Block chain establishment method and communication device

Abstract

The invention provides a block chain establishment method and a communication device, which can realize block chain deployment based on large-scale bottom layer nodes of a 6G network and can be applied to a 6G system. The method comprises the following steps: a first ledger anchoring function (LAF) network element obtains link establishment demand information of a first block chain, and sends first indication information to a second LAF network element corresponding to a first network area; wherein the link establishment demand information is used for determining the demand of the first block chain, the first indication information is determined according to the link establishment demand information, and the first indication information is used for indicating the demand of the first block chain in the first network area.

Description

Blockchain establishment method and communication device Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and in particular to a blockchain establishment method and a communication device. Background Art

[0002] Blockchain (BC) is a distributed ledger that integrates cryptography, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, distributed databases, and other technologies. As an open and transparent decentralized technology, blockchain transforms traditional authority and centralized trust into group consensus and decentralized trust, respectively, building a tamper-proof distributed ledger secured by cryptography.

[0003] Although blockchain currently evolves independently of the network, its immutability, consensus-based, and distributed nature effectively meet network security requirements. Therefore, blockchain is generally used as an independent distributed storage system, bypassing network functions. However, in the sixth generation (6G) era, blockchain will be integrated with 6G networks. One key evolutionary direction is to use 6G networks as blockchain infrastructure (i.e., 6G Blockchain as a Service (BAAS)). This will allow blockchain to be built, configured, and served by 6G networks.

[0004] Current 6G BaaS research proposes using the ledger anchor function (LAF) as a bridge between the service chain and the 6G network infrastructure. Specifically, the LAF acts as a control node to perform functions such as blockchain management, enabler registration, and chain creation. However, how to use the LAF to implement blockchain creation based on the large-scale underlying nodes of the 6G network remains a pressing issue.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a blockchain establishment method and a communication device, which can realize blockchain deployment based on large-scale underlying nodes of the 6G network.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the embodiments of the present application adopt the following technical solutions:

[0008] In the first aspect, a blockchain establishment method is provided, which can be executed by a first LAF network element, or by a component of the first LAF network element, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the first LAF network element, or by a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the first LAF network element. The following is an example of the method being executed by the first LAF network element. The method includes: the first LAF network element obtains the chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain. The first LAF network element sends a first indication information to the second LAF network element corresponding to the first network area, wherein the first indication information is determined according to the chain establishment requirement information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the requirement of the first blockchain in the first network area.

[0009] Based on the blockchain establishment method described in the first aspect, the first LAF network element and the second LAF network element are deployed in a hierarchical manner to manage the blockchain, whereby the first LAF network element decomposes the requirements based on the acquired chain establishment requirement information and transmits the decomposed requirements to the second LAF network element via first indication information, thereby enabling the establishment of the first blockchain within the first network area managed by the second LAF network element. In other words, the first LAF network element can, based on the decomposition of the chain establishment requirement information, locate the chain establishment requirements from a large-scale communication network to a small-scale network area to achieve blockchain creation and management. This can reduce the potential single point of congestion caused by the management of a single control node when creating a blockchain based on a large-scale communication network, thereby reducing the complexity of blockchain establishment.

[0010] In one possible design, the blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application may further include: the first LAF network element receiving second indication information from the second LAF network element. The second indication information is used to indicate one or more first nodes within the first network area used to establish the first blockchain. In this way, the first LAF network element can obtain information about the one or more first nodes within the first network area used to establish the first blockchain, thereby aggregating and managing the nodes used to create the first blockchain.

[0011] In one possible design scheme, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the first LAF network element sends a first configuration request to the second LAF network element. The first configuration request includes information of one or more second nodes, and the second nodes are used to communicate with one or more first nodes in the first network area for establishing the first blockchain. The second nodes are nodes in other network areas other than the first network area, and are used to establish the first blockchain. In this way, in the scenario of creating the first blockchain across domains, communication can be achieved between the first node in the first network area and the nodes in other network areas other than the first network area, so as to realize cross-domain communication of blockchain nodes.

[0012] Furthermore, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application may also include: the first LAF network element receives a first configuration response from the second LAF network element. The first configuration response is used to inform one or more first nodes of the cross-domain communication configuration result. In this way, in the scenario of cross-domain creation of the first blockchain, after configuring the cross-domain communication of nodes in the first network area, the first LAF network element can also obtain the cross-domain communication within the first network area through the first configuration response. The cross-domain communication configuration result received from the second LAF network element is used to confirm whether the cross-domain communication is successful.

[0013] In one possible design, the blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application may further include: the first LAF network element receiving third indication information from the second LAF network element. The third indication information is used to indicate the blockchain capabilities of the first network area. In this way, the first LAF network element can also use the third indication information to update statistics on the blockchain capabilities of the first network area.

[0014] In one possible design solution, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the first LAF network element sends fourth indication information to the second LAF network element. The fourth indication information is used to instruct the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities for one or more fifth nodes within the first network area, where the fifth nodes are nodes that do not have blockchain capabilities within the first network area. In this way, the first LAF network element can instruct the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities for nodes that do not have blockchain capabilities within its network area, thereby improving the blockchain capabilities of the network area.

[0015] Optionally, the first indication information may include at least one of the following: the number of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, the type of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, or the node capabilities required by the first blockchain in the first network area.

[0016] Optionally, the second indication information may include at least one of the following: the number of first nodes, the type of the first node, or node information of one or more third nodes; wherein the third node is a node among the one or more first nodes that communicates with nodes in other network areas other than the first network area for establishing the first blockchain.

[0017] Optionally, the node information of the third node may include at least one of the following: an identifier of the third node on the first blockchain, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the third node, public key information of the third node, certificate information of the third node, or a type of the third node on the first blockchain.

[0018] In the second aspect, a blockchain establishment method is provided, which can be executed by a second LAF network element, or by a component of the second LAF network element, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the second LAF network element, or by a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the second LAF network element. The following is an illustration of the method being executed by the second LAF network element. The method includes: the second LAF network element receives first indication information from the first LAF network element. The first indication information is used to indicate the demand of the first blockchain in the first network area, and the second LAF network element is the LAF network element corresponding to the first network area. The second LAF network element determines one or more first nodes for establishing the first blockchain in the first network area based on the first indication information.

[0019] Based on the blockchain establishment method described in the second aspect, the first LAF network element and the second LAF network element are deployed in layers to manage the blockchain, so that the second LAF network element can realize the creation and management of the first blockchain from a large-scale communication network to a small-scale network area according to the first indication information. This can reduce the possible single point blocking problem caused by only a single control node managing the blockchain when creating a blockchain based on a large-scale communication network, thereby reducing the complexity of blockchain establishment.

[0020] In one possible design solution, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the second LAF network element sending second indication information to the first LAF network element. The second indication information is used to indicate one or more first nodes used to establish the first blockchain within the first network area. In this way, the second LAF network element can report information about the nodes used to establish the first blockchain determined in the first network area to the first LAF network element, so that the first LAF network element can perform aggregate management of the nodes used to create the first blockchain.

[0021] In one possible design, the blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application may further include: a second LAF network element receiving a first configuration request from a first LAF network element. The first configuration request includes information about one or more second nodes, each of which is used to communicate with one or more first nodes. The second nodes are nodes in network areas other than the first network area, and are used to establish the first blockchain. In this way, the second LAF network element can configure communication between the first node in the first network area and nodes in network areas other than the first network area based on the first configuration request, thereby enabling cross-domain communication of blockchain nodes.

[0022] Furthermore, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the second LAF network element sends a first configuration response to the first LAF network element. The first configuration response is used to inform one or more first nodes of the cross-domain communication configuration result. In this way, after configuring the nodes in the first network area for cross-domain communication, the second LAF network element can also inform the first LAF network element of the cross-domain communication configuration result of the nodes in the first network area to confirm whether the cross-domain communication is successful.

[0023] In one possible design, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: the second LAF network element sending a second configuration request to the first node. The second configuration request is used to configure and activate the blockchain capabilities of the first node. In this way, after the second LAF network element determines the first node for establishing the first blockchain within the first network area it manages, it can configure and activate the blockchain capabilities of the first node, so that the first node executes the corresponding blockchain functions on the first blockchain.

[0024] Furthermore, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: the second LAF network element receiving a second configuration response from the first node. The second configuration response is used to inform the first node of the blockchain capability configuration result. In this way, after configuring and activating the blockchain capability of the first node, the second LAF network element can also obtain the blockchain configuration result of the first node to confirm whether the node blockchain capability configuration is successful.

[0025] In one possible design, the blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application may further include: the second LAF network element sending a third configuration request to the fourth node. The third configuration request includes information about one or more first nodes other than the fourth node among the plurality of first nodes, the fourth node being any first node among the plurality of first nodes, and the information about the one or more first nodes other than the fourth node among the plurality of first nodes is used for the fourth node to communicate with the one or more first nodes other than the fourth node among the plurality of first nodes. In this way, the second LAF may further configure communication between nodes within the first network area to enable communication between nodes within the same network area.

[0026] Furthermore, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: the second LAF receiving a third configuration response from the fourth node. The third configuration response is used to inform the fourth node of the intra-domain communication configuration result. In this way, after configuring intra-domain node communication, the second LAF network element can also obtain the intra-domain node communication configuration result to confirm whether the intra-domain communication is successful.

[0027] In one possible design solution, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the second LAF network element sending third indication information to the first LAF network element. The third indication information is used to indicate the blockchain capabilities of the first network area. In this way, the second LAF network element may also report the blockchain capabilities of the first network area to the first LAF network element through the third indication information, so that the first LAF network element can perform statistical updates on the blockchain capabilities of the first network area.

[0028] In one possible design solution, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the second LAF network element receiving fourth indication information from the first LAF network element. The fourth indication information is used to instruct the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities for one or more fifth nodes within the first network area, where the fifth nodes are nodes that do not have blockchain capabilities within the first network area. In this way, the second LAF network element can deploy blockchain capabilities for nodes that do not have blockchain capabilities within its network area based on the triggering of the first LAF network element, thereby improving the blockchain capabilities of the network area.

[0029] In one possible design, the blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application may further include: a second LAF network element receiving a first request from a fifth node. The first request is for requesting the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities, and the fifth node is a node that does not have blockchain capabilities within the first network area. In this manner, the second LAF network element may also trigger blockchain capability deployment on the node that does not have blockchain capabilities in the first network area based on the request, thereby improving the blockchain capabilities of the network area.

[0030] In one possible design, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: a second LAF network element sending a first message to a fifth node. The first message is used to deploy blockchain capabilities on the fifth node, where the fifth node is a node that lacks blockchain capabilities within the first network area. In this manner, the second LAF network element may proactively trigger the deployment of blockchain capabilities on nodes that lack blockchain capabilities within its network area, thereby improving the blockchain capabilities of the network area.

[0031] Optionally, the first indication information may include at least one of the following: the number of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, the type of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, or the node capabilities required by the first blockchain in the first network area.

[0032] Optionally, the second indication information may include at least one of the following: the number of first nodes, the type of the first node, or node information of one or more third nodes; wherein the third node is a node among the one or more first nodes that communicates with nodes in other network areas other than the first network area for establishing the first blockchain.

[0033] Optionally, the node information of the third node may include at least one of the following: an identifier of the third node on the first blockchain, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the third node, public key information of the third node, certificate information of the third node, or a type of the third node on the first blockchain.

[0034] On the third aspect, a blockchain establishment method is provided. The method can be executed by a third LAF network element, or by a component of the third LAF network element, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the third LAF network element, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the third LAF network element. The following is an illustration of the method being executed by the third LAF network element. The method includes: the third LAF network element obtains first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain. The third LAF network element is one of the N LAF network elements that jointly create the first blockchain, and N is a positive integer greater than 1. The third LAF network element sends a second chain establishment requirement information to at least one LAF network element other than the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements according to the blockchain creation strategy.

[0035] Based on the blockchain establishment method described in the third aspect, in a scenario where a first blockchain is jointly established in a network area where N LAF network elements are located, the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements that obtains the first chain establishment requirement information can determine how to select the chain establishment requirement with LAF network elements other than the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements based on the blockchain creation strategy to achieve distributed chain establishment.

[0036] In one possible design scheme, the third LAF network element obtains the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain, which may include: the third LAF network element receives the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the first LAF network element. The first LAF network element is used to manage N LAF network elements. In this way, the N LAF network elements can be sub-LAF network elements distributed in different network areas in the same operator network, or they can be slice-level sub-LAF network elements distributed in different functional domains in the same network slice. Thus, the third LAF network element can obtain the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the upper-level LAF network element (i.e., the first LAF network element) that manages it.

[0037] In one possible design solution, the second link establishment requirement information may be the first link establishment requirement information. In other words, the second link establishment requirement information is the same as the first link establishment requirement information.

[0038] In one possible design scheme, the blockchain creation strategy can select the equivalent chain establishment requirement information from the first chain establishment requirement information for each LAF network element in the N LAF network elements to create a blockchain. In an embodiment of the present application, the equal distribution of the first chain establishment requirement information includes the equal distribution of the total number of nodes for establishing the first blockchain and the equal distribution of the node capabilities for establishing the first blockchain. Therefore, based on the principle of equal distribution, the third LAF network element can send the first chain establishment requirement information to all LAF network elements in the N LAF network elements except the third LAF network element in the form of a broadcast, so that the N LAF network elements select the corresponding chain establishment requirement information by equal distribution of the first chain establishment requirement information.

[0039] In one possible design scheme, the third LAF network element sends the second link establishment requirement information to at least one LAF network element other than the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements according to the blockchain creation strategy, which may include: the third LAF network element sends the second link establishment requirement information to the fourth LAF network element according to the blockchain creation strategy. The fourth LAF network element is the LAF network element that preferentially selects the link establishment requirement information from the first link establishment requirement information among the N LAF network elements. In this way, in the scenario where the N LAF network elements select the corresponding link establishment requirement information from the first link establishment requirement information in order of priority, and the third LAF network element is not the LAF network element with the highest priority among the N LAF network elements, the second link establishment requirement information is also the same as the first link establishment requirement information.

[0040] In another possible design, the second chain establishment requirement information may be the chain establishment requirement information in addition to the third chain establishment requirement information in the first chain establishment requirement information. The third chain establishment requirement information is the portion of the chain establishment requirement information selected by the third LAF network element from the first chain establishment requirement information based on the blockchain creation strategy. In other words, the second chain establishment requirement information is different from the first chain establishment requirement information.

[0041] In one possible design, the third LAF network element sends the second link establishment requirement information to at least one LAF network element other than the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements according to the blockchain creation policy, which may include: the third LAF network element sends the second link establishment requirement information to the fifth LAF network element according to the blockchain creation policy. The fifth LAF network element is the next LAF network element among the N LAF network elements to select the link establishment requirement information. In this way, in the scenario where the N LAF network elements select the corresponding link establishment requirement information from the first link establishment requirement information in order of priority, and the third LAF network element is the LAF network element with the highest priority among the N LAF network elements, the second link establishment requirement information is different from the first link establishment requirement information.

