user plane positioning transmission (UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT), or it can be said that the user plane positioning service includes uplink user plane positioning service transmission.

[0121] 302. The first terminal device receives a second message from the positioning management function network element. The second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service. The cause value is related to at least one of the following information: the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the access type preference information of the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning, the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, or the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane.

[0122] Correspondingly, the positioning management function network element sends a second message to the first terminal device. For example, the LMF network element sends a second message to the UE.

[0123] In some embodiments, when the cause value is related to the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the positioning management function network element.

[0124] That is, when the number of UEs for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of UEs for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the LMF network element, that is, when the maximum number of UEs for user plane positioning supported by the LMF network element is reached, the LMF network element rejects providing the user plane positioning service to the UE. In this way, the maximum connection number control of the UEs for positioning in the user plane by the LMF network element can be achieved.

[0125] In some embodiments, when the cause value is related to the access type preference information of the user plane positioning, the cause value is used to indicate that the access type of the first terminal device for user plane positioning is different from the access type preference of the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning, or the access type of the first terminal device for user plane positioning is not allowed.

[0126] It can also be said that when the access protocol type of the first message sent by the UE is inconsistent with the access protocol type preference of the LMF network element for user plane positioning, the LMF network element rejects or does not provide the user plane positioning service to the UE. In this way, the access preference control of the UEs for positioning in the user plane by the LMF network element can be achieved.

[0127] In some embodiments, the network side may notify the UE of the access type preference for user plane positioning on the core network side during the UE's registration process with the core network, so that the UE can determine the access type for initiating a user plane positioning service request to the LMF according to the access type preference for user plane positioning. In some embodiments, when the first terminal device initiates the registration process, it receives a registration acceptance message from the access and mobility management function network element. The registration acceptance message includes first information, which is used to indicate the access type preference for user plane positioning of the first terminal device. The first terminal device may save the first information, or the first terminal device may also save the first information in the context of the first terminal device.

[0128] In some embodiments, the network side may notify the UE of the access type preference for user plane positioning on the core network side during the user plane positioning connection management process of the UE to the core network, so that the UE can determine the access type for initiating a user plane positioning service request to the LMF according to the access type preference for user plane positioning. In some embodiments, when the first terminal device initiates the user plane positioning connection management process, it receives user plane information from the positioning management function network element. The user plane information includes first information, which is used to indicate the access type preference for user plane positioning of the first terminal device. The first terminal device may save the first information, or the first terminal device may also save the first information in the context of the first terminal device.

[0129] In some embodiments, when the cause value is related to the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the positioning management function network element.

[0130] That is to say, when the number of user plane connections of the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the LMF network element, the LMF network element refuses to provide user plane positioning services to the UE. In this way, connection number control of the LMF network element on the user plane can be achieved.

[0131] In some embodiments, when the cause value is related to the congestion information of the LMF network element on the user plane, the cause value is used to indicate that the LMF network element is in a congested state on the user plane.

[0132] That is to say, when the LMF network element indicates that its user plane is in a congested state, the LMF network element refuses to provide user plane positioning services to the UE. Through this cause value, congestion control of the LMF network element on the user plane can be achieved.

[0133] In some embodiments, the first terminal device may also receive a user plane connection release message from the LMF network element. The user plane connection release message is used to indicate the release of the secure user plane connection between the LMF network element and the first terminal device. This is to reduce the resource overhead of the LMF network element and the first terminal device in case the LMF network element cannot provide user plane positioning services to the first terminal device temporarily.

[0134] In some embodiments, the positioning management function network element may also carry timing information in the second message. The first terminal device starts a first timer according to the timing information and, before the first timer expires, performs at least one of the following actions: does not request to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; does not perform user plane positioning services with the positioning management network element.

[0135] Alternatively, when the first terminal device does not receive the timing information from the LMF network element, the first terminal device may also start a locally configured second timer and, before the second timer expires, perform at least one of the following actions: does not request to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; does not perform user plane positioning services with the positioning management network element.

[0136] When the first timer expires or the second timer expires, the first terminal device may also attempt to send the first request again to perform user plane positioning services.

[0137] Thus, as long as when the first terminal device initiates the user plane positioning service process, if the current network situation of the LMF network element meets the network situation corresponding to at least one of the above cause values, the LMF network element may reject the user plane positioning service process initiated by the first terminal device and feedback a second message of rejecting the service to the first terminal device. For the network side, if the network side does not feedback rejecting the service in the above multiple situations, when the LMF network element accepts the user plane positioning service of the terminal side but cannot provide the user plane positioning service due to insufficient resource allocation on the network side, etc., the performance of the user plane positioning service on the terminal side cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, when the terminal device initiates the user plane positioning service process, if the network side rejects the user plane positioning service request according to a preset multiple rejection conditions and provides a cause value, the performance of the user plane positioning service can be improved. For example, the terminal side can attempt to initiate the user plane positioning service process again after waiting for a period of time.

[0138] This application does not limit the reasons for the LMF network element to reject the user plane positioning service to only the above examples, and other cause values are also possible, which are not limited in this application.

[0139] Based on the multiple cause values provided in the above embodiments, the following exemplarily presents the method flow for rejecting the provision of user plane positioning services under multiple cause values. Taking the first terminal device as the UE as an example for illustration.

[0140] As Figure 4 This is a schematic flow diagram of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application. In this method, in the LCS-UPP process, the UE can initiate an uplink LCS-UP transmission process by sending a UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message to the LMF network element. If the number of user plane positioning UEs processed in parallel by the LMF network element at this time reaches or exceeds the maximum number of user plane positioning UEs of the LMF network element, the LMF network element will reject the uplink LCS-UP transmission process and return a cause value to the UE. Optionally, the LMF network element can send a timer value to the UE. Optionally, the LMF network element can send back the information received from the UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message to the UE. The UE processes the information sent by the LMF network element on the UE side based on the cause value. This method includes the following processes.

[0141] 401. The UE and the LMF network element establish a secured user plane connection for LCS-UPP.

