Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication method and device, and relates to the technical field of communication. The communication method comprises the following steps: receiving a first request message from a terminal device, wherein the first request message is used for requesting to provide a first data service; establishing a data bearer with the terminal device; and transmitting a data service result corresponding to the first data service to the terminal device through the data bearer. Thus, since the access network device establishes the data bearer after determining that the terminal device needs the data service, the duration of maintaining the data bearer is reduced, and the resource overhead is also reduced.

Description

Communication method and device Technical Field

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

[0002] In the fifth generation (5 th In a 5G (5G generation) communication system, after a terminal device accesses the network, the terminal device, the base station, and the core network device (such as the access and mobility management function (AMF)) will coordinate to establish a protocol data unit (PDU) session. Then, if the base station or the core network device (such as the user plane function (UPF)) has data to transmit to the terminal device, it will be transmitted to the terminal device through the PDU session. However, before the base station or the core network device transmits data to the terminal device, the terminal device, the base station, and the core network device still need to maintain the PDU session, which will undoubtedly consume a large amount of resources of the terminal device, the base station, and the core network device.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for reducing resource overhead.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method that can be performed by an access network device, such as a base station, a software module in the base station, or a hardware module (e.g., a chip) in the base station. The method includes: receiving a first request message from a terminal device, the first request message being used to request provision of a first data service; establishing a data bearer with the terminal device; and sending a data service result corresponding to the first data service to the terminal device via the data bearer.

[0006] In an embodiment of the present application, after determining that the terminal device requires a first data service, the access network device establishes a data bearer and provides the terminal device with data corresponding to the first data service via the data bearer, without having to pre-establish the data bearer. This reduces the time required for the terminal device and the access network device to maintain the data bearer, thereby reducing the resource overhead of the terminal device and the access network device. Furthermore, a mechanism is provided for the terminal device to proactively request data from the access network device. Furthermore, in an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device and the access network device exchange data via a data bearer, rather than via a PDU session, providing another way to exchange data.

[0007] In a possible implementation, before receiving the first request message from the terminal device, the method further includes: sending first information, where the first information includes information indicating at least one data service, wherein the first data service is one of the at least one data service.

[0008] In the above-described embodiment, the data services required by the terminal device are those supported by the access network device. This ensures that the access network device can successfully provide data services to the terminal device. Furthermore, the access network device can obtain the data services required by the terminal device in advance, enabling more targeted data service provision to the terminal device, thereby providing the terminal device with more accurate data service results.

[0009] In one possible implementation, before receiving the first request message from the terminal device, the method further includes: receiving a second request message from the terminal device, the second request message being used to request establishment of a connection and indicating that the reason for requesting establishment of the connection is a request for provision of data services, and sending a first response message to the terminal device, the first response message being used to indicate that a connection has been established, wherein the first request message from the terminal device is received via the connection.

[0010] In the above embodiment, when the terminal device requests to establish a connection with the access network device, it can notify the access network device that the connection is used for subsequent data services, so that the access network device can prepare to provide data services to the terminal device earlier, which is conducive to improving the timeliness of the access network device in providing data services to the terminal device.

[0011] In one possible embodiment, before receiving the second request message from the terminal device, the method further includes: receiving a first random access preamble code from the terminal device, wherein the first random access preamble code is used to indicate establishment of a connection for a data service, and sending a random access response message to the terminal device.

[0012] In the above embodiment, the first random access preamble code may be a random access preamble code corresponding to the data service. In other words, the first random access preamble code is different from the random access preamble code used by other services. This facilitates the access network device to determine that the terminal device needs data service based on the first random access preamble code, which is beneficial to improving the timeliness of the access network device in providing data services to the terminal device, and also avoids the situation where the first random access preamble code conflicts with the random access preamble codes of other services.

[0013] In one possible embodiment, before establishing a data bearer with the terminal device, the method further includes: sending a third request message to the first data control device, the third request message being used to request the determination of a data proxy device providing the first data service; and receiving first indication information from the first data control device, the first indication information indicating confirmation that the first data proxy device provides the first data service. Optionally, the first data control device may be deployed in a core network device, or the first data control device may be deployed relatively independently from the core network device, and the first data control device and the core network device may communicate with each other.

[0014] In the above embodiment, before establishing the data bearer, the access network device may determine the first data proxy device for providing the first data service through the first data control device to ensure that the access network device subsequently smoothly provides data services to the terminal device.

[0015] In one possible implementation, sending the third request message to the first data control device includes sending the third request message to the first data control device via the second data control device. Optionally, the second data control device may be deployed in the access network device, or the second data control device may be deployed relatively independently from the access network device, and the second data control device and the access network device may communicate with each other.

[0016] In the above embodiment, the access network device may send the third request message to the first data control device via the second data control device, which provides a method for sending the third request message.

[0017] In a possible embodiment, before establishing data bearer with the terminal device, the method further includes: determining, through a second data control device, a first data proxy device that provides a first data service; and receiving, through the second data control device, first indication information, indicating confirmation that the first data proxy device provides the first data service.

[0018] In the above embodiment, the second data control device can determine the first data proxy device for providing the first data service, ensuring that the access network device can subsequently smoothly provide data services to the terminal device. If the first data proxy device is deployed independently from the core network device, the access network device, the second data control device, and the first data proxy device can collaborate to provide data services to the terminal device without requiring the involvement of the core network device, thus simplifying the data service process.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the first request message is a radio resource control message or a non-access stratum message. In the above implementation, the first request message can reuse existing messages without adding additional messages, which helps reduce the number of message transmissions between the access network device and the terminal device, thereby reducing the network transmission burden.

[0020] In a possible implementation manner, before receiving the first request message from the terminal device, the method further includes: sending second information, where the second information indicates that the access network device has a data service capability.

[0021] In the above embodiment, the access network device can notify the terminal device that it has the ability to provide data services, thereby avoiding the situation where the terminal device requests data services from the access network device but the access network device does not have the ability to provide data services, thereby reducing ineffective interactions between the terminal device and the access network device.

[0022] In one possible embodiment, after interacting with the terminal device through the data bearer and the data corresponding to the first data service, the method further includes: deleting the data bearer and sending a fourth request message to the terminal device, the fourth request message indicating the deletion of the data bearer; receiving a second response message from the terminal device, the second response message indicating that the data bearer has been deleted.

[0023] In the above embodiment, after providing the first data service, the access network device can delete the data bearer and notify the terminal device to delete the data bearer, thereby releasing the resources occupied by the data bearer in a timely manner. These released resources can be used for other purposes, which is conducive to improving the overall resource utilization.

[0024] In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method that can be performed by a terminal device, such as a terminal device, a software or hardware module (such as a chip) in the terminal device, etc. The method includes: sending a first request message to an access network device, the first request message being used to request provision of a first data service; establishing a data bearer with the access network device; and exchanging data corresponding to the first data service with the access network device via the data bearer.

[0025] In one possible implementation, before sending a first request message to the access network device, the method further includes: receiving first information from the access network device, the first information including information of at least one data service supported by the access network device, the first data service being one of the at least one data service.

[0026] In one possible implementation, before sending the first request message to the access network device, the method further includes: sending a second request message to the access network device, the second request message being used to request establishment of a connection and indicating that the reason for requesting establishment of the connection is a request for provision of data services; receiving a first response message from the access network device, the first response message being used to indicate that a connection has been established, wherein the first request message being sent to the access network device is sent via the connection.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a first random access preamble to the access network device, wherein the first random access preamble is used to indicate establishment of a connection for a data service; and receiving a random access response message from the access network device.

[0028] In a possible implementation manner, the first request message is a radio resource control message or a non-access stratum message.

[0029] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving second information, where the second information indicates that the access network device has a data service capability.

[0030] In one possible embodiment, after interacting with the access network device through the data bearer and the data corresponding to the first data service, the method further includes: receiving a fourth request message from the access network device, the fourth request message indicating deletion of the data bearer; deleting the data bearer; and sending a second response message to the access network device, the second response message indicating that the data bearer has been deleted.

[0031] In a third aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device, which may be the access network device described in the first aspect, or a software module or hardware module in the access network device. The access network device includes corresponding means or modules for executing the first aspect or any possible implementation method described above. For example, the communication device includes a processing module (sometimes also referred to as a processing unit) and a transceiver module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver unit).

[0032] For example, under the control of the processing module, the transceiver module is used to receive a first request message from the terminal device, where the first request message is used to request the provision of a first data service, establish a data bearer with the terminal device, and interact with the terminal device through the data bearer to obtain data corresponding to the first data service.

[0033] Optionally, the communication device may also execute any possible implementation method executed by the access network device in the first aspect above. For repetitions, please refer to the content of the first aspect and any possible implementation method above, which will not be listed here.