[0042] Optionally, the blockchain creation strategy may be to create a blockchain based on the order of the capabilities of the LAF network elements or to create a blockchain based on the blockchain capabilities of the LAF network elements in the corresponding network area.

[0043] Optionally, the blockchain creation strategy may be pre-configured by the operator, or obtained through negotiation by N LAF network elements, or generated based on blockchain consensus, or determined based on a common operation.

[0044] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the various methods described above. The communication device may be the first LAF network element described in the first aspect, or a device comprising the first LAF network element, or a device included in the first LAF network element, such as a chip. The communication device includes corresponding modules, units, or means for implementing the method described in the first aspect. The modules, units, or means may be implemented by hardware, software, or by executing corresponding software implementations in hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

[0045] In some possible designs, the communication device includes: a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module is configured to obtain chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain. The transceiver module is configured to send first indication information to a second LAF network element corresponding to the first network area. The first indication information is determined based on the chain establishment requirement information. The first indication information is used to indicate the requirement of the first blockchain within the first network area.

[0046] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to receive second indication information from the second LAF network element, wherein the second indication information is configured to indicate one or more first nodes within the first network area for establishing the first blockchain.

[0047] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send a first configuration request to the second LAF network element. The first configuration request includes information about one or more second nodes, where the second nodes are configured to communicate with one or more first nodes within the first network area for establishing the first blockchain, and the second nodes are nodes within a network area other than the first network area, and are configured to establish the first blockchain.

[0048] Furthermore, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a first configuration response from the second LAF network element, wherein the first configuration response is used to inform the one or more first nodes of the cross-domain communication configuration result.

[0049] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to receive third indication information from the second LAF network element, wherein the third indication information is configured to indicate the blockchain capability of the first network area.

[0050] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send fourth indication information to the second LAF network element, wherein the fourth indication information is configured to instruct the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities for one or more fifth nodes within the first network area, where the fifth nodes are nodes within the first network area that do not have blockchain capabilities.

[0051] Optionally, the first indication information may include at least one of the following: the number of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, the type of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, or the node capabilities required by the first blockchain in the first network area.

[0052] Optionally, the second indication information may include at least one of the following: the number of first nodes, the type of the first node, or node information of one or more third nodes; wherein the third node is a node among the one or more first nodes that communicates with nodes in other network areas other than the first network area for establishing the first blockchain.

[0053] Optionally, the node information of the third node may include at least one of the following: an identifier of the third node on the first blockchain, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the third node, public key information of the third node, certificate information of the third node, or a type of the third node on the first blockchain.

[0054] Optionally, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a sending module, wherein the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device described in the fourth aspect, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device described in the fourth aspect.

[0055] Optionally, the communication device described in the fourth aspect may further include a storage module, wherein the storage module stores a program or instruction. When the processing module executes the program or instruction, the communication device described in the fourth aspect may execute the method described in the first aspect.

[0056] Among them, the technical effects of the communication device described in the fourth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the method described in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0057] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the various methods described above. The communication device may be the second LAF network element in the second aspect, or a device comprising the second LAF network element, or a device contained in the second LAF network element, such as a chip. The communication device includes corresponding modules, units, or means for implementing the method described in the second aspect. The modules, units, or means may be implemented by hardware, software, or by executing corresponding software implementations in hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

[0058] In some possible designs, the communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module is configured to receive first indication information from a first LAF network element. The first indication information indicates a requirement for the first blockchain within a first network area, and the second LAF network element is the LAF network element corresponding to the first network area. The processing module is configured to determine, within the first network area, one or more first nodes for establishing the first blockchain based on the first indication information.

[0059] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send a second indication message to the first LAF network element, wherein the second indication message is configured to indicate one or more first nodes within the first network area for establishing the first blockchain.

[0060] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a first configuration request from the first LAF network element. The first configuration request includes information about one or more second nodes, the second nodes being configured to communicate with the one or more first nodes, the second nodes being nodes in a network area other than the first network area, and being configured to establish the first blockchain.

[0061] Furthermore, the transceiver module is further configured to send a first configuration response to the first LAF network element, wherein the first configuration response is used to inform one or more first nodes of the cross-domain communication configuration result.

[0062] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send a second configuration request to the first node, wherein the second configuration request is used to configure and activate the blockchain capability of the first node.

[0063] Furthermore, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a second configuration response from the first node, wherein the second configuration response is used to inform the first node of the blockchain capability configuration result.

[0064] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send a third configuration request to a fourth node. The third configuration request includes information about one or more first nodes other than the fourth node among the plurality of first nodes, the fourth node being any first node among the plurality of first nodes, and the information about the one or more first nodes other than the fourth node among the plurality of first nodes is used for the fourth node to communicate with the one or more first nodes other than the fourth node among the plurality of first nodes.

[0065] Furthermore, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a third configuration response from the fourth node, wherein the third configuration response is used to inform the fourth node of the intra-domain communication configuration result.

[0066] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send third indication information to the first LAF network element, wherein the third indication information is configured to indicate the blockchain capability of the first network area.

[0067] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to receive fourth indication information from the first LAF network element. The fourth indication information is configured to instruct the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities for one or more fifth nodes within the first network area, where the fifth nodes are nodes within the first network area that do not have blockchain capabilities.

[0068] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a first request from a fifth node, wherein the first request is configured to request the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities, and the fifth node is a node in the first network area that does not have blockchain capabilities.

[0069] In one possible design, the transceiver module is further configured to send a first message to a fifth node, wherein the first message is used to deploy blockchain capabilities on the fifth node, where the fifth node is a node in the first network area that does not have blockchain capabilities.

[0070] Optionally, the first indication information may include at least one of the following: the number of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, the type of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, or the node capabilities required by the first blockchain in the first network area.

[0071] Optionally, the second indication information may include at least one of the following: the number of first nodes, the type of the first node, or node information of one or more third nodes; wherein the third node is a node among the one or more first nodes that communicates with nodes in other network areas other than the first network area for establishing the first blockchain.

[0072] Optionally, the node information of the third node may include at least one of the following: an identifier of the third node on the first blockchain, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the third node, public key information of the third node, certificate information of the third node, or a type of the third node on the first blockchain.

[0073] Optionally, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a sending module, wherein the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device described in the fifth aspect, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device described in the fifth aspect.

[0074] Optionally, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may further include a storage module, wherein the storage module stores a program or instruction. When the processing module executes the program or instruction, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may execute the method described in the second aspect.

[0075] Among them, the technical effects of the communication device described in the fifth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the method described in the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0076] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the various methods described above. The communication device may be the third LAF network element in the third aspect, or a device comprising the third LAF network element, or a device contained in the third LAF network element, such as a chip. The communication device includes corresponding modules, units, or means for implementing the method described in the third aspect. The modules, units, or means may be implemented by hardware, software, or by executing corresponding software implementations in hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

[0077] In some possible designs, the communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module is configured to obtain first blockchain establishment requirement information for a first blockchain. The third LAF network element is one of N LAF network elements that jointly create the first blockchain, where N is a positive integer greater than 1. The transceiver module is configured to send second blockchain establishment requirement information to at least one LAF network element among the N LAF network elements, excluding the third LAF network element, according to a blockchain creation policy.

[0078] In one possible design, the processing module, configured to obtain first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain, may include: a processing module, configured to receive, via a transceiver module, the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from a first LAF network element, wherein the first LAF network element is configured to manage N LAF network elements.

[0079] In a possible design solution, the second link establishment requirement information may be the first link establishment requirement information.

[0080] In one possible design, the blockchain creation strategy may be to select the equivalent chain building requirement information from the first chain building requirement information for each of the N LAF network elements to create a blockchain.

[0081] In one possible design, the transceiver module, configured to send the second link establishment requirement information to at least one LAF network element other than the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements according to the blockchain creation policy, may include: a transceiver module, configured to send the second link establishment requirement information to a fourth LAF network element according to the blockchain creation policy. The fourth LAF network element is the LAF network element among the N LAF network elements that preferentially selects the link establishment requirement information from the first link establishment requirement information.

[0082] In another possible design scheme, the second chain establishment requirement information can be the chain establishment requirement information in the first chain establishment requirement information except the third chain establishment requirement information, and the third chain establishment requirement information is the part of the chain establishment requirement information selected by the third LAF network element from the first chain establishment requirement information according to the blockchain creation strategy.

[0083] In one possible design, the transceiver module, configured to send the second link establishment requirement information to at least one LAF network element other than the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements according to the blockchain creation policy, may include: a transceiver module, configured to send the second link establishment requirement information to a fifth LAF network element according to the blockchain creation policy. The fifth LAF network element is the next LAF network element among the N LAF network elements to select the link establishment requirement information.

[0084] Optionally, the blockchain creation strategy may be to create a blockchain based on the order of the capabilities of the LAF network elements or to create a blockchain based on the blockchain capabilities of the LAF network elements in the corresponding network area.

[0085] Optionally, the blockchain creation strategy may be pre-configured by the operator, or obtained through negotiation by N LAF network elements, or generated based on blockchain consensus, or determined based on a common operation.

[0086] Optionally, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a sending module, wherein the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device described in the sixth aspect, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device described in the sixth aspect.

[0087] Optionally, the communication device described in the sixth aspect may further include a storage module, wherein the storage module stores a program or instruction. When the processing module executes the program or instruction, the communication device described in the sixth aspect may execute the method described in the third aspect.

[0088] Among them, the technical effects of the communication device described in the sixth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the method described in the third aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0089] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a communication interface; the communication interface is configured to communicate with a module outside the communication device; the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instruction to cause the communication device to perform the method described in any one of the above aspects. The communication device may be the first LAF network element in the above first aspect, or a device including the above first LAF network element, or a device included in the above first LAF network element, such as a chip; or the communication device may be the second LAF network element in the above second aspect, or a device including the above second LAF network element, or a device included in the above second LAF network element, such as a chip; or the communication device may be the third LAF network element in the above third aspect, or a device including the above third LAF network element, or a device included in the above third LAF network element, such as a chip.

[0090] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in a memory so that the communication device executes the method described in any one of the above aspects. The memory may be coupled to the processor, or may be independent of the processor. The communication device may be the first LAF network element in the above first aspect, or a device including the above first LAF network element, or a device included in the above first LAF network element, such as a chip; or the communication device may be the second LAF network element in the above second aspect, or a device including the above second LAF network element, or a device included in the above second LAF network element, such as a chip; or the communication device may be the third LAF network element in the above third aspect, or a device including the above third LAF network element, or a device included in the above third LAF network element, such as a chip.

[0091] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided (for example, the communication device may be a chip or a chip system), which includes a processor for implementing the functions involved in any of the above aspects.

[0092] In some possible designs, the communication device includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and / or data.

[0093] Optionally, the processor may be integrated with the memory.

[0094] In some possible designs, when the device is a chip system, it can be composed of a chip or include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0095] In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a transceiver and a processor, wherein the transceiver is used to exchange information between the communication device and other communication devices, and the processor executes program instructions to perform the method described in any one of the first to third aspects above.

[0096] In one possible design, the communication device described in aspect 11 may further include a memory. The memory may be integrated with the processor or provided separately. The memory may be used to store the computer program and / or data involved in the method described in any one of aspects 1 to 3 above.

[0097] In an eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, wherein the communication device is configured to execute the method described in any one of the implementations of the first to third aspects.

[0098] In the present application, the communication device described in the eleventh aspect may be the first LAF network element in the first aspect, the second LAF network element in the second aspect, or the third LAF network element in the third aspect, or a chip (system) or other components or components that can be set in the first LAF network element or the second LAF network element or the third LAF network element, or a device including the first LAF network element or the second LAF network element or the third LAF network element.

[0099] It should be understood that the communication device described in the eleventh aspect includes a module, unit, or means corresponding to the method described in any one of the first to third aspects above, and the module, unit, or means can be implemented by hardware, software, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units for performing the functions involved in the above method.

[0100] It can be understood that when the communication device provided in any one of the fourth to eleventh aspects is a chip, the above-mentioned sending action / function can be understood as output, and the above-mentioned receiving action / function can be understood as input.

[0101] In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer-readable storage medium is run on a communication device, the communication device can execute the method described in any one of the above aspects.

[0102] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a communication device, enables the communication device to execute the method described in any one of the above aspects.

[0103] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any design method in the seventh to thirteenth aspects can refer to the technical effects brought about by different design methods in the above-mentioned first, second or third aspects, and will not be repeated here.

[0104] In a fourteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the first LAF network element described in the first aspect and the second LAF network element described in the second aspect.

[0105] In a fifteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the N LAF network elements described in the third aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0106] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a hierarchical management architecture of a blockchain based on vertical network division provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0107] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a blockchain management architecture of multiple LAF network elements provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0108] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a hierarchical management architecture of a blockchain based on horizontal network division provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0109] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another multi-LAF network element blockchain management architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0110] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0111] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0112] FIG7 is a flowchart of a blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0113] FIG8 is a flowchart of a blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0114] FIG9 is a flowchart of another blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0115] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0116] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0117] In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, the following explanations are made before introducing the embodiments of the present application.

[0118] First, in this application, "used to indicate" can include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing a certain "indication information" as being used to indicate A, it can include whether the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and does not necessarily mean that the indication information carries A.

[0119] The information indicated by the indication information is called the information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated, such as but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein there is an association between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or agreed in advance. For example, it is also possible to use the arrangement order of each piece of information agreed in advance (such as specified in the protocol) to achieve the indication of specific information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, it is also possible to identify the common parts of each piece of information and indicate them uniformly to reduce the indication overhead caused by indicating the same information separately.

[0120] In addition, the specific indication method can also be various existing indication methods, such as but not limited to the above-mentioned indication methods and various combinations thereof. The specific details of the various indication methods can be referred to the prior art and will not be repeated herein. As can be seen from the above, for example, when it is necessary to indicate multiple information of the same type, there may be a situation where the indication methods for different information are different. In the specific implementation process, the required indication method can be selected according to specific needs. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the selected indication method. In this way, the indication method involved in the embodiment of the present application should be understood to cover various methods that can enable the party to be indicated to obtain the information to be indicated.

[0121] The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole, or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in this application. Among them, the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be predefined, for example, predefined according to the protocol, or configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device. Among them, the configuration information can, for example, but not limited to, include one or a combination of at least two of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control (MAC) layer signaling and physical layer signaling. Among them, MAC layer signaling, for example, includes MAC control element (CE); physical (PHY) layer signaling, for example, includes downlink control information (DCI).

[0122] Second, in the embodiments shown below, the first, second, and various numerical numbers are merely distinctions for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, different indication information is distinguished. For another example, the first network area and the second network area are merely to distinguish different areas and do not limit their order. Those skilled in the art will understand that words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different.

[0123] Third, "predefinition" or "preconfiguration" can be achieved by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in a device (for example, including a terminal device and a network device), and this application does not limit its specific implementation method. Among them, "saving" can mean saving in one or more memories. The one or more memories can be set separately or integrated in an encoder or decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The one or more memories can also be partially set separately and partially integrated in a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The type of memory can be any form of storage medium, and this application does not limit it.