[0142] Exemplarily, the UE can establish a secured user plane connection with the LMF network element, and the UE and the LMF network element can perform user plane data transmission.

[0143] 402. The UE sends a first message to the LMF network element, and the first message is used for user plane positioning services.

[0144] Exemplarily, based on the secured user plane connection established with the LMF network element, the UE can initiate an LCS-UP transmission process to the LMF network element to enable the transmission of LPP messages and location supplementary services messages between the UE and the LMF network element. Among them, the LMF network element can establish secured user plane connections with multiple UEs.

[0145] Among them, LPP is used for point-to-point use between a positioning server (such as an enhanced serving mobile location centre (E-SMLC), an LMF network element, or a service location protocol (SLP)) and a target device (UE or SET), so as to locate the target device using location-related measurements obtained from one or more reference sources. Each LPP transaction involves the exchange of one or more LPP messages between the location server and the target device. LPP messages can be used to identify whether the current message belongs to the same transaction and to identify when the current transaction ends. LPP messages can include: messages identifying those belonging to the same transaction; indicating when a transaction (such as a transaction with a periodic response) ends; enabling duplicate LPP message detection at the receiving end; allowing requests for and / or return of acknowledgments for any LPP message. The positioning supplementary service message can include: an eventReportAllowedArea; a reportingPLMNList; a periodicLocation; a mappedQoS.

[0146] In some embodiments, the first message is an uplink user plane positioning service transport (UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT) message, which can also be denoted as an uplink LCS-UP transport message. That is, when the UE initiates an LCS-UP transport process to the LMF network element, the UE can initiate the uplink LCS-UP transport process through the uplink LCS-UP transport message.

[0147] Exemplarily, the UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message can include at least one of an LCS-UP payload type, an LCS-UP payload, or an LPP message.

[0148] 403. If the number of user plane positioning terminal devices processed in parallel by the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the LMF network element, the LMF network element determines to reject processing the first message.

[0149] In some embodiments, the LMF network element may be configured with an indication of the maximum number of UEs for which the LMF network element can perform parallel user plane positioning. When the LMF network element receives a UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message from a UE, it may determine, based on this indication, whether the number of UEs for which the LMF network element is currently performing parallel user plane positioning has reached or exceeded the maximum number of UEs for which the LMF network element can perform parallel user plane positioning. If the LMF network element determines that the number of UEs for which the LMF network element is currently performing parallel user plane positioning has not reached the maximum number of UEs for which the LMF network element can perform parallel user plane positioning, it can be understood that the LMF network element still has resources available for allocation for uplink LCS-UP transmission with the UE. If the LMF network element determines that the number of UEs for which the LMF network element is currently performing parallel user plane positioning has reached or exceeded the maximum number of UEs for which the LMF network element can perform parallel user plane positioning, it can be understood that the LMF network element does not have sufficient resources available for allocation for uplink LCS-UP transmission with the UE. At this time, the LMF network element determines to reject the uplink user plane positioning service transmission of the UE.

[0150] In some embodiments, it may also be that when the number of user plane positioning terminal devices that the LMF network element is processing in parallel is greater than or equal to the number of the first UEs for which the LMF network element can perform parallel user plane positioning, the LMF network element determines to reject processing the uplink user plane positioning service transmission message sent by the UE. The number of the first UEs for which the LMF network element can perform parallel user plane positioning is less than the maximum number of UEs for which the LMF network element can perform parallel user plane positioning. This situation can be understood as that when the number of UEs for which the LMF network element is performing parallel user plane positioning is about to reach or is approaching the maximum number of UEs for which the LMF network element can perform parallel user plane positioning, but has not reached the maximum number of UEs for which the LMF network element can perform parallel user plane positioning, the LMF network element can also determine to reject processing the uplink user plane positioning service transmission initiated by the UE. In this way, the performance of the LMF network element in providing user plane positioning services for UEs that have successfully initiated user plane positioning service transmissions can be ensured.

[0151] 404. The LMF network element sends a second message to the UE. The second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service. The cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane positioning terminal devices that the LMF network element is processing in parallel is greater than or equal to the maximum number of terminal devices for which the LMF network element can perform parallel user plane positioning.

[0152] Correspondingly, the UE receives the second message from the LMF network element.

[0153] In some embodiments, the second message is a rejection response message to the UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message. That is, the LMF network element may carry the cause value for rejecting the uplink user plane positioning service in the rejection response message. Among them, the cause value may also be referred to as a cause indication or cause information or cause value information, etc.

[0154] Exemplarily, when the cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane positioning terminal devices processed in parallel by the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane positioning terminal devices processed in parallel by the LMF network element, the cause value in the second message may be "maximum number of UE for LCS-UP reached".

[0155] In some embodiments, the second message may be one of the following messages: UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT REJECT message; UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT FAILURE message; DL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message. The present application does not limit the specific type of the second message.

[0156] Exemplarily, UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT REJECT may include an LCS-UP payload type information element and an LCS-UP payload information element. Among them, the LCS-UP payload IE may include: LCS-UP payload content; Number of LPP messages; Length of a certain LPP message; Content of the LPP message.

[0157] In some embodiments, the LMF network element may also send a user plane connection release message to the UE, and the user plane connection release message is used to indicate the release of the secure user plane connection between the LMF network element and the UE. Accordingly, the UE may receive the user plane connection release message from the LMF network element. Or rather, the LMF network element may also initiate a user plane connection release process with the UE to release the secure user plane connection between the UE and the LMF network element, saving the resource overhead between the UE and the LMF network element.

[0158] In some embodiments, the second message further includes timing information, and the timing information is used to indicate that the UE performs one of the following operations before the timing duration indicated by the timing information expires: does not request to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; does not perform user plane positioning service with the positioning management network element.

[0159] For the UE, when the second message further includes timing information, the method may further include: The UE starts a first timer according to the timing information, and before the first timer expires, performs one of the following actions: The UE does not request to establish a secure user plane connection from the positioning management network element; The UE does not perform user plane positioning service to the positioning management network element. That is, the UE may not initiate a user plane positioning service to the LMF network element before the first timer expires.

