Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and device, which are suitable for the field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: determining a plurality of quality of service channels corresponding to a first data channel; and indicating, to a user plane function network element / terminal, that a model is used to determine a quality of service channel corresponding to a data packet of a first service in the first data channel. In this way, the user plane function network element / terminal uses the model to determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet of each service in the first data channel, thereby improving the possibility of implementing more refined quality of service control, such as providing different quality of service control for different data streams of services, and the first data channel corresponds to a plurality of quality of service channels, that is, the data stream in the first data channel can be provided with differential quality of service control, thereby adapting the model-assisted quality of service matching mechanism, and thus more suitable quality of service control can be provided for different services, thereby improving the user experience.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and particularly to communication methods and apparatus in the field of communications. Background Technology

[0002] In communication networks, the management and control of Quality of Service (QoS) is one of the key factors in ensuring network performance and user experience. Currently, one existing QoS management approach involves a session management network element (such as a session management function (SMF) element) determining the QoS flow corresponding to a service flow and distributing the QoS parameters for that service flow to the user plane function (UPF) network element / terminal. This allows the UPF network element / terminal to perform corresponding QoS control on the service flow based on these QoS parameters. The QoS parameters (such as packet loss rate and data rate) distributed by the SMF element to the UPF network element and terminal for ensuring QoS can be the same, while the QoS parameters related to the network element function (such as reflective QoS attributes (RQA)) can be different.

[0003] With the development of artificial intelligence (AI), it has become possible to infer the service to which data packets belong based on models. This allows user plane function network elements / terminals to provide corresponding quality of service (QoS) control for data packets of different services (this mechanism can be called model-assisted QoS matching). However, the existing QoS management methods mentioned above may not be suitable for this mechanism and need to be optimized. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and apparatus that are adapted to the mechanism of model-assisted service quality matching, providing more suitable service quality control for different services, thereby improving user experience.

[0005] Firstly, this application provides a communication method that can be applied to a session management network element, such as a session management network element itself, or a component configured in a session management network element (such as a processor, chip, chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the session management network element. This application does not limit the application in this regard. The following example uses the execution of a session management network element.

[0006] For example, the method includes: determining multiple quality of service channels corresponding to a first data channel; and instructing a user plane function network element / terminal to determine, based on a model, the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet of a first service in the first data channel.

[0007] The above-mentioned determination of multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel can be replaced by binding the first data channel to multiple quality of service channels, or binding / assigning the first data channel to multiple quality of service channels.

[0008] The Quality of Service (QoS) channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the aforementioned first data channel can also be replaced by the QoS channel corresponding to the data stream / data of the first service in the aforementioned first data channel, or the QoS channel corresponding to the data packet / data stream / data used for the first service in the aforementioned first data channel, or the QoS channel corresponding to the data packet / data stream / data sent or received by the application server corresponding to the first service in the aforementioned first data channel. For example, the aforementioned first service can be identified using service identification information; this application does not limit the identification method of the first service. The aforementioned first service can be any one or more services in the aforementioned first data channel. For example, the aforementioned first data channel includes data streams of service 1, service 2, and service 3, and the aforementioned first service can be at least one of service 1, service 2, or service 3.

[0009] Traffic belonging to the same service quality channel among the above multiple service quality channels is provided with the same forwarding processing / traffic forwarding / traffic forwarding processing, or traffic belonging to the same service quality channel is provided with the same service quality control / service quality management / customer experience.

[0010] Optionally, the aforementioned quality of service channel may be, for example, a QoS stream, a bearer, a radio bearer, or a connection.

[0011] The above solution can be applied, for example, to scenarios involving model-assisted quality of service (QoS) matching. Model-assisted QoS matching can be understood as determining the QoS channel corresponding to data packets of each service within a data channel based on the inference results of the model. Model-assisted QoS matching can also be replaced by any of the following: AI-assisted QoS matching, model-enhanced QoS matching, AI-enhanced QoS matching, model-enabled QoS matching, model-enabled flow detection, flow inference, encrypted flow QoS matching, encrypted flow detection, encrypted flow inference, encrypted flow model inference, single-flow multi-level QoS matching, fine-grained QoS matching, or encrypted flow multi-level QoS matching, etc.

[0012] In the above scheme, the session management network element instructs the user plane function network element / terminal to determine the service quality channel corresponding to the data packets of the first service in the first data channel based on the model. This facilitates the user plane function network element / terminal to use the model to determine the service quality channel corresponding to the data packets of each service in the first data channel, thereby increasing the possibility of achieving more refined service quality control. For example, different service data streams can be provided with different service quality controls. Furthermore, the first data channel corresponds to multiple service quality channels, meaning that the data streams in the first data channel can be provided with differentiated service quality controls. For example, the data packets of the first service in the first data channel can be provided with one service quality control, while the data packets of the second service can be provided with another service quality control. In this way, for the same data channel, the session management network element can instruct the user plane function network element / terminal to provide multiple service quality channels, thereby adapting to the model-assisted service quality matching mechanism and providing more appropriate service quality control for different services, thus improving the user experience.

[0013] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the aforementioned first data channel includes data streams from multiple services, and the aforementioned multiple services include the aforementioned first service.

[0014] One possible design is that the data channel is a service flow, such as the first data channel being the first service flow, which includes data flows from multiple services, including the first service. In some scenarios, a service flow may include data flows from one or more services, for example, the Quick User Datagram Protocol (QUIC) protocol. Service flows can be identified using service flow identification information. For example, service flows can be identified using service data flow / service data flow filter (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) 5-tuple, IP triplet), or using application identifiers, or using domain name identifiers (e.g., Full Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) / Uniform Resource Locator (URL)). This application does not limit the identification method of service flows. Services can be identified using service identification information (which is an example of first identification information). Service identification information is used to identify services, or to distinguish or identify different services within the same service flow in a mobile communication system or core network. For example, data packets belonging to the same IP 5-tuple may belong to different service flows; for instance, data packets with the same IP 5-tuple may belong to a video service flow, an audio service flow, or other services.

[0015] Another possible design is that the data channel is a session, such as the first data channel being the first session, and the first session includes data streams from multiple services, including the first service mentioned above.

[0016] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, each of the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel is used to transmit data streams of one or more services in the first data channel.

[0017] One possible scenario is that each of the aforementioned Quality of Service (QoS) channels is used to transmit the data stream of one service within the first data channel. Alternatively, each data stream from multiple services within the first data channel corresponds to a separate QoS channel. This approach allows for different QoS controls to be applied to different service data streams, enabling more appropriate and flexible QoS control and ultimately improving user experience.

[0018] Another possibility is that each of the aforementioned Quality of Service (QoS) channels is used to transmit data streams from multiple services within the first data channel. In other words, at least two of the data streams from the multiple services within the first data channel correspond to one QoS channel. The data streams from multiple services corresponding to the same QoS channel can be data streams from multiple services with the same service characteristics / QoS requirements. That is, data streams from multiple services with the same characteristics can correspond to the same QoS channel. For example, the data packets from the first service mentioned above can be data packets from multiple services, and these multiple service data packets correspond to one QoS channel.

[0019] It is understandable that data flows with the same service quality requirements can require the same service quality control. Alternatively, data flows with the same business characteristics may require similar / identical service quality controls. In the above scheme, data flows with the same business characteristics / service quality requirements can be provided with the same service quality control, while data flows with different business characteristics / service quality requirements can be provided with different service quality controls. This approach has two advantages: firstly, it facilitates providing more suitable service quality control for data flows with different business characteristics / service quality requirements, making service quality control more flexible and improving user experience; secondly, providing the same service quality control for data flows with the same business characteristics / service quality requirements helps reduce resource consumption and simplifies service quality control.

[0020] The aforementioned business characteristics can be used to determine service quality requirements. The shared business characteristics can be understood as any one or more of the following: traffic pattern, data flow trends / regularities over time, data flow periodicity, traffic bit rate, burst volume, and burst arrival time. Alternatively, businesses with the same business characteristics can also be understood as belonging to the same type of business, businesses with similar or identical user experiences, or businesses providing the same or similar services. For example, businesses that both provide short video services can be considered to have the same business characteristics.

[0021] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, determining the multiple service quality channels corresponding to the first data channel includes: determining the multiple service quality channels corresponding to the first data channel based on at least one of the following: service quality parameters, first identification information, model information, or first indication information, wherein the first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first data channel belongs, and the first indication information is used to indicate the use of model-assisted service quality matching.

[0022] The aforementioned model information is used to infer and determine the Quality of Service (QoS) channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel. Alternatively, the aforementioned model information can indicate a model for QoS matching, so as to determine the QoS channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel based on that model.

[0023] Optionally, the above model information may include at least one of the following: model identification information, model feature information, or the model itself.

[0024] The aforementioned model identification information is used to identify the model. The model identification information can take various forms, such as: a model identifier (e.g., a special string representing the model), model address information (e.g., accessing this address allows downloading or using the model or calling its application programming interface (API)), model domain name information (e.g., a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or a Full Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), accessing this domain name allows downloading or using the model or calling its API. Alternatively, the domain name system (DNS) can be used to query the domain name to obtain the address corresponding to the domain name, and then accessing the corresponding address to download or call the model), and a model calling function (e.g., a function name, calling which allows accessing the model's API to obtain certain functions of the model or downloading the model by calling the API. Alternatively, the function can be used to call the device's local interface to invoke locally stored model functions). This application does not limit the form of model identification information. Model identification information can be explicit or implicit, as long as the corresponding model can be identified, obtained, or the function of the model can be called through the information.

[0025] Model feature information can be used to represent the attributes, characteristics, functions, or usage of a model. For example, model feature information may include model consumers (also known as "model users," such as any one or more UEs or user plane function (UPF) network elements), the direction of the model's action on the service flow (e.g., uplink, downlink, or both), model functions (e.g., encrypted flow classification / detection), and analysis identifiers (analysis identifiers are used to indicate the model's function; 3GPP technical specification (TS) 23.288 has defined various analysis identifiers, and the model functions mentioned in this application can be used as new analysis identifiers). The above model feature information is just a few examples. Model feature information can also include other information used to represent the attributes, characteristics, functions, or usage of a model, as long as the corresponding model can be identified, obtained, or its functions invoked through this information.

[0026] The first instruction information mentioned above is used to indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching. The alternative description of model-assisted quality of service matching can be found above and will not be repeated here.

[0027] The aforementioned first identification information can be the business identification information described above. One business can correspond to one first identification information, or specific businesses with the same business characteristics can correspond to one first identification information.