[0124] Fourth, the "protocol" involved in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, for example, it may include an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and related protocols used in future communication systems, which is not limited in this application.

[0125] Fifth, in the embodiments of this application, the terms "information," "signal," "message," "channel," and "signaling" may sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that, when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they convey are consistent. The terms "of," "corresponding," and "corresponding" may sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that, when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they convey are consistent.

[0126] Sixth, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as wireless fidelity (WiFi) systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, Internet of Vehicles communication systems, 4th generation (4G) mobile communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems, such as new radio (NR) systems, and future communication systems, such as 6G mobile communication systems.

[0127] In particular, this application will present various aspects, embodiments, or features around systems that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that each system may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all of the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the figures. Furthermore, combinations of these aspects may also be used.

[0128] Finally, the network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0129] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0130] As described in the background, blockchain is a distributed ledger that integrates cryptography, peer-to-peer networks, distributed databases, and other technologies. Due to the characteristics of blockchain, the 6G era will see more services requiring the deployment of ledger functionality on network nodes, such as real-time reporting of environmental awareness information by terminal devices or real-time reporting of key performance indicators (KPIs) by base stations. Furthermore, identity and trust issues are among the earliest and most intuitive and effective blockchain applications. Therefore, all 6G communication network entities will inevitably participate to varying degrees in ledger data reporting, querying, consensus, and operations. However, implementing these scenarios requires the communication network to have a comprehensive management architecture and methods for blockchain capabilities, as well as blockchain construction and deployment, across various communication network entities (such as terminal devices, radio access network (RAN) equipment, core network (CN) equipment, and third-party applications).

[0131] However, in the research of 6G BAAS, how to use LAF to realize the creation of blockchain based on large-scale underlying nodes of 6G network is still an urgent problem to be solved.

[0132] To this end, an embodiment of the present application provides a blockchain establishment method that can realize blockchain deployment based on large-scale underlying nodes of the 6G network.

[0133] For example, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a hierarchical blockchain management architecture based on vertical network partitioning provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the hierarchical blockchain management architecture can be obtained by vertically partitioning the entire communication network, such as dividing the entire communication network into one or more network areas based on the RAN network and / or CN network. Each network area is deployed with a LAF network element and one or more nodes that can be used to build a blockchain.

[0134] As shown in Figure 1, a sub-LAF network element is deployed in each RAN network (such as RAN1 and RAN2), and a sub-LAF network element is also deployed in the CN1 network connected to the RAN1 and RAN2 networks. The upper-level LAF network element used to manage and schedule each sub-LAF network element is also located in the CN1 network. Among them, the sub-LAF network element deployed in the RAN network is responsible for configuring, activating, and managing the blockchain capabilities of the nodes within its RAN network area, and the sub-LAF network element deployed in the CN1 network is responsible for configuring, activating, and managing the blockchain capabilities of the nodes within its CN network area. In other words, the sub-LAF network element in Figure 1 is used to manage the blockchain deployed in its network area.

[0135] In addition, in the network architecture shown in Figure 1, if a blockchain is established in multiple operator networks (i.e., cross-operator networks), the upper-level LAF network element located in CN1 can also communicate with the upper-level LAF network elements located in other operator networks (such as CN2 and CN3). The upper-level LAF network elements in each CN network can use a distributed negotiation method to determine the blockchain chain establishment requirements within the corresponding managed network range, and then notify the lower-level LAF network elements to create a blockchain within the network area where it is located based on the negotiated blockchain chain establishment requirements. The specific implementation process of this solution will be described in the subsequent method embodiments and will not be repeated here. It can be understood that the CN2 and CN3 networks shown in Figure 1 can also be connected to one or more RAN networks respectively, and sub-LAF network elements are also deployed in each RAN network. The specific structure can refer to the connection structure of the CN1 network, which will not be repeated here.

[0136] It can be understood that in the network architecture shown in Figure 1, in the scenario of establishing a blockchain across operator networks, each of the multiple CN networks may also have only one upper-level LAF network element deployed, without deploying other sub-LAF network elements. The upper-level LAF network element is used to perform blockchain management on the CN network and the RAN network connected to the CN network. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0137] The following will take the blockchain hierarchical management architecture shown in Figure 1 as an example, and combine Figure 2 to illustrate the blockchain management architecture of multiple LAF network elements applicable to the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0138] Among them, (a) in Figure 2 shows a hierarchically deployed LAF network element management architecture under a single operator network. After the upper-level LAF network element in the communication network receives the blockchain creation requirement from the management plane or the business plane, it decomposes the blockchain creation requirement and sends it to one or more sub-LAF network elements. That is, the upper-level LAF network element can choose to create a blockchain in a single network area (such as RAN1, RAN2 or CN1), or it can choose to create a blockchain in multiple network areas (such as RAN1, RAN2 and CN1). Then, each sub-LAF network element sends blockchain instructions to the nodes in the network area it manages according to the received decomposed blockchain creation requirement to create the blockchain.

[0139] (b) in FIG2 shows another hierarchically deployed LAF network element management architecture under a single operator network. Unlike (a) in FIG2, each sub-LAF network element does not receive the blockchain creation requirements decomposed from the upper-level LAF network element separately, but rather each sub-LAF network element negotiates and determines its own blockchain creation requirements. For example, the upper-level LAF network element in the communication network receives the blockchain creation requirements from the management plane or the business plane, and after determining that the blockchain needs to be created in several network areas (such as RAN1, RAN2 and CN1), the upper-level LAF network element can send the blockchain creation requirements from the management plane or the business plane to any sub-LAF network element corresponding to the network area where the blockchain needs to be created (such as the sub-LAF network element corresponding to CN1), and then the sub-LAF network element (the sub-LAF network element corresponding to CN1) communicates with other sub-LAF network elements (such as the sub-LAF network element corresponding to RAN1 and the sub-LAF network element corresponding to RAN2), and obtains the corresponding blockchain creation requirements through negotiation. Then, according to the blockchain creation requirements obtained through negotiation, blockchain instructions can be issued to the nodes in the network area under its management to create the blockchain.

[0140] (c) in Figure 2 shows another distributed deployment LAF network element management architecture under multiple operator networks. When establishing a blockchain in multiple operator networks (such as CN1 to CN3) (that is, establishing a blockchain across operators), an upper-level LAF network element is deployed in each operator communication network. After the upper-level LAF network element in any operator communication network receives a blockchain creation requirement from the management plane or the business plane, it can communicate with the upper-level LAF network elements in other operator communication networks, and through negotiation, each obtains the corresponding blockchain creation requirement, and then can issue blockchain instructions to the nodes in the network area under its management according to the blockchain creation requirement obtained through negotiation to create a blockchain. It can be understood that for any operator communication network, it can deploy one or more sub-LAF network elements. For example, the upper-level LAF network element corresponding to CN1 corresponds to three sub-LAF network elements, corresponding to the three network areas of RAN1, RAN2 and CN1 respectively. After each upper-level LAF network element obtains the negotiated blockchain creation requirements, each sub-LAF network element can use the method (a) or (b) in Figure 2 above to obtain the blockchain creation requirements in the corresponding network area, thereby issuing blockchain instructions to the nodes in the network area it manages to create the blockchain.

[0141] In an embodiment of the present application, the blockchain hierarchical management architecture can also be obtained by horizontally partitioning the entire communication network, for example, by partitioning the entire communication network into one or more network areas according to network slicing. For example, FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a blockchain hierarchical management architecture based on horizontal network partitioning provided in an embodiment of the present application. This architecture can be applied to scenarios where network slices are provided to different industries or users, but information exchange and transactions exist between industries.

[0142] As shown in (a) of Figure 3, a slice-level LAF network element and one or more slice-level sub-LAF network elements are deployed in a network slice instance (NSI). Among them, the slice-level LAF network element is used to manage all slice-level sub-LAF network elements in the NSI where it is located. The slice-level sub-LAF network element is deployed in each functional domain in an NSI and is used to perform blockchain management on the nodes in the functional domain where it is located. The division of the functional domains in the NSI is similar to the division structure shown in Figure 1. For example, a slice-level sub-LAF network element is deployed in the CN functional domain and the RAN functional domain in NSI1 and NSI2 respectively. The slice-level LAF network element that manages the slice-level sub-LAF network element is also located in the CN functional domain, but the slice-level LAF network element located in the CN functional domain is higher than the slice-level sub-LAF network element located in the CN functional domain.

[0143] It is understandable that in a single network slice blockchain hierarchical management scenario, the slice-level LAF network element is the upper LAF network element of the slice-level sub-LAF network element, and the slice-level sub-LAF network element is the sub-LAF network element of the slice-level LAF network element. In addition, the slice-level LAF network element can directly manage the blockchain of the nodes within the NSI, and can also dispatch the slice-level sub-LAF network element to manage the blockchain of the nodes within the NSI.

[0144] It should be noted that in the scenario of establishing blockchains in multiple network slices, as shown in (a) in Figure 3, communication between slice-level LAF network elements in different NSIs can realize the negotiation of blockchain chain establishment requirements, such as the negotiation between the slice-level LAF network element in NSI1 and the slice-level LAF network element in NSI2. Each slice-level LAF network element can send the blockchain chain establishment requirements to the slice-level sub-LAF network element in its NSI according to the negotiation results, so as to build and manage the blockchain within the NSI. Among them, the slice-level LAF network element in NSI1 and the slice-level LAF network element in NSI2 are LAF network elements of the same level, and the slice-level sub-LAF network element in the CN functional domain and the slice-level sub-LAF network element in the RAN functional domain are LAF network elements of the same level.

[0145] In addition, as shown in (b) of Figure 3, in the scenario where a blockchain is established in multiple network slices, the slice-level LAF network elements in each NSI can be managed by the top-level LAF network element. For example, the slice-level LAF network elements in NSI3 and the slice-level LAF network elements in NSI4 are managed by the top-level LAF network element. The top-level LAF network element can also be called the upper-level LAF network element of the slice-level LAF network element. The slice-level LAF network element can receive the blockchain establishment requirements from the top-level LAF network element and build and manage the blockchain within the NSI where it is located. Then, each slice-level LAF network element can decompose the blockchain establishment requirements to each slice-level sub-LAF network element for blockchain construction and management. The slice-level LAF network element in NSI1 and the slice-level LAF network element in NSI2 respectively receive the blockchain establishment requirements from the top-level LAF network element to build and manage the blockchain within the corresponding network slice. In this scenario, the top-level LAF network element is the upper-level LAF network element of the slice-level LAF network element, and the slice-level LAF network element is the sub-LAF network element of the top-level LAF network element.

[0146] It can be understood that in the hierarchical management architecture shown in (b) in Figure 3, NSI3 and NSI4 can also be deployed with one or more slice-level sub-LAF network elements similar to NSI1 and NSI2. In this scenario, the hierarchy of LAF network elements is from top to bottom as top-level LAF network element -> slice-level LAF network element in NSI3 / slice-level LAF network element in NSI4 -> slice-level sub-LAF network element.

[0147] It can be understood that in the network architecture shown in Figure 3, if only one slice-level LAF network element is deployed in an NSI, then one NSI can represent one network area. If an NSI is deployed with one slice-level LAF network element and one or more slice-level sub-LAF network elements are hierarchically deployed, then one slice-level sub-LAF network element corresponds to one network area, which can also be understood as further dividing one NSI network area into multiple network areas.

[0148] The following will take the blockchain hierarchical management architecture shown in Figure 3 as an example, and combine Figure 4 to illustrate the multi-LAF network element blockchain management architecture applicable to the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0149] Among them, (a) in Figure 4 shows a hierarchically deployed LAF network element management architecture under a single network slice, in which a slice-level LAF network element and one or more slice-level sub-LAF network elements are deployed in an NSI. Among them, when creating a blockchain within a single network slice, the slice-level LAF network element can directly or indirectly receive a blockchain creation requirement from the management plane or the business plane. Similar to the architecture of (a) in Figure 2, the slice-level LAF network element decomposes the blockchain creation requirement and sends it to one or more slice-level sub-LAF network elements. That is, the slice-level LAF network element can choose to create a blockchain in a single network area (such as the RAN functional domain or the CN functional domain), or in multiple network areas (such as the RAN functional domain and the CN functional domain). Then, each slice-level sub-LAF network element sends a blockchain instruction to the nodes in the network area it manages according to the received decomposed blockchain creation requirement to create the blockchain.

[0150] (b) in Figure 4 shows a distributed deployment LAF network element management architecture under a single network slice. Similar to (b) in Figure 2, after receiving the blockchain creation requirement, the slice-level LAF network element sends the blockchain creation requirement to any slice-level sub-LAF network element corresponding to the functional domain used to establish the blockchain. The slice-level sub-LAF network elements corresponding to the functional domain used to establish the blockchain determine their respective blockchain creation requirements through negotiation.

[0151] (c) in Figure 4 shows a hierarchically deployed LAF network element management architecture under multiple network slices. When establishing a blockchain in multiple network slices (that is, establishing a blockchain across network slices), a slice-level LAF network element is deployed in each NSI, and the slice-level LAF network elements in each NSI are uniformly managed by a top-level LAF network element. After the top-level LAF network element receives the blockchain creation requirement from the management plane or the business plane, it can decompose the blockchain creation requirement and send it to the slice-level LAF network elements in one or more NSIs. Then, each slice-level LAF network element sends blockchain instructions to the nodes in the network area it manages according to the received decomposed blockchain creation requirement to create the blockchain. Similarly, one or more slice-level sub-LAF network elements can be deployed in any NSI. After each slice-level LAF network element obtains the decomposed blockchain creation requirements issued by the top-level LAF, it can also decompose the decomposed blockchain creation requirements and issue them to each slice-level sub-LAF network element, or each slice-level sub-LAF network element can obtain the corresponding blockchain creation requirements through negotiation on the decomposed blockchain creation requirements, and then issue blockchain instructions to the nodes in the network area it manages to create the blockchain.

[0152] (d) in Figure 4 shows a distributed deployment LAF network element management architecture under multiple network slices. The slice-level LAF network elements in multiple NSIs can also obtain corresponding blockchain creation requirements through negotiation. The relevant description of this architecture can be found in the specific content in (c) in Figure 2 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0153] It is understandable that in the scenario of deploying blockchain in a single NSI, the slice-level LAF network element can also be called the upper-level LAF network element, and the slice-level sub-LAF network element can also be called the sub-LAF network element.

[0154] In the embodiments of the present application, the nodes within each network area are communication entities with blockchain functionality (BC-enabler). For example, the nodes within the RAN network area or the RAN functional domain may include terminal devices, access network devices, and independent nodes (IN), and the nodes within the CN network area or the CN functional domain may include network function (NF) network elements, application function (AF) network elements, and independent nodes.