[0034] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the terminal device described in the second aspect, or a software module or hardware module in the terminal device. The terminal device includes corresponding means or modules for executing the second aspect or any possible implementation method described above. For example, the communication device includes a processing module (sometimes also referred to as a processing unit) and a transceiver module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver unit).

[0035] For example, under the control of the processing module, the transceiver module is used to send a first request message to the access network device, where the first request message is used to request the provision of a first data service, establish a data bearer with the access network device, and interact with the access network device through the data bearer to obtain data corresponding to the first data service.

[0036] Optionally, the communication device may also execute any possible implementation method executed by the terminal device in the first aspect above. For repetitions, please refer to the content of the second aspect and any possible implementation method above, which will not be listed here.

[0037] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes any communication device as described in the third aspect and any communication device as described in the fourth aspect.

[0038] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor is used to implement a method as described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0039] In the specific implementation process, the communication device can be a chip, and the processor can be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, and various logic circuits, etc. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation method of the processor.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the communication device may be a wireless communication device, that is, a computer device that supports wireless communication functions. Specifically, the wireless communication device may be a terminal such as a smart phone, or a wireless access network device such as a base station. The system chip may also be referred to as a system on chip (SoC), or simply as an SoC chip. The communication chip may include a baseband processing chip and a radio frequency processing chip. The baseband processing chip is sometimes also referred to as a modem or baseband chip. The radio frequency processing chip is sometimes also referred to as a radio frequency transceiver or radio frequency chip. In a physical implementation, some or all of the chips in the communication chip may be integrated inside the SoC chip. For example, the baseband processing chip is integrated into the SoC chip, and the radio frequency processing chip is not integrated with the SoC chip. The interface circuit may be the radio frequency processing chip in the wireless communication device, and the processor may be the baseband processing chip in the wireless communication device.

[0041] In another possible implementation, the communication device may be a component of a wireless communication device, such as an integrated circuit product such as a system-on-chip (SoC) or a communication chip. The interface circuit may be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0042] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store one or more computer programs, and the one or more computer programs include computer execution instructions. When the communication device is running, the processor executes the one or more computer programs stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method as described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0043] Optionally, the communication device further includes other components, such as at least one of an antenna, an input / output module, or an interface. These components may be hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0044] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, comprising: a processor and an interface. The processor is configured to call and run an instruction from the interface, and when the processor executes the instruction, the method described in any one of the first and second aspects is implemented.

[0045] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer programs or instructions, which, when executed, implements the method described in any one of the first or second aspects above.

[0046] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, implements the method described in any one of the first or second aspects above.

[0047] Regarding the beneficial effects of any technical solution in the above-mentioned second to tenth aspects, reference can be made to the beneficial effects discussion of the corresponding technical solution in the first aspect, and the repeated parts will not be listed here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0048] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a scenario applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a process for creating a PDU session;

[0050] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a data plane architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of another scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of another scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of another scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of another scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a user plane protocol stack of a terminal device and an access network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0062] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0063] In the embodiments of the present application, the terms "system" and "network" can be used interchangeably. "At least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects and indicates that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one (item)" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of a single item or plural items. For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c can represent: a, or b, or c, or a and b, or b and c, or a and c, or a, b, and c.

[0064] Also, unless otherwise stated, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority, or importance of multiple objects. For example, the first information and the second information are only used to distinguish different information and do not indicate differences in the sending order, receiving order, or importance of these two types of information.

[0065] In addition, the terms "comprising" and "having" in the embodiments of the present application, the claims, and the drawings are not exclusive. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or modules is not limited to the listed steps or modules and may further include steps or modules not listed.

[0066] Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a scenario applicable to the embodiments of the present application. Alternatively, FIG. 1 can be regarded as a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, this scenario includes a terminal device, an access network device, and a core network (CN) device. The terminal device can access the core network device through the access network device.

[0067] The terminal device can be a terminal device, a software module or a hardware module (such as a chip) in a terminal device, etc. A terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver functions, which can be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device, a wearable device, an in-vehicle device, or a wireless device built into the above-mentioned device (for example, a communication module or a chip system, etc.). The terminal device is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, such as but not limited to the following scenarios: cellular communication, device-to-device communication (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X), machine-to-machine / machine-type communication (M2M / MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots and other scenarios. The terminal device may sometimes be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication device, or user device.

[0068] Access network devices may also be referred to as access network elements or access network equipment. Access network devices are devices with wireless transceiver capabilities used to communicate with terminal devices. Access network devices include, but are not limited to, base stations (BTS, Node B, eNodeB / eNB, or gNodeB / gNB) and transmission reception points (TRPs) in the aforementioned communication systems, base stations developed in subsequent 3GPP evolutions, access nodes in wireless fidelity (WiFi) systems, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, satellites, or drones. Base stations may be macro base stations, micro base stations, pico base stations, small cells, or relay stations. Base stations may include one or more co-located or non-co-located transmission and reception points. Access network devices may also be wireless controllers in cloud radio access network (C(R)AN) scenarios. Access network devices may also be servers, wearable devices, or in-vehicle devices. For example, the access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology may be a roadside unit (RSU). The following description uses a base station as an example to describe access network devices. Multiple base stations in a communication system can support networks using the same access technology mentioned above, or they can support networks using different access technologies. Multiple access network devices can be of the same type or different types. A base station can communicate with a terminal device, or it can communicate with the terminal device through a relay station. A terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations using different access technologies.

[0069] In a possible architecture of an access network device, the access network device includes a centralized unit (CU) and / or a distributed unit (DU). CU and DU can be understood as a division of the access network device from a logical functional perspective. Among them, CU and DU can be physically separated or deployed together, and this embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this. A CU can be connected to a DU, or multiple DUs can share a CU. The division of CU and DU can be based on the protocol stack. One possible way is to deploy the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol stack (SDAP) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer in the CU, and the remaining radio link control (RLC) layer, media access control (MAC) layer and physical layer (PHY) layer in the DU. In the embodiment of the present application, the division of CU and DU according to the above-mentioned protocol stack is not completely limited, and there can be other division methods, such as division according to service type.

[0070] The access network device in the embodiment of the present application may also refer to a centralized unit control plane (CU-CP) node or a centralized unit user plane (CU-UP) node, or include CU-CP and CU-UP. Among them, CU-CP is responsible for the control plane functions, mainly including RRC and PDCP-C. PDCP-C is mainly responsible for encryption and decryption, integrity protection, data transmission, etc. of the control plane data. CU-UP is responsible for user plane functions, mainly including SDAP and PDCP-U. Among them, SDAP is mainly responsible for processing the data of the core network and mapping the flow to the bearer. PDCP-U is mainly responsible for encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, sequence number maintenance, data transmission, etc. of the data plane.

[0071] In different systems, CU (including CU-CP or CU-UP) or DU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (O-RAN) system, CU may also be referred to as O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be referred to as O-DU, CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP, and CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP.

[0072] The core network device is used to implement at least one of the functions of mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The scenario shown in Figure 1 may include one or more core network devices. Figure 1 takes the number of core network devices as 1 for example, but does not limit the number of core network devices. The core network device may also be called a core network element or a core network device. The names of the devices that implement the core network functions in systems with different access technologies may be different, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. Taking the 5G system as an example, the core network device includes at least one of AMF, session management function (SMF) and UPF.

[0073] The following describes the process of establishing a PDU session in the background art, taking the terminal device involved in Figure 1 as a UE, the access network device as a base station, and the core network device involved in Figure 1 as an example. Figure 2 illustrates a process for establishing a PDU session. Figure 2 includes steps S201 to S210, which are described below.

[0074] S201: Random access process: The UE may interact with the base station to perform random access to access the base station.

[0075] S202, registration process: The base station may register the UE information with the AMF so that the AMF can determine the UE information.

[0076] S203: Authentication process: The AMF may authenticate the UE based on the UE information.

[0077] S204. The UE sends a PDU session establishment request to the AMF. Correspondingly, the AMF receives the PDU session establishment request from the UE.

[0078] S205. The AMF sends a PDU session establishment request to the base station. Correspondingly, the base station receives the PDU session establishment request from the AMF.

[0079] S206: The base station sends an RRC reconfiguration to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the RRC reconfiguration from the base station.

[0080] S207: The UE sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the base station. Correspondingly, the base station receives the RRC reconfiguration complete message from the UE.

[0081] S208. The base station sends a PDU session establishment response to the AMF. Correspondingly, the AMF receives the PDU session establishment response from the base station.

[0082] S209. The AMF sends a PDU session establishment accept to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the PDU session establishment accept from the AMF.