[0028] The aforementioned Quality of Service (QoS) parameters correspond to QoS channels. For example, each QoS channel in the above-mentioned multiple QoS channels corresponds to one QoS parameter. A single QoS parameter can also be replaced by a set of QoS parameters, a group of QoS parameters, or one or more QoS parameters. A set of QoS parameters may include one or more parameters, such as at least one of the following: 5G QoS identifier (5QI), allocation and retention priority (ARP), reflective QoS attribute (RQA), or flow bit rate. For specific examples of QoS parameters in existing protocols, please refer to those examples. Alternatively, these parameters can be used in future communication networks for QoS control / QoS management / customer experience / forwarding / traffic forwarding / traffic forwarding processing, which will not be elaborated here. Optionally, the aforementioned set of QoS parameters or group of QoS parameters can be multiple QoS parameters. These QoS parameters correspond to different dimensions of QoS control and can be used together to control a QoS channel. Optionally, the aforementioned set of quality of service parameters can be sent by the policy control network element to the session management network element in the policy information. For example, one or more quality of service parameters included in the policy control part of the policy information are called a set of quality of service parameters.

[0029] In the above scheme, the first indication information can explicitly indicate model-assisted service quality matching, and the first identification information and model information can implicitly indicate that model-assisted service quality matching is enabled. In other words, when binding the data channel and the service quality channel, it can be considered whether model-assisted service quality matching is enabled, so that the binding method of the service quality channel is compatible with the above mechanism.

[0030] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the above method further includes: obtaining multiple quality of service parameters corresponding to the first data channel from the policy management network element.

[0031] The above-mentioned session management network element obtains multiple service quality parameters corresponding to the first data channel from the policy management network element. This is only an example and should not constitute any limitation on this application. For example, the above-mentioned session management network element may also obtain multiple service quality parameters corresponding to the first data channel from local storage.

[0032] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, obtaining multiple service quality parameters corresponding to the first data channel includes: obtaining first policy information, which includes the aforementioned multiple service quality parameters.

[0033] The aforementioned first policy information can indicate the control method for policies and charging. For example, the aforementioned first policy information can be a policy and charging control (PCC) rule, or in other words, the aforementioned first policy information includes PCC rules.

[0034] Optionally, the first strategy information may further include first identification information, which is used to identify the service to which the data stream in the first data channel belongs.

[0035] Optionally, the first strategy information mentioned above may also include first instruction information, which is used to instruct the use of model-assisted service quality matching.

[0036] Optionally, when the first data channel is the first service flow, the first policy information also includes the identification information of the first service flow. The identification information of the first service flow may be, for example, an IP 5-tuple, an IP triple, etc. For specific identification methods, please refer to the identification methods of service flows above, which will not be repeated here.

[0037] Optionally, when the first data channel is the first business flow, the first strategy information may also include the model information.

[0038] The aforementioned first indication information can explicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching. The aforementioned first identification information, or model information, can implicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching. In this way, the session management network element can map / bind the aforementioned first data channel to multiple quality of service channels, thereby adapting to the mechanism of model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0039] In one possible implementation, determining the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel includes: determining the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first policy information.

[0040] For example, the first policy information, which includes multiple service quality parameters, corresponds to multiple service quality channels. Each of the aforementioned multiple service quality parameters corresponds one-to-one with each of the aforementioned multiple service quality channels. These multiple service quality parameters can also be replaced with multiple sets / groups of service quality parameters. For an explanation of a set of service quality parameters, please refer to the above text; it will not be repeated here.

[0041] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, obtaining multiple service quality parameters corresponding to the first data channel includes: obtaining multiple second policy information, each of which includes a service quality parameter. By including the aforementioned multiple service quality parameters within multiple second policy information, flexible configuration of the multiple service quality parameters is facilitated. The aforementioned multiple service quality parameters can be replaced with multiple sets / groups of service quality parameters; for a detailed explanation, please refer to the above text, which will not be repeated here.

[0042] Optionally, when the first data channel is a first service flow, each second strategy information may further include one or more of the identification information, first indication information, model information, or first identification information of the first service flow. The first indication information is used to indicate that model-assisted quality of service matching is enabled, and the first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first service flow belongs.

[0043] When each second strategy information includes first identification information, each of the above multiple service quality parameters corresponds to the first identification information, which is used to indicate at least one service in the above first service flow.

[0044] Optionally, when the first data channel is the first session, each second policy information may further include one or more of the following: first identification information, wildcard, or first indication information. The first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first session belongs, and the first indication information is used to indicate that model-assisted quality of service matching is enabled.

[0045] The aforementioned first indication information can explicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching. The aforementioned first identification information, or model information, can implicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching. In this way, the session management network element can map / bind the aforementioned first data channel to multiple quality of service channels, thereby adapting to the mechanism of model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0046] In one possible implementation, determining the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel includes: determining the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the multiple second policy information.

[0047] For example, when the first data channel is a first service flow, multiple second policy information entries including the same service flow identification information correspond to different quality of service channels. That is, when multiple second policy information entries include the same service flow identification information, subsequent session management network elements determine to bind these second policy information entries to different quality of service channels, rather than treating subsequent second policy information entries as updates to a certain second policy information entry.

[0048] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the above method further includes: sending model information to the user plane function network element / terminal, the model information being used to infer and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel.

[0049] The aforementioned model information is used to infer and determine the Quality of Service (QoS) channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel. This can be understood as indicating a model for QoS matching, enabling the determination of the QoS channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel based on that model. A detailed explanation of the model information can be found above and will not be repeated here.

[0050] The session management network element indicates model information to the user plane function network element / terminal, so that the user plane function network element / terminal can infer and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel based on the model information, thereby providing differentiated and more appropriate quality of service control for the data packets in the first data channel, and thus improving the user experience.

[0051] It is understandable that the session management network element also needs to indicate to the user plane function network element / terminal the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel mentioned above.

[0052] Optionally, the scheme described in the first aspect: determining multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel; instructing the user plane function network element / terminal to determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel based on the model, can also be replaced by the following two steps: the session management network element sends multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel to the user plane function network element / terminal; and instructs the user plane function network element / terminal to determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel based on the model.

[0053] The following will present several possible implementation methods for the session management network element to indicate the quality of service channel / quality of service parameters to the user plane function network element / terminal.

[0054] One possible implementation is that the session management network element instructs the user plane function network element to have multiple packet detection rules and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules, the multiple packet detection rules corresponding to the aforementioned first data channel; and / or, the session management network element instructs the terminal to have multiple QoS rules, the multiple QoS rules corresponding to the aforementioned first data channel.

[0055] Each of the aforementioned service quality rules corresponds to one service quality channel. Each of the aforementioned service quality enforcement rules also corresponds to one service quality channel.

[0056] Another possible implementation is that the session management network element instructs the aforementioned user plane function network element to a packet detection rule and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules, wherein the packet detection rule corresponds to the aforementioned first data channel and each QoS enforcement rule corresponds to a QoS channel; and / or, the session management network element instructs the terminal to a QoS rule, wherein the QoS rule corresponds to the first data channel and the QoS rule corresponds to multiple QoS channels.

[0057] Another possible implementation is that the session management network element instructs the user plane function network element to a first packet detection rule, multiple second packet detection rules, and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules. The first packet detection rule corresponds to the first data channel, and the first packet detection rule instructs a forwarding action rule. This forwarding action rule is used to determine the second packet detection rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service. The multiple second packet detection rules and the multiple QoS enforcement rules are in one-to-one correspondence, and each QoS enforcement rule corresponds to a QoS channel. Alternatively, the session management network element instructs the terminal to a first QoS rule and multiple second QoS rules. The first QoS rule corresponds to the first data channel, and the first QoS rule instructs a forwarding action rule. This forwarding action rule is used to determine the second QoS rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service. Each of the multiple second QoS rules corresponds to a QoS channel.

[0058] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the above method further includes: sending a second indication message to a user plane function network element / terminal, the second indication message being used to indicate that only one quality of service enforcement rule is in effect at the same time.

[0059] The above rule that only one quality of service (QoS) enforcement rule is in effect at the same time can also be replaced by the following: only one QoS channel is in effect at the same time; or only one QoS enforcement rule / QoS channel is enabled at the same time; or only one QoS channel is allowed to transmit data packets at the same time.

[0060] In this way, for the aforementioned multiple QoS channels, user plane function network elements / terminals can release the resources of QoS channels that have no data transmission or are not in effect, thereby saving resources.

[0061] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the above method further includes: instructing the access network device of the plurality of quality of service channels, wherein data packets are allowed to be transmitted on only one of the plurality of quality of service channels at any given time.

[0062] The alternative description of allowing data packets to be transmitted on only one of the multiple QoS channels at the same time can be found above, and will not be repeated here.

[0063] In this way, for the aforementioned multiple QoS channels, the access network equipment can release the resources of QoS channels that have no data transmission or are not in effect, thereby saving resources.

[0064] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the above method further includes: receiving a request message from a terminal, the request message being used to request the first data channel to enable model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0065] This request message can be a service quality control request model assisting the first data channel (such as the first business flow / first session). For example, the aforementioned request message could be a session establishment request.

[0066] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the above method further includes: receiving instruction information from a unified data management network element, the instruction information being used to instruct the authorized first data channel to perform model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0067] This indication information may be a quality of service matching aided by the authorization model for the first data channel (such as the first business flow / first session).

[0068] For example, after receiving the above request message from the terminal, the session management network element can query the unified data management network element to see if it is authorized to perform model-assisted quality of service matching. In one case, the unified data management network element instructs the authorized first data channel to perform model-assisted quality of service matching; in another case, the unified data management network element instructs the unauthorized first data channel to perform model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0069] Secondly, this application provides a communication method that can be applied to the policy control network element side, such as the policy control network element itself, or components configured in the policy control network element (such as processors, chips, chip systems, etc.), or logic modules or software capable of implementing all or part of the policy control network element functions. This application does not limit the application in this regard. The following example uses the execution of a policy control network element.

[0070] For example, the method includes: determining that a first data channel enables model-assisted quality of service matching; sending policy information to a session management network element, the policy information including first indication information and multiple quality of service parameters corresponding to the first data channel, the first indication information being used to instruct the first data channel to enable model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0071] For an explanation of model-assisted service quality matching, please refer to the first section; it will not be repeated here. The multiple service quality parameters mentioned above can be replaced with multiple sets / groups of service quality parameters. For an explanation of a single set of service quality parameters, please refer to the first section; it will not be repeated here.

[0072] In the above scheme, for a data channel, the policy control network element can indicate multiple quality of service parameters to the session management network element, so that the data streams in the same data channel can be provided with different quality of service. For example, the data packets of the first service in the first data channel are provided with one quality of service control, and the data packets of the second service are provided with another quality of service control. This adapts to the model-assisted quality of service matching mechanism, so that more suitable quality of service control can be provided for the data streams of different services, thereby improving the user experience.