[0155] Among them, the access network device is a device located on the network side of the above-mentioned communication system and has a wireless transceiver function or a chip or chip system that can be set in the device for communicating with the terminal device. When the access network is provided, it is also called an access node. The access network devices in the embodiments of the present application include but are not limited to: base station (BS), evolved NodeB (eNodeB), transmission reception point (TRP), next generation base station (next generation NodeB, gNB) in 5G mobile communication system, next generation base station in sixth generation (6th generation, 6G) mobile communication system, access network device or module of access network device in open access network (open RAN, ORAN) system, base station in future mobile communication system or access node (access point, AP) in WiFi system, etc. The access network device can also be a module or unit that can realize some functions of the base station. For example, the access network device can be a centralized unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), CU-control plane (CP), CU-user plane (UP), or radio unit (RU) described below. Among them, in the ORAN system, CU can also be called O-CU, DU can also be called open (open, O)-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CUP-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. The access network device can be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. Optionally, the access network device can also be a server, a wearable device, or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in the V2X technology can be a road side unit (RSU). Multiple access network devices in the communication system can be base stations of the same type or different types. The base station can communicate with the terminal device, or it can communicate with the terminal device through a relay station. The terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies.

[0156] The above-mentioned terminal device is a terminal that accesses the above-mentioned communication system and has a wireless transceiver function or a chip or chip system that can be set in the terminal. The terminal device can also be called user equipment (UE), user device, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self-driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), a vehicle-mounted terminal, an RSU with terminal function, etc. The terminal device of the present application can also be a vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted component, vehicle-mounted chip or vehicle-mounted unit that is built into the vehicle as one or more components or units. The vehicle can implement the method provided by the present application through the built-in vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted component, vehicle-mounted chip or vehicle-mounted unit.

[0157] The above-mentioned independent nodes refer to independent resources that can be centrally scheduled in a communication network. For example, independent nodes can be servers, personal computers (PCs), virtual machines (VMs), application container engines (dockors), or blockchain all-in-one machines, etc. They can be integrated into hardware or software such as security cards, security chips, subscriber identity modules (SIMs), or software modules. NF network elements can be user plane function (UPF) network elements, authentication service function (AUSF) network elements, access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, session management function (SMF) network elements, network slice selection function (NSSF) network elements, network exposure function (NEF) network elements, network function repository function (NRF) network elements, policy control function (PCF) network elements, unified data management (UDM) network elements, or unified data repository (UDR) network elements in the CN.

[0158] It should be noted that the LAF network element in the embodiments of the present application can be responsible for the lifecycle management of the ledger, such as the deployment and access control of the ledger. It can be an independent NF network element or hardware device, or it can be deployed on top of an existing NF network element. It should be understood that the naming of the LAF network element in the embodiments of the present application is only an example, and it can also be named differently, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0159] It can be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, deploying sub-LAF network elements in the communication network can realize regional blockchain management of the communication network to reduce the load of a single LAF network element.

[0160] Exemplarily, Figure 5 is an architectural diagram of a communication system applicable to the blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application, which can be applicable to (a) in Figure 2 above, and can also be applicable to (a) or (c) in Figure 4 above.

[0161] As shown in Figure 5, the communication system includes a first LAF network element and a second LAF network element. The first LAF network element is the upper LAF network element of the second LAF network element, and the second LAF network element is located in the first network area of ​​the communication network. The first LAF network element is used to call and manage the second LAF network element to trigger the second LAF network element to configure, activate and manage the blockchain capabilities of the first network area where it is located, so that the blockchain can be created and managed in the first network area.

[0162] For example, the first LAF network element may be the upper-level LAF network element in Figure 1 above, and the second LAF network element may be the corresponding sub-LAF network element. For another example, the first LAF network element may be the slice-level LAF network element in Figure 3 above, and the second LAF network element may be the corresponding slice-level sub-LAF network element. For another example, the first LAF network element may be the top-level LAF network element in Figure 3 above, and the second LAF network element may be a slice-level LAF network element.

[0163] Exemplarily, the first LAF network element obtains the chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain, wherein the chain establishment requirement information is used to determine the requirements of the first blockchain. The first LAF network element sends first indication information to the second LAF network element corresponding to the first network area, and accordingly, the second LAF network element corresponding to the first network area receives the first indication information from the first LAF network element. The first indication information is determined based on the chain establishment requirement information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the requirements of the first blockchain within the first network area. The second LAF network element determines one or more first nodes for establishing the first blockchain within the first network area based on the first indication information. The specific implementation process of this solution will be described in the subsequent method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0164] It should be noted that the first LAF network element in the embodiment of the present application can also be called an upper-level LAF network element or an upper-layer LAF network element, and the LAF network elements deployed in each network area (such as the second LAF network element) can also be called a sub-LAF network element or a lower-level LAF network element of the first LAF network element, etc., without specific limitation.

[0165] As another example, Figure 6 is an architectural diagram of another communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application, which can be applied to (b) or (c) in Figure 2 above, and can also be applied to (b) or (d) in Figure 4 above. As shown in Figure 6, the communication system includes N LAF network elements, N is a positive integer greater than 1, the N LAF network elements are LAF network elements of the same level, the N LAF network elements can communicate with each other, and the N LAF network elements are LAF network elements that jointly create the same blockchain. For example, the N LAF network elements can be the N sub-LAF network elements in Figure 1 above, or can be the N upper-level LAF network elements in Figure 1 above, or can also be the N slice-level LAF network elements in Figure 3 above, or can also be the N slice-level sub-LAF network elements in Figure 3 above.

[0166] Exemplarily, a third LAF network element obtains first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain, where the third LAF network element is one of N LAF network elements that jointly create the first blockchain, where N is a positive integer greater than 1. The third LAF network element sends the second chain establishment requirement information to at least one LAF network element other than the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements according to the blockchain creation policy. The specific implementation process of this solution will be described in subsequent method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0167] It should be noted that the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied between the first LAF network element and the second LAF network element shown in Figure 5, or can be applied between the N LAF network elements shown in Figure 6. The specific implementation can refer to the following method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0168] It is worth noting that in the embodiment of the present application, cross-domain creation of a blockchain can be to establish a blockchain across slices, to establish a blockchain across operators (also known as cross-CN), or to establish a blockchain across network areas, etc. The embodiment of the present application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0169] It should be understood that the devices or functional nodes included in the communication system shown in Figures 5 or 6 are merely exemplary descriptions and do not limit the embodiments of the present application. In fact, the communication system shown in Figures 5 or 6 may also include other network elements or devices or functional nodes that have an interactive relationship with the devices or functional nodes shown in the figure, and no specific limitations are set forth herein.

[0170] It should be noted that the solutions in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to other communication systems, and the corresponding names can also be replaced by the names of corresponding functions in other communication systems.

[0171] The blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 7-9.

[0172] For example, FIG7 is a flowchart of a blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The blockchain establishment method can be applied to the communication system shown in FIG5.

[0173] As shown in FIG7 , the blockchain establishment method includes the following steps:

[0174] S701. The first LAF network element obtains chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain.

[0175] The chain building requirement information is used to indicate the creation requirements of the first blockchain to be established. In other words, the chain building requirement information is used to determine the requirements of the first blockchain.

[0176] In an embodiment of the present application, the chain establishment requirement information may include one or more of the requirements for the ledger structure of the first blockchain to be established, the requirements for the number of nodes, the requirements for the node type, the requirements for the node location, or the requirements for the node capability. It is understood that the chain establishment requirement information may also include other relevant information that is not shown in the embodiment of the present application and is conducive to completing the establishment of the blockchain, such as whether it is necessary to create the first blockchain across domains or to indicate the number or number of network areas in which the first blockchain is to be created, etc., which are not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0177] In embodiments of the present application, the ledger structure may be a single-chain structure, a parallel chain structure, a sharded structure, or a directed acyclic graph (DAG) structure. The requirement for the number of nodes may be the total number of nodes or the minimum number of nodes required to establish the first blockchain. The node type may be a ledger type, a communication network node type, an access control type, or a configuration type. Node location requirements may include requirements for the location of terminal devices, base station locations, the public land mobile network (PLMN) or NSI to which the NF belongs, or independent node locations. Node capabilities may include whether the node can act as a client (i.e., client capability), whether it can act as a full node (i.e., full node capability), whether it can act as a micro node (i.e., micro node capability), whether it has consensus capabilities, whether it has consensus and storage capabilities, supported consensus mechanisms, whether it supports editability, whether it has smart contract capabilities, or whether it has a trusted execution environment. Among them, the consensus mechanism can be a proof of work (POW) consensus mechanism, a proof of stake (POS) consensus mechanism, a reliable, replicated, redundant, and fault-tolerant (RAFT) consensus mechanism, and a practical byzantine fault tolerance (PBFT) consensus mechanism.

[0178] In the embodiments of the present application, client capability indicates that the node can act as a client to query or report related transactions; full node capability indicates that the node can act as a full node, can independently verify all transactions on the blockchain and update data in real time, and is mainly responsible for the broadcast and verification of transactions on the blockchain; micro node capability indicates that the node can act as a micro node or light node, can receive transactions from the client, and package them to generate micro blocks; consensus capability indicates that the node can perform consensus verification, generate completed blocks and synchronize them to other nodes, but does not store the complete ledger; consensus and storage capability indicates that the node performs consensus verification, generates completed blocks and synchronizes them to other nodes, and stores the complete ledger.

[0179] In a scenario where the first blockchain is deployed in layers within a single operator network or a single network slice, such as in the communication network 1 shown in FIG1 or in NSI3 or NSI4 shown in FIG3 , the first LAF network element is used to manage the blockchain capabilities of the entire operator network or the entire network slice. For example, the first LAF network element may be the upper-level LAF network element in the communication network 1 shown in FIG1 , or the slice-level LAF network element in NSI3 or NSI4 in FIG3 , which may receive chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the management plane or the service plane, and implement the deployment of the first blockchain in the single operator network or the single slice based on the chain establishment requirement information.

[0180] In the scenario where the first blockchain is deployed in multiple network slices, as shown in (b) in Figure 3 above, the first LAF network element can be used to manage the top-level LAF network element of the slice-level LAF network elements in multiple network slices. It can also be a top-level LAF network element that receives the chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the management plane or the business plane, and deploys the first blockchain in multiple slices based on the chain establishment requirement information.

[0181] S702: The first LAF network element sends first indication information to the second LAF network element corresponding to the first network area. Correspondingly, the second LAF network element corresponding to the first network area receives the first indication information from the first LAF network element.

[0182] The first indication information is determined based on the chain establishment requirement information and is used to indicate the requirements of the first blockchain within the first network area. The first indication information may include one or more of the number of nodes required by the first blockchain within the first network area, the type of nodes required by the first blockchain within the first network area, or the node capabilities required by the first blockchain within the first network area.

[0183] In one possible design, the chain establishment requirement information may directly indicate which one or more nodes are used to establish the first blockchain, such as the establishment requirement information includes an identifier of the node used to establish the first blockchain. In this scenario, the first LAF network element may determine, based on the identifier of the node used to establish the first blockchain, in which one or more network areas the node is located, and then send instruction information to the sub-LAF network element in the network area to instruct the sub-LAF network element to determine the node in its network area to establish the first blockchain.

[0184] In one possible design, when the chain establishment requirement information does not clearly indicate in which one or more network areas the first blockchain is to be established, for example, the chain establishment requirement information includes the number of nodes, node types, and node capabilities required to establish the first blockchain in the communication network managed by the first LAF network element. After receiving the chain establishment requirement information, the first LAF network element can parse the chain establishment requirement information in combination with the blockchain capabilities of each network area in the communication network it manages (i.e., the blockchain capabilities of the network area corresponding to each sub-LAF network element), determine one or more network areas that meet the chain establishment requirement information and the chain establishment requirements of the first blockchain in the corresponding one or more network areas. If the first LAF network element determines that the first blockchain only needs to be created in one network area (i.e., the first network area), the first LAF network element sends a first indication information to the sub-LAF network element (i.e., the second LAF network element) in the first network area. The first indication information indicates the second LAF's requirement to create the first blockchain in the first network area where it is located. The first indication information may include the number of nodes, node types, or node capabilities required by the first blockchain in the first network area.

[0185] For example, in the communication network 1 shown in Figure 1, that is, in the scenario where the first blockchain is established in a single operator network, the communication network 1 includes three network areas (namely, the RAN1 network area, the RAN2 network area and the CN1 network area), and the first LAF network element is the upper-level LAF network element in CN1. The chain establishment requirement information it receives includes that the number of nodes required to create the first blockchain is 10, 5 full nodes, 3 micro nodes and 2 client nodes, and each node supports editable functions and the supported consensus mechanism is the POW consensus mechanism. After the first LAF network element receives the chain establishment requirement information, it can parse the chain establishment requirement information in combination with the blockchain capabilities of each network area in the communication network 1 it manages, and determine that the first blockchain only needs to be created in one RAN1 network area (i.e., the first network area). The first LAF network element then sends a first indication message to the sub-LAF network element (i.e., the second LAF network element) in the RAN1 network area. The first indication message instructs the sub-LAF network element in the RAN1 network area to create the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area. For example, the first indication message includes that the number of nodes required for the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area is 10, requiring 5 full nodes (including 1 base station, 3 terminal devices, and 1 independent node), 3 micro nodes (including 2 terminal devices and 1 independent node), and 2 client nodes (including 1 terminal device and 1 independent node), each node supports the editable function, and the supported consensus mechanism is the POW consensus mechanism.

[0186] It can be understood that in NSI3 or NSI4 in Figure 3, that is, in the scenario where the first blockchain is established in a single network slice, the first LAF network element is a slice-level LAF network element, wherein the first LAF network element determines the second LAF network element and sends the first indication information to the second LAF network element. The specific process can be referred to the relevant description in the above-mentioned communication network 1 and will not be repeated here.

[0187] In another possible design scheme, when the chain establishment requirement information indicates in which one or more network areas the first blockchain is to be established, such as when the chain establishment requirement information indicates the creation of the first blockchain in the first network area, the number of nodes, node types, and node capabilities required to establish the first blockchain, after the first LAF network element receives the chain establishment requirement information, it can determine the network area for establishing the first blockchain (i.e., the first network area) based on the chain establishment requirement information, and the first LAF network element sends the first indication information to the second LAF network element corresponding to the first network area, indicating the chain establishment requirement of the first blockchain in the first network area. In this case, the chain establishment requirement information can be considered to be the same as the first indication information.

[0188] It should be noted that the blockchain capabilities of each network area managed by the first LAF network element can be reported to the first LAF network element by the corresponding sub-LAF network element in each network area before the first blockchain is established. Taking the blockchain capability reporting of the first network area as an example, the second LAF network element sends the third indication information to the first LAF network element, and accordingly, the first LAF network element receives the third indication information from the first LAF network element, wherein the third indication information is used to indicate the blockchain capabilities of the first network area. It is worth noting that the corresponding sub-LAF network elements in each network area can report the blockchain capabilities of each network area to the first LAF network element periodically or regularly.