[0083] S210: A data network (DN) sends data to a UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives data from the DN. The DN sends data to the UE via a PDU session.

[0084] As shown in Figure 2 above, after the UE accesses the network, the UE, base station, and AMF will collaborate to create a PDU session. Even if the base station or core network device (such as UPF) currently has no data to transmit to the terminal device, the UE, base station, and core network device (such as UPF) still need to maintain the PDU session in order to subsequently transmit data based on the PDU session, which results in high resource overhead.

[0085] In view of this, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method in which a terminal device can proactively request data services from an access network device. After the access network device determines that the terminal device requires data services, it then establishes a data bearer with the terminal device and provides data services to the terminal device via the data bearer. Because the access network device establishes the data bearer only after determining that the terminal device requires data services, and does not pre-create the data bearer, the time required for the access network device and the terminal device to maintain the data bearer is reduced, thereby reducing resource overhead.

[0086] In a possible implementation, the data service involved in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be performed by an access network device through a device in the data plane.

[0087] The data plane aims to build a unified and trusted data service framework, solve the problem of data silos, provide trusted data services while meeting the regulatory requirements of data laws and regulations, realize cross-domain and cross-manufacturer data sharing, improve operational efficiency, and realize the value of data. The following is an example introduction to the architecture of the data plane applicable to the embodiment of the present application, combined with the architectural diagram of the data plane shown in Figure 3. As shown in Figure 3, the data plane includes a data agent (DA) device, a data control device, a trusted device, and a data storage device. The DA device, data control device, trusted device, and data storage device can be logical entities or physical entities, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this. Each device is introduced below.

[0088] 1. A DA device is used to process (or execute) data services. Data services may also be referred to as data service tasks or data service operations. A DA device may also be referred to as a data processing device, data processing equipment, data proxy device, data proxy equipment, data proxy entity, or data proxy network element, etc., and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0089] Optionally, the DA device can be deployed in a centralized or distributed manner. The DA device can be deployed in any core network device, transfer network (TN) device, access network device, or other device / equipment / network element (such as an operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) device (or network element), etc.); alternatively, the DA device can be deployed independently relative to the CN and TN, for example, the DA device can be independently deployed in the network as a network function (NF) or network element. In one possible design, the DA device can be evolved from a network data analysis function (NWDAF) network element, capable of implementing the functions of the NWDAF network element and supporting various data analysis technologies. In another possible design, the DA device can also be deployed separately from the NWDAF network element, for example, the NWDAF network element calls the data collection, preprocessing, or storage and other data services of the DA device through an API.

[0090] In the case where the data plane includes multiple DA devices, some of the multiple DA devices can be deployed in one or more communication devices (such as core network devices, terminal devices, access network devices, or other communication devices, etc.), and the DA devices of another part of the multiple DA devices are deployed independently; or, multiple DA devices are deployed in one or more communication devices (such as core network devices, terminal devices, access network devices, or other communication devices, etc.); or, multiple DA devices are independently deployed in the network, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. Among them, any two DA devices among the multiple DA devices can provide the same or different data services, and accordingly, the two DAs can implement the same or different functions.

[0091] Exemplarily, the functions that can be implemented by the DA device include but are not limited to one or more of the following: reporting capabilities (such as interacting with a data control device, specifically, for example, the DA device reports capabilities to the data control device), providing interfaces (such as application programming interfaces (APIs)), interacting with trusted devices, data analysis, data storage, preprocessing, data collection, data protection or data agent controller (DA controller), etc.

[0092] The embodiments of the present application may divide the DA device into functional modules based on the above-mentioned functions or the following method embodiments. For example, each functional module may be divided according to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into a single module. The integrated module may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules. The division of functions or modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used.

[0093] 2. The data control device may be a data orchestration (DO) device, a data control (DC) device, a component in a data orchestration device, a component in a DC device, a data orchestration device and a DC device, or a data controller in a data orchestration device, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. Optionally, the data control device may also be referred to as a data control device, a data control network element, a data orchestration device, a data orchestration network element, a data orchestration entity, or a data orchestration device. The following takes the data control device as a DC device as an example, that is, the data control device can realize the functions of the DC device. The DC device can be a logical entity or a physical entity.

[0094] The DC device can be deployed in any core network device, transmission network device, access network device, or other device / equipment / network element (such as OAM network element, etc.), or the DC device can also be deployed independently. For example, the DC device can be deployed hierarchically in the CN or RAN. For example, the DC device can be deployed in a network service (NS) network element. For another example, the DC device can be deployed independently in the network as an NF or network element. In actual deployment, one or more NFs can form a network element. The DC deployed in the core network device, or the DC device that can communicate with the core network device is referred to as the core network data controller (CN-DC). Similarly, the DC device deployed in the access network device, or the DC device that can communicate with the access network device is referred to as the access network data controller (RAN-DC).

[0095] Exemplarily, the functions that can be implemented by the DC device include but are not limited to one or more of the following: providing application interfaces, demand translation, network service orchestration interfaces, data security and privacy protection technology repository (DPTR), coarse-grained (CG) DA orchestration, fine-grained (FG DA) orchestration, DA management or trusted anchor agent, etc.

[0096] A DC device can consist of a data orchestrator and a data controller. For example, the DC device can be subdivided into two types based on the real-time nature and cross-domain nature of tasks. For example, the data orchestrator and the data controller work together to achieve elasticity and programmability in the data pipeline. The following describes the functions of the data orchestrator and the data controller. It should be understood that the DC device can implement the functions of the data orchestrator as well as the functions of the data controller.

[0097] The data orchestrator is primarily responsible for coarse-grained, non-real-time data orchestration. For example, the data orchestrator may have one or more of the following functions: receiving data service requests and converting them into combined requests for data pipelines; collaborating with other network services, such as a computing network service that orchestrates computing power and the data orchestrator that orchestrates data; implementing cross-domain, coarse-grained data pipeline orchestration based on data service requests and the service capabilities of the DA device; or, alternatively, a built-in data security and privacy protection technology repository (DPTR), such as one containing differential privacy, homomorphic encryption, secure multi-party computation, or zero-knowledge proof technologies, to provide data security and privacy protection capabilities, and enabling data protection technology (DPT) to the DA device on demand.

[0098] The data controller is primarily responsible for fine-grained, real-time orchestration tasks. For example, it may have one or more of the following functions: fine-grained orchestration of DA devices, combining data pipelines in the local domain based on DA device capabilities and data service requests to achieve real-time and efficient service management; receiving DA device capability reports and implementing DA device registration and deregistration functions; monitoring the heartbeat of data agents to achieve real-time supervision of DA devices; or, it may have a built-in trusted anchor client (TAC) to initiate authentication, authorization, access control, and other security mechanism requests to the trusted anchor agent (TAA), as well as request traceability and audit services for data access.

[0099] It is understood that embodiments of the present application can integrate the above functions of the DC device into a single module based on the above functions or the following method embodiments. The integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules. The division of functions or modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and represents only one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used.

[0100] 3. A trusted device, which may be a trusted anchor (TA), may be used to provide security services such as authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA), store tamper-resistant data, public keys of terminal devices or network elements (NEs), small amounts of data that cannot be tampered with, or other important data that cannot be tampered with. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the deployment of trusted devices. Exemplarily, the functions that the trusted device may implement include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: authentication, authorization, access control, traceability, or auditing.

[0101] 4. Data storage device, such as a data storage function (DSF). The data storage device is used to store data, for example, to store original data or data processing results during data processing by a DA device.

[0102] The method provided in the embodiment of the present application is applicable to a communication system deployed with a data plane, such as a 5G communication system deployed with a data plane (such as a new radio (NR) system), or a 6G communication system deployed with a data plane, or a future evolution communication system deployed with a data plane or other similar communication systems. Other types of communication systems include air interface communication systems, sidelink communication systems, etc., and sidelink communication systems such as vehicle to everything (V2X) or device to device (D2D) communication systems are not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application. The following introduces a communication system deployed with a data plane.

[0103] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application. Alternatively, Figure 4 can be viewed as a schematic diagram of the deployment of DA devices and DC devices, or as a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system deployed with a data plane. Figure 4 uses the example of the independent deployment of the DC device relative to the core network device and the access network device.

[0104] Figure 4 illustrates a terminal device, an access network device, a core network device, a first DC device, a second DC device, and a first DA device. The terminal device and the access network device can communicate with each other, and the access network device and the core network device can communicate with each other. The access network device and the second DC device can communicate with each other. The second DC device and the first DC device can also communicate with each other. The core network device and the first DC device can also communicate with each other. The first DC device and the first DA device can also communicate with each other. The core network device, for example, includes an AMF.