[0160] Exemplarily, the second message carries a timer value, and the timing duration of the timer value is the timing duration indicated by the timing information.

[0161] Exemplarily, the LMF network element may determine the timing duration according to the number of UEs for which the LMF network element is currently processing user plane positioning in parallel or the current resource scheduling situation of the LMF network element, so that at the end moment when the timing duration is reached, if the UE requests a user plane positioning service again, the probability that the UE successfully initiates an uplink LCS-UP transmission process is relatively high.

[0162] In some embodiments, the second message includes the information received by the LMF network element from the first message. Or rather, the LMF network element may send back the information received from the UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message in this second message to the UE.

[0163] 405. The UE processes the second message based on the cause value.

[0164] In some embodiments, based on the cause value in the second message, when the UE learns that the number of UEs for which the current LMF network element is currently processing user plane positioning in parallel reaches or exceeds the maximum number of UEs for which the LMF network element can process user plane positioning in parallel, the UE may transmit information indicating the cause value to the upper layer positioning application of the UE, so that the upper layer positioning application no longer requests the UE to initiate a ULLCS-UP transmission process.

[0165] In some embodiments, the second message further includes at least one of the information of the user plane positioning transport protocol or the positioning supplementary service information carried in the first message. Based on this, the method further includes: The UE performs user plane positioning processing in the upper layer positioning application according to at least one of the information of the user plane positioning transport protocol or the positioning supplementary service information.

[0166] Exemplarily, the upper layer positioning application of the UE may select other user plane access methods to initiate a UL LCS-UP transmission process. Or, the upper layer positioning application may decide not to initiate a UL LCS-UP transmission process temporarily. In short, the upper layer positioning application may perform the next user plane positioning strategy according to the information carried in the received response message.

[0167] In some embodiments, when a timer value is carried in the second message received by the UE, the UE may start a back-off timer based on the timer value, and the timing duration is the timing duration indicated in the second message. Before the back-off timer times out, the UE does not initiate user plane positioning service transmission, or rather, the UE does not actively initiate the UL LCS-UP transmission procedure, that is, it does not send the first message. If the LMF network element initiates the release procedure of the secure user plane connection, that is, the UE receives the user plane connection release message, before the back-off timer times out, or rather, before the timing duration times out, the UE does not request to establish a secure user plane connection with the LMF network element, or rather, the UE no longer actively initiates the secure user plane connection establishment procedure. After the back-off timer times out, the UE can also try to initiate the secure user plane connection establishment procedure again and initiate the UL LCS-UP transmission procedure on the basis of successful connection establishment.

[0168] If the timer value is not carried in the second message, in some embodiments, the UE may start a second timer configured locally by the UE, and before the timing duration of the second timer times out, perform one of the following actions: the UE does not request to establish a secure user plane connection with the LMF network element; the UE does not perform user plane positioning service for the LMF network element. Exemplarily, when the UE receives the second message rejecting the user plane positioning service, the UE may start a back-off timer based on the local configuration, and the timing duration may be the same as or different from the timing duration indicated in the second message. Similarly, before the back-off timer times out, the UE may no longer actively initiate the UL LCS-UP transmission procedure. If the LMF network element initiates the release procedure of the secure user plane connection, the UE may not request to establish a secure user plane connection with the LMF network element before the back-off timer times out.

[0169] Thus, in this application, when the UE initiates the UL LCS-UP transmission procedure, if the number of UEs for which the LMF network element is currently processing user plane positioning in parallel reaches or exceeds the maximum number of UEs for which the LMF network element can process user plane positioning in parallel, the LMF network element may send a second message rejecting the user plane positioning service to the UE and provide a cause value for the upper-layer positioning application of the UE to perform the next step of processing according to the cause value.

[0170] Such as Figure 5Schematic flow diagram of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of this application. In this method, during the UE registration process with the core network, the network side sends user plane positioning access preference information to the UE. In the LCS-UPP process initiated by the UE, if the UE does not meet the user plane positioning access preference information sent by the LMF, the LMF will reject the UP LCS-UP transport message. The LMF will reject the request to initiate the process and return a cause value and timing information, and the UE will also perform processing on the UE side based on the information sent by the LMF network element. This method includes the following processes.

[0171] 501. In the case where the UE initiates a registration process, the UDM network element sends the subscription information of the UE to the AMF network element, and the subscription information includes the access type preference information used by the UE for user plane positioning.

[0172] In the case where the UE registers with the core network, if the UDM network element determines that the UE supports user plane positioning based on the UE's capabilities, the UDM network element can send the subscription information of the UE to the UE through the AMF network element, and the subscription information carries the access type preference information configured by the core network side for the UE for user plane positioning.

[0173] Among them, the subscription information can also be referred to as subscription data. The access type preference information configured in the UDM network element can be configured by the operator in the UDM according to the configuration rules. For example, the operator can determine the access type preference information used by the UE for user plane positioning according to the resource scheduling and other conditions on the current core network side.

[0174] Exemplarily, the subscription information can also include authentication information (whether the UE has the right to register to the current network), user plane security policy, service gap time, and subscribed slice, etc.

[0175] 502. The AMF network element sends a registration acceptance message to the UE, and the registration acceptance message includes a first piece of information, and the first piece of information is used to indicate the access type preference information used by the UE for user plane positioning.

[0176] Correspondingly, the UE receives the registration acceptance message from the AMF network element, and the registration acceptance message includes a first piece of information, and the first piece of information is used to indicate the access type preference for user plane positioning of the UE.

[0177] In some embodiments, during the UE registration process, if the first piece of information in the registration acceptance message sent by the AMF network element to the UE comes from the UDM network element, the AMF network element is equivalent to transparently transmitting the first piece of information to the UE.

[0178] Alternatively, in some embodiments, the first information in the registration acceptance message sent by the AMF network element to the UE may not be from the UDM network element, but the first information is locally configured by the AMF network element. That is, in the case where the first information is locally configured by the AMF, if the UE initiates a registration process, when the AMF sends a registration acceptance message to the UE, the registration acceptance message may include the first information.