[0189] In the embodiment of the present application, the blockchain capability of each network area can be the blockchain capability of the nodes that did not participate in the creation of the blockchain in the network area, or it can be the current blockchain capability of all nodes in the network area (including nodes with blockchain capabilities and nodes without blockchain capabilities, that is, not all nodes in each network area have blockchain capabilities). The embodiment of the present application does not limit this. Among them, the blockchain capability of each network area can include the number of nodes of each type (such as the number of full-node type nodes, the number of client type nodes), the number of nodes with consensus mechanisms, the number of nodes that support editable capabilities, the number of nodes with smart contract capabilities, or the number of nodes with trusted execution environments. Exemplarily, in the process of reporting blockchain capabilities, a node with blockchain capabilities can be represented by 1, and a node without blockchain capabilities can be represented by 0.

[0190] It should be noted that for nodes that do not have blockchain capabilities, the sub-LAF network elements in each network area can deploy blockchain capabilities for them. Taking the first network area as an example, for nodes in the first network area that are not deployed with blockchain capabilities (i.e., do not have blockchain capabilities):

[0191] In one possible design scheme, the first LAF network element may send a fourth indication message to the second LAF network element, and accordingly, the second LAF network element receives the fourth indication message from the first LAF network element. The fourth indication message is used to instruct the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities for one or more fifth nodes in the first network area, and the fifth node is a node that does not have blockchain capabilities in the first network area. Exemplarily, the first LAF network element may determine which nodes in the first network area do not have blockchain capabilities based on the blockchain capabilities of the first network area reported by the second LAF network element, so that the first LAF network element may instruct the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities for nodes that do not have blockchain capabilities through the fourth indication message. The fourth indication message may indicate the requirements for the deployed blockchain capabilities, such as how many full nodes, how many micro nodes, which consensus algorithm the nodes execute, and so on.

[0192] Furthermore, after receiving the fourth indication information, the second LAF network element can deploy blockchain capabilities for the node that does not have blockchain capabilities based on the network, computing or storage capabilities of the node. Exemplarily, the second LAF network element sends the first information to the fifth node, and accordingly, the fifth node receives the first information from the second LAF network element, and the first information is used to deploy blockchain capabilities on the fifth node. Thus, the second LAF network element triggers the blockchain deployment of the node that does not have blockchain capabilities through the fourth indication information. That is, the above-mentioned second LAF network element sending the first information to the fifth node can be replaced by the second LAF network element sending the first information to the fifth node according to the fourth indication information.

[0193] In the above possible design scheme, the sub-LAF network element in the network area triggers the deployment of blockchain capabilities on nodes that do not have blockchain capabilities through the upper-level LAF network element. In another possible design scheme, the sub-LAF network element in the network area can actively trigger the blockchain deployment on nodes that do not have blockchain capabilities, that is, the second LAF network element does not need to send the first information to the fifth node according to the fourth indication information. Similarly, the second LAF network element can deploy blockchain capabilities for nodes that do not have blockchain capabilities based on the network, computing or storage capabilities of the nodes that do not have blockchain capabilities.

[0194] In another possible design, nodes in each network area that lack blockchain capabilities can also request blockchain capabilities from the corresponding sub-LAF network element. For example, the fifth node sends a first request to the second LAF network element. In response, the second LAF network element receives the first request from the fifth node, requesting the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities. Furthermore, the second LAF network element can deploy blockchain capabilities for the node that lacks blockchain capabilities based on its network, computing, or storage capabilities. Specifically, the second LAF network element sends the first message to the fifth node.

[0195] It should be understood that any of the three possible blockchain capability deployment schemes mentioned above can also be applied to scenarios where the entire network area does not have blockchain capabilities, can also be applied to scenarios where blockchain is established, and can also be applied to scenarios before or after the establishment of blockchain. This application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0196] It is understandable that in the scenario where the first blockchain is established in multiple network areas, such as establishing the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area and the RAN2 network area in the communication network 1 shown in Figure 1, or establishing the first blockchain in the RAN functional domain and the CN functional domain in the NSI3 shown in (b) of Figure 3, or establishing the first blockchain in the NSI1 and NSI2 shown in (a) of Figure 3, the first LAF network element can decompose the chain establishment requirement information in combination with the blockchain capabilities of multiple network areas, and send corresponding indication information to the determined multiple network areas respectively, indicating the requirements of the first blockchain in each network area, so as to realize the establishment of the first blockchain in multiple network areas. The specific process can refer to the implementation process in the above-mentioned single network area, which will not be repeated here.

[0197] S703. The second LAF network element determines one or more first nodes for establishing the first blockchain within the first network area according to the first indication information.

[0198] Exemplarily, after receiving the first indication information, the second LAF network element may determine one or more first nodes that meet the first blockchain creation requirements based on the first indication information and information about each node in the current first network area. The information about each node in the first network area may include node location information, node blockchain capability information, and node type information.

[0199] For example, in the communication network 1 shown in Figure 1, the first LAF network element is the upper-level LAF network element in CN1, and the second LAF network element is the sub-LAF network element in the RAN1 network area. The first indication information includes that the number of nodes required for the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area is 10, which requires 5 full nodes, 3 micro nodes and 2 client nodes. Each node supports editable functions and the supported consensus mechanism is the POW consensus mechanism. Therefore, the sub-LAF network element within the RAN1 network area can determine appropriate nodes within the first network area to create the first blockchain based on the requirements of the first blockchain indicated by the first indication information. For example, the sub-LAF network element within the RAN1 network area determines that the nodes that meet the requirements of the first blockchain include one base station (such as gNB1) that serves as a full node and supports editable functions and supports the POW consensus mechanism, three terminal devices (such as UE1 to UE3) and one independent node (such as IN1), two terminal devices (such as UE5 and UE6) that serve as micro nodes and support editable functions and support the POW consensus mechanism, one terminal device (such as UE9) that serves as a client node and supports editable functions and supports the POW consensus mechanism, and one independent node (such as IN2). That is, the number of first nodes is 10, namely gNB1, UE1 to UE3, IN1, UE5, UE6, UE9 and IN2.

[0200] Furthermore, the second LAF network element can configure and activate blockchain capabilities for one or more first nodes. Exemplarily, the second LAF network element sends a second configuration request to the first node, and the first node receives the second configuration request from the second LAF network element. The second configuration request is used to configure and activate the blockchain capabilities of the first node, so that the first node, as a node on the first blockchain, implements blockchain functions.

[0201] Optionally, after completing the configuration and activation of the blockchain, the first node may also feedback a configuration response to the second LAF network element. Exemplarily, the first node sends a second configuration response to the second LAF network element, and accordingly, the second LAF network element receives the second configuration response from the first node. The second configuration response is used to inform the first node of the blockchain capability configuration result, for example, the second configuration response is used to inform the first node of the success or failure of the blockchain capability configuration.

[0202] When the blockchain capability of the first node is successfully configured, the second configuration response may carry one or more of the following: the identifier of the first node, the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first node, the public key information of the first node, the certificate information of the first node, or the type of the first node. The type of the first node may include the node type of the first node on the first blockchain (such as a full node) and the node type of the first node in the communication network (such as a terminal device). Thus, the second LAF network element can collect information about the first node used to establish the first blockchain within the first network area.

[0203] In the event that the blockchain capability configuration of the first node fails, the second LAF network element can reselect nodes in the first network area according to the first indication information to configure and activate the blockchain, so that the number of first nodes meets the requirements of the first blockchain.

[0204] Based on the blockchain establishment method shown in FIG7 , the first LAF network element decomposes the chain establishment demand information to determine the demand of the first blockchain in the first network area, so as to send the first instruction information to the second LAF network element in the lower-level LAF network element managed by it, thereby realizing the establishment of the first blockchain in the first network area managed by the second LAF network element. Thus, based on the LAF network element hierarchical management mechanism, the lower-level LAF network element is used as the end point of blockchain management. A lower-level LAF network element can realize the autonomy of the blockchain capability within a network area (such as a slice or segment). The first LAF network element as the upper-level LAF network element does not need to pay attention to the blockchain deployment process of the lower-level LAF network element in its corresponding network area. It can not only realize the creation and management of the blockchain based on the large-scale underlying nodes of the network, but also reduce the load of the LAF network element compared to a single LAF network element to realize the establishment of the blockchain based on a large-scale communication network, thereby reducing the possible single point blocking problem caused by the management of a single control node.

[0205] In one possible design solution, the blockchain establishment method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

[0206] S704: The second LAF network element sends second indication information to the first LAF network element. Correspondingly, the first LAF network element receives the second indication information from the second LAF network element.

[0207] The second indication information is used to indicate one or more first nodes in the first network area used to establish the first blockchain. The second indication information may include one or more of the number of first nodes, the type of first nodes, or node information of one or more third nodes, where the third node is a node among the one or more first nodes that communicates with nodes in network areas other than the first network area used to establish the first blockchain.

[0208] In a scenario where a first blockchain is established in multiple network areas, among one or more first nodes determined in the first network area, if some of the first nodes need to communicate with one or more nodes in other network areas for establishing the first blockchain, wherein these part of the first nodes (i.e., one or more third nodes) can be called external nodes, then the second LAF network element can report the information of these part of the first nodes for external communication, i.e., the information of the third nodes, to the first LAF network element, so that the first LAF network element can configure one or more nodes in other network areas for establishing the first blockchain to communicate with the third nodes.

[0209] Correspondingly, for one or more nodes in other network areas used to establish the first blockchain that need to communicate with one or more first nodes in the first network area, the first LAF network element can also send node configuration information for cross-domain communication to the second LAF network element based on the information of the external node in the indication information reported by the sub-LAF network element corresponding to the other network area to indicate the one or more first nodes used to establish the first blockchain. Then, the second LAF network element can configure the first node to communicate with the nodes in other network areas based on the node configuration information for cross-domain communication.

[0210] Exemplarily, the first LAF network element sends a first configuration request to the second LAF network element, and accordingly, the second LAF network element receives the first configuration request from the first LAF network element. Wherein, the first configuration request includes information of one or more second nodes, and the second node is used to communicate with one or more first nodes in the first network area for establishing the first blockchain. The second node is a node in other network areas other than the first network area, and is used to establish the first blockchain. It should be understood that the information of the one or more second nodes is also the node configuration information for cross-domain communication, which is similar to the node information of the third node mentioned above. Please refer to the relevant description of the node information of the third node mentioned above, which will not be repeated here.

[0211] Optionally, the second LAF network element can also send a first configuration response to the first LAF network element. Accordingly, the first LAF network element receives the first configuration response from the second LAF network element, wherein the first configuration response is used to inform one or more first nodes of the cross-domain communication configuration result, and the cross-domain communication configuration result can be a successful cross-domain communication configuration, a failed cross-domain communication configuration, or a partial success or partial failure of the cross-domain communication configuration. The embodiment of the present application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0212] In an embodiment of the present application, the node information of the third node may include one or more of the following: the identifier of the third node on the first blockchain, the IP address of the third node, the public key information of the third node, the certificate information of the third node, or the type of the third node on the first blockchain. The identifier of the third node on the first blockchain and / or the IP address of the third node may be used by nodes in other network areas used to establish the first blockchain to determine the location of the third node, thereby enabling cross-network communication. The public key information and / or the certificate information of the third node may be used to encrypt communications between nodes in other network areas used to establish the first blockchain and the third node, thereby improving communication security.

[0213] It is understandable that, in the scenario where the first blockchain is established only within a single network area, the second indication information may not carry the node information of one or more third nodes. However, in this scenario, if there is a first node that needs to communicate with each other among the multiple first nodes determined, the second LAF network element may send information about the other one or more first nodes that need to communicate to any of the first nodes that need to communicate with each other, so as to configure one first node to communicate with the other one or more first nodes.

[0214] Exemplarily, the second LAF network element sends a third configuration request to the fourth node, and accordingly, the fourth node receives the third configuration request from the second LAF network element. The third configuration request includes information about one or more first nodes other than the fourth node among the multiple first nodes, and the fourth node is any first node among the multiple first nodes. The information about one or more first nodes other than the fourth node among the multiple first nodes is used for the fourth node to communicate with one or more first nodes other than the fourth node among the multiple first nodes. Among them, the specific content of the information about one or more first nodes other than the fourth node among the multiple first nodes is similar to the node information of the third node mentioned above. Please refer to the relevant description of the node information of the third node mentioned above, which will not be repeated here.

[0215] Optionally, the fourth node may send a third configuration response to the second LAF network element, and accordingly, the second LAF network element receives the third configuration response from the fourth node. The third configuration response is used to inform the fourth node of the intra-domain communication configuration result. When the fourth node is able to communicate with one or more other first nodes other than the fourth node within the first network area, the third configuration response is used to inform the fourth node that the intra-domain communication configuration is successful. Otherwise, the third configuration response is used to inform the fourth node that the intra-domain communication configuration has failed.

[0216] In one possible design scheme, after executing the above S701-S704, the second LAF network element can also report the blockchain capabilities of the first network area after the establishment of the first blockchain to the first LAF network element, so that the first LAF network element can update the blockchain capabilities of the first network area.

[0217] The above Figure 7 specifically introduces the process of establishing the first blockchain in a single network area based on the LAF network element layered architecture. The following describes in detail the process of establishing the first blockchain in multiple network areas in combination with the specific application scenario of the communication network 1 in Figure 1. Taking the establishment of the first blockchain in two network areas as an example, the first LAF network element is the upper-level LAF network element in CN1, and the three network areas in the communication network 1 are the CN1 network area, the RAN1 network area and the RAN2 network area. The sub-LAF network element in the CN1 network area is the first sub-LAF network element, the sub-LAF network element in the RAN1 network area is the second sub-LAF network element, and the sub-LAF network element in the CN1 network area is the third sub-LAF network element. The first blockchain is established in the CN1 network area and the RAN1 network area.

[0218] For example, FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The blockchain establishment method includes the following steps:

[0219] S801. The upper-level LAF network element obtains the chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain.

[0220] For example, as shown in Figure 1, three network areas (i.e., RAN1, RAN2, and CN1) are deployed in the communication network 1. The upper-level LAF network element can receive the chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the business plane or the management plane. After obtaining the chain establishment requirement information, the upper-level LAF network element decomposes the chain establishment requirement information to determine in which one or more network areas the first blockchain needs to be established.

[0221] For example, the chain establishment requirement information includes that the number of nodes of the first blockchain that needs to be established is 10, of which 5 nodes are full nodes, 3 nodes are micro nodes, and 2 nodes are client nodes, and all 10 nodes support POW and POS consensus capabilities and have editable capabilities. Therefore, the upper-level LAF network element decomposes the chain establishment requirement information by combining the blockchain capabilities of the three network areas RAN1, RAN2, and CN1 and the capabilities of the corresponding three sub-LAF network elements (i.e., the first sub-LAF network element to the third sub-LAF network element), and determines that the first blockchain needs to be established in the CN1 network area and the RAN1 network area, thereby determining the requirements of the first blockchain in the CN1 network area and the RAN1 network area.

[0222] The specific implementation process of S801 can refer to the relevant description of S701 above.