[0105] FIG4 illustrates an example in which the number of DC devices is 2 and the number of DA devices is 1. However, the number of DC devices and DA devices is not limited in practice.

[0106] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of another scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application. Alternatively, Figure 5 can be viewed as another deployment diagram of a DA device and a DC device, or as a structural diagram of a communication system deployed with a data plane. Unlike Figure 4, Figure 5 uses the DC device deployed in a core network device or an access network device as an example.

[0107] Figure 5 illustrates a terminal device, an access network device, a core network device, and a first DA device. The access network device may be deployed with a second DC device, which can communicate with the first DC device. The core network device may be deployed with the first DC device. The terminal device and the access network device can communicate with each other, and the access network device can communicate with the core network device.

[0108] FIG5 takes the example of independent deployment of the first DA device and the core network device. In fact, the first DA device can also be deployed in the core network device.

[0109] In FIG. 5 , the number of DC devices is 2 and the number of DA devices is 1 for illustration. In practice, the number of DC devices and DA devices is not limited.

[0110] Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of another scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application. Alternatively, Figure 6 can be viewed as another schematic diagram of the deployment of DA devices and DC devices, or as a structural diagram of a communication system deployed with a data plane. Unlike Figure 4, Figure 6 does not involve a first DC device and a core network device, and the first DA device in Figure 6 can communicate with a second DC device.

[0111] Figure 6 illustrates a terminal device, an access network device, a second DC device, and a first DA device. As shown in Figure 6, the terminal device and the access network device can communicate with each other, and the access network device and the core network device can communicate with each other. The access network device can communicate with the second DC device, and the second DC device can communicate with the first DA device.

[0112] In FIG. 6 , the number of DC devices and the number of DA devices are illustrated as 1, but in practice the number of DC devices and DA devices is not limited.

[0113] Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram of another scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application. Alternatively, Figure 7 can be viewed as another schematic diagram of the deployment of DA devices and DC devices, or as a structural diagram of a communication system deployed with a data plane. Unlike Figure 6, the second DC device in Figure 7 is deployed in the access network device.

[0114] Figure 7 illustrates a terminal device, an access network device, and a first DA device. A second DC device can communicate with the first DA device. Figure 7 illustrates the number of DC devices and DA devices as one, but the number of DC devices and DA devices is not limited.

[0115] Since any first DC device in Figures 4 to 7 can be deployed in a core network device or can communicate with a core network device, the first DC device can also be called CN-DC, and any second DC device in Figures 4 to 7 can be deployed in an access network device or can communicate with an access network device, the second DC device can also be called RAN-DC.

[0116] It should be understood that the above Figures 4 to 7 illustrate several deployment forms of DA devices and DC devices. In fact, there are many other deployment methods for DA devices and DC devices. For example, any first DA device in Figures 4 to 7 can also be deployed in an access network device. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0117] After introducing the scenarios to which the embodiments of the present application may be applicable, the user plane protocol stack of the terminal device and the access network device involved in any of the scenarios in Figures 1 and 4 to 7 above is introduced as an example.

[0118] Please refer to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of a user plane protocol stack of a terminal device and an access network device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0119] As shown in Figure 8, the user plane protocol stack of a terminal device includes the non-access stratum (NAS), RRC layer, SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer. The user plane protocol stack of an access network device also includes the RRC layer, SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer. Each layer is described below.

[0120] 1. NAS layer.

[0121] The NAS layer primarily controls connections and mobility between terminal devices and core network devices (such as the AMF). Although core network devices receive messages from access network devices, they are not initiated by the access network devices. Access network devices merely transparently transmit messages sent by terminal devices to the core network devices and cannot identify or modify these messages, hence the term "NAS messages." NAS messages represent interactions between terminal devices and core network devices, such as mobility and connection process messages like attach, bearer establishment, and service requests.

[0122] 2. RRC layer.

[0123] The RRC layer is mainly used to process all signaling between terminal devices and access network devices, including system messages, admission control, security management, cell reselection, measurement reporting, handover and mobility, NAS message transmission and radio resource management.

[0124] 3. SDAP layer.

[0125] The SDAP layer, located above the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, directly carries Internet Protocol (IP) packets and can be used in the user plane. It is responsible for mapping Quality of Service (QoS) flows to Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) and adding QoS Flow Identification (QFI) tags to packets.

[0126] 4. PDCP layer.

[0127] The main functions of the 5G PDCP layer may include at least one of the following:

[0128] (1) User-side IP header compression (the compression algorithm can be jointly determined by the mobile phone and the base station).

[0129] (2) Encryption / decryption (control plane / user plane).

[0130] (3) Control plane integrity check (4G only has control plane, 5G user plane can be checked selectively).

[0131] (4) Sorting and replication detection.

[0132] (5) For the Option 3X architecture under NSA networking, the PDCP of the access network device (such as gNodeB) is split and has a routing function.

[0133] 5. RLC layer.

[0134] The RLC layer is located below the PDCP layer. It is located at the L2 layer of the air interface protocol stack, between L2PDCP and MAC. It provides three radio link layer data transmission services: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged mode (AM). TM can be used to transmit broadcast messages, UM can be used to transmit services with latency requirements such as voice services, and AM can be used to transmit general services with high accuracy. The main functions of the RLC layer are as follows:

[0135] (1) Segmentation and reassembly. The size of the segmented data packet is determined by MAC. For example, if the wireless environment is good, the segmented data packet can be relatively large; if the wireless environment is poor, the segmented data packet can be relatively small.

[0136] (2) Error correction, generally for AM transmission, for example, applying automatic repeat request (ARQ).

[0137] 6. MAC layer.

[0138] The functions of the 5G MAC layer are similar to those of 4G. Its main function is scheduling, including resource scheduling, mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing / demultiplexing, and HARQ (uplink and downlink asynchronous).

[0139] 7. PHY layer.

[0140] The main functions of the physical layer may include: error detection, forward error correction (FEC) encryption and decryption, rate matching, physical channel mapping, adjustment and demodulation, frequency synchronization and time synchronization, wireless measurement, and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) processing.

[0141] The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The steps indicated by dotted lines in the various embodiments of the present application are all optional steps. The terminal device involved in the various embodiments of the present application may be, for example, the terminal device involved in any of Figures 1 and 4 to 7, the access network device may be, for example, the access network device involved in any of Figures 1 and 4 to 7, the core network device may be, for example, the core network device involved in Figures 1, 4, or 5, the first DC device may be, for example, the data control device involved in Figure 3 or the first DC device involved in any of Figures 4 or 5, the second DC device may be, for example, the data control device involved in Figure 3 or the second DC device involved in any of Figures 4 to 7, and the first DA device may be the data proxy device involved in Figure 3 or the first DA device involved in any of Figures 4 to 7. Optionally, the user plane protocol stack of the terminal device involved in the various embodiments of the present application may refer to the user plane protocol stack of the terminal device involved in Figure 8, and the user plane protocol stack of the core network device may refer to the user plane protocol stack of the core network device involved in Figure 8.

[0142] Please refer to Figure 9, which is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 9 illustrates S901 to S909, and each step is described below.

[0143] S901: The access network device sends second information. In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device receives the second information from the access network device as an example. The second information indicates that the access network device has data service (DS) capability.

[0144] The access network device may send the second information in a broadcast or multicast manner. Optionally, the second information may be carried in a system message, for example, the second information is carried in a system information block (SIB) 1 of the system message.

[0145] The ability of the access network device to provide data services can be described as the access network device supporting data services. Data services refer to services for various operations on data (such as at least one of collection, forwarding and analysis). It should be noted that the data services involved in the embodiments of the present application meet the regulatory requirements such as the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The type of data service can be determined according to the type of data, or it can be determined according to different operations on the data. Data services may include any type of data service from A1 to A8 below.

[0146] A1. Raw data collection. Raw data can be used as input for artificial intelligence (AI).

[0147] A2. Data preprocessing: Data preprocessing includes data cleaning, filtering, aggregation, and fusion services.

[0148] A3. Data storage. Data storage is used to store data. For example, distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be used to store data. For example, data can be stored on a DA or DSF. The DA is, for example, a first DA device.

[0149] A4. Data privacy and security protection: Data privacy and security protection is used to provide end-to-end data privacy and security protection technology.

[0150] A5. Data sharing (or transaction): Data sharing is used to provide data sharing and transaction.

[0151] A6. Data traceability. Data traceability is used to trace the source of data, such as for auditing services and public key distribution.

[0152] A7. Data analysis: Data analysis refers to data analysis based on AI or machine learning (ML).

[0153] A8. Data dictionary. The data dictionary is used to provide dataset services. For example, the data dictionary can be used to provide wireless network feature datasets and 6G network knowledge graphs.