[0073] It is understood that the aforementioned first indication information, which instructs the first data channel to enable model-assisted quality of service matching, is merely an example and should not constitute any limitation on this application. For instance, in other embodiments, the first data channel may also be implicitly instructed to enable model-assisted quality of service matching. For example, each of the aforementioned multiple quality of service parameters corresponds to a first identifier, which can implicitly indicate the enabling of model-assisted quality of service matching. That is, the aforementioned strategy information may include multiple quality of service parameters corresponding to the first data channel and the first identifier corresponding to each quality of service parameter. Similarly, model information can also implicitly indicate the enabling of model-assisted quality of service matching; that is, the aforementioned strategy information may include multiple quality of service parameters corresponding to the first data channel and model information. These will not be listed exhaustively here.

[0074] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the above method further includes: receiving third indication information from a session management network element / application function network element, the third indication information being used to instruct the first data channel to enable model-assisted quality of service matching; and determining that the first data channel enables model-assisted quality of service matching includes: determining that the first data channel enables model-assisted quality of service matching based on the third indication information.

[0075] In the above scheme, the session management network element / application function network element can instruct the policy control network element to enable model-assisted quality of service matching. This makes it easier for the policy control network element to configure multiple quality of service parameters for a data channel, thereby adapting to the above-mentioned model-assisted quality of service matching mechanism.

[0076] Optionally, each of the above multiple quality of service parameters corresponds to first identification information, which is used to identify the first service to which the first data packet in the first data channel belongs.

[0077] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, sending policy information to the session management network element includes: sending a first policy information to the session management network element, the first policy information including the aforementioned multiple quality of service parameters; or, sending multiple second policy information to the session management network element, each of the multiple second policy information including a quality of service parameter and at least one of the following: first identification information, first indication information, or model information.

[0078] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the above method further includes: obtaining model information from the application function network element, the model information being used to infer and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel; and sending the model information to the session management network element.

[0079] The policy control network element sends model information to the session management network element, so that the session management network element can send the model information to the user plane function network element / terminal. This allows the user plane function network element / terminal to perform model inference based on the model information, and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel based on the inference result. This provides more appropriate quality of service control for the data packet of the first service, thereby improving the user experience.

[0080] Thirdly, this application provides a communication method that can be applied to the terminal side, such as a terminal, or components configured in the terminal (such as processors, chips, chip systems, etc.), or logical modules or software capable of implementing all or part of the terminal functions. This application does not limit the application in this regard. The following example demonstrates terminal execution. Alternatively, this method can be applied to the user plane function network element side, such as a user plane function network element, or components configured in the user plane function network element (such as processors, chips, chip systems, etc.), or logical modules or software capable of implementing all or part of the user plane function network element functions. This application does not limit the application in this regard.

[0081] For example, the method includes: receiving fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used to indicate the quality of service channel corresponding to a data packet in a first data channel determined based on a model, wherein the first data channel corresponds to multiple quality of service channels; and determining the quality of service channel corresponding to a data packet in the first data channel based on the model corresponding to the first data channel.

[0082] In the above scheme, the user plane function network element / terminal uses a model to determine the quality of service (QoS) channel corresponding to the data packets of each service in the first data channel, thereby increasing the possibility of achieving more refined QoS control. For example, the data packets of the first service in the first data channel are provided with one QoS control, and the data packets of the second service are provided with another QoS control, thus providing more suitable QoS control for different services and improving the user experience.

[0083] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some possible implementations of the third aspect, determining the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel based on the model corresponding to the first data channel includes: determining the first identification information corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel based on the model corresponding to the first data channel, wherein the first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data packet belongs; and determining the quality of service channel corresponding to the first identification information based on the first identification information.

[0084] In the above scheme, the output parameter of the model is the first identification information, which places lower requirements on the model and helps to reduce the complexity of implementation.

[0085] Optionally, the aforementioned first data channel is a first service flow or a first session.

[0086] Optionally, the above method further includes: receiving model information, which is used to infer and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel.

[0087] Optionally, when the above method is applied to the user plane function network element side, the above method further includes: receiving multiple packet detection rules and multiple quality of service execution rules, the multiple packet detection rules corresponding to the first data channel, or receiving one packet detection rule and multiple quality of service execution rules, the one packet detection rule corresponding to the first data channel, and each quality of service execution rule corresponding to one quality of service channel.

[0088] When the above method is applied to the terminal side, the method further includes: receiving a quality of service rule, wherein the quality of service rule corresponds to the first data channel, and the quality of service rule corresponds to multiple quality of service channels; or, receiving multiple quality of service rules, wherein the multiple quality of service rules correspond to the first data channel, and each of the multiple quality of service rules corresponds to a quality of service channel.

[0089] Optionally, when the above method is applied to the user plane function network element side, the method further includes: receiving a first packet detection rule, multiple second packet detection rules, and multiple quality of service (QoS) execution rules, wherein the first packet detection rule corresponds to the first data channel, the first packet detection rule indicates a forwarding action rule, the forwarding action rule is used to determine the second packet detection rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service, the multiple second packet detection rules and the multiple QoS execution rules correspond one-to-one, and each QoS execution rule corresponds to a QoS channel.

[0090] When the above method is applied to the terminal side, the method further includes: receiving a first quality of service rule and a plurality of second quality of service rules, wherein the first quality of service rule corresponds to the first data channel, the first quality of service rule indicates a forwarding action rule, the forwarding action rule is used to determine the second quality of service rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service, and each of the plurality of second quality of service rules corresponds to a quality of service channel.

[0091] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some possible implementations of the third aspect, the above method further includes: receiving second indication information, which indicates that only one quality of service enforcement rule is in effect at any given time.

[0092] It should be understood that the third aspect of this application corresponds to the technical solution of the first aspect of this application, and the beneficial effects achieved by each aspect and the corresponding feasible implementation are similar, so they will not be repeated here.

[0093] Fourthly, this application provides a communication apparatus for executing the methods in the first to third aspects and any possible implementations of the first to third aspects described above. Specifically, the communication apparatus includes a module for executing the methods in any possible implementations of the first to third aspects described above.

[0094] Fifthly, this application provides another communication device, including a processor coupled to a memory, which can be used to execute instructions in the memory to implement the methods in the first to third aspects and any possible implementations of the first to third aspects described above. Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, to which the processor is coupled.

[0095] In one implementation, the communication device is a terminal or a core network device. When the communication device is a terminal or a core network device, the communication interface can be a transceiver or an input / output interface.

[0096] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip applicable to a terminal or core network device. When the communication device is a chip applicable to a terminal or core network device, the aforementioned communication interface can be an input / output interface.

[0097] A sixth aspect provides a processor, comprising: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive signals through the input circuit and transmit signals through the output circuit, causing the processor to execute the methods described in the first to third aspects and any possible implementation thereof.

[0098] In the specific implementation process, the processor can be a chip, the input circuit can be an input pin, the output circuit can be an output pin, and the processing circuit can be a transistor, gate circuit, flip-flop, and various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit can be received and input by, for example, but not limited to, a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, output to a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter. Furthermore, the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit, which is used as the input circuit and the output circuit at different times. This application does not limit the specific implementation method of the processor and various circuits.

[0099] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, including a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory, receive signals via a receiver, and transmit signals via a transmitter to execute the methods described in the first to third aspects and any possible implementation thereof.

[0100] Optionally, the processor may be one or more, and the memory may be one or more.

[0101] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be separated from the processor.

[0102] In the specific implementation process, the memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), which can be integrated with the processor on the same chip or set on different chips. This application does not limit the type of memory or the way the memory and processor are set.

[0103] It should be understood that related data interaction processes, such as sending configuration information, can be a process of outputting configuration information from the processor, and receiving configuration information can be a process of the processor receiving input configuration information. Specifically, the processed output data can be output to the transmitter, and the input data received by the processor can come from the receiver. Here, the transmitter and receiver can be collectively referred to as a transceiver.

[0104] The communication device in the seventh aspect above can be a chip. The processor can be implemented in hardware or software. When implemented in hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, integrated circuit, etc. When implemented in software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor that reads software code stored in memory. The memory can be integrated into the processor or located outside the processor and exist independently.

[0105] Eighthly, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising: a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions), which, when the computer program is run, causes a computer to perform the methods of the first to third aspects and any possible implementation thereof.

[0106] Ninthly, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods of the first to third aspects and any possible implementation thereof.

[0107] It should be understood that the fourth to ninth aspects of this application correspond to the technical solutions of the first to third aspects of this application, and the beneficial effects obtained by each aspect and the corresponding feasible implementation are similar, and will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0108] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the network architecture applicable to the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0109] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a QoS architecture;

[0110] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the model's reasoning process;

[0111] Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0112] Figure 4A This is a schematic diagram illustrating the correspondence between the service quality channel and the data flow of the service provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0113] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of implementation method one provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0114] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of implementation method two provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0115] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of implementation method three provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0116] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram illustrating that only one quality of service enforcement rule is effective at any given time, as provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0117] Figure 9 This is a detailed flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0118] Figure 10 This is another detailed flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0119] Figure 11 This is a schematic block diagram of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0120] Figure 12 This is another schematic block diagram of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0121] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the following points are explained first:

[0122] First, in the embodiments of this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used to distinguish identical or similar items with essentially the same function and effect. For example, the first strategy information and the second strategy information are only used to distinguish strategy information and do not limit their order. Those skilled in the art will understand that the terms "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and the terms "first" and "second" are not necessarily different; for example, the first strategy information and the second strategy information may be the same or different.

[0123] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, the words "exemplarily" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or explanations. Any embodiment or design scheme described as "exemplarily" or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Specifically, the use of the words "exemplarily" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0124] In the embodiments of this application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more than one" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following," "one or more of the following," or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of singular or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0125] Second, in the embodiments of this application, "send" and "receive" indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, "send information to the second device" can be understood as the destination of the information being the second device, which may include sending directly via the air interface or sending indirectly via the air interface from other units or modules. "Receive information from the second device" can be understood as the source of the information being the second device, which may include receiving directly from the second device via the air interface or receiving indirectly from the second device via the air interface from other units or modules. "Send" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receive" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface.

[0126] In other words, sending and receiving can be done between devices, such as between a second device and a first device; or it can be done within a device, such as between components, modules, chips, software modules, or hardware modules within a device via a bus, wiring, or interface.

[0127] It is understandable that information may undergo necessary processing, such as encoding and modulation, before being sent from the source to the destination. Similarly, the destination, upon receiving information from the source, can also perform corresponding processing, such as decoding and demodulation, to interpret the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be understood in a similar way and will not be elaborated further.