[0223] S802: The upper-level LAF network element sends fifth indication information to the first sub-LAF network element. Correspondingly, the first sub-LAF network element receives the fifth indication information from the upper-level LAF network element.

[0224] The fifth indication information is used to indicate the requirements of the first blockchain in the CN1 network area. For example, the fifth indication information may include that the number of nodes for establishing the first blockchain in the CN1 network area is four, including three full nodes and one client node, and all four nodes support POW and POS consensus capabilities and have editability.

[0225] S803: The upper LAF network element sends sixth indication information to the second sub-LAF network element. Correspondingly, the second sub-LAF network element receives the sixth indication information from the upper LAF network element.

[0226] The sixth indication information is used to indicate the requirements of the first blockchain within the CN1 network area. For example, the requirements of the first blockchain within the RAN1 network area may include establishing six nodes for the first blockchain within the RAN1 network area, including two full nodes, three micro nodes, and one client node, and all six nodes support POW and POS consensus capabilities and have editability.

[0227] It can be understood that the functions of the fifth indication information in S802 and the sixth indication information in S803 are of the same functional type as the first indication information in S702 above. For detailed description, please refer to the relevant description of the first indication information in S702 above, and no further details will be given here.

[0228] S804. The first sub-LAF network element determines a node for establishing the first blockchain in the CN1 network area according to the fifth indication information.

[0229] Exemplarily, after the first sub-LAF network element receives the fifth indication information, it can determine the nodes that meet the requirements for establishing the first blockchain based on the blockchain capabilities of the CN1 network area and the fifth indication information. For example, the first sub-LAF network element selects the AMF network element, UPF network element, SMF network element, and PC1 in the CN1 network area as nodes for establishing the first blockchain. The AMF network element, UPF network element, SMF network element, and PC1 all support POW and POS consensus capabilities and have editable capabilities, and the AMF network element, UPF network element, and SMF network element can be used as full nodes, and PC1 can be used as a client node. In other words, the AMF network element, UPF network element, SMF network element, and PC1 are nodes for establishing the first blockchain in the CN1 network area determined by the first sub-LAF network element.

[0230] The specific implementation process of S804 can refer to the relevant description in the above S703, which will not be repeated here.

[0231] S805: The first sub-LAF network element sends a fourth configuration request to the node used to establish the first blockchain in the CN1 network area. Correspondingly, the node used to establish the first blockchain in the CN1 network area receives the fourth configuration request from the first sub-LAF network element.

[0232] Among them, the fourth configuration request is used to configure and activate the blockchain capabilities of the nodes determined in the CN1 network area for establishing the first blockchain.

[0233] Exemplarily, after determining which nodes in the CN1 network area can be used to establish the first blockchain, the first sub-LAF network element can send a fourth configuration request to the determined nodes to configure the blockchain capabilities of the nodes. For example, the first sub-LAF network element configures the AMF network element, the UPF network element, and the SMF network element as full nodes, configures PC1 as a client node, and activates the POW and POS consensus capabilities and editability of the four nodes.

[0234] S806: The node used to establish the first blockchain in the CN1 network area sends a fourth configuration response to the first sub-LAF network element. Correspondingly, the first sub-LAF network element receives the fourth configuration response from the node used to establish the first blockchain in the CN1 network area.

[0235] Among them, the fourth configuration response is used to inform the blockchain capability configuration results of the nodes used to establish the first blockchain within the CN1 network area.

[0236] If the configuration is successful, the fourth configuration response may carry the IP address, public key information, certificate information, node type on the first blockchain or node type within the CN1 network area, etc. of the node used to establish the first blockchain within the CN1 network area.

[0237] Exemplarily, the fourth configuration response is used to inform the CN1 network area that the blockchain capability configuration of the node used to establish the first blockchain is successful. The fourth configuration response fed back by the AMF network element may carry one or more of the IP address of the AMF network element, public key information, certificate information, the AMF network as a full node on the first blockchain, or the AMF network element as an NF node. The fourth configuration response fed back by the UPF network element, SMF network element, and PC1 is similar to the fourth configuration response fed back by the AMF network element, and will not be repeated here.

[0238] If the configuration is not successful, the first sub-LAF network element can reselect other nodes in the CN1 network area that meet the requirements for establishing the first blockchain.

[0239] S807. The second sub-LAF network element determines a node for establishing the first blockchain within the RAN1 network area according to the sixth indication information.

[0240] Exemplarily, after receiving the sixth indication information, the second sub-LAF network element may determine nodes that meet the requirements for establishing the first blockchain based on the blockchain capabilities of the RAN1 network area and the sixth indication information. For example, the second sub-LAF network element selects gNB1, UE1-UE3, UE4, and PC2 within the RAN1 network area as nodes for establishing the first blockchain. These gNB1, UE1-UE3, UE4, and PC2 all support POW and POS consensus capabilities and have editable capabilities. Furthermore, gNB1 and UE4 can function as full nodes, UE1-UE3 can function as micro nodes, and PC2 can function as a client node. In other words, gNB1, UE1-UE3, UE4, and PC2 are the nodes within the CN1 network area determined by the second sub-LAF network element for establishing the first blockchain.

[0241] The specific implementation process of S807 is similar to the relevant description in the above S703 or S804 and will not be repeated here.

[0242] S808: The second sub-LAF network element sends a fifth configuration request to the node used to establish the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area. Correspondingly, the node used to establish the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area receives the fifth configuration request from the second sub-LAF network element.

[0243] Exemplarily, the second sub-LAF network element configures gNB1 and UE4 as full nodes, configures UE1 to UE3 as micro nodes, and configures PC2 as a client node, and activates the POW and POS consensus capabilities and editability of the six nodes.

[0244] The specific implementation process of S808 can refer to the relevant description in the above S805, which will not be repeated here.

[0245] It can be understood that the functions of the fourth configuration request in S805 and the fifth configuration request in S808 are similar to the functions of the second configuration request in S703. Therefore, for the specific description of the fourth configuration request and the fifth configuration request, please refer to the relevant description of the second configuration request in S703.

[0246] S809: The node used to establish the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area sends a fifth configuration response to the second sub-LAF network element. Correspondingly, the second sub-LAF network element receives the fifth configuration response from the node used to establish the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area.

[0247] The fifth configuration response is used to inform the nodes within the RAN1 network area of ​​the blockchain capability configuration results for establishing the first blockchain. For example, gNB1, UE1-UE3, UE4, and PC2 within the RAN1 network area all respond with corresponding fifth configuration responses. A detailed description of the fifth configuration response can be found in the description of the fourth configuration response in S806 above and is not repeated here.

[0248] It can be understood that the functions of the fourth configuration response in S806 and the fifth configuration response in S809 are similar to the functions of the second configuration response in S703 above. Therefore, the specific description of the fourth configuration response and the fifth configuration response can be found in the relevant description of the second configuration response in S703 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0249] S810: The first sub-LAF network element sends seventh indication information to the upper-level LAF network element. Correspondingly, the upper-level LAF network element receives the seventh indication information from the first sub-LAF network element.

[0250] Among them, the seventh indication information is used to indicate one or more nodes in the CN1 network area for establishing the first blockchain. Exemplarily, the first sub-LAF network element summarizes the node information fed back by the AMF network element, UPF network element, SMF network element, and PC1, and feeds it back to the upper-level LAF network element through the seventh indication information.

[0251] S811: The second sub-LAF network element sends eighth indication information to the upper-level LAF network element. Correspondingly, the upper-level LAF network element receives the eighth indication information from the second sub-LAF network element.

[0252] The eighth indication information is used to indicate one or more nodes within the RAN1 network area used to establish the first blockchain. Exemplarily, the second sub-LAF network element aggregates the node information fed back by gNB1, UE1-UE3, UE4, and PC2, and feeds it back to the upper-level LAF network element via the eighth indication information.

[0253] Among them, the functions of the seventh indication information in the above S810 and the eighth indication information in S811 are similar to the functions of the second indication information in the above S704. Therefore, the specific description of the seventh indication information and the eighth indication information can refer to the relevant description of the second indication information in the above S704, and will not be repeated here.

[0254] It should be noted that after the nodes for establishing the first blockchain are determined in the CN1 network area and the RAN1 network area based on the above S801-S811, if the nodes for establishing the first blockchain in the CN1 network area and / or the nodes for establishing the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area need to communicate, that is, the nodes for establishing the first blockchain in the same network area communicate with each other, then the first sub-LAF network element can send an intra-domain communication configuration request to the node for establishing the first blockchain that requires intra-domain communication. The intra-domain communication configuration request carries intra-domain communication configuration information. For example, if the AMF network element in the CN1 network area needs to communicate with PC1, the first sub-LAF network element sends the IP address of PC1 to the AMF network element. The AMF network element can communicate with PC1 based on the IP address of PC1. The first sub-LAF network element can also send PC1's public key information, PC1's certificate information, and PC1's node type on the first blockchain to the AMF network element. The intra-domain node communication configuration process in the RAN1 network area can refer to the intra-domain node communication configuration process in the CN1 network area above, and will not be repeated here. Correspondingly, the node that performs intra-domain communication configuration for establishing the first blockchain can send an intra-domain communication configuration response to the sub-LAF network element within its network area after the communication configuration is completed.

[0255] It can be understood that the function of the intra-domain communication configuration request is similar to that of the third configuration request in S704 above, and the function of the intra-domain communication configuration response is similar to that of the third configuration response in S704 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0256] Based on the above S801-S812, the process of establishing blockchain in multiple network areas under the LAF network element layered architecture is realized.

[0257] In addition, when the node for establishing the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area needs to communicate with the node for establishing the first blockchain in the CN1 network area, the blockchain establishment method shown in FIG8 further includes the following steps:

[0258] S812: The upper-level LAF network element sends a first cross-domain configuration request to the first sub-LAF network element. Correspondingly, the first sub-LAF network element receives the first cross-domain configuration request from the upper-level LAF network element.

[0259] Among them, the first cross-domain configuration request is used to request the first sub-LAF network element to configure the node used to establish the first blockchain in the CN1 network area to communicate with the node used to establish the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area.

[0260] For example, if the AMF network element in the CN1 network area needs to communicate with the gNB1 and UE4 in the RAN1 network area, the sixth configuration request may include information of gNB1 and UE4, such as the IP address of gNB1, the IP address of UE4, the public key information of gNB1, the public key information of UE4, the certificate information of gNB1, and the certificate information of UE4.

[0261] S813: The upper LAF network element sends a second cross-domain configuration request to the second sub-LAF network element. Correspondingly, the second sub-LAF network element receives the second cross-domain configuration request from the upper LAF network element.

[0262] Among them, the second cross-domain configuration request is used to request the second sub-LAF network element to configure the node used to establish the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area to communicate with the node used to establish the first blockchain in the CN1 network area.

[0263] For example, gNB1 and UE4 in the RAN1 network area need to communicate with the AMF network element in the CN1 network area. The second cross-domain configuration request may include information of the AMF network element, such as the IP address of the AMF network element, the public key information of the AMF network element, and the certificate information of the AMF network element.

[0264] It can be understood that the functions of the first cross-domain configuration request in S812 and the second cross-domain configuration request in S813 are similar to those of the first configuration request in S703 above. Therefore, the specific description of the first cross-domain configuration request and the second cross-domain configuration request can be found in the relevant description of the first configuration request in S703 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0265] It should be noted that for the above-mentioned S812 and S813, the upper-level LAF network element may also execute only S812 or only S813 to implement communication between nodes in the CN1 network area and nodes in the RAN1 network area. In other words, for nodes in two network areas that need to communicate with each other, communication between nodes in the two network areas can be achieved by simply requiring nodes in one network area to obtain information about communication with nodes in the other network area. Accordingly, the subsequent implementation process may only require executing the following S814, S815, and S818, or only executing the following S816, S817, and S819.

[0266] S814. The first sub-LAF network element sends a third cross-domain configuration request to the node used to establish the first blockchain in the CN1 network area. Correspondingly, the node used to establish the first blockchain in the CN1 network area receives the third cross-domain configuration request from the first sub-LAF network element.

[0267] The third cross-domain configuration request is used to configure the node used to establish the first blockchain in the CN1 network area to communicate with one or more nodes used to establish the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area. Exemplarily, the third cross-domain configuration request carries the IP address of gNB1, the IP address of UE4, the public key information of gNB1, the public key information of UE4, the certificate information of gNB1, and the certificate information of UE4. The first sub-LAF network element sends the third cross-domain configuration request to the AMF network element to configure the AMF network element in the CN1 network area to communicate with gNB1 and UE4 in the RAN1 network area.

[0268] S815: The node for establishing the first blockchain in the CN1 network area sends a third cross-domain configuration response to the first sub-LAF network element. Correspondingly, the first sub-LAF network element receives the third cross-domain configuration response from the node for establishing the first blockchain in the CN1 network area.

[0269] The third cross-domain configuration response is used to inform the node in the CN1 network area of ​​the cross-domain communication configuration result for establishing the first blockchain. Exemplarily, the AMF network element sends the third cross-domain configuration response to the first sub-LAF network element to inform the AMF network element that the cross-domain communication configuration is successful, indicating that the AMF network element can communicate with gNB1 and UE4 in the RAN1 network area.

[0270] S816: The second sub-LAF network element sends a fourth cross-domain configuration request to the node used to establish the first blockchain within the RAN1 network area. Correspondingly, the node used to establish the first blockchain within the RAN1 network area receives the fourth cross-domain configuration request from the second sub-LAF network element.

[0271] The fourth cross-domain configuration request is used to configure a node in the RAN1 network area for establishing the first blockchain to communicate with one or more nodes in the CN1 network area for establishing the first blockchain. Exemplarily, the fourth cross-domain configuration request carries the IP address of gNB1, the IP address of UE4, the public key information of gNB1, the public key information of UE4, the certificate information of gNB1, and the certificate information of UE4, so as to configure the AMF network element in the CN1 network area to communicate with the gNB1 and UE4 in the RAN1 network area. The second sub-LAF network element sends the fourth cross-domain configuration request to the AMF network element to configure the gNB1 and UE4 in the RAN1 network area to communicate with the AMF network element in the CN1 network area.

[0272] S817: The node used to establish the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area sends a fourth cross-domain configuration response to the second sub-LAF network element. Correspondingly, the second sub-LAF network element receives the fourth cross-domain configuration response from the node used to establish the first blockchain in the RAN1 network area.

[0273] The fourth cross-domain configuration response is used to notify RAN1 of the cross-domain communication configuration result for establishing the node of the first blockchain within the network area. For example, gNB1 sends the fourth cross-domain configuration response to the second sub-LAF network element to notify gNB1 of successful cross-domain communication configuration, indicating that gNB1 can communicate with the AMF network element within the CN1 network area. For another example, UE4 sends the fourth cross-domain configuration response to the second sub-LAF network element to notify UE4 of successful cross-domain communication configuration, indicating that UE4 can communicate with the AMF network element within the CN1 network area.

[0274] S818: The first sub-LAF network element sends a first cross-domain configuration response to the upper-level LAF network element. Correspondingly, the upper-level LAF network element receives the first cross-domain configuration response from the first sub-LAF network element.