[0154] S902: The access network device sends first information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information from the access network device. The first information indicates information about at least one data service supported by the access network device.

[0155] The access network device may send the first information using a broadcast or multicast method. Optionally, the first information may be carried in a system message, for example, in SIBX or SIB1 of the system message, or in an RRC message, or in an NAS message. When both the second information and the first information are carried in a system message, sending the system message by the access network device is equivalent to simultaneously sending the first information and the second information.

[0156] The information of at least one data service may include an identifier of each data service in the at least one data service. The at least one data service may include a data service that the access network device can provide directly or indirectly. For example, a DA device may be deployed in the access network device, and the data service that the DA device can provide may belong to the data service that the access network device can directly provide. The information of the data service that the access network device can indirectly provide may be obtained by the access network device from a DC device (such as a first DC device and / or a second DC device) that can communicate with the access network device. The second DC device may obtain the data service that the first DA device can provide from the first DA device.

[0157] In one possible implementation, the first information indicating at least one data service supported by the access network device is equivalent to notifying the terminal device that the access network device has data service capabilities. In this case, step S901 may not be performed, that is, S901 is an optional step, which is indicated by a dotted line in Figure 9. Alternatively, the terminal device may be pre-configured or pre-defined with information about at least one data service that the access network device can support. In this case, steps S901 and S902 may not be performed, that is, both S901 and S902 are optional steps, which are indicated by a dotted line in Figure 9.

[0158] S903: The terminal device establishes a connection with the access network device.

[0159] Optionally, S903 includes S903a and S903b, which are described below.

[0160] S903a is the terminal device sending a second request message to the access network device. Accordingly, the access network device receives the second request message from the terminal device. The second request message is used to request to establish a connection. Optionally, the second request message indicates that the reason (cause) for requesting to establish a connection is a request to provide data service. In other words, the request for data service is the reason value for the terminal device to request to establish a connection. In this way, the core network device can determine that the terminal device requires data service. Since in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device actively requests the access network device to provide data service, it can be called a motivite-data service (mo-DataService). In other words, the reason for the terminal device to request to establish a connection is a motivate data service.

[0161] S903b is the access network device sending a first response message to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first response message from the access network device. The first response message indicates that the connection has been established.

[0162] Optionally, the second request message is, for example, message 3 (Msg3) in a random access process, and the first response message is, for example, Msg4 in the random access process. Msg3 and Msg4 are, for example, messages in a four-step random access process. Alternatively, the second request message is, for example, MsgA in a random access process, and the first response message is MsgB or MsgA in a random access process. MsgA and MsgB are, for example, messages in a two-step random access process.

[0163] In one possible design, before the terminal device sends the second request message, the terminal device may send a first random access preamble to the access network device. Accordingly, the access network device receives the first random access preamble from the terminal device. The access network device sends a random access response (RAR) message to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the RAR message from the core network device. The RAR message is used to respond to the first random access preamble. This possible design is applicable to a case where the second request message is, for example, Msg3 and the first response message is, for example, Msg4.

[0164] In a possible implementation, the first random access preamble may be used to indicate establishment of a connection for a data service.

[0165] Exemplarily, the first random access preamble belongs to a first random access preamble set, and any random access preamble in the first random access preamble set is used to indicate that a connection is established for a data service. The terminal device may be preconfigured or predefined with information of the first random access preamble set, for example, the access network device configures information of the first random access preamble set to the terminal device, for example, the access network device configures the first random access preamble set to the terminal device through a system message (such as SIB1) or an RRC message. Alternatively, the protocol predefines a first random access preamble set in the terminal device and the access network device. After the access network device receives the first random access preamble from the terminal device, it may determine, based on the first random access preamble, that data service needs to be provided for the terminal device. The first random access preamble set, for example, includes random access preambles of group C.

[0166] Optionally, the terminal device may also be preconfigured or predefined with information of a second random access preamble set. Any random access preamble in the second random access preamble set is used for services other than data services, such as voice services or video services. The second random access preamble set, for example, includes random access preambles of group A.

[0167] In this possible implementation, the first random access preamble can be distinguished from random access preambles corresponding to other services, thereby reducing the probability of the first random access preamble colliding with random access preambles corresponding to other services.

[0168] S904: The core network device performs authentication and encryption on the terminal device.

[0169] For example, the terminal device may send the identity information of the terminal device to the access network device (such as AMF), or the access network device may have obtained the identity information of the terminal device in the process of establishing a connection with the terminal device. The access network device may send the identity information of the terminal device to the core network device, and the core network device may authenticate and encrypt the terminal device based on the identity information.

[0170] When the terminal device is in an idle state or an inactive state, steps S903 and S904 may be performed to establish a connection between the terminal device and the access network device. If the terminal device may have previously established a connection with the access network device, for example, when the terminal device is in a connected state, steps S903 and S904 may not be performed. That is, S903 and S904 are optional steps, which are indicated by dotted lines in FIG9 .

[0171] S905: The terminal device sends a first request message to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first request message from the terminal device.

[0172] The first request message is, for example, an RRC message or a NAS message. When executing S903, the terminal device may send a first request message to the access network device based on the connection established by S903. The first request message is used to request the provision of a first data service. The first data service refers to the data service required by the terminal device this time. The terminal device may determine the first data service based on actual needs. For example, if the terminal device needs to obtain perception data, it may determine that the first data service is raw data such as collected perception data; for another example, if the terminal device needs the analysis result of vehicle condition data, it may determine that the first data service is analysis of vehicle condition data.

[0173] It should be understood that the first data service includes one or more data services. When the first data service includes multiple data services, these multiple data services can be the same data service or multiple data services. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this. In the embodiment of the present application, the first data service is introduced as including one data service.

[0174] For example, the first request message may carry an identifier of the first data service. In this case, the terminal device may request provision of the first data service using the identifier of the first data service. Accordingly, after the access network device determines the identifier of the first data service in the first request message, it can determine that the terminal device is requesting the first data service.

[0175] S906: The access network device determines a DA device for providing the first data service. In this embodiment of the present application, the DA device providing the first data service is taken as the first DA device. There are multiple ways for the access network device to determine the DA device, which are described below.

[0176] Method 1: The access network device determines the first DA device through the first DC device.

[0177] In the embodiment, S906 may include S906a and S906b. S906a and S906b are described below respectively.

[0178] S906a is the access network device sending a third request message to the first DC device. Correspondingly, the first DC device receives the third request message from the access network device. The third request message is used to request the DA device that provides the first data service to be determined.

[0179] Optionally, if a DC device (such as a second DC device) is deployed in the access network device, the access network device may communicate directly with the first DC device. If the access network device is not deployed with a DC device, the access network device may communicate with the first DC device through the second DC device. In this case, in S906a, the access network device may send a third request message to the second DC device, and the second DC device may send the third request message to the first DC device.

[0180] In one possible implementation, before sending the third request message to the first DC device, the second DC device may determine that the first DC device does not need to participate in the first data service. The second DC device may determine whether the first DC device needs to participate in the first data service in the manner described in B1 or B2 below.

[0181] B1. The second DC device determines whether the first DC device needs to participate in the first data service based on whether the second DC device can provide the first data service.

[0182] For example, if the second DC device determines that the DA it manages can provide the first data service, it can be determined that the first DC device does not need to participate in the first data service; or, if the second DC device determines that the DA device it manages cannot provide the first data service, the second DA device can determine that the first DC device participates in the first data service.

[0183] B2. The second DC device determines whether the first DC device needs to participate in the first data service based on load balancing.

[0184] For example, if the second DC device determines that its load is less than or equal to the load of the first DC device, it determines that the first DC device is not required to participate in the first data service. Alternatively, if the second DC device determines that its load is greater than the load of the first DC device, it determines that the first DC device is required to participate in the first data service. This can relatively balance the loads of the first and second DC devices, preventing excessive load on either DC device. Method B2 is applicable when both the second and first DC devices can provide the first data service.

[0185] It should be understood that there are many ways to determine whether the first DC device needs to participate in the first data service, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0186] S906b: The first DC device sends a first indication message to the access network device. Accordingly, the access network device receives the first indication message from the first DC device. The first indication message confirms that the first DA device provides the first data service. After receiving the first indication message, the first DC device may determine a DA device providing the first data service from one or more DA devices managed by the first DC device.

[0187] It should be understood that FIG9 illustrates the steps of the access network device determining the first DA device using the above-mentioned method 1, which does not actually limit the method of the access network device determining the first DA device.

[0188] Method 2: The access network device determines the first DA device through the second DC device.

[0189] The access network device may directly send a third request message to the second DC device, and the second DC device may determine a first DA device providing the first data service from one or more DA devices managed by the second DC device. After determining the first DA device, the second DC device may also send first indication information to the access network device.