[0128] Third, in the embodiments of this application, "instruction" can include direct instruction and indirect instruction, as well as explicit instruction and implicit instruction. The information indicated by a certain piece of information is called the information to be instructed. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to instruct the information to be instructed, such as, but not limited to, directly instructing the information to be instructed, such as the information to be instructed itself or its index. It can also indirectly instruct the information to be instructed by instructing other information, where there is a relationship between the other information and the information to be instructed; or it can only instruct a part of the information to be instructed, while the other parts of the information to be instructed are known or pre-agreed upon. For example, the instruction of specific information can be achieved by using a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol predefined) arrangement of various pieces of information, thereby reducing instruction overhead to a certain extent. This application does not limit the specific method of instruction.

[0129] It is understandable that, for the sender of the instruction information, the instruction information can be used to indicate the information to be indicated, and for the receiver of the instruction information, the instruction information can be used to determine the information to be indicated.

[0130] Fourth, in the embodiments of this application, descriptions such as "when," "under the circumstances," "if," and "if" all refer to the device making corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, and are not limited to a specific time. They do not require the device to make a judgment action during implementation, nor do they imply any other limitations.

[0131] Fifth, the tables in the embodiments of this application are merely examples, and the values ​​of the information in each table are only examples and can be configured to other values. This application does not limit the scope of protection of this application. For example, appropriate modifications and adjustments can be made based on the tables mentioned above, such as splitting, merging, etc. For another example, the parameter names shown in the headings of each table can also use other names that the communication device can understand, and the values ​​or representations of the parameters can also be other values ​​or representations that the communication device can understand. For yet another example, there can be more or fewer parameters in each table. Furthermore, when implementing the above tables, other data structures can also be used, such as arrays, queues, containers, stacks, linear lists, pointers, linked lists, trees, graphs, structures, classes, heaps, hash tables, or hash tables, etc.

[0132] Furthermore, this application does not limit the names of the various tables in the embodiments of this application.

[0133] Sixth, in the embodiments of this application, the messages / information exchanged between devices / network elements / equipment (such as session establishment requests sent by terminals) may be forwarded through one or more intermediate network elements, or they may be directly exchanged between devices / network elements / equipment (i.e., without the need for intermediate network element forwarding). When the messages / information exchanged between devices / network elements / equipment are forwarded through one or more intermediate network elements, the content / information elements of the information / message remain unchanged, but the name and format of the information / message (such as the order of information elements / the number of information elements) may change.

[0134] Seventh, for ease of understanding, this document provides several examples of names, such as network element names like SMF network element, PCF network element, UPF network element, etc., and information names like policy information, QoS rules, PCC rules, etc., as well as PDR, QER, and quality of service rules, etc. These examples are merely illustrations and should not constitute any limitation on this application. This application does not preclude the possibility of using other names for related functions or messages in future protocols.

[0135] Furthermore, this application does not limit the applicable communication system. Correspondingly, the various network elements and information involved in this application can be network elements / information in various types of communication systems. For example, the SMF network element can be a network element in a 5th generation (5G) system, or a session management function network element or module in a future communication system, etc. Other network elements involved in this application are similar, and will not be listed one by one here.

[0136] Eighth, the technical solutions of this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, 5G systems, or New Radio (NR) systems, and future communication systems. The following will combine... Figure 1 The network architecture applicable to this application is described in detail.

[0137] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the network architecture applicable to the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0138] like Figure 1As shown, this network architecture includes user equipment (UE), access network (AN), core network (CN), and data network (DN). The AN is used to implement wireless physical layer functions, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, wireless access control, and mobility management. The CN may include management devices and gateway devices. The management devices are mainly used for terminal device registration, security authentication, mobility management, and location management. The gateway devices are mainly used to establish channels with terminals and forward data packets between terminals and external data networks on these channels. The DN may include network devices (such as servers and routers), and the data network is mainly used to provide various data services to terminals.

[0139] Understandable Figure 1 The illustration may depict a 5G network architecture based on a service-oriented interface in a non-roaming scenario. In this 5G network architecture, the AN can be a radio access network (RAN) device. The RAN may include at least one RAN node, and the UE can connect to the RAN node wirelessly. The RAN node connects to the CN wirelessly or via a wired connection. The core network equipment in the CN and the RAN node in the RAN can be different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device integrating CN and RAN logical functions.

[0140] The following section will provide a detailed explanation of each part of the above network architecture. For details on the architecture and explanations of each part, please refer to 3GPP TS23.501.

[0141] I. RAN Node

[0142] RAN nodes can provide wireless communication services, enabling terminals to access the wireless network. RAN nodes can also be called RAN equipment, access network equipment, etc., and this application does not limit the terminology. RAN nodes can be base stations (BS), evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs), transmission reception points (TRPs), home evolved NodeBs (or home Node Bs, HNBs), Wi-Fi access points (APs), mobile switching centers, next-generation NodeBs (gNBs) in 5G mobile communication systems, or base stations in future communication systems. RAN nodes can also be devices that perform base station functions in device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication systems, and internet-to-things (IoT) communication systems. RAN nodes can also be RAN nodes in non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), meaning they can be deployed on high-altitude platforms or satellites. RAN nodes can be macro base stations, micro base stations, indoor stations, relay nodes, donor nodes, or radio controllers in cloud radio access networks (CRAN) scenarios, or nodes in open radio access networks (O-RAN or ORAN) scenarios. Optionally, RAN nodes can also be servers, wearable devices, vehicles, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, in V2X technology, RAN nodes can be roadside units (RSUs). Of course, RAN nodes can also be nodes in the core network.

[0143] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, with each RAN node performing a portion of the base station's functions. For example, a RAN node can be a CU, a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). CUs and DUs can be configured separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs).

[0144] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an open RAN (ORAN or O-RAN) system, CU can also be called open CU (O-CU), DU can also be called open DU (O-DU), CU-CP can also be called open CU-CP (O-CU-CP), CU-UP can also be called open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and RU can also be called open RU (O-RU).

[0145] Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU units can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules. That is, the wireless access network device in this application can be a virtualized device, for example, implemented through general-purpose hardware and instantiated virtualization functions, or dedicated hardware and instantiated virtualization functions. The general-purpose hardware can be a server, such as a cloud server.

[0146] 2. UE

[0147] A UE can be a device that provides voice / data connectivity to a user, such as a handheld device or vehicle-mounted device with wireless connectivity. A UE can also be referred to as: terminal, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile terminal, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal equipment, wireless communication equipment, user agent, or user equipment, etc. This application does not limit the scope of this name.

[0148] Currently, examples of terminals include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving vehicles, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, terminals in 5G networks, or future evolution of public land mobile communication networks. This application does not limit the scope to terminals in a network (PLMN), etc.

[0149] As an example and not a limitation, the terminal can be a terminal in an Internet of Things (IoT) system. The IoT is an important component of future information technology development. Its main technical characteristic is connecting objects to networks through communication technologies, thereby realizing an intelligent network of human-machine interconnection and object-to-object interconnection. Exemplarily, the terminal in this application embodiment can be a wearable device. Wearable devices, also known as wearable smart devices, are a general term for devices that utilize wearable technology to intelligently design and develop everyday wearables, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. Wearable devices are portable devices that can be worn directly on the body or integrated into a user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not merely hardware devices; they can also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly defined, wearable smart devices include those with comprehensive functions, large size, and the ability to achieve complete or partial functions without relying on a smartphone, such as smartwatches or smart glasses, as well as those focused on a specific application function and requiring the use of other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0150] By way of example and not limitation, the terminal can also be a terminal in machine-type communication (MTC). Furthermore, the terminal can also be an on-board module, on-board component, on-board chip, or on-board unit built into a vehicle as one or more components or units. The vehicle can implement the methods provided in this application through the built-in on-board module, on-board component, on-board chip, or on-board unit. Therefore, the embodiments of this application can also be applied to vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks, such as vehicle-to-everything (V2X), long-term evolution-vehicle (LTE-V) technology, and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology.

[0151] III. CN

[0152] In the aforementioned 5G network architecture, the CN can include multiple functional units such as user plane function (UPF) network elements, authentication server function (AUSF) network elements, access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, session management function (SMF) network elements, network slice selection function (NSSF) network elements, network exposure function (NEF) network elements, network repository function (NRF) network elements, policy control function (PCF) network elements, unified data management (UDM) network elements, application function (AF) network elements, service communication proxy (SCP) network elements, network slice specific authentication and authorization function (NSSAAF) network elements, network slice authentication and authorization control function (NSACF) network elements, and location management function (LMF) network elements.

[0153] Among them, the UPF network element is responsible for packet routing and forwarding, packet filtering, and QoS control related functions for external connections to the DN and user plane. The AUSF network element is responsible for UE authentication. The AMF network element is responsible for mobility management and access management services. The SMF network element is responsible for session management, UE address management and allocation, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) functions, and user plane function selection and control. The NRF network element is responsible for service registration and service discovery, maintaining the NF text of available network function (NF) instances (also known as network function entities) and the services they support. The PCF network element is responsible for providing a unified policy framework for network behavior management, providing policy rules for control plane functions, and obtaining registration information related to policy decisions. The UDM network element supports authentication trust processing, user identity processing, access authorization, registration and mobility management, subscription management, and short message management in the 3GPP authentication and key negotiation mechanism. The AF network element can interact with the 3GPP core network to provide services, including interaction with the NEF and policy architecture. NF consumers and NF producers can communicate through SCP network element proxies to achieve converged connections, simplified connections, and other similar functions.

[0154] It is understood that in this application, the NF consumer can be understood as the party using the service, that is, the user of the service; and the NF producer can be understood as the party providing the service, that is, the provider of the service.

[0155] It should be noted that the above functional units can work independently or be combined to implement certain control functions, such as access control and mobility management functions for terminal devices, including access authentication, security encryption, and location registration, as well as session management functions such as the establishment, release, and modification of user plane transmission paths.

[0156] In addition, the above-mentioned network elements can also be referred to as units, modules, entities, functions, functional entities, functional modules, functional units, etc. This application does not limit the names.

[0157] In the 5G core network, functional units can communicate with each other through next-generation (NG) interfaces. For example, the UE can transmit control plane messages with the AMF network element through NG interface 1 (N1); AN / RAN equipment can establish a control plane signaling connection with the AMF network element through NG interface 2 (N2); RAN equipment can establish a user plane data transmission channel with the UPF network element through NG interface 3 (N3); UPF network elements can interact with the SMF network element through NG interface 4 (N4); UPF network elements can interact with the DN network element through NG interface 6 (N6); UPF network elements can communicate with each other through NG interface 9 (N9); and AMF network elements can interact with the SMF network element through NG interface 11 (N11). Figure 1 (not shown in the image), etc.