[0179] 503. The UE saves the first information in the UE context.

[0180] In some embodiments, the UE may save the first information, that is, the access type preference information used by the UE for user plane positioning, in the UE context. When the UE performs mobility management cell handover / reselection, the UE may also perform a user plane positioning service process according to the access type preference indicated by the first information for user plane positioning by the UE.

[0181] In some embodiments, the access type preference used by the UE for user plane positioning includes one of the following access types:

[0182] 3GPP access; non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of 3GPP access is higher than that of non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of non-3GPP access is higher than that of 3GPP access.

[0183] Among them, if the access type preference is 3GPP access, the first information (the access type preference information used by the UE for user plane positioning) can be understood as "LCS-UPP over 3GPP access only". If the access type preference is non-3GPP access, the first information can be understood as "LCS-UPP over non-3GPP access only". If the access type preference is 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of 3GPP access is higher than that of non-3GPP access, the first information can be understood as "LCS-UPP over 3GPP access preferred". If the access type preference is 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of non-3GPP access is higher than that of 3GPP access, the first information can be understood as "LCS-UPP over non-3GPP access preferred".

[0184] This application does not limit the access type preference of the UE for user plane positioning. Among them, non-3GPP access can be, for example, wireless fidelity (WiFi) access.

[0185] In some embodiments, for the operator, when configuring the access type preference of the UE for user plane positioning in the UDM network element or the AMF network element, it can be the access type preference of the UE for user plane positioning determined according to the resource scheduling situation on the network side. For example, when the proportion of 3GPP resources on the network side reaches a certain threshold, the access type preference of the UE for user plane positioning can be configured as non-3GPP access. Alternatively, the operator can also determine the access type preference of the UE for user plane positioning according to the user payment situation of the UE.

[0186] 504. The UE establishes a secure user plane connection with the LMF network element for LCS-UPP.

[0187] For the implementation method of step 504, refer to the description of step 401.

[0188] The difference is that if the AMF network element does not carry the first information when sending the registration acceptance message to the UE, during the process of the UE establishing a secure user plane connection with the LMF network element for LCS-UPP, the AMF network element can also send the first information in the UE subscription information obtained from the UDM network element or the first information locally configured by the AMF network element to the UE.

[0189] In the case where the LMF network element establishes secure user plane connections with multiple UEs, the LMF network element can send the first information corresponding to each UE to each UE, that is, configure the access type preference of the UE for user plane positioning for each UE.

[0190] In some embodiments, when the UE establishes a secure user plane connection with the LMF network element for LCS-UPP, the UE establishes a secure user plane connection based on the access type preference determined by the first information. That is, the UE can initiate the full user plane connection process to the network side using the access type preference of the UE for user plane positioning indicated by the first information.

[0191] 505. The UE sends a first message to the LMF network element, and the first message is used for user plane positioning service.

[0192] Correspondingly, the LMF network element receives the first message from the UE.

[0193] For the implementation method of step 505, refer to the description of step 402.

[0194] In some embodiments, if the UE has received the access type preference configured by the network side for the UE to use for user plane positioning, that is, the UE has received the first piece of information, before sending the first message, the access type of the UL LCS-UPTRANSPORT message sent by the UE to the LMF network element can be the access type preference for the UE to use for user plane positioning indicated by the first piece of information.

[0195] For example, if the access type preference for the UE to use for user plane positioning indicated by the first piece of information is 3GPP access, the access type of the UL LCS-UPTRANSPORT message is 3GPP access.

[0196] If the access type preference for the UE to use for user plane positioning indicated by the first piece of information is non-3GPP access, the access type of the UL LCS-UPTRANSPORT message is non-3GPP access.

[0197] If the access type preference for the UE to use for user plane positioning indicated by the first piece of information is: 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of 3GPP access is higher than that of non-3GPP access, at this time, if the UE supports both 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, the access type of the UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message is 3GPP access.

[0198] If the access type preference for the UE to use for user plane positioning indicated by the first piece of information is: 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of non-3GPP access is higher than that of 3GPP access, at this time, if the UE supports both 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, the access type of the UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message is non-3GPP access.

[0199] 506. If the access type for the UE to perform user plane positioning is different from the access type preference used by the LMF network element for user plane positioning, the LMF network element determines to reject processing the first message.

[0200] In some embodiments, if the UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message currently initiated by the UE does not meet the requirements of the user plane positioning access preference information configured by the network side for this UE, the LMF network element rejects processing the UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message. For the LMF network element, the LMF network element will not receive and save the information carried in the UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message either.

[0201] In some embodiments, there may be various reasons why the access type that causes the UE to perform user plane positioning is different from the access type preference used by the LMF network element for user plane positioning. For example, the network side does not send the first piece of information, that is, the access type preference information for the UE to perform user plane positioning has not been sent to the UE yet, or the UE does not receive the first piece of information sent by the network side, or the UE does not receive the access type preference information for the UE to perform user plane positioning sent by the network side from the registration acceptance message. In this case, it is possible that the uplink LCS-UP transmission process initiated by the UE does not meet the requirements of the access preference information for the UE's user plane positioning configured by the network side.

[0202] Or, for the network side, the first piece of information or the access type preference information for the UE to perform user plane positioning has changed, but it fails to be updated to the UE in a timely manner through the registration acceptance message. In this case, it is also possible that the uplink LCS-UP transmission process initiated by the UE does not meet the requirements of the access preference information for the UE's user plane positioning configured by the network side.

[0203] 507. The LMF network element sends a second message to the UE. The second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service. The cause value is used to indicate that the access type for the UE to perform user plane positioning is different from the access type preference used by the LMF network element for user plane positioning.

[0204] The message type of the second message can refer to the description in step 404.

[0205] The difference is that the cause value in the second message is different. Exemplarily, when the cause value is used to indicate that the access type for the UE to perform user plane positioning is different from the access type preference used by the LMF network element for user plane positioning, the cause value in the second message can be "access type not allowed".

[0206] 508. The UE processes the second message based on the cause value.