[0190] Before the second DC device adopts method 2 to determine the first DA device, optionally, the second DC device may determine that the first DC device does not need to participate in the first data service. The method for determining that the first DC device does not need to participate in the first data service may refer to the method shown in B1 or B2 above, and the repetitions are not listed here.

[0191] It should be understood that, when the first data service includes multiple data services, the DA device determined by the access network apparatus may be one or more DA devices, that is, the first DA device may be one or more DA devices. Alternatively, when there is only one first data service, the DA device determined by the access network apparatus may also be one or more DA devices.

[0192] S907: The terminal device establishes a data bearer (DB) with the access network device. A data bearer is a logical channel for transmitting data. Any device in the data bearer can provide data services, that is, can perform data operations (such as at least one of collection, forwarding, and analysis). Furthermore, any two devices in the network can establish a data bearer. The following describes the process of establishing a data bearer.

[0193] After the access network device determines that the first DA device can provide the first data service, it can determine to establish a data bearer. Exemplarily, the access network device may send a fifth request message to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the fifth request message from the access network device. The fifth request message is used to request the establishment of a data bearer. For example, the fifth request message may be an RRC configuration message. Optionally, the fifth request message also indicates information about the resources occupied by the data bearer. Resources such as time-frequency resources. The terminal device determines to establish a data bearer. For example, if the fifth request message indicates information about the resources, the terminal device may establish a data bearer through the resources, or if the fifth request message does not indicate information about the resources, the terminal device may select idle resources to establish a data bearer.

[0194] The terminal device sends a third response message to the access network device. Accordingly, the access network device receives the third response message from the terminal device. The third response message indicates that the data bearer has been established. For example, the third response message may be an RRC configuration complete message. Optionally, the third response message may indicate information about resources used by the terminal device to establish the data bearer so that the access network device can use the data bearer. It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application illustrates a method for establishing a data bearer and does not actually limit the specific method for establishing a data bearer.

[0195] In one possible implementation, when the access network device determines the first DA device through the above-mentioned method 1, after the first DC device determines the first DA device, it can send a first indication message to the core network device (such as AMF). The AMF can send the first indication message to the access network device. After the access network device receives the first indication message, it can determine to establish a data bearer with the terminal device. Since the first indication message can be used to trigger the access network device to perform the data bearer establishment process, the first indication message can also be called a data bearer establishment request message.

[0196] After the access network device establishes a data bearer with the terminal device, the access network device may send a data bearer establishment message to the AMF to notify the AMF that the data bearer between the AMF and the terminal device has been successfully established. After receiving the data bearer establishment message, the AMF may send a data service confirmation message to the first DC device. The data service confirmation message indicates that the first data service can be provided.

[0197] To ensure the security of data transmitted between the terminal device and the access network device, the access network device may optionally send a sixth request message to the terminal device before establishing a data bearer with the access network device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the sixth request message from the access network device. The sixth request message indicates that an encryption mode has been initiated. For example, the encryption mode is the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES / AS). When the encryption mode is AS, the sixth request message may also be referred to as an AS security mode command.

[0198] After initiating encryption mode, the terminal device may send a fourth response message to the access network device. Accordingly, the access network device may receive the fourth response message from the terminal device. The fourth response message indicates that the terminal device has initiated encryption mode. Subsequently, the access network device and the terminal device may interact in this encryption mode. If the encryption mode is AS, the fourth response message may also be referred to as an Advanced Encryption Standard (AS) security mode complete message.

[0199] S908: The first DA device sends data corresponding to the first data service to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the data corresponding to the first data service from the first DA device.

[0200] The first DA device may send data corresponding to the first data service to the access network device via the AMF. Alternatively, the first DA device may send data corresponding to the first data service to the access network device via the first DC device and the second DC device in sequence.

[0201] The data corresponding to the first data service refers to the result obtained by the first DA device executing the first data service, and the data corresponding to the first data service can also be called a data service result. The type of the first data service is different, and the content of the data corresponding to the first data service is also different. For example, if the first data service is the data service shown in A1 above, then the data corresponding to the first data service is the original data collected by the first DA device; for another example, if the first data service is the data analysis shown in A7 above, then the data corresponding to the first data service is the data analysis result obtained by the first DA device. There are many ways for the first DA device to execute the first data service, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this. For example, the first DA device can be pre-configured or pre-defined with an AI model, and the first DA device can use the AI ​​model to execute the first data service.

[0202] In another possible implementation, if the first DA device is deployed in the access network device, then the first DA device obtains the data corresponding to the first data service, which is equivalent to the access network device obtaining the data of the first data service. In this case, the access network device does not need to receive the data corresponding to the first data service from the first DA device, that is, there is no need to execute step S908. Therefore, S908 is an optional step, which is indicated by a dotted line in Figure 9.

[0203] S909: The access network device sends data corresponding to the first data service to the terminal device via the data bearer. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives data corresponding to the first data service from the access network device via the data bearer.

[0204] In one possible implementation, the access network device may delete the data bearer after determining that the first data service has ended. For example, the access network device determines that the first data service has ended after determining that the terminal device has successfully received the data corresponding to the first data service. Alternatively, after executing S909, the access network device may set a timer, and after the timer expires, it may determine that the first data service has ended. Of course, there are many ways for the access network device to determine that the first data service has ended, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this. Deleting the data bearer includes, for example, but is not limited to, releasing the resources occupied by the data bearer in the access network device.

[0205] The access network device may also instruct the terminal device to delete the data bearer. For example, the access network device may send a fourth request message to the terminal device. In response, the terminal device receives the fourth request message from the access network device. The terminal device deletes the data bearer. Deleting the data bearer includes, for example, but is not limited to, releasing resources occupied by the data bearer in the terminal device. The terminal device may send a second response message to the access network device. In response, the access network device receives a second response message from the terminal device. The second response message indicates that the data bearer has been deleted. In this way, the process of deleting the data bearer is completed.

[0206] In an embodiment of the present application, the access network device only establishes a data bearer when the terminal device requires the provision of a first data service. This reduces the time required for the access network device and the terminal device to maintain the data bearer and saves resource overhead for both the access network device and the terminal device. Furthermore, the data bearer can be established solely through interaction between the access network device and the terminal device, without the involvement of the core network device. Compared to establishing a PDU session, establishing a data bearer is more flexible and simple, and also reduces resource overhead for establishing the data bearer. Furthermore, the embodiment of the present application is applicable to various scenarios, such as when the terminal device is in a disconnected or connected state. Furthermore, in an embodiment of the present application, the access network device can flexibly determine the DA device providing the first data service through a variety of methods, increasing the flexibility of processing the first data service. Furthermore, the terminal device can proactively request the data service from the access network device at any time, increasing the flexibility of the terminal device in obtaining data corresponding to the data service. The embodiment of the present application is applicable to scenarios where the terminal device is an in-vehicle device, and is used for various data request scenarios, such as periodically or irregularly requesting vehicle condition information and / or perception data from the access network device. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application has high universal applicability.

[0207] The following describes the process of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, taking the terminal device in the connected state as an example. Please refer to Figure 10, which is a structural diagram of a communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application. Figure 10 illustrates S1001 to S1005, and each step is described below.

[0208] S1001: A terminal device sends a first request message to an access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first request message from the terminal device. The first request message is, for example, a NAS message or an RRC message.

[0209] The content of the first request message can refer to the content of the first request message involved in S905 of Figure 9 above, and the content of sending the first request message can refer to the content of sending the first request message involved in S905 of Figure 9 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0210] S1002. The access network device determines a DA device for providing a first data service.

[0211] The manner in which the access network device determines the DA device may refer to the content of determining the DA device involved in S906 of FIG. 9 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0212] S1003: The terminal device establishes a data bearer with the access network device.

[0213] The content of the data bearer may refer to the content of the data bearer involved in S907 of Figure 9 above, and the process of establishing the data bearer may also refer to the content of establishing the data bearer involved in S907 of Figure 9 above.

[0214] S1004: The first DA device sends data corresponding to the first data service to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the data corresponding to the first data service from the first DA device.

[0215] The first DA device determines the content of the data corresponding to the first data service by referring to the content of the data corresponding to the first data service determined by the first DA device in Figure 9 above, and the content of the data corresponding to the first data service can also refer to the content of the data corresponding to the first data service involved in S908 of Figure 9 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0216] S1004 is an optional step, indicated by a dotted line in FIG10 .

[0217] S1005: The access network device sends data corresponding to the first data service to the terminal device via the data bearer. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives data corresponding to the first data service from the access network device via the data bearer.