[0158] In service-oriented interface scenarios, some network elements in the 5G core network can be connected via a bus, such as... Figure 1 As shown, AUSF, AMF, NSACF, SMF, NSSF, NEF, NRF, PCF, UDM, LMF, and AF network elements are interconnected via a bus. When these network elements are interconnected via the bus, they use service-oriented interfaces. For example, AUSF network elements are connected to the bus via Nausf interfaces, AMF network elements are connected to the bus via Namf interfaces, SMF network elements are connected to the bus via Nsmf interfaces, NSSF network elements are connected to the bus via Nnssf interfaces, NEF network elements are connected to the bus via Nnef interfaces, NRF network elements are connected to the bus via Nnrf interfaces, PCF network elements are connected to the bus via Npcf interfaces, UDM network elements are connected to the bus via Nudm interfaces, AF network elements are connected to the bus via Naf interfaces, and so on.

[0159] It should be noted that, Figure 1 This is just an example architecture diagram, except... Figure 1 In addition to the functional units shown, the network architecture may also include other functional units, which are not limited in this application.

[0160] The above text provides specific details about this application and the network architecture to which this application applies. To facilitate understanding of the background technology related to this application described below, some technical terms involved in this application will be explained in detail below.

[0161] 1. QoS Rules: Used by terminals to mark and process data flows. QoS rules can include identifiers and traffic filtering conditions. Identifiers can include, for example, QoS flow identifiers (QFI) or 5G QoS identifiers (5QI). A QFI can be understood as an identifier for a specific QoS flow, which can be used to mark data packets in the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) header or the GPRS tunneling protocol-user plane (GTP-U) header. A 5QI is an identifier associated with a specific QoS flow, used to define the quality of service characteristics (such as priority, latency, etc.) of that QoS flow. Traffic filtering conditions can include, for example, one or more of the following: source address, destination address, source port number, destination port number, or protocol type (or protocol characteristics). For example, traffic filtering conditions can be IP triples, such as source address, source port number, and protocol type. For example, traffic filtering conditions can be IP 5-tuples, such as source address, destination address, source port number, destination port number, and protocol type.

[0162] For a more detailed explanation of QoS rules, please refer to 3GPP TS23.501 and 23.503.

[0163] 2. QoS Profile: A QoS profile is a predefined set of settings used to describe the quality of service requirements for specific types of traffic. These requirements include, but are not limited to, requirements for one or more parameters: bandwidth, latency, jitter, or packet loss rate. The QoS profile is used to control the scheduling of different data streams by access network devices.

[0164] 3. QoS Enforcement Rule (QER): This refers to the specific rules by which user plane function (UPF) network elements enforce QoS policies. QER includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: QFI, traffic shaping, and rate limiting parameters. Specifically, UPF network elements add QFI to the GTP-U header to identify and process data flows. Traffic shaping and rate limiting parameters indicate how to shape and rate-limit data flows to control traffic rates and network resource usage. For a more detailed explanation of QER, please refer to 3GPP TS23.501; it will not be elaborated upon here.

[0165] 4. Packet Detection Rule (PDR): Used to identify and process data flows. PDR can be associated with QER, which defines the QoS policy applied to the data flow. When a packet that meets the PDR requirements (also known as meeting traffic filtering conditions or packet filter set) is detected, the associated QER action is executed. Traffic filtering conditions are used to identify specific data flows, including but not limited to: source address, destination address, protocol type (or protocol characteristics, protocol features, etc.), source port number, or destination port number. The associated QER action executed by the UPF network element may include: when the UPF network element detects packets that meet different PDR requirements, associating these packets with the corresponding QoS flow (i.e., filling in the corresponding value in the QFI field of the GTP-U header).

[0166] The aforementioned QoS rules can be issued by the SMF network element to the terminal, the aforementioned QoS configuration file can be issued by the SMF network element to the access network device, and the aforementioned QER can be sent by the SMF network element to the UPF network element. The aforementioned QoS rules, QoS configuration file, and QER are determined by the SMF network element based on PCC rules, which will be explained in detail below. Furthermore, the SMF network element can also perform QoS flow binding based on PCC rules.

[0167] 5. PCC Rules: Sent from the PCF network element to the SMF network element, indicating the control methods for policies and charging, such as indicating the control methods for policies and charging corresponding to different service data flows (SDFs) (hereinafter referred to as service flows). For a detailed explanation of PCC rules, please refer to 3GPP TS23.501 and 23.503, which will not be elaborated here.

[0168] For example, the PCF network element generates policy information for each UE / session / service flow based on pre-configured policies, or information such as UE subscription information and requirements provided by third parties, combined with local logic. PCC rules are one type of policy information. For example, if a UE has subscribed to the acceleration service for game A, the QoS requirements for the SDF of that game service in the PCC rules will be more stringent, such as a lower packet latency budget and a higher guaranteed bit rate.

[0169] After receiving a PCC rule, an SMF network element can perform QoS flow binding, or in other words, bind the received PCC rule to a QoS flow (or correspond it to a QoS flow), or determine the QoS flow corresponding to the PCC rule.

[0170] More specifically, a PCC rule includes one or more QoS parameters (or QoS features), where at least one QoS parameter (such as 5QI or ARP) is used for QoS flow binding. When multiple PCC rules use the same parameter for QoS flow binding, these multiple PCC rules can be bound to the same QoS flow. For a detailed explanation of QoS flow binding, please refer to 3GPP TS23.501 and 23.503, which will not be elaborated upon here.

[0171] In addition to binding QoS flows, SMF network elements can also generate QoS rules, QoS configuration files, and QERs based on PCC rules, and send the QoS rules to the terminal, the QoS configuration files to the access network device, and the QERs to the UPF network element, so that the terminal, access network device, and UPF network element can perform QoS control.

[0172] The following will combine Figure 2 This document provides a detailed explanation of how QoS control is performed on terminals, access network equipment, and UPF network elements.

[0173] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a QoS architecture. It should be understood that... Figure 2 Take the processing of the following data packet as an example.

[0174] For example, such as Figure 2 As shown, the UPF network element can process service flows according to the QER. When the UPF network element detects data packets that meet different PDR requirements, it associates these data packets with the corresponding QoS flows (that is, fills in the corresponding value in the QFI field of the GTP-U header). For example, service flows 1 and 2 are associated with QoS flow 1, service flow 3 is associated with QoS flow 2, and service flow 4 is associated with QoS flow 3. Furthermore, the UPF network element can send the above data packets to the access network device, such as through a GTP-U tunnel. After receiving the data packets, the access network device can schedule and control the data packets according to the QoS configuration file, and then send the data packets to the terminal through the data radio bearer (DRB). For example, DRB 1 is used to carry QoS flow 1, and DRB 2 is used to carry QoS flows 2 and QoS flow 3. After receiving the data packets, the terminal can associate the data packets with the corresponding QoS flows and process them based on QoS rules. A more detailed explanation of the above QoS architecture can be found in 3GPP TS23.501, and will not be elaborated here.

[0175] With the development of artificial intelligence, it has become possible to deploy AI models on user plane devices (such as UPF network elements, RAN equipment, and UEs) and infer the service type of data packets based on these models (e.g., whether the data packet belongs to a game service or a video streaming service). Such models can be called user plane models. It should be noted that "user plane model" is merely an exemplary name and does not constitute a limitation on the model's function or deployment location. Any AI model that can be used for the functions or transmission processes mentioned in this application should fall within the protection scope of this application.

[0176] By reasoning about data packets based on a user plane model, it becomes easier to apply different quality of service controls to data packets belonging to the same service flow based on the reasoning results. For example, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the input parameters of the model (hereinafter referred to as input parameters) may include one or more of the following: the unencrypted part of the packet header, the size of the packet header, the size of the packet, the arrival interval of the packet, or the behavior of traffic within the data channel (such as service flow, or other granularities such as session) (where the behavior of traffic can be understood as the change of traffic over time), etc. (or the packet itself can be directly used as the input parameter of the model). The terminal / user plane functional network element can perform inference through the model to obtain the inference result. The user plane network element / terminal can perform corresponding quality of service control on the packet based on the above inference result. The output parameters of the model (hereinafter referred to as output parameters) may include, for example, the service type of the packet (e.g., identified by service identification information) or the quality of service parameters corresponding to the packet, etc.

[0177] After introducing the user plane model, user plane network elements / terminals can perform quality of service control on data packets based on the inference results of the model. However, the quality of service management method described above (which is: the SMF network element binds the service flow to the QoS flow and indicates the QoS parameters corresponding to the service flow to the UPF network element / terminal so that the UPF network element / terminal can perform corresponding quality of service control on the data packets in the service flow) may not be compatible with the above mechanism (i.e. the model-assisted quality of service matching mechanism) and needs to be optimized.

[0178] In view of this, this application provides a communication method in which a session management network element binds a data channel to multiple quality of service (QoS) channels. In other words, the data channel corresponds to multiple QoS parameters. Thus, data packets within this data channel may be assigned different QoS parameters, or provided with different QoS controls, thereby increasing the possibility of providing more granular (or targeted) QoS control for data packets within the same data channel. Furthermore, the session management network element instructs the user plane function network element / terminal to determine the QoS channel corresponding to the data packets of each service within the aforementioned data channel based on a model. In this way, the user plane function network element / terminal can use model inference and determine the QoS channel / QoS parameter corresponding to the data packets of each service within the aforementioned data channel based on the inference results. This facilitates providing more granular QoS control for data packets within the same data channel, thereby improving the user experience.

[0179] Optionally, the aforementioned data channel can be a business flow or a session (or connection; this application does not exclude the possibility of using other names in future protocols). This application does not limit the granularity of the data channel.

[0180] The communication method provided in this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description uses the interaction between a session management network element and a user plane function network element / terminal as an example to illustrate the communication method provided in this application, but this should not be construed as limiting the application in any way. The session management network element can also be replaced by components configured in the session management network element (such as chips, chip systems, processors, etc.), or by logic modules or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the session management network element. Similarly, the user plane function network element / terminal can also be replaced by components configured in the user plane function network element / terminal (such as chips, chip systems, processors, etc.), or by logic modules or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the user plane function network element / terminal. Exemplarily, the method described below can be applied to... Figure 1 The network architecture shown.

[0181] Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart of the communication method 400 provided in an embodiment of this application. The various steps in method 400 are described in detail below.

[0182] In step 401, the session management network element determines multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel.

[0183] The session management network element can be used to manage sessions (such as establishing, modifying, and releasing sessions). It can also be used for UE address management and allocation, and user plane function selection and control. For example, the session management network element can be an SMF network element. This application does not limit the specific name of the session management network element, and does not exclude the possibility of using other names in future protocols. The session management network element can be a separate network element device or a module (software or hardware module) of a network element.

[0184] The aforementioned first data channel can be any data channel. In this application, a data channel can be viewed as a logical connection used to carry / exchange data. For example, a data channel can be a business flow or a session (or connection, hereinafter referred to as a session). This application does not limit the granularity of the data channel. Correspondingly, the aforementioned first data channel can be a first business flow or a first session.