[0207] The implementation manner of step 508 can refer to the description in step 405.

[0208] The difference is that if the cause value in the second message is used to indicate that the access type for the UE to perform user plane positioning is different from the access type preference used by the LMF network element for user plane positioning, when the UE reports the information (including the cause value) carried in the second message to the upper layer positioning application, the upper layer positioning application may adopt the same or different strategy for the next step of user plane positioning processing as that in step 405.

[0209] It can be understood that if the UE has received the first information from the registration process, when the UE initiates the user plane positioning service transmission, the UE may send a third message to the LMF network element. The third message is used for the user plane positioning service, and the access type of the third message is the same as the access type preference indicated by the first information. For the message type of the third message, refer to the description of the first message.

[0210] Thus, in this application, when the UE initiates the UL LCS-UP transmission process, if the access type used by the UE for user plane positioning is the same as the access type preference of the LMF network element for user plane positioning, the LMF network element may send a second message rejecting the user plane positioning service to the UE and provide a cause value, so that the upper layer positioning application of the UE can perform the next step of processing according to the cause value.

[0211] In some scenarios, when the UE supports user plane positioning, the network side can configure the access type preference information used by the UE for user plane positioning in the registration process, or the network side can also configure the access type preference information used by the UE for user plane positioning in the user plane positioning connection management process initiated by the UE after the UE registration is successful.

[0212] Among them, the user plane positioning connection management process can be understood as the process of the network side selecting a suitable LMF network element for the user plane positioning process of the UE, so as to provide the user plane positioning service for the UE through the selected LMF network element.

[0213] Such as Figure 6 It is a schematic flow diagram of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of this application. In this method, in the user plane positioning connection management process between the UE and the core network, the network side issues the user plane positioning access preference information to the UE. In the LCS-UPP process initiated by the UE, if the UE does not meet the user plane positioning access preference information issued by the LMF network element, the LMF network element will reject the Uplink LCS-UP transport message. The LMF network element will reject the request to initiate the process and return the cause value and timer, and the UE will also perform the processing on the UE side according to the information sent by the LMF network element. This method includes the following processes.

[0214] 601a. When the UE initiates the user plane positioning connection management process, the AMF network element selects an LMF network element for the UE.

[0215] 601b. The AMF network element sends the access type preference information used by the UE for user plane positioning to the LMF network element.

[0216] In some embodiments, if the AMF network element has obtained the access type preference information for the user plane positioning of the UE from the UDM network element during the UE registration process, when the UE initiates the user plane positioning connection management process, the AMF network element may carry the access type preference information for the user plane positioning of the UE in the Nlmf_Location_UPConfig Request when sending an uplink positioning information request (Nlmf_Location_UPConfig Request) to the LMF network element in this process (or referred to as the LMF network element selection process).

[0217] Optionally, the access type preference information for the user plane positioning of the UE carried in the Nlmf_Location_UPConfig Request sent by the AMF network element may also be locally configured by the AMF network element.

[0218] Exemplarily, the Nlmf_Location_UPConfig Request may further include the address information of the UE and the LMF network element and the identifier of the UE. The identifier of the UE is, for example, a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI) or a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI).

[0219] 602. The LMF network element sends user plane information to the AMF network element, and the user plane information includes the access type preference information for the user plane positioning of the UE.

[0220] In some embodiments, when the UE initiates the user plane positioning connection management process, the LMF network element may send user plane information to the UE through the AMF network element. The user plane information may include the IP address of the LMF network element and security-related information, etc. When the LMF network element obtains the access type preference information for the user plane positioning of the UE from the AMF network element, the LMF network element may add the access type preference information for the user plane positioning of the UE to the user plane information sent to the UE through the AMF network element.

[0221] Optionally, the LMF network element may also locally configure the access type preference information for the user plane positioning of the UE.

[0222] 603. The AMF network element sends user plane information to the UE.

[0223] That is, the AMF network element can be understood as transmitting the user plane information received from the LMF network element to the UE transparently. The access type preference information for user plane positioning used by the UE received by the UE can be from the AMF network element or from the LMF network element.

[0224] 604. The UE saves the first information in the UE context.

[0225] For the implementation of step 604, refer to the description of step 503.

[0226] 605. The UE establishes a secure user plane connection with the LMF network element for LCS-UPP.

[0227] For the implementation of step 605, refer to the description of step 401.

[0228] The difference is that if the AMF network element does not carry the access type preference information for user plane positioning used by the UE when sending user plane information to the UE, during the process of the UE establishing a secure user plane connection with the LMF network element for LCS-UPP, the AMF network element can also send the first information in the UE subscription information obtained from the UDM network element or the first information locally configured by the AMF network element to the UE.

[0229] 606. The UE sends a first message to the LMF network element, and the first message is used for user plane positioning service.

[0230] For the implementation method of step 606, refer to the description of step 402, that is, the UE initiates the LCS-UPP process.

[0231] 607. If the access type for user plane positioning by the UE is different from the access type preference for user plane positioning used by the LMF network element, the LMF network element determines to reject the processing of the first message.

[0232] For the implementation method of step 607, refer to the description of step 402.

[0233] Similar to step 506, if the network side has not yet sent the access type preference information for user plane positioning used by the UE to the UE in the user plane positioning connection management process between the UE and the core network, or the UE has not received the access type preference information for user plane positioning used by the network side sent by the network side, or the UE has not received the access type preference information for user plane positioning used by the network side from the user plane information sent by the AMF network element. In this case, it is possible that the uplink LCS-UP transmission process initiated by the UE does not meet the requirements of the access preference information for user plane positioning of this UE configured by the network side.

[0234] Alternatively, for the network side, the access type preference information used by the UE for user plane positioning changes, but fails to be updated to the UE in a timely manner through the user plane information. In this case, it is also possible that the uplink LCS-UP transmission process initiated by the UE does not meet the requirements of the user plane positioning access preference information configured for the UE on the network side.

[0235] 608. The LMF network element sends a second message to the UE. The second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service. The cause value is used to indicate that the access type used by the UE for user plane positioning is different from the access type preference used by the LMF network element for user plane positioning.