[0275] The first cross-domain configuration response is used to inform one or more nodes in the CN1 network area of ​​the cross-domain communication configuration result for establishing the first blockchain. For example, if there is only one node in the CN1 network area that needs to communicate with the node in the RAN1 network area for establishing the first blockchain, such as an AMF network element, the first cross-domain configuration response is used to inform the AMF network element of the cross-domain communication configuration result. In this case, the first cross-domain configuration response may be the third cross-domain configuration response in S815 above.

[0276] As another example, there are multiple nodes in the CN1 network area that need to communicate with the nodes in the RAN1 network area for establishing the first blockchain, such as the AMF network element and the UPF network element. The first cross-domain configuration response is used to inform the AMF network element and the UPF network element of the cross-domain communication configuration result, that is, the first sub-LAF network element summarizes the cross-domain communication configuration results of multiple nodes and feeds them back to the superior LAF network element.

[0277] S819: The second sub-LAF network element sends a second cross-domain configuration response to the upper-level LAF network element. Correspondingly, the upper-level LAF network element receives the second cross-domain configuration response from the second sub-LAF network element.

[0278] The second cross-domain configuration response is used to notify RAN1 of the cross-domain communication configuration result of one or more nodes used to establish the first blockchain within the network area. The specific implementation process of S819 can be found in the relevant description of S818 above and will not be repeated here.

[0279] It can be understood that the first cross-domain configuration response in S818 and the second cross-domain configuration response in S819 have similar functions to the first configuration response in S703 above. Therefore, the specific description of the first cross-domain configuration response and the second cross-domain configuration response can be found in the relevant description of the first configuration response in S703 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0280] Based on the blockchain establishment method shown in Figure 8 and the LAF network element layered architecture, the process of establishing the first blockchain in multiple network areas is realized, and cross-domain communication of blockchain nodes in different network areas is realized.

[0281] The above Figures 7 and 8 are about the creation and management of blockchains based on the LAF network element layered architecture. The embodiment of the present application also provides a blockchain establishment method based on the LAF network element distributed architecture, which can realize the establishment of blockchains in multiple network areas.

[0282] For example, FIG9 is a flowchart of another blockchain establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present application, which can be applied to (b) or (c) in FIG2 , and can also be applied to (b) or (d) in FIG4 .

[0283] As shown in FIG9 , the blockchain establishment method includes the following steps:

[0284] S901. The third LAF network element obtains first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain.

[0285] Among them, the third LAF network element is one of the N LAF network elements that jointly create the first blockchain, N is a positive integer greater than 1, and the N LAF network elements are LAF network elements at the same level.

[0286] In one possible design scheme, the N LAF network elements may be sub-LAF network elements distributed in different network areas of the same operator network, or may be slice-level sub-LAF network elements distributed in different functional domains of the same network slice. Thus, the third LAF network element may obtain the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the upper-level LAF network element that manages it. For example, the third LAF network element receives the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the first LAF network element. Accordingly, the first LAF network element sends the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain to the third LAF network element. The first LAF network element is used to manage N LAF network elements, that is, the first LAF network element is the upper-level LAF network element of the N LAF network elements, and the N LAF network elements are sub-LAF network elements or lower-level LAF network elements of the first LAF network element. In this scenario, the N LAF network elements can realize distributed chain establishment within a single operator network or a single network slice.

[0287] For example, N=3, and the three LAF network elements are LAF1 to LAF3. In the scenario shown in (b) of Figure 2, LAF1 to LAF3 correspond to the sub-LAF network element in the CN1 network area, the sub-LAF network element in the RAN1 network area, and the sub-LAF network element in the RAN 2 network area, respectively. The first LAF network element is the upper-level LAF network element shown in (b) of Figure 2 above, and the third LAF network element is the sub-LAF network element in the CN1 network area (i.e., LAF1). Therefore, after the upper-level LAF network element receives the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the business plane or the management plane, it determines that the first blockchain needs to be established in multiple network areas based on the first chain establishment requirement information. For example, if the first blockchain is established in RAN1, RAN2 and CN1, the upper-level LAF network element can send the first chain establishment requirement information to the sub-LAF network element in the CN1 network area, and instruct the sub-LAF network element in the CN1 network area to negotiate with the sub-LAF network element in the RAN1 network area and the sub-LAF network element in the RAN2 network area to establish the first blockchain, that is, instruct LAF1 to negotiate with LAF2 and LAF3 to establish the first blockchain.

[0288] As another example, N=2, the two LAF network elements are LAF1 and LAF2. In the scenario shown in (b) of Figure 4, LAF1 and LAF2 correspond to the slice-level sub-LAF network element in the RAN functional domain and the slice-level sub-LAF network element in the CN functional domain, respectively. The first LAF network element is the slice-level LAF network element shown in (b) of Figure 4 above, and the slice-level sub-LAF network element in the RAN functional domain (i.e., LAF1) is the third LAF network element. Thus, after the slice-level LAF network element receives the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the business plane or the management plane, it determines that the first blockchain needs to be established in multiple network areas based on the first chain establishment requirement information. For example, if the first blockchain is established in the RAN functional domain and the CN functional domain, the slice-level LAF network element can send the first chain establishment requirement information to the slice-level sub-LAF network element in the RAN functional domain, and instruct the slice-level sub-LAF network element in the RAN functional domain to negotiate with the slice-level sub-LAF network element in the CN functional domain to establish the first blockchain.

[0289] In another possible design, the N LAF network elements are upper-level LAF network elements distributed in different operator networks as shown in (c) of Figure 2, or slice-level LAF network elements distributed in different network slices as shown in (d) of Figure 4. In this scenario, the N LAF network elements can realize distributed link establishment across operator networks or across network slices.

[0290] For example, N=3, and the three LAF network elements are LAF1~LAF3. In the scenario shown in (c) of Figure 2, a first blockchain is established in three operator networks. LAF1~LAF3 correspond to the upper-level LAF network elements in CN1~CN3 respectively. The upper-level LAF network element (LAF3) in CN3 is the third LAF network element. The upper-level LAF network element in CN3 can receive the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the business plane or the management plane.

[0291] As another example, N=3, the three LAF network elements are LAF1~LAF3. In the scenario shown in (d) of Figure 4, the first blockchain is established in the three network slices, LAF1~LAF3 correspond to the slice-level LAF network elements in NSI1~NSI3 respectively, and the slice-level LAF network element in NSI1 (i.e., LAF1) is the third LAF network element. The slice-level LAF network element in NSI1 can receive the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the business plane or the management plane or the top-level LAF network element shown in (b) of Figure 3.

[0292] The specific description of the first link establishment requirement information can refer to the related description of the link establishment requirement information in S701 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0293] S902. The third LAF network element sends second chain establishment requirement information to at least one LAF network element other than the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements according to the blockchain creation strategy.

[0294] The blockchain creation policy is a policy deployed in N LAF network elements for determining whether each LAF network element establishes a first blockchain. In an embodiment of the present application, the blockchain creation policy can be pre-configured by the operator, negotiated by the N LAF network elements, generated according to blockchain consensus, or determined according to a common operation. Generation according to blockchain consensus means that multiple LAF network elements obtain a blockchain creation policy based on the same consensus mechanism, and determination according to a common operation means that multiple LAF network elements obtain a blockchain creation policy based on the same algorithm (such as a random algorithm).

[0295] Exemplarily, the third LAF network element may determine, based on the blockchain creation policy, which one or more LAF network elements among the N LAF network elements other than the third LAF network element to send the second chain establishment requirement information to.

[0296] In a possible design solution, the second link establishment requirement information may be the first link establishment requirement information, that is, the second link establishment requirement information is the same as the first link establishment requirement information.

[0297] For example, the embodiment of the present application uses the following two scenarios to illustrate that the second link establishment requirement information sent by the third LAF network element is the same as the first link establishment requirement information:

[0298] In scenario 1, the third LAF network element may send the second chain establishment requirement information to all LAF network elements except the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements according to the blockchain creation strategy.

[0299] In this scenario, the blockchain creation strategy can create a blockchain for each of the N LAF network elements by selecting equivalent link establishment requirement information from the first link establishment requirement information. In other words, the N LAF network elements select the corresponding link establishment requirement information by equally distributing the first link establishment requirement information. As a result, the third LAF network element can broadcast the first link establishment requirement information to all LAF network elements in the N LAF network elements except the third LAF network element.

[0300] It should be noted that the equal distribution of the first chain establishment requirement information includes the equal distribution of the total number of nodes for establishing the first blockchain and the equal distribution of the node capabilities for establishing the first blockchain.

[0301] Exemplarily, N=3, and the three LAF network elements are LAF1~LAF3, where LAF1 is the third LAF network element. The blockchain creation strategy deployed in LAF1~LAF3 is to select the corresponding chain building requirement information by equal distribution of the first chain building requirement information. For example, the first chain building requirement information indicates that the first blockchain requires 12 nodes to be established in 3 network areas, of which 6 full nodes, 3 micro nodes and 3 client nodes are required, and at least 6 of the 12 nodes have smart contract capabilities and POS consensus capabilities. Then, each of the 3 LAF network elements selects 4 nodes in its network area, of which 2 full nodes, 1 micro node and 3 client nodes are required, and at least 2 of the 4 nodes have smart contract capabilities and POS consensus capabilities. Therefore, after LAF1 sends the first chain building requirement information to LAF2 and LAF3 in the form of broadcast, LAF1~LAF3 all select equivalent chain building requirement information from the first chain building requirement information as their requirements for establishing the first blockchain based on the principle of equal sharing.

[0302] In scenario 2, the third LAF network element can send the second chain establishment requirement information to the fourth LAF network element according to the blockchain creation strategy. The fourth LAF network element is the LAF network element that preferentially selects the chain establishment requirement information from the first chain establishment requirement information among the N LAF network elements.

[0303] In this scenario, the N LAF network elements select the corresponding chain establishment requirement information from the first chain establishment requirement information in order of priority, and the third LAF network element is not the LAF network element with the highest priority among the N LAF network elements. The blockchain creation strategy may be to create a blockchain based on the order of the capabilities of the LAF network elements or to create a blockchain based on the blockchain capabilities of the network area corresponding to the LAF network elements. The order of the capabilities of the LAF network elements or the blockchain capabilities of the network area corresponding to the LAF network elements is the priority order for selecting the corresponding chain establishment requirement information from the first chain establishment requirement information.

[0304] Among them, the order of the strength of the LAF network element can be the order of the LAF network element's capabilities from weak to strong, or it can be the order of the LAF network element's capabilities from strong to weak. The blockchain capabilities of the network area corresponding to the LAF network element can be whether the network area corresponding to the LAF network element supports full node capabilities, whether it supports consensus capabilities, whether it supports editable capabilities, whether it has smart contracts, or whether it has a trusted execution environment and other blockchain capabilities. For example, the blockchain capabilities of the network area corresponding to LAF1 are supporting full node capabilities, supporting consensus capabilities, supporting editable, having smart contracts and having a trusted execution environment, the blockchain capabilities of the network area corresponding to LAF2 are supporting full node capabilities, not supporting consensus capabilities, not supporting editable, not having smart contracts and having a trusted execution environment, and the blockchain capabilities of the network area corresponding to LAF2 are not supporting full node capabilities, supporting consensus capabilities, not supporting editable, having smart contracts and not having a trusted execution environment. It should be understood that the blockchain capabilities of the network area corresponding to each LAF network element can also be set with a priority order.

[0305] It can be understood that the capabilities of each LAF network element in the above two blockchain creation strategies or the blockchain capabilities of the network area corresponding to each LAF network element can be obtained by the third LAF polling each LAF network element in the N LAF network elements except the third LAF network element.

[0306] Exemplarily, N=3, the three LAF network elements are LAF1~LAF3, among which LAF1 is the third LAF network element, and the blockchain creation strategy deployed in LAF1~LAF3 is to create a blockchain based on the capabilities of the LAF network elements from strong to weak. The capabilities of LAF1~LAF3 are from strong to weak in the order of LAF2>LAF1>LAF3. The first chain establishment requirement information indicates that the first blockchain requires 12 nodes to be established in 3 network areas, among which 6 full nodes, 3 micro nodes and 3 client nodes are required, and at least 6 of the 12 nodes have smart contract capabilities and POS consensus capabilities.

[0307] Thus, after LAF1 obtains the first chain establishment requirement information, it determines, based on the blockchain creation policy, that it is not the most capable of the three LAF network elements. Instead, it sends the first chain establishment requirement information to the most capable LAF network element, i.e., the fourth LAF network element, LAF2. LAF2 then selects a portion of the first chain establishment requirement information as its task for establishing the first blockchain. For example, the chain establishment requirement information selected by LAF2 indicates that establishing the first blockchain within its network area requires five nodes, three of which are full nodes and two are client nodes, and all five nodes have smart contract capabilities and POS consensus capabilities. After LAF2 completes its selection, it determines, based on the blockchain creation policy, the next more capable LAF network element to select a portion of the remaining first chain establishment requirement information as its task for establishing the first blockchain. For example, if the next selected LAF network element is LAF1, LAF1 selects the chain establishment requirements from the remaining first chain establishment requirement information and then sends the remaining first chain establishment requirement information to LAF3. Therefore, LAF1~LAF3 can respectively establish blockchains in their respective network areas based on their corresponding selected chain building demand information.

[0308] It is understandable that LAF1 to LAF3 can respectively select chain establishment requirement information from the first chain establishment requirement information according to the blockchain capabilities of the network areas in which they are located.

[0309] In another possible design, the second chain establishment requirement information is the chain establishment requirement information in the first chain establishment requirement information excluding the third chain establishment requirement information. The third chain establishment requirement information is the portion of the chain establishment requirement information selected from the first chain establishment requirement information by the third LAF network element based on the blockchain creation strategy. In other words, the second chain establishment requirement information is different from the first chain establishment requirement information.

[0310] Therefore, the third LAF network element can send the second chain establishment requirement information to the fifth LAF network element according to the blockchain creation strategy, and the fifth LAF network element is the next LAF network element among the N LAF network elements to select the chain establishment requirement information.

[0311] In this case, the N LAF network elements select the corresponding chain establishment requirement information from the first chain establishment requirement information in order of priority, and the third LAF network element is the LAF network element with the highest priority among the N LAF network elements. The blockchain creation strategy can also be to create a blockchain based on the order of the capabilities of the LAF network elements or to create a blockchain based on the blockchain capabilities of the network area corresponding to the LAF network element.

[0312] Therefore, after the third LAF network element receives the first chain building requirement information, it selects part of the chain building requirement information (i.e., the third chain building requirement information) from the first chain building requirement information according to the blockchain creation strategy, and then sends the chain building requirement information other than the third chain building requirement information in the first chain building requirement information (i.e., the second chain building requirement information) to the next LAF network element that selects the chain building requirement information, i.e., the fifth LAF network element.