[0185] In one possible design, the aforementioned first data channel may include data streams from multiple services. For example, the first data channel may include data streams from a first service, data streams from a second service, and so on.

[0186] One example is that the aforementioned first data channel is a first service flow, which includes data flows from multiple services.

[0187] For example, in certain scenarios, such as the QUIC protocol, a service flow may include data flows of one or more services. The service flow can be identified using service data flow / service data flow filter (e.g., IP 5-tuple, IP triplet), or by application identifier, or by domain name identifier (e.g., FQDN / URL). This application does not limit the identification method of the service flow.

[0188] In the above example, the first service flow can include data flows from multiple services. For example, data packets belonging to the same IP 5-tuple may belong to data flows from different services. As another example, in a service flow using the QUIC protocol, data packets all belong to the same IP 5-tuple, but the QUIC protocol can also distinguish data flows from different services by using the stream identifier. Multiple service data flows can be transmitted within the same IP 5-tuple service flow, where the IP 5-tuple plus the stream ID identifies the service data flow.

[0189] In this application, services can be identified by service identification information (the service flow identification information is an example of the first identification information). The service identification information can be an identifier used within the mobile network to distinguish data flows of different services within the same service flow, such as a string. It can also be a general identifier from some protocols used to identify data flows of different services, such as the stream identifier in the QUIC protocol, which is universally applicable in both mobile and fixed networks. Simultaneously, the service identification information can also be used as an output parameter for model inference, thereby inferring / predicting the service corresponding to the data packet.

[0190] Another example is that the first data channel mentioned above is a first session, which includes data streams from multiple services. When the first data channel is a first session, the data streams from the multiple services included in the first session can correspond to service streams. For example, each data stream from one or more services in the first session corresponds to a service stream included in the first session.

[0191] The aforementioned first data channel corresponds to multiple quality of service (QoS) channels, and each of these QoS channels can be used to transmit data streams of one or more services in the aforementioned first data channel.

[0192] One possible scenario is that each of the aforementioned Quality of Service (QoS) channels is used to transmit the data stream of one service within the first data channel. Alternatively, each data stream from multiple services within the first data channel corresponds to a separate QoS channel. This approach allows for different QoS controls to be applied to different service data streams, enabling more appropriate and flexible QoS control and ultimately improving user experience.

[0193] For example, such as Figure 4A As shown, the first data channel includes data streams for service 1, service 2, service 3, and service 4, each corresponding to a quality of service (QoS) channel. Figure 4A (Taking QoS flow as an example) In the middle, the data flow of service 1 corresponds to QoS channel 1, the data flow of service 2 corresponds to QoS channel 2, the data flow of service 3 corresponds to QoS channel 3, and the data flow of service 4 corresponds to QoS channel 4.

[0194] Another possibility is that each of the aforementioned Quality of Service (QoS) channels is used to transmit data streams of multiple services within the first data channel. In other words, at least two service data streams within the first data channel correspond to one QoS channel. The data streams of multiple services corresponding to the same QoS channel can be data streams of multiple services with the same service characteristics / QoS requirements; that is, data streams of multiple services with the same characteristics / QoS requirements can correspond to the same QoS channel. For example, the first data channel may include a data stream of a first service, and this first service data stream may include data packets of multiple services, which correspond to one QoS channel, and these multiple services have the same service characteristics / QoS requirements.

[0195] It is understandable that data flows with the same service quality requirements can require the same service quality control. Alternatively, data flows with the same business characteristics may require similar / identical service quality controls. In the above scheme, data flows with the same business characteristics / service quality requirements can be provided with the same service quality control, while data flows with different business characteristics / service quality requirements can be provided with different service quality controls. This approach has two advantages: firstly, it facilitates providing more suitable service quality control for data flows with different business characteristics / service quality requirements, making service quality control more flexible and improving user experience; secondly, providing the same service quality control for data flows with the same business characteristics / service quality requirements helps reduce resource consumption and simplifies service quality control.

[0196] For example, the first data channel corresponds to two service quality channels. The first data channel includes the data stream of service 1, the data stream of service 2, the data stream of service 3, and the data stream of service 4. Each of the two service quality channels is used to transmit the data streams of at least two services. For example, one service quality channel can be used to transmit the data streams of service 1 and service 2, and the other service quality channel is used to transmit the data streams of service 3 and service 4.

[0197] It is understandable that the above two scenarios can also be combined. For example, the first data channel corresponds to two quality of service (QoS) channels. The first data channel includes data streams for service 1, service 2, service 3, and service 4. One of the two QoS channels is used to transmit the data stream of one service, and the other QoS channel is used to transmit the data streams of multiple services. For example, one QoS channel can be used to transmit the data stream of service 1, and the other QoS channel can be used to transmit the data streams of service 2, service 3, and service 4.

[0198] In this application, the aforementioned business characteristics can be used to determine service quality requirements. The aforementioned shared business characteristics can be understood as any one or more of the following: traffic patterns, data flow trends / patterns over time, data flow periodicity, traffic bit rate, burst volume, and burst arrival time. Alternatively, businesses with the same business characteristics can also be understood as belonging to the same type of business, businesses with the same or similar user experience, or businesses providing the same or similar services. For example, businesses that both provide short video services can be considered to have the same business characteristics.

[0199] Traffic belonging to the same service quality channel among the above multiple service quality channels is provided with the same forwarding processing / traffic forwarding / traffic forwarding processing, or traffic belonging to the same service quality channel is provided with the same service quality control / service quality management / customer experience.

[0200] Each of the aforementioned multiple Quality of Service (QoS) channels can correspond to a Quality of Service (QoS) parameter. In this application, the aforementioned single QoS parameter can also be replaced by a set of QoS parameters, a group of QoS parameters, or one or more QoS parameters. A set of QoS parameters can include one or more parameters, such as 5QI, ARP, RQA, flow bit rate, etc. For specific examples, please refer to the QoS parameter examples in the existing protocol TS23.501. Alternatively, it can be parameters used in future communication networks for QoS control / QoS management / customer experience / forwarding processing / traffic forwarding / traffic forwarding processing, which will not be elaborated here. Optionally, the aforementioned set of QoS parameters or group of QoS parameters can be multiple QoS parameters. These QoS parameters correspond to different dimensions of QoS control and can be used together to control a QoS channel. Optionally, the aforementioned set of QoS parameters can be sent by the policy control network element to the session management network element in the policy information. For example, one or more QoS parameters included in the policy control part of the policy information are called a set of QoS parameters.

[0201] Optionally, the aforementioned quality of service channel may be, for example, a QoS stream, a bearer, a radio bearer, a connection, or a channel used in future communication networks to provide the same forwarding service.

[0202] It should be noted that in this application, determining the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel can also be replaced by binding the first data channel to multiple quality of service channels, or binding / corresponding the first data channel to multiple quality of service channels. This application does not limit this.

[0203] In one possible implementation, before step 401, the method 400 further includes: the session management network element acquiring multiple quality of service parameters corresponding to the first data channel.

[0204] The aforementioned service quality parameters correspond one-to-one with the aforementioned service quality channels, with each service quality channel corresponding to one service quality parameter. In some special cases, it is possible for multiple service quality channels to have the same service quality parameter. For example, when some services within a service quality channel require QoS monitoring, these services need to be mapped to a separate service quality channel, and these two service quality channels have the same service quality parameter. Such cases, where some services need to be mapped to a separate service quality channel, are also within the scope of protection of this application and are not restricted.

[0205] In this application, the explanation of a service quality parameter can be found above, and will not be repeated here.

[0206] The session management network element obtains multiple quality of service (QoS) parameters corresponding to the first data channel. One possible implementation is that the session management network element receives these QoS parameters from the policy control network element. This implementation is applicable, for example, to scenarios where the session management network element and the policy control network element are deployed separately. Another possible implementation is that the session management network element obtains these QoS parameters from local storage. This implementation is applicable, for example, to scenarios where the session management network element and the policy control network element are co-deployed / combined.

[0207] After obtaining the multiple quality of service parameters corresponding to the first data channel, the session management network element can bind the first data channel to multiple quality of service channels according to the multiple quality of service parameters corresponding to the first data channel.

[0208] For example, determining the multiple service quality channels corresponding to the first data channel includes: determining the multiple service quality channels corresponding to the first data channel based on at least one of the following: service quality parameters, first identification information, model information, or first indication information, wherein the first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first data channel belongs, and the first indication information is used to indicate that model-assisted service quality matching is enabled.

[0209] The following is a detailed explanation of each of the above items.

[0210] The aforementioned service quality parameters correspond to service quality channels. For example, each service quality channel in the above-mentioned multiple service quality channels corresponds to one service quality parameter. A single service quality parameter can also be referred to as a set of service quality parameters, a group of service quality parameters, or one or more service quality parameters. For an explanation of a set of service quality parameters, please refer to the above text; it will not be repeated here.

[0211] The aforementioned first identification information can be business identification information, as explained above. One business can correspond to one first identification information, or businesses with the same business characteristics can correspond to one first identification information. For example, business 1 corresponds to business identification information 1, and business 2 corresponds to business identification information 2. Another example is that business 1 and business 2 correspond to business identification information 1, and business 3 and business 4 correspond to business identification information 2, where business 1 and business 2 have the same business characteristics, and business 3 and business 4 have the same business characteristics.

[0212] The aforementioned model information indicates the model used for reasoning to determine the Quality of Service (QoS) channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel. Alternatively, the aforementioned model information can indicate a model used for QoS matching, so as to determine the QoS channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel based on that model.

[0213] Optionally, the aforementioned model information may include at least one of the following: model identification information, model feature information, or the model itself. When the aforementioned model information includes model identification information and / or model feature information, the device (such as a user plane function network element / terminal) can determine the model based on the model information and perform inference based on the model. When the aforementioned model information includes the model itself, the device can directly perform inference based on the model.

[0214] The aforementioned model identification information is used to identify the model. The model identification information can take various forms, such as: a model identifier (e.g., a special string representing the model), model address information (e.g., accessing this address allows downloading or using the model or calling its API), model domain name information (e.g., URL, FQDN; accessing this domain name allows downloading or using the model or calling its API. Alternatively, a DNS query can be used to obtain the address corresponding to the domain name, and then accessing the corresponding address to download or call the model), or a model calling function (e.g., a function name; calling this function allows access to the model's API to obtain certain functions of the model or download the model by calling the API. Alternatively, the function can be used to call the device's local interface to call locally stored model functions). This application does not limit the form of the model identification information; it can be explicit or implicit, as long as the information can be used to identify the corresponding model, obtain the corresponding model, or call the model's functions.