[0236] The message type of the second message can refer to the description in step 404.

[0237] The difference is that the cause values in the second message are different. Exemplarily, when the cause value is used to indicate that the access type used by the UE for user plane positioning is different from the access type preference used by the LMF network element for user plane positioning, the cause value in the second message can be "access type not allowed".

[0238] 609. The UE processes the second message based on the cause value.

[0239] The implementation manner of step 609 can refer to the description in step 405.

[0240] In this way, in this application, when the UE initiates the UL LCS-UP transmission process, if the access type used by the UE for user plane positioning is different from the access type preference used by the LMF network element for user plane positioning, the LMF network element can send a second message rejecting the user plane positioning service to the UE and provide a cause value, so that the upper-layer positioning application of the UE can perform the next step of processing according to the cause value.

[0241] Such as Figure 7 It is a schematic flowchart of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of this application. In this method, in the LCS-UPP process, the UE initiates an uplink LCS-UP transmission process by sending a UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message to the LMF network element. If the LMF network element reaches or exceeds the maximum number of user plane connections at this time, the LMF network element will reject the uplink LCS-UP transmission process and return a cause value to the UE. Optionally, the LMF network element can send a timer value to the UE. Optionally, the LMF network element can send back the information received from the UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message to the UE. The UE processes the information sent by the LMF network element based on the cause value. This method includes the following processes.

[0242] 701. The UE establishes a secure user plane connection with the LMF network element for LCS-UPP.

[0243] 702. The UE sends a first message to the LMF network element, and the first message is used for user plane positioning services.

[0244] For the implementation of step 702, refer to the description in step 402.

[0245] 703. If the number of user plane connections of the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the LMF network element, the LMF network element determines to reject processing the first message.

[0246] In some embodiments, an indication of the maximum number of user plane connections of the LMF network element may be configured in the LMF network element. When the LMF network element receives the UE's UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message, it can determine whether the current number of user plane connections of the LMF network element has reached or exceeded the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the LMF network element according to this indication. If the LMF network element determines that the current number of user plane connections of the LMF network element has not reached the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the LMF network element, it can be understood that the LMF network element still has resources available for uplink LCS-UP transmission with the UE. If the LMF network element determines that the current number of user plane connections of the LMF network element has reached or exceeded the maximum number of user plane connections of the LMF network element, it can be understood that the LMF network element does not have enough resources available for uplink LCS-UP transmission with the UE. At this time, the LMF network element determines to reject the uplink user plane positioning service transmission of the UE.

[0247] In some embodiments, it may also be that when the number of user plane connections of the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the first user plane connection number of the LMF network element, the LMF network element determines to reject processing the uplink user plane positioning service transmission message sent by the UE. The first user plane connection number is less than the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the LMF network element. This situation can be understood as that when the number of user plane connections of the LMF network element is about to reach or is approaching the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the LMF network element, but has not reached the maximum number of user plane connections of the LMF network element, the LMF network element can also determine to reject processing the uplink user plane positioning service transmission initiated by the UE. In this way, the performance of the LMF network element in providing user plane positioning services for UEs that have successfully initiated user plane positioning service transmissions can be ensured.

[0248] 704. The LMF network element sends a second message to the UE, the second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service, and the cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane connections of the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the LMF network element.

[0249] For the implementation of step 704, refer to the description in step 404.

[0250] Differently, in the case where the cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane connections of the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the LMF network element, the cause value in the second message may be "reached the maximum number of user plane connections (maximum number of connection)".

[0251] Among them, the number of user plane connections can be understood as the number of UEs that establish secure user plane connections with the LMF network element. These UE numbers include UEs that need to perform user plane positioning services, and also include UEs for other services other than user plane positioning services. In some possible cases, one UE can establish multiple user plane connections with the LMF network element, and the multiple user plane connections include connections for user plane positioning.

[0252] 705. The UE processes the second message based on the cause value.

[0253] For the implementation manner of step 705, refer to the description of step 405.

[0254] Differently, if the cause value in the second message is used to indicate that the number of user plane connections of the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the LMF network element, when the UE reports the information (including the cause value) carried in the second message to the upper layer positioning application, the next user plane positioning process by the upper layer positioning application may be the same as or different from the policy in step 405.

[0255] In this way, in this application, when the UE initiates the UL LCS-UP transmission process, if the number of user plane connections of the LMF network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the LMF network element, the LMF network element can send a second message rejecting the user plane positioning service to the UE and provide a cause value for the upper layer positioning application of the UE to perform the next process according to this cause value.

[0256] Such as Figure 8 FIG. is a schematic flowchart of a user plane positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application. In this method, in the LCS-UPP process, the UE initiates an uplink LCS-UP transmission process by sending a UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message to the LMF network element. If the LMF network element is in a congested state at this time, the LMF network element will reject the uplink LCS-UP transmission process and return a cause value to the UE. Optionally, the LMF network element can send a timer value to the UE. Optionally, the LMF network element can send back the information received from the UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message to the UE. The UE processes the information sent by the LMF network element based on the cause value. This method includes the following processes.

[0257] 801. The UE establishes a secure user plane connection with the LMF network element for LCS-UPP.

[0258] 802. The UE sends a first message to the LMF network element, and the first message is used for user plane positioning service.

[0259] For the implementation of step 802, refer to the description in step 402.

[0260] 803. If the LMF network element is in a congested state on the user plane, the LMF network element determines to reject processing the first message.

[0261] In some embodiments, congestion information of the LMF network element may be configured in the LMF network element. When the LMF network element receives the UE's UL LCS-UP TRANSPORT message, it can determine whether the LMF network element is in a congested state on the user plane according to the congestion information. If the LMF network element determines that it is not in a congested state on the user plane, it can be understood that the LMF network element still has resources available for uplink LCS-UP transmission with the UE. If the LMF network element determines that it is in a congested state on the user plane, it can be understood that the LMF network element does not have enough resources available for uplink LCS-UP transmission with the UE. At this time, the LMF network element determines to reject the uplink user plane positioning service transmission of the UE.