[0218] In one possible implementation, the access network device may delete the data bearer and instruct the terminal device to delete the data bearer. For details about the access network device deleting the data bearer, refer to the contents of deleting the data bearer involved in S909 of FIG. 9 , and the access network device instructing the terminal device to delete the data bearer, refer to the contents of instructing the terminal device to delete the data bearer involved in S909 of FIG. 9 , which are not further described here.

[0219] In the embodiments of the present application, the access network device establishes a data bearer after determining that the terminal device requires data services, thereby reducing the time required to maintain the data bearer and lowering resource overhead. Furthermore, if the terminal device is already in a connected state, the terminal device and the access network device do not need to establish a connection, thus reducing the number of interactions between the terminal device and the access network device. Furthermore, the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are applicable to situations where the terminal device is already in a connected state.

[0220] The following describes the process of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, taking the access network device using the above-mentioned method 2 to determine the first DA device as an example. Please refer to Figure 11, which is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. Figure 11 illustrates S1101 to S1110, and each step is described below.

[0221] S1101: The access network device sends second information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second information from the access network device. The content of the second information can refer to the content of the second information involved in S901 of Figure 9 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0222] S1102: The access network device sends first information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information from the access network device. The content of the first information can refer to the content of the first information involved in S902 of Figure 9 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0223] S1103: The terminal device establishes a connection with the access network device. The method for establishing the connection can refer to the connection establishment content involved in S903 of FIG. 9 above.

[0224] S1104. The core network device performs authentication and encryption on the terminal device.

[0225] The authentication and encryption method can refer to the authentication and encryption content involved in S904 of Figure 9 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0226] S1101 - S1104 are all optional steps, which are indicated by dotted lines in FIG11 .

[0227] S1105: The terminal device sends a first request message to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first request message from the terminal device. The content of the first request message can refer to the content of the first request message involved in S905 of Figure 9 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0228] S1106: The access network device sends a third request message to the second DC device. Correspondingly, the second DC device receives the third request message from the access network device. The content of the third request message can refer to the content of the third request message involved in S906a of Figure 9 above.

[0229] S1107: The second DC device sends first indication information to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first indication information from the second DC device. The content of the first indication information can refer to the content of the first indication information involved in S906b of Figure 9 above.

[0230] In the embodiment of the present application, the second DC device directly determines the DA device providing the first data service, and the DA device providing the first data service is taken as an example. The manner in which the second DC device determines the first DA device can refer to the content of the first DC device determining the first DA device involved in S906 in Figure 9 above, and will not be enumerated here.

[0231] S1106 - S1007 are optional steps, indicated by dotted lines in FIG11 .

[0232] S1108: The terminal device establishes a data bearer with the access network device. The content of the data bearer can refer to the content of the data bearer involved in S907 of Figure 9 above. The content of establishing the data bearer can refer to the content of establishing the data bearer involved in S907 of Figure 9 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0233] S1109: The first DA device sends data corresponding to the first data service to the access network device. Accordingly, the access network device receives data corresponding to the first data service from the first DA device. The content of the data corresponding to the first data service can be referenced to the content of the data corresponding to the first data service involved in S908 of FIG. 9 above, and the manner in which the first DA device sends the data service result can also be referenced to the content of sending the data service result involved in S909 of FIG. 9 above, and will not be further described here.

[0234] S1109 is an optional step, indicated by a dotted line in FIG11 .

[0235] S1110: The access network device sends data corresponding to the first data service to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the data corresponding to the first data service from the access network device.

[0236] In one possible implementation, the access network device may delete the data bearer and instruct the terminal device to delete the data bearer. For details on the access network device deleting the data bearer, refer to the details of deleting the data bearer in S909 of FIG. 9 , and for details on the access network device instructing the terminal device to delete the data bearer, refer to the details of instructing the terminal device to delete the data bearer in S909 of FIG. 9 , which will not be further described here.

[0237] In this embodiment of the present application, the access network device also establishes a data bearer only after determining that the terminal device requires data services. This reduces the time required to maintain the data bearer and reduces resource overhead. Furthermore, the access network device can determine the first DA device through the second DC device, eliminating the need for the core network to participate in the data service process. This simplifies the process of providing data services to the terminal device and reduces the cost of providing data services to the terminal device.

[0238] It is understood that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the terminal device and the access network device include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that, in conjunction with the units and method steps of the various examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or in a manner driven by computer software depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0239] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device can be used to implement the functions of any access network device or terminal device in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device can be an access network device as shown in any of Figures 1 and 4 to 7, or a software or hardware module (such as a chip) applied to the access network device shown in Figure 1, or can be a terminal device as shown in any of Figures 1 and 4 to 7, or a software or hardware module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device shown in Figure 1.

[0240] As shown in FIG. 12 , the communication device 1200 includes a processing module 1210 and a transceiver module 1220 .

[0241] In a possible embodiment, the communication device 1200 is used to implement the functions of the access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 9 , FIG. 10 , or FIG. 11 .

[0242] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement the functions of the access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG9 , the processing module 1210 can be used to control the transceiver module 1220 to receive the first request message, establish a data bearer, and send data corresponding to the first data service to the terminal device. The content of the first request message can refer to the content of the first request message involved in S905 of FIG9 , the content of the data bearer can refer to the relevant content of the data bearer involved in S907 of FIG9 , and the content of the data corresponding to the first data service can refer to the content of the data corresponding to the first data service involved in S908 or S909 of FIG9 .

[0243] Optionally, the transceiver module 1220 is further configured to send the second information, the first information, and establish a connection with the terminal device, and the processing module 1210 is further configured to determine the DA device providing the first data service, etc. The content of the second information may refer to the content of the second information involved in S901 in FIG. 9 , the content of the first information may refer to the content of the first information involved in S902 in FIG. 9 , the method for establishing the connection may refer to the content of establishing the connection involved in S903, and the content of determining the DA device providing the first data service may refer to the content of determining the first DA device involved in S906.

[0244] The contents of S901 to S903 and S905 to S909 involved therein can refer to the contents in FIG. 9 above, and the repeated parts are not listed again.

[0245] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement the functions of the access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG10 , the transceiver module 1220 can, under the control of the processing module 1210, receive the first request message, establish a data bearer, and send data corresponding to the first data service to the terminal device. The content of the first request message can refer to the content of the first request message involved in S1001 of FIG10 , the content of establishing the data bearer can refer to the content of establishing the data bearer involved in S1003 of FIG10 , and the content of the data corresponding to the first data service can refer to the content of the data corresponding to the first data service involved in S1005 of FIG10 .

[0246] The relevant contents of S1001 to S1005 can be referred to the contents in Figure 10 above, and the repeated parts are not listed again.

[0247] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement the functions of the access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG11 , the processing module 1210 can be used to control the transceiver module 1220 to receive the first request message, establish a data bearer, and send data corresponding to the first data service to the terminal device. For the content of the first request message, reference may be made to the content of the first request message described in S1105 of FIG11 , for the content of establishing the data bearer, reference may be made to the content of establishing the data bearer described in S1108 of FIG11 , and for the content of the data corresponding to the first data service, reference may be made to the content of the data corresponding to the first data service described in S1110 of FIG11 .

[0248] Optionally, the transceiver module 1220 is further configured to send the second information, the first information, and establish a connection with the terminal device, and the processing module 1210 is further configured to determine the DA device providing the first data service. For the content of the second information, reference may be made to the content of the second information involved in S1101 of FIG. 11 above; for the content of the first information, reference may be made to the content of the first information involved in S1102 of FIG. 11 above; for the content of establishing the connection, reference may be made to the content of establishing the connection involved in S1103 of FIG. 11; and for the content of determining the DA device providing the first data service, reference may be made to the content of determining the DA device providing the first data service involved in S1106 and S1007 of FIG. 11 above.

[0249] The relevant contents of S1101 to S1103 and S1105 to S1110 can be referred to the contents in Figure 11 above, and the repeated parts are not listed again.

[0250] In another possible embodiment, the communication device 1200 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 9 , FIG. 10 , or FIG. 11 .

[0251] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9: the processing module 1210 can be used to control the transceiver module 1220 to send a first request message, establish a data bearer, and receive data corresponding to the first data service. The content of the first request message can refer to the content of the first request message involved in S905 of Figure 9 above, the content of the data bearer can refer to the relevant content of the data bearer involved in S907 of Figure 9 above, and the content of the data corresponding to the first data service can refer to the content of the data corresponding to the first data service involved in S908 of Figure 9 above, and the repeated parts are not listed again. Optionally, the transceiver module 1220 is also used to receive second information, first information, establish a connection with the access network device, etc. The content of the second information can refer to the content of the second information involved in S901 of Figure 9 above, the content of the first information can refer to the content of the first information involved in S902 of Figure 9 above, and the method of establishing the connection can refer to the content of establishing the connection involved in S903 above.