[0313] Exemplarily, N=3, the three LAF network elements are LAF1~LAF3, among which LAF1 is the third LAF network element, and the blockchain creation strategy deployed in LAF1~LAF3 is to create a blockchain based on the capabilities of the LAF network elements from strong to weak. The capabilities of LAF1~LAF3 are from strong to weak as LAF1>LAF3>LAF2, and the first chain establishment requirement information indicates that the first blockchain requires 12 nodes to be established in 3 network areas, among which 6 full nodes, 3 micro nodes and 3 client nodes are required, and at least 6 of the 12 nodes have smart contract capabilities and POS consensus capabilities.

[0314] Thus, the third chain establishment requirement information selected by LAF1 from the first chain establishment requirement information includes that 5 nodes are required to establish the first blockchain in its network area, of which 3 nodes are full nodes and 2 nodes are client nodes, and 5 nodes have smart contract capabilities and POS consensus capabilities. Then the second chain establishment requirement information includes that 7 nodes are required to establish the first blockchain, of which 3 full nodes, 3 micro nodes and 1 client node are required, and at least 1 of the 7 nodes has smart contract capabilities and POS consensus capabilities. LAF1 then sends the second chain establishment requirement information to the next LAF network element with stronger capabilities, namely LAF3. LAF3 selects part of the chain establishment requirement information from the second chain establishment requirement information and then sends the remaining chain establishment requirement information to LAF1. Thus, LAF1 to LAF3 can respectively establish blockchains in their respective network areas based on the chain establishment requirement information they selected.

[0315] It should be noted that in the scenario where N LAF network elements are N subordinate LAF network elements in a single network area or a single network slice, the N LAF network elements can select nodes in the corresponding network area to establish the first blockchain based on the corresponding chain establishment requirement information selected from the first chain establishment requirement information. The specific process can be found in the relevant description in S703 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0316] In the scenario where N LAF network elements are N upper-level LAF network elements in multiple operator networks or multiple network slices, if one or more lower-level LAF network elements are also deployed in each operator network or each network slice, the upper-level LAF network element in each operator network can select one or more lower-level LAF network elements for the corresponding selected link establishment requirement information from the first link establishment requirement information, using the hierarchical establishment of the first blockchain method shown in Figure 7 or Figure 8, or the distributed establishment of the first blockchain method shown in Figure 9, to establish the first blockchain in the network area where it is located. No further details will be given here.

[0317] Based on the blockchain establishment method shown in Figure 9, when establishing the first blockchain in multiple network areas, multiple LAF network elements can distributedly select corresponding chain establishment requirement information from the first chain establishment requirement information based on the blockchain creation strategy, so that the establishment of the first blockchain can be completed in the corresponding network area.

[0318] It can be understood that in each of the above embodiments, the methods and / or steps implemented by the first LAF network element can also be implemented by components that can be used for the first LAF network element (such as a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, logic module, or software); the methods and / or steps implemented by the second LAF network element can also be implemented by components used for the second LAF network element (such as a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, logic module, or software); the methods and / or steps implemented by the third LAF network element can also be implemented by components used for the third LAF network element (such as a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, logic module, or software).

[0319] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the present application. Accordingly, the present application also provides a communication device, which is used to implement the various methods in the above method embodiments. The communication device can be the first LAF network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the first LAF network element, or a component that can be used for the first LAF network element, such as a chip or a chip system. Alternatively, the communication device can be the second LAF network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the second LAF network element, or a component that can be used for the second LAF network element, such as a chip or a chip system. Alternatively, the communication device can be the third LAF network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the third LAF network element, or a component that can be used for the third LAF network element, such as a chip or a chip system.

[0320] It is understandable that, in order to realize the above functions, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be easily appreciated by those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0321] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0322] Taking the communication device as a terminal device or network device in the above method embodiment as an example, Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10, the communication device 1000 includes: a processing module 1001 and a transceiver module 1002. Among them, the processing module 1001 is used to perform the processing functions of the terminal device or network device in the above method embodiment. The transceiver module 1002 is used to perform the transceiver functions of the terminal device or network device in the above method embodiment.

[0323] Optionally, in the embodiment of the present application, the transceiver module 1002 may include a receiving module and a sending module (not shown in FIG10 ). The transceiver module is used to implement the sending function and the receiving function of the communication device 1000 .

[0324] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG10 ), which stores a program or instruction. When the processing module 1001 executes the program or instruction, the communication device 1000 may perform the functions of the first LAF network element, the second LAF network element, or the third LAF network element in any of the methods shown in FIG7 to FIG9 .

[0325] It should be understood that the processing module 1001 involved in the communication device 1000 can be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component, which can be a processor or a processing unit; the transceiver module 1002 can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component, which can be a transceiver or a transceiver unit.

[0326] Among them, all relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiment can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module and will not be repeated here.

[0327] Since the communication device 1000 provided in this embodiment can execute the above method, the technical effects that can be obtained can refer to the above method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0328] For example, Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device can be a first LAF network element, a second LAF network element, or a third LAF network element, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be set in the first LAF network element, the second LAF network element, or the third LAF network element. As shown in Figure 11, the communication device 1100 may include a processor 1101. Optionally, the communication device 1100 may further include a memory 1102 and / or a transceiver 1103. The processor 1101 is coupled to the memory 1102 and the transceiver 1103, such as by being connected via a communication bus.

[0329] The following is a detailed introduction to the various components of the communication device 1100 with reference to FIG11 :

[0330] The processor 1101 is the control center of the communication device 1100 and can be a single processor or a collective term for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 1101 can be one or more central processing units (CPUs), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present application, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0331] Optionally, the processor 1101 may execute various functions of the communication device 1100 by running or executing a software program stored in the memory 1102 and calling data stored in the memory 1102 .

[0332] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 1101 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG11 .

[0333] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 1100 may also include multiple processors, such as the processor 1101 and the processor 1104 shown in FIG11 . Each of these processors may be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). The processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0334] Among them, the memory 1102 is used to store the software program for executing the solution of this application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 1101. The specific implementation method can refer to the above method embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0335] Alternatively, the memory 1102 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, an optical disc storage (including a compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 1102 may be integrated with the processor 1101 or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 1101 via an interface circuit (not shown in FIG. 11 ) of the communication device 1100, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0336] Transceiver 1103 is used for communication with other communication devices. For example, if communication device 1100 is a terminal device, transceiver 1103 can be used to communicate with a network device or another terminal device. For another example, if communication device 1100 is a network device, transceiver 1103 can be used to communicate with a terminal device or another network device.

[0337] Optionally, the transceiver 1103 may include a receiver and a transmitter (not shown separately in FIG11 ), wherein the receiver is used to implement a receiving function, and the transmitter is used to implement a transmitting function.

[0338] Optionally, the transceiver 1103 may be integrated with the processor 1101 or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 1101 through an interface circuit (not shown in FIG. 11 ) of the communication device 1100 . This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0339] It should be noted that the structure of the communication device 1100 shown in FIG11 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. An actual communication device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently.

[0340] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1100 can refer to the technical effects of the methods described in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0341] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes the first LAF network element and the second LAF network element.

[0342] An embodiment of the present application provides another communication system, which includes the N LAF network elements mentioned above, including the third LAF network element mentioned above.

[0343] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a computer, the functions of the above-mentioned method embodiment are realized.

[0344] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, which implements the functions of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0345] It should be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein simply describes a relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A alone, A and B together, or B alone. A and B can be singular or plural. Furthermore, the character " / " as used herein generally indicates an "or" relationship between the associated objects, but it may also indicate an "and / or" relationship. For specific understanding, please refer to the context.

[0346] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or plural.

[0347] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0348] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0349] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0350] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0351] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0352] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0353] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0354] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a blockchain, characterized in that: The method comprises: The first ledger anchoring function LAF network element obtains the chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain; The first LAF network element sends first indication information to the second LAF network element corresponding to the first network area, where the first indication information is determined based on the chain establishment requirement information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the requirement of the first blockchain within the first network area.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first LAF network element receives second indication information from the second LAF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate one or more first nodes in the first network area for establishing the first blockchain.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first LAF network element sends a first configuration request to the second LAF network element, where the first configuration request includes information of one or more second nodes, where the second nodes are used to communicate with one or more first nodes in the first network area for establishing the first blockchain, and the second nodes are nodes in other network areas other than the first network area, and are used to establish the first blockchain.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first LAF network element receives a first configuration response from the second LAF network element, where the first configuration response is used to inform one or more of the first nodes of a cross-domain communication configuration result.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first LAF network element receives third indication information from the second LAF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate the blockchain capability of the first network area.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first LAF network element sends fourth indication information to the second LAF network element, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities for one or more fifth nodes within the first network area, where the fifth nodes are nodes within the first network area that do not have blockchain capabilities.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The first indication information includes at least one of the following: the number of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, the type of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, or the node capabilities required by the first blockchain in the first network area.

8. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The second indication information includes at least one of the following: the number of the first nodes, the type of the first node, or node information of one or more third nodes; wherein the third node is a node among the one or more first nodes that communicates with nodes in other network areas other than the first network area for establishing the first blockchain.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The node information of the third node includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the third node on the first blockchain, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the third node, public key information of the third node, certificate information of the third node, or a type of the third node on the first blockchain.

10. A blockchain establishment method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The second ledger anchoring function LAF network element receives first indication information from the first LAF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate the demand of the first blockchain in the first network area, and the second LAF network element is the LAF network element corresponding to the first network area; The second LAF network element determines one or more first nodes for establishing the first blockchain within the first network area according to the first indication information.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second LAF network element sends second indication information to the first LAF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate one or more first nodes in the first network area for establishing the first blockchain.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second LAF network element receives a first configuration request from the first LAF network element, where the first configuration request includes information of one or more second nodes, where the second nodes are used to communicate with one or more of the first nodes, where the second nodes are nodes in other network areas except the first network area, and are used to establish the first blockchain.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second LAF network element sends a first configuration response to the first LAF network element, where the first configuration response is used to inform one or more of the first nodes of a cross-domain communication configuration result.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second LAF network element sends a second configuration request to the first node, where the second configuration request is used to configure and activate the blockchain capability of the first node.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second LAF network element receives a second configuration response from the first node, where the second configuration response is used to inform the first node of the blockchain capability configuration result.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second LAF network element sends a third configuration request to the fourth node, where the third configuration request includes information of one or more first nodes among the multiple first nodes except the fourth node, where the fourth node is any one of the multiple first nodes, and the information of the one or more first nodes among the multiple first nodes except the fourth node is used for the fourth node to communicate with the one or more first nodes among the multiple first nodes except the fourth node.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second LAF receives a third configuration response from the fourth node, where the third configuration response is used to inform the fourth node of a result of intra-domain communication configuration.

18. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second LAF network element sends third indication information to the first LAF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate the blockchain capability of the first network area.

19. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 18, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second LAF network element receives fourth indication information from the first LAF network element, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities for one or more fifth nodes in the first network area, and the fifth nodes are nodes that do not have blockchain capabilities in the first network area.

20. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 18, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second LAF network element receives a first request from a fifth node, where the first request is used to request the second LAF network element to deploy blockchain capabilities. The fifth node is a node in the first network area that does not have blockchain capabilities.

21. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 20, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second LAF network element sends first information to the fifth node, where the first information is used for the fifth node to deploy blockchain capabilities. The fifth node is a node that does not have blockchain capabilities within the first network area.

22. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 21, characterized in that The first indication information includes at least one of the following: the number of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, the type of nodes required by the first blockchain in the first network area, or the node capabilities required by the first blockchain in the first network area.

23. The method according to claim 11, wherein The second indication information includes at least one of the following: the number of the first nodes, the type of the first node, or node information of one or more third nodes; wherein the third node is a node among the one or more first nodes that communicates with nodes in other network areas other than the first network area for establishing the first blockchain.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein The node information of the third node includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the third node on the first blockchain, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the third node, public key information of the third node, certificate information of the third node, or a type of the third node on the first blockchain.

25. A blockchain establishment method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The third ledger anchoring function LAF network element obtains the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain, where the third LAF network element is one of the N LAF network elements that jointly create the first blockchain, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; The third LAF network element sends second chain establishment requirement information to at least one LAF network element other than the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements according to the blockchain creation strategy.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The third LAF network element obtains the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain, including: the third LAF network element receives the first chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain from the first LAF network element, and the first LAF network element is used to manage the N LAF network elements.

27. The method according to claim 25 or 26, characterized in that The second link establishment requirement information is the first link establishment requirement information.

28. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that The blockchain creation strategy is that each LAF network element in the N LAF network elements selects equivalent chain establishment requirement information from the first chain establishment requirement information to create a blockchain.

29. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that The third LAF network element sends the second link establishment requirement information to at least one LAF network element other than the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements according to the blockchain creation strategy, including: the third LAF network element sends the second link establishment requirement information to the fourth LAF network element according to the blockchain creation strategy, and the fourth LAF network element is the LAF network element that preferentially selects the link establishment requirement information from the first link establishment requirement information among the N LAF network elements.

30. The method according to claim 25 or 26, characterized in that The second chain establishment requirement information is the chain establishment requirement information in the first chain establishment requirement information except the third chain establishment requirement information, and the third chain establishment requirement information is part of the chain establishment requirement information selected by the third LAF network element from the first chain establishment requirement information according to the blockchain creation strategy.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein The third LAF network element sends second chain establishment requirement information to at least one LAF network element other than the third LAF network element among the N LAF network elements according to the blockchain creation strategy, including: The third LAF network element sends the second chain establishment requirement information to the fifth LAF network element according to the blockchain creation strategy, and the fifth LAF network element is the next LAF network element among the N LAF network elements to select the chain establishment requirement information.

32. The method according to claim 29 or 31, characterized in that The blockchain creation strategy is to create a blockchain based on the order of the capabilities of the LAF network elements or to create a blockchain based on the blockchain capabilities of the network area corresponding to the LAF network elements.

33. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 32, characterized in that The blockchain creation strategy is pre-configured by the operator, or obtained through negotiation by the N LAF network elements, or generated according to blockchain consensus, or determined according to a common operation.

34. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 33.

35. A communication device, characterized in that: The device includes: a processing module and a transceiver module; the processing module is used to perform the processing function of the method described in any one of claims 1-33; the transceiver module is used to perform the transceiver function of the method described in any one of claims 1-33.

36. A communication device, characterized in that include: a processor coupled to the memory; The processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 33.

37. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processor and a transceiver, wherein the transceiver is used for information exchange between the communication device and other communication devices, and the processor executes program instructions so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 33.

38. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 33.

39. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises: a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 33.

40. A communication system, characterized in that The communication system includes a first ledger anchoring function LAF network element and a second LAF network element; wherein, The first LAF network element obtains the chain establishment requirement information of the first blockchain and sends first indication information to the second LAF network element; wherein the first indication information is determined according to the chain establishment requirement information, the first indication information is used to indicate the requirement of the first blockchain in the first network area, and the second LAF network element is the LAF network element corresponding to the first network area; The second LAF network element receives the first indication information from the first LAF network element, and determines one or more first nodes for establishing the first blockchain within the first network area based on the first indication information.

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