[0262] Exemplarily, the congestion information can be understood as one or more conditions for being in a congested state. As long as the current network state of the LMF network element meets one or more of these conditions, the LMF network element can determine that it is in a congested state on the user plane. For example, the reasons for congestion may be: a large number of requests suddenly occur on the LMF network element side / the traffic volume suddenly bursts, causing congestion; in an emergency situation, high-priority services occupy resources on the LMF network element; network delay causes the messages to be sent locally by the LMF network element to accumulate in the send buffer.

[0263] 804. The LMF network element sends a second message to the UE, the second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service, and the cause value is used to indicate that the user plane of the LMF network element is in a congested state.

[0264] For the implementation of step 804, refer to the description in step 404.

[0265] The difference is that in the case where the cause value is used to indicate that the user plane of the LMF network element is in a congested state, the cause value in the second message can be "congestion". This application does not limit the field content of the cause value indicating that the user plane of the LMF network element is in a congested state.

[0266] 805. The UE processes the second message based on the cause value.

[0267] For the implementation of step 805, refer to the description of step 405.

[0268] The difference is that if the cause value in the second message is used to indicate that the user plane of the LMF network element is congested, when the UE reports the information (including the cause value) carried in the second message to the upper-layer positioning application, the upper-layer positioning application may or may not follow the same strategy as in step 405 for the subsequent user-plane positioning process.

[0269] In this way, in the present application, when the UE initiates the UL LCS-UP transmission process, if the user plane of the LMF network element is congested, the LMF network element can send a second message rejecting the user-plane positioning service to the UE and provide a cause value, so that the upper-layer positioning application of the UE can perform subsequent processing based on this cause value.

[0270] It can be understood that to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the network device and the terminal device include corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for performing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, combining the units and method steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the way of hardware or computer software driving the hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0271] Figure 9 and Figure 10 FIG. shows a possible structural schematic diagram of the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the network device or the terminal device in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be, for example, Figure 1 the terminal device 120 shown in Figure 2 or the UE that makes a user-plane connection with the LMF network element shown in Figure 2 , or it can also be the network device shown in

[0272] , such as Figure 9 the LMF network element or the UDM network element or the AMF network element, or it can also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device or the network device. Figures 3 to 8 As shown in

[0273] When the communication device 900 is used to implement Figures 3 to 8When implementing the functions of the terminal device / UE in the method embodiments shown: The transceiver unit 9120 is used to send a first message for user plane positioning service; receive a second message carrying a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service; receive a registration acceptance message carrying access type preference information for user plane positioning sent by the AMF network element; receive user plane information carrying access type preference information for user plane positioning sent by the AMF network element; receive timing information sent by the LMF network element. The processing unit 9110 is used to establish a secure user plane connection of LCS-UPP with the LMF network element; process the second message based on the cause value; save the access type preference information for user plane positioning in the UE context; not establish a secure user plane connection based on the timing information; not initiate user plane positioning service transmission based on the timing information.

[0274] When the communication device 900 is used to implement Figures 3 to 8 the functions of the LMF network element in the method embodiments shown: The transceiver unit 9120 is used to receive a first message for user plane positioning service; send a second message carrying a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service; send timing information. The processing unit 9110 is used to establish a secure user plane connection of LCS-UPP with the UE; determine the cause value for rejecting the processing of the first message.

[0275] When the communication device 900 is used to implement Figures 5 to 6 the functions of the AMF network element in the method embodiments shown: The transceiver unit 9120 is used to receive the subscription information of the UE sent by the UDM network element, and the subscription information carries the access type preference information for user plane positioning of the UE; send a registration acceptance message carrying the access type preference information for user plane positioning to the UE; send the access type preference information for user plane positioning of the UE to the LMF network element; receive the user plane information sent by the LMF network element; send the user plane information to the UE. The processing unit 9110 is used to select an LMF network element for the UE; establish a secure user plane connection of LCS-UPP with the UE.

[0276] When the communication device 900 is used to implement Figure 5 the functions of the UDM network element in the method embodiments shown: The transceiver unit 9120 is used to send subscription information carrying the access type preference information for user plane positioning to the UE; the processing unit 9110 is used to establish a secure user plane connection of LCS-UPP with the UE.

[0277] For a more detailed description of the above processing unit 9120 and transceiver unit 9120, reference can be made to Figures 3 to 8 the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown.

[0278] As Figure 10As shown, the communication device 10 includes a processor 1010 and a transceiver 1020. The processor 1010 and the transceiver 1020 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the transceiver 1020 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 10 may further include a memory 1030 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1010 or input data required for the processor 1010 to run instructions or data generated after the processor 1010 runs instructions.

[0279] When the communication device 10 is used to implement Figures 3 to 8 the method shown, the processor 1010 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit 9110, and the transceiver 1020 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 9120.

[0280] When the above communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiment. The terminal chip receives information from the base station. It can be understood that the information is first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal and then sent to the terminal chip by these modules. The terminal chip sends information to the base station. It can be understood that the information is first sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal and then sent to the base station by these modules.

[0281] When the above communication device is a chip applied to a network device, the network device chip implements the functions of the network device in the above method embodiment. The network device chip receives information from the terminal. It can be understood that the information is first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device and then sent to the network device chip by these modules. The network device chip sends information to the terminal. It can be understood that the information is sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device and then sent to the terminal by these modules.

[0282] In this application, entity A sending information to entity B can be that A directly sends to B or A indirectly sends to B through other entities. Similarly, entity B receiving information from entity A can be that entity B directly receives the information sent by entity A or entity B indirectly receives the information sent by entity A through other entities. Here, entity A and B can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules inside RAN nodes or terminals. The sending and receiving of information can be information interaction between a RAN node and a terminal, for example, information interaction between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be information interaction between two RAN nodes, for example, information interaction between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can also be information interaction between different modules within a device, for example, information interaction between a terminal chip and other modules in the terminal, or information interaction between a base station chip and other modules in the base station.