[0215] Model feature information can be used to represent the attributes, characteristics, functions, or usage of a model. For example, model feature information may include the model consumer (also known as a "model user," such as any one or more UE, UPF network elements), the direction of the model's action on the service flow (e.g., uplink, downlink, or both), the model function (e.g., encrypted flow classification / detection), and an analysis identifier (the analysis identifier indicates the model's function; 3GPP TS 23.288 has defined various analysis identifiers, and the model function mentioned in this application can be used as a new analysis identifier). The above model feature information is just a few examples. Model feature information can also include other information used to represent the attributes, characteristics, functions, or usage of a model, as long as the corresponding model can be identified, obtained, or its functions invoked through this information.

[0216] The aforementioned first instruction information is used to instruct the use of model-assisted Quality of Service (QoS) matching. Model-assisted QoS matching can also be replaced with any of the following: AI-assisted QoS matching, model-enhanced QoS matching, AI-enhanced QoS matching, model-enabled QoS matching, model-enabled flow detection, flow inference, encrypted flow QoS matching, encrypted flow detection, encrypted flow inference, encrypted flow model inference, single-flow multi-level QoS matching, fine-grained QoS matching, or encrypted flow multi-level QoS matching, etc. Its essential function is to instruct the UE or UPF network element to use the model's functionality when determining the correspondence between data packets and QoS channels, or to instruct the UE or UPF network element to determine the correspondence between data packets and QoS channels based on the model. This application does not limit the specific name of the instruction information.

[0217] The aforementioned first indication information can explicitly indicate model-assisted quality of service matching, while the aforementioned first identification information and model information can implicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching. In other words, when binding data channels and quality of service channels, the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching can be considered, thereby ensuring that the binding method of the quality of service channel is compatible with the aforementioned model-assisted quality of service matching mechanism. For example, as long as the session management network element provides model information to the terminal or user plane network element, it simultaneously indicates the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0218] Once it is determined that model-assisted quality of service matching is enabled for the first data channel based on at least one of the aforementioned first instruction information, first identification information, or model information, the session management network element can bind the first data channel to multiple quality of service channels. These multiple quality of service channels can be newly created or existing. For example, the session management network element can determine whether there is a quality of service channel that matches the quality of service parameters among the existing quality of service channels. If there is, the session management network element can map the first data channel to the existing quality of service channel; if not, the session management network element can create a new quality of service channel and map the first data channel to the new quality of service channel.

[0219] Optionally, the session management network element may acquire multiple quality of service parameters corresponding to the first data channel in the following two possible ways:

[0220] One possible implementation is that the session management network element obtains first policy information, which includes the aforementioned multiple quality of service (QoS) parameters. Another possible implementation is that the session management network element obtains multiple second policy information, each of which includes a QoS parameter. The aforementioned first policy information / multiple second policy information can be obtained from the policy control network element, obtained from local storage, or generated / determined locally; this application does not limit this. The two possible implementations will be explained in detail below. For example, when the session management network element and the policy control network element are co-located, the multiple QoS parameters corresponding to the first data channel can be determined internally.

[0221] Session management network elements obtain first policy information:

[0222] The aforementioned first policy information can indicate the policy and billing control method. For example, the aforementioned first policy information can be a PCC rule, or in other words, the aforementioned first policy information includes PCC rules.

[0223] The first data channel mentioned above can be the first service flow or the first session. Correspondingly, the first policy information can also include two cases: Case 1: The first policy information mentioned above is the first policy information corresponding to the first service flow; Case 2: The first policy information mentioned above is the policy information corresponding to the data flows of multiple services in the first session. The following will explain in detail the contents of the first policy information in the above two cases.

[0224] Scenario 1: The first strategy information is the first strategy information corresponding to the first business flow.

[0225] Optionally, the first strategy information may further include first identification information, which is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first service flow belongs, and to indicate at least one service in the first service flow. For example, one quality of service parameter corresponds to one piece of first identification information. For instance, the first identification information is service identification information, and the first strategy information includes multiple quality of service parameters and the service identification information corresponding to each of these multiple quality of service parameters. For example, quality of service parameter 1 corresponds to service identification information 1, and quality of service parameter 2 corresponds to service identification information 2.

[0226] It is understood that the aforementioned service quality parameter 1 may also correspond to business identification information 1 and business identification information 2, and this application does not limit this.

[0227] Optionally, the first strategy information may further include first indication information, which is used to indicate whether model-assisted service quality matching is enabled. As one example, the first strategy information includes multiple service quality parameters and the first indication information, which is used to indicate whether model-assisted service quality matching is enabled. As another example, the first strategy information includes multiple service quality parameters, the first indication information, and first identification information corresponding to the multiple service quality parameters.

[0228] Optionally, the first strategy information mentioned above also includes the identification information of the first service flow. The identification information of the first service flow may be, for example, an IP 5-tuple, an IP triple, etc. For specific identification methods, please refer to the identification methods of service flows described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0229] One example includes the identification information of a first service flow and multiple quality of service (QoS) parameters in the first policy information. Another example includes the identification information of a first service flow, multiple QoS parameters, and the first identification information corresponding to each of the aforementioned QoS parameters. Yet another example includes the identification information of a first service flow, multiple QoS parameters, and first indication information in the first policy information. Still another example includes the identification information of a first service flow, multiple QoS parameters, first indication information, and the first identification information corresponding to each of the aforementioned QoS parameters; these will not be listed individually here.

[0230] Optionally, the first strategy information mentioned above may also include model information.

[0231] The aforementioned first indication information can explicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service (QoS) matching. The aforementioned first policy information includes multiple QoS parameters (in existing technologies, one QoS parameter is included in one first policy information; therefore, in this application, including multiple QoS parameters in the first policy information can implicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted QoS matching), first identification information, or model information can implicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted QoS matching. In this way, the session management network element can map / bind the aforementioned first policy information to multiple QoS channels, thereby adapting to the model-assisted QoS matching mechanism.

[0232] Corresponding to the implementation method of obtaining multiple service quality parameters by the session management network element to obtain the first policy information, the above-mentioned determination of multiple service quality channels corresponding to the first data channel includes: determining multiple service quality channels corresponding to the first policy information.

[0233] One possible implementation is that the aforementioned first strategy information, which includes multiple service quality parameters, corresponds to multiple service quality channels. Each of the aforementioned service quality parameters and service quality channels corresponds one-to-one. Alternatively, the aforementioned multiple service quality parameters can be replaced with multiple sets / groups of service quality parameters. For an explanation of a set of service quality parameters, please refer to the above text; it will not be repeated here.

[0234] The following section uses the PCC rule as an example to explain in detail the content included in the first policy information and the process of binding the session management network element to the first policy information and the quality of service channel.

[0235] A PCC rule may include multiple quality of service parameters. In existing protocols, a PCC rule includes / corresponds to one quality of service parameter (or a set / group of quality of service parameters). However, in this application, a PCC rule may include multiple quality of service parameters. In this case, model-assisted quality of service matching may be enabled by default, or model-assisted quality of service matching may be enabled by one or more of the following first identification information, first indication information, or model information.

[0236] When the PCC rule includes the aforementioned first identification information, the output parameter of the model can be the first identification information when the user plane function network element / terminal performs model inference. Thus, the user plane function network element / terminal can determine the service quality parameters corresponding to the data packet based on the first identification information, and then perform service quality control on the data packet.

[0237] When the PCC rule does not include the first identification information mentioned above, when the user plane function network element / terminal performs model inference, the output parameter of the model can be a quality of service parameter (such as what the quality of service parameter is or the identification information corresponding to the quality of service parameter). Thus, the user plane function network element / terminal can perform quality of service control on the data packet according to the quality of service parameter corresponding to the data packet.

[0238] For example, as shown in Table 1, a PCC rule includes service flow identification information, multiple service quality parameters, multiple first identification information (optional, such as service identification information), indication information a (optional, used to indicate enabling model-assisted service quality matching), and model information (optional).

[0239] Table 1

[0240]

[0241] After obtaining the aforementioned PCC rules, the session management network element can bind these PCC rules to multiple quality of service (QoS) channels. In other words, a PCC rule containing multiple QoS parameters can be bound to multiple QoS channels, or, when a PCC rule instructs a service flow to enable model-assisted QoS matching, the PCC rule can be bound to multiple QoS channels.

[0242] Scenario 2: The aforementioned first policy information refers to the policy information corresponding to the data streams of multiple services in the first session.

[0243] Optionally, the first policy information may further include first identification information, which is used to identify the service to which the data stream in the first session belongs. For an example, please refer to the detailed explanation in Case 1 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0244] Optionally, the first policy information may further include first instruction information, which is used to instruct the use of model-assisted quality of service matching. For an example, please refer to the detailed explanation in Case 1 above; simply replace the business flow with a session, and it will not be repeated here.

[0245] Optionally, the service data flow template in the first policy information mentioned above is a wildcard or empty. Unlike Case 1, where the service data flow template in the first policy information is service flow identification information (such as IP 5-tuple), in Case 2, the service data flow template in the first policy information is a wildcard or empty.

[0246] One example includes a business data flow template and multiple service quality parameters in the first policy information, where the business data flow template is a wildcard or empty. Another example includes a business data flow template, multiple service quality parameters, and first identification information corresponding to these service quality parameters, where the business data flow template is a wildcard or empty. Yet another example includes a business data flow template, multiple service quality parameters, and first indication information, where the business data flow template is a wildcard or empty. Still another example includes a business data flow template, multiple service quality parameters, first indication information, and first identification information corresponding to each of the aforementioned service quality parameters, where the business data flow template is a wildcard or empty. These examples are not listed here.

[0247] The aforementioned first indication information can explicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching. The aforementioned first policy information, including multiple quality of service parameters or first identification information, can implicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching. In this way, the session management network element can map / bind the aforementioned first policy information to multiple quality of service channels, thereby adapting to the mechanism of model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0248] Optionally, when the first policy information corresponds to the policy information of multiple service data flows in the first session, the policy control network element can instruct model information and / or enable model-assisted quality of service matching for the first session through session-level policy information (such as PDU session policy). This application does not limit this. Optionally, in this case, the policy control network element can instruct other information (e.g., service data flow template, multiple quality of service parameters, first identification information) through PCC rules (i.e., the first policy information).

[0249] Corresponding to the implementation method of the session management network element obtaining multiple service quality parameters through the aforementioned first policy information, the aforementioned determination of multiple service quality channels corresponding to the first data channel includes: determining multiple service quality channels corresponding to the aforementioned first policy information.

[0250] One possible implementation is that the aforementioned first strategy information, which includes multiple service quality parameters, corresponds to multiple service quality channels. Each of the aforementioned service quality parameters and service quality channels corresponds one-to-one. Alternatively, the aforementioned multiple service quality parameters can be replaced with multiple sets / groups of service quality parameters. For an explanation of a set of service quality parameters, please refer to the above text; it will not be repeated here.