[0252] The contents of S901 to S903, S905, and S907 to S909 involved can refer to the contents in Figure 9 above, and the repeated parts are not listed again.

[0253] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG10 , the processing module 1210 can be used to control the transceiver module 1220 to send a first request message, establish a data bearer, and receive data corresponding to the first data service. The content of the first request message can refer to the content of the first request message involved in S1001 in FIG10 , the content of establishing the data bearer can refer to the content of establishing the data bearer involved in S1003 in FIG10 , and the content of the data corresponding to the first data service can refer to the content of the data corresponding to the first data service involved in S1005 in FIG10 .

[0254] The relevant contents of S1001 to S1005 can be referred to the contents in Figure 10 above, and the repeated parts are not listed again.

[0255] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 11: the processing module 1210 can be used to control the transceiver module 1220 to send a first request message, establish a data bearer, and receive data corresponding to the first data service. The content of the first request message can refer to the content of the first request message involved in S1105 of Figure 11 above, the content of establishing the data bearer can refer to the content of establishing the data bearer involved in S1108 of Figure 11 above, and the content of the data corresponding to the first data service can refer to the content of the data corresponding to the first data service involved in S1110 of Figure 11 above.

[0256] Optionally, the transceiver module 1220 is further configured to receive the second information and the first information, and to establish a connection with the access network device. For the content of the second information, reference may be made to the content of the second information involved in S1101 of FIG. 11 , for the content of the first information, reference may be made to the content of the first information involved in S1102 of FIG. 11 , and for the content of establishing the connection, reference may be made to the content of establishing the connection involved in S1103 of FIG. 11 .

[0257] The relevant contents of S1101 to S1103 and S1105 to S1110 can be referred to the contents in Figure 11 above, and the repeated parts are not listed again.

[0258] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Communication device 1300 includes a processor 1310 and an interface circuit 1320. Processor 1310 and interface circuit 1320 are coupled to each other. It is understood that interface circuit 1320 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, communication device 1300 may also include a memory 1330 for storing instructions executed by processor 1310, input data required by processor 1310 to execute instructions, or data generated after processor 1310 executes instructions.

[0259] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement any of the communication methods discussed above, such as the communication method shown in Figures 9, 10 or 11 above, the processor 1310 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned processing module 1210, and the interface circuit 1320 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned transceiver module 1220.

[0260] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip implemented in a terminal device, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiments. The chip receives information from other modules in the terminal (e.g., a radio frequency module or antenna), which is information sent by the access network device to the terminal device; or the chip sends information to other modules in the terminal (e.g., a radio frequency module or antenna), which is information sent by the terminal device to the access network device.

[0261] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to an access network device, the module implements the functions of the access network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The module receives information from other modules in the access network device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the access network device; or the module sends information to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the access network device to the terminal device. The module here can be a baseband chip of the access network device, or it can be a DU or other module. The DU here can be a DU under the open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture.

[0262] It is understood that the processor involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. In addition, the memory in the embodiments of the present application may include volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM). The memory may also include non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD).

[0263] An embodiment of the present application provides another example of a communication device, which includes at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one processor and the at least one memory being coupled, the at least one memory being used to store instructions, and when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the communication device executes the method in the above embodiment. Taking the communication device including a processor and a memory as an example, as shown in Figure 14, the communication device 1400 includes a processor 1410 and a memory 1420. The processor 1410 and the memory 1420 are coupled, and the memory 1420 stores instructions. When the instructions stored in the memory 1420 are executed by the processor 1410, the communication device 1400 executes any of the communication methods in the above embodiments, such as the communication method shown in Figure 9, Figure 10, or Figure 11 above. Optionally, the communication device 1400 may execute the communication method executed by the terminal device shown in Figure 9, Figure 10, or Figure 11 above, or may execute the communication method executed by the access network device shown in Figure 9, Figure 10, or Figure 11 above. Among them, the implementation method of the processor 1410 can refer to the content of the processor 1310 in Figure 13 above, and the implementation method of the memory 1420 can refer to the content of the memory 1330 in Figure 13 above. The repeated parts will not be repeated here.

[0264] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising any of the aforementioned terminal devices and any of the aforementioned access network devices. Optionally, the communication system further comprises the aforementioned first DC device, first DA device, and second DC device. The functions of the terminal device, access network device, first DC device, first DA device, and second DC device can be referred to in the description of FIG9, FIG10, or FIG11, and will not be repeated here.

[0265] An embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, comprising: a processor and an interface. The processor is configured to call and execute instructions from the interface, and when the processor executes the instructions, implements any of the aforementioned communication methods, such as the communication methods described in FIG. 9 , FIG. 10 , or FIG. 11 .

[0266] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer programs or instructions, which, when executed, implements any of the aforementioned communication methods, for example, the communication method in FIG. 9 , FIG. 10 , or FIG. 11 .

[0267] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, implements any of the aforementioned communication methods, for example, the communication method in FIG. 9 , FIG. 10 , or FIG. 11 .

[0268] The method steps in each embodiment of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist in a base station or a terminal as discrete components.

[0269] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0270] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0271] It should be understood that the various numbers used in the various embodiments of this application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily imply a specific order of execution; the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applicable to access network devices, including: receiving a first request message from a terminal device, wherein the first request message is used to request provision of a first data service; establishing a data bearer with the terminal device; Data corresponding to the first data service is exchanged with the terminal device through the data bearer.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Before receiving the first request message from the terminal device, the method further includes: Sending first information, wherein the first information includes information of at least one data service supported by the access network device, wherein the first data service is one of the at least one data service.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Before receiving the first request message from the terminal device, the method further includes: receiving a second request message from the terminal device, the second request message being used to request establishment of a connection and indicating that a reason for requesting establishment of the connection is a request for provision of a data service; A first response message is sent to the terminal device, where the first response message is used to indicate that a connection has been established, wherein the first request message received from the terminal device is received through the connection.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that Before receiving the second request message from the terminal device, the method further includes: receiving a first random access preamble from a terminal device, wherein the first random access preamble is used to indicate establishing a connection for a data service; A random access response message is sent to the terminal device.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: Before establishing a data bearer with the terminal device, the method further includes: Sending a third request message to the first data control device, wherein the third request message is used to request to determine a data proxy device that provides the first data service; A first indication message is received from the first data control device, where the first indication message indicates confirmation that the first data proxy device provides the first data service.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that Sending a third request message to the first data control device includes: The third request message is sent to the first data control device through the second data control device.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: Before establishing a data bearer with the terminal device, the method further includes: Determining, by means of a second data control device, a first data proxy device that provides a first data service; The first indication information is received by the second data control device, where the first indication information indicates confirmation that the first data proxy device provides the first data service.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The first request message is a radio resource control message or a non-access layer message.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: Before receiving the first request message from the terminal device, the method further includes: Second information is sent, where the second information indicates that the access network device has a data service capability.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: After exchanging data corresponding to the first data service with the terminal device through the data bearer, the method further includes: deleting the data bearer, and sending a fourth request message to the terminal device, wherein the fourth request message indicates deleting the data bearer; A second response message is received from the terminal device, the second response message indicating that the data bearer has been deleted.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending a first request message to an access network device, where the first request message is used to request provision of a first data service; Establishing a data bearer with the access network device; The data corresponding to the first data service is exchanged with the access network device through the data bearer.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that Before sending the first request message to the access network device, the method further includes: First information is received from the access network device, where the first information includes information of at least one data service supported by the access network device, and the first data service is one of the at least one data service.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that: Before sending the first request message to the access network device, the method further includes: Sending a second request message to the access network device, where the second request message is used to request to establish a connection and indicates that the reason for requesting to establish the connection is a request to provide a data service; A first response message is received from the access network device, where the first response message is used to indicate that a connection has been established, wherein the first request message is sent to the access network device via the connection.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending a first random access preamble to the access network device, wherein the first random access preamble is used to indicate establishing a connection for a data service; A random access response message is received from the access network device.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that: The first request message is a radio resource control message or a non-access layer message.

16. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that: Before sending the first request message to the access network device, the method further includes: Second information is received, where the second information indicates that the access network device has a data service capability.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that: After exchanging data corresponding to the first data service with the access network device through the data bearer, the method further includes: receiving a fourth request message from the access network device, wherein the fourth request message indicates deleting the data bearer; Deleting the data bearer; A second response message is sent to the access network device, where the second response message indicates that the data bearer has been deleted.

18. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-17 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory, wherein the memory is used to store instructions, and when the instructions are executed by the processor, the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17.

21. A computer program product comprising instructions, characterized in that When the instruction is executed by the communication device, the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17.

22. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17 is implemented.

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