[0283] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or 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, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0284] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions may be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules may be stored in a random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disk, removable hard disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium well-known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium may also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium may be located in an ASIC. Additionally, the ASIC may be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium may also exist as discrete components in the base station or the terminal.

[0285] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are executed in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable devices. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired or wireless manner. 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 data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile storage media.

[0286] In various embodiments of the present application, if there is no special description and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0287] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects and indicates that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the written description of the present application, the character " / " generally means that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B, and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B, and C.

[0288] It can be understood that the various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The magnitudes of the serial numbers of the above processes do not mean the sequence of execution, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A user plane positioning method, characterized in that, The method includes: Sending a first message to a positioning management function network element, where the first message is used for user plane positioning service; Receiving a second message from the positioning management function network element, where the second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service; Wherein, the cause value is related to at least one of the following information: the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the access type preference information for user plane positioning used by the positioning management function network element, the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, or the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein When the cause value is related to the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the positioning management function network element.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein When the cause value is related to the access type preference information for user plane positioning, the cause value is used to indicate: The access type for user plane positioning of the first terminal device is different from the access type preference for user plane positioning used by the positioning management function network element; or, the access type for user plane positioning of the first terminal device is not allowed.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein The method further includes: When initiating a registration process, receiving a registration acceptance message from an access and mobility management function network element, where the registration acceptance message includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate the access type preference for user plane positioning of the first terminal device.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: When initiating a user plane positioning connection management process, receiving user plane information from the positioning management function network element, where the user plane information includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate the access type preference for user plane positioning of the first terminal device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3-5, characterized in that, The access type preference includes one of the following access types: 3GPP access of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of the 3GPP access is higher than that of the non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of the non-3GPP access is higher than that of the 3GPP access.

7. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that The method further includes: Establishing a secure user plane connection with the positioning management function network element based on the access type preference determined by the first information.

8. The method according to any one of claims 4-7, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending a third message to the positioning management function network element, where the third message is used for the user plane positioning service, and the access type of the third message is the same as the access type preference.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein When the cause value is related to the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the positioning management function network element.

10. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the cause value is related to the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane, the cause value is used to indicate that the positioning management function network element is in a congested state in the user plane.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving a user plane connection release message, where the user plane connection release message is used to indicate the release of the secure user plane connection between the positioning management network element and the first terminal device.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The second message further includes timing information, and the method further includes: Starting a first timer according to the timing information, and before the first timer times out, performing at least one of the following actions: Not requesting to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; Not performing the user plane positioning service for the positioning management network element.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The method further includes: Starting a second timer configured locally; Before the second timer times out, performing at least one of the following actions: Not requesting to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; Not performing the user plane positioning service for the positioning management network element.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1-13, characterized in that, The first message includes an uplink user plane positioning transmission message, and the user plane positioning service includes uplink user plane positioning transmission.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1-14, characterized in that, The second message includes one of the following messages: An uplink user plane positioning transmission rejection message; an uplink user plane positioning transmission failure message; or, a downlink user plane positioning transmission message.

16. A user plane positioning method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receiving a first message from a first terminal device, where the first message is used to perform a user plane positioning service; Sending a second message to the first terminal device, where the second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service; Wherein, the cause value is related to at least one of the following information: the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the access type preference information of the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning, the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, or the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein When the cause value is related to the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed in parallel by the positioning management function network element.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein When the cause value is related to the access type preference information of the user plane positioning, the cause value is used to indicate that: the access type for the first terminal device to perform user plane positioning is different from the access type preference of the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning; or, the access type for the first terminal device to perform user plane positioning is not allowed.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The method further includes: Receiving first configuration information from an access and mobility management function network element, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the access type preference of the first terminal device for user plane positioning.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein The method further includes: Send user plane information to the first terminal device through the access and mobility management function network element, where the user plane information includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate the access type preference of the first terminal device for user plane positioning.

21. The method according to any one of claims 18-20, characterized in that, The access type preference includes one of the following access types: 3GPP access of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of the 3GPP access is higher than that of the non-3GPP access; 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, and the priority of the non-3GPP access is higher than that of the 3GPP access.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a third message from the first terminal device, where the third message is used for the user plane positioning service, and the access type of the third message is the same as the access type preference.

23. The method according to claim 16, wherein When the cause value is related to the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, the cause value is used to indicate that the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element is greater than or equal to the maximum number of user plane connections supported by the positioning management function network element.

24. The method according to claim 16, wherein When the cause value is related to the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane, the cause value is used to indicate that the positioning management function network element is in a congested state in the user plane.

25. The method according to any one of claims 16-25, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a user plane connection release message to the first terminal device, where the user plane connection release message is used to indicate the release of the secure user plane connection between the positioning management function network element and the first terminal device.

26. The method according to any one of claims 16-25, characterized in that, The second message further includes timing information, and the timing information is used to indicate one of the following actions for the first terminal device: not requesting to establish a secure user plane connection with the positioning management network element; not performing the user plane positioning service with the positioning management network element.

27. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: A sending unit, configured to send a first message to a positioning management function network element, where the first message is used for the user plane positioning service; A receiving unit, configured to receive a second message from the positioning management function network element, where the second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service; Wherein, the cause value is related to at least one of the following information: the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the access type preference information of the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning, the number of user plane connections of the positioning management function network element, or the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane.

28. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: A receiving unit, configured to receive a first message from a first terminal device, where the first message is used for the user plane positioning service; A sending unit, configured to send a second message to the first terminal device, where the second message is used to reject the user plane positioning service, and the second message includes a cause value for rejecting the user plane positioning service; Wherein, the cause value is related to at least one of the following information: the number of terminal devices for user plane positioning processed by the positioning management function network element, the access type preference information used by the positioning management function network element for user plane positioning, the user plane connection number of the positioning management function network element, or the congestion information of the positioning management function network element in the user plane.

29. A communication system, characterized in that, The communication system includes a first communication device for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-15, and a second communication device for performing the method according to any one of claims 16-26.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, Computer instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer instructions run on the communication device, the communication device is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-26.

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