[0251] The following section uses a PCC rule as an example to explain in detail the content of the first policy information. A PCC rule includes multiple quality of service (QoS) parameters. Policy control network elements can enable model-assisted QoS matching and / or policy information through PDU session policies, and indicate multiple QoS parameters through a single PCC rule. Optionally, the aforementioned PCC rule may also include first identification information corresponding to each QoS parameter.

[0252] When the PCC rule includes the aforementioned first identification information, the output parameter of the model can be the first identification information when the user plane function network element / terminal performs model inference. Thus, the user plane function network element / terminal can determine the service quality parameters corresponding to the data packet based on the first identification information, and then perform service quality control on the data packet.

[0253] When the PCC rule does not include the aforementioned first identification information, when the user plane function network element / terminal performs model inference, the output parameter of the model can be a quality of service parameter. Thus, the user plane function network element / terminal can perform quality of service control on the data packet based on the quality of service parameter corresponding to the data packet.

[0254] For example, as shown in Table 2, the PDU session policy includes indication information 'a', which indicates that model-assisted quality of service matching is enabled for the session. Optionally, the PDU session policy may also include model information. It is understood that the above PDU session policy may also exclude indication information 'a', but include model information, implicitly indicating that model-assisted quality of service matching is enabled for the session through the model information.

[0255] Table 2

[0256]

[0257] For example, as shown in Table 3, a PCC rule includes a business data flow template, multiple service quality parameters (two are used as an example in Table 3), and business identification information (the strength of the first identification information) corresponding to each service quality parameter. The business data flow template can be empty or a wildcard.

[0258] Table 3

[0259] PCC Rules Business data flow template (empty / wildcard) Service quality parameter 1 + (optional) business identification information 1 Service quality parameters 2 + (optional) business identification information 2

[0260] After obtaining the aforementioned PCC rules, the session management network element can bind these PCC rules to multiple quality of service (QoS) channels. In other words, a PCC rule containing multiple QoS parameters can be bound to multiple QoS channels, or, when model-assisted QoS matching is enabled, the PCC rule can be bound to multiple QoS channels.

[0261] The session management network element obtains multiple second policy information (each of these second policy information includes a quality of service parameter):

[0262] The aforementioned second policy information can indicate the control method for policies and billing. For example, the aforementioned second policy information can be a PCC rule, or in other words, the aforementioned second policy information includes PCC rules.

[0263] The first data channel mentioned above can be the first service flow or the first session. Correspondingly, the second policy information can also include two cases: Case 1: The above multiple second policy information are multiple second policy information corresponding to the first service flow; Case 2: The above multiple second policy information are multiple policy information corresponding to the data flows of multiple services in the first session. The content of the second policy information in the above two cases will be explained in detail below.

[0264] Scenario 1: The above-mentioned multiple second strategy information are multiple second strategy information corresponding to the first business flow.

[0265] Optionally, each second strategy information may further include one or more of the following: identification information of the first business flow, first instruction information, model information, or first identification information. The first instruction information is used to indicate the use of model-assisted quality of service matching, and the first identification information is used to identify the business to which the data flow in the first business flow belongs.

[0266] When each second strategy information includes first identification information, each of the above multiple service quality parameters corresponds to a first identification information, which is used to indicate at least one service in the above first service flow.

[0267] The aforementioned first indication information can explicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching. The aforementioned first identification information, or model information, can implicitly indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching. In this way, the session management network element can map / bind the aforementioned multiple second policy information to multiple quality of service channels, thereby adapting to the mechanism of model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0268] Corresponding to the implementation method of obtaining multiple service quality parameters by the session management network element, the above-mentioned determination of multiple service quality channels corresponding to the first data channel includes: determining multiple service quality channels corresponding to the above-mentioned multiple second policy information.

[0269] One possible implementation is that multiple second policy information entries, including the same business flow identification information, correspond to different quality of service channels.

[0270] The following example uses PCC rules. The policy control network element indicates multiple quality of service parameters that data packets in the first service flow may be assigned to through multiple PCC rules. Each PCC rule includes one quality of service parameter. Optionally, each PCC rule may also include first identification information.

[0271] When each of the above PCC rules includes the first identification information, when the user plane function network element / terminal performs model inference, the output parameter of the model can be the first identification information. Thus, the user plane function network element / terminal can determine the service quality parameters corresponding to the data packet based on the first identification information, and then perform service quality control on the data packet.

[0272] When the first identification information is not included in each of the above PCC rules, the output parameters of the model can be quality of service parameters when the user plane function network element / terminal performs model inference. Thus, the user plane function network element / terminal can perform quality of service control on the data packet according to the quality of service parameters corresponding to the data packet.

[0273] For example, as shown in Table 4, the first service flow corresponds to multiple PCC rules. Each PCC rule includes service flow identification information, multiple service quality parameters, first identification information (optional, such as service identification information), indication information a (optional, used to indicate enabling model-assisted service quality matching), and model information (optional). It can be understood that each PCC rule includes at least one of the following: indication information a, model information, or service identification information. This helps to avoid the mistaken belief that PCC rules with the same service flow identification information are updates to a certain PCC rule.

[0274] Table 4

[0275]

[0276] After obtaining multiple PCC rules, the session management network element can bind multiple PCC rules, including the same service flow identification information, to multiple quality of service channels.

[0277] Scenario 2: The aforementioned multiple second policy information items are policy information corresponding to the data streams of multiple services in the first session.

[0278] Optionally, each second policy information may also include one or more of the following: first identification information, wildcard, or first indication information. The first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first session belongs, and the first indication information is used to indicate that model-assisted quality of service matching is enabled.

[0279] Optionally, when the aforementioned multiple second policy information items correspond to the policy information of multiple service data flows in the first session, the policy control network element can instruct model information and / or enable model-assisted quality of service matching for the first session through session-level policy information (such as PDU session policy). Examples are shown in Table 2, and will not be detailed here.

[0280] Corresponding to the implementation method of the session management network element obtaining multiple service quality parameters through the above-mentioned multiple second policy information, the above-mentioned determination of multiple service quality channels corresponding to the first data channel includes: determining multiple service quality channels corresponding to the above-mentioned multiple second policy information.

[0281] The following uses a PCC rule as an example to explain in detail the content included in the second policy information and the binding process between the second policy information and the quality of service channel. A PCC rule includes a quality of service parameter and one or more of the following: first indication information, and a business data flow template (empty, wildcard, or business identification information). The business identification information can also correspond to the quality of service parameter; that is, the quality of service parameter is followed by the business identification information.

[0282] The relationship between the model's output parameters and the first identifier information can be found above, and will not be repeated here.

[0283] For example, as shown in Table 5, a PCC rule includes a business data flow template, a quality of service parameter, and indication information 'a'. The business data flow template can be empty, a wildcard, or business identification information. Optionally, the business data flow template can be empty or a wildcard, and the business identification information is located after the quality of service parameter; that is, this application does not limit the position of the business identification information.

[0284] Table 5

[0285]

[0286] The above describes how the session management network element determines multiple quality of service (QoS) channels for the first data channel under different circumstances. After determining the multiple QoS channels corresponding to the first data channel, the session management network element can, for example, execute step 402. However, this execution order is only an example and should not constitute any limitation on this application. For example, after the session management network element determines that model-assisted QoS matching is enabled, it can also execute step 402 first and then step 401.

[0287] In step 402, the session management network element sends a fourth indication message to the user plane function network element / terminal. This fourth indication message is used to indicate the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel determined based on the model. Correspondingly, the user plane function network element / terminal receives the fourth indication message.

[0288] The aforementioned user plane function network element can refer to a network element used for forwarding / transmitting / carrying service data packets, or a network element used for filtering / classifying / categorizing service data packets. For example, the aforementioned user plane function network element can be a UPF network element. This application does not exclude the possibility of using other names in future protocols.

[0289] The Quality of Service (QoS) channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel can also be replaced by the QoS channel corresponding to the data stream / data of the first service in the first data channel, or the QoS channel corresponding to the data packet / data stream / data used for the first service in the first data channel, or the QoS channel corresponding to the data packet / data stream / data sent or received by the application server corresponding to the first service in the first data channel. For example, the first service can be identified using service identification information; this application does not limit the identification method of the first service. The first service can be any one or more services in the first data channel. For example, the first data channel includes data streams of service 1, service 2, and service 3, and the first service can be at least one of service 1, service 2, or service 3.

[0290] Optionally, the data packets of the first service in the first data channel described above can be, for example, encrypted data packets. In this way, when the service to which the encrypted data packet belongs cannot be determined, the method provided in this application can provide more refined / appropriate quality of service control for the encrypted data packet, thereby improving the user experience.

[0291] The first service mentioned above corresponds to a service quality channel. The first service can be one or more services. Among them, the multiple services can have the same service characteristics / service quality requirements. For a detailed explanation, please refer to the relevant description in step 401, which will not be repeated here.

[0292] The above-mentioned determination of the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel based on the model can be understood as determining the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel based on the inference results of the model.

[0293] It should be noted that the step 402 above, in which the session management network element sends the fourth indication information to indicate the service quality channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel based on the model, is merely an example (this example is an explicit indication), and this should not constitute any limitation on this application. For example, in some embodiments, the session management network element may also implicitly indicate the service quality channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel based on the model (that is, indicate the activation of model-assisted service quality matching). For example, the activation of model-assisted service quality matching can be implicitly indicated by the model information described below, or by indicating multiple service quality channels as described below, and this application does not limit this.

[0294] Optionally, the above method 400 further includes: the session management network element sending model information to the user plane function network element / terminal, the model information being used to infer and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel.

[0295] The aforementioned model information is used to infer and determine the Quality of Service (QoS) channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel. It can also be understood that the model information indicates a model for QoS matching, enabling the determination of the QoS channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel based on that model. A detailed explanation of the model information can be found above and will not be repeated here.

[0296] The session management network element indicates model information to the user plane function network element / terminal, so that the user plane function network element / terminal can infer and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel based on the model information, thereby providing differentiated and more appropriate quality of service control for the data packets in the first data channel, and thus improving the user experience.

[0297] Optionally, determining the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel based on the model information can be done by determining the model based on the model information and then determining the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel based on the model.

[0298] For example, after receiving the fourth indication information, the user plane function network element / terminal can call / determine the corresponding model based on the model information corresponding to the first data channel, and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel according to the model. Detailed explanations of the model's input and output parameters have been described above and will not be repeated here.

[0299] It is understandable that the session management network element also needs to indicate to the user plane function network element / terminal the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel mentioned above.

[0300] Optionally, Figure 4 Steps 401 and 402 in method 400 shown can also be replaced by the following two steps:

[0301] The session management network element sends multiple quality of service (QoS) channels corresponding to the first data channel to the user plane function network element / terminal; the session management network element instructs the user plane function network element / terminal to determine the QoS channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel based on the model.

[0302] The following will present several possible implementation methods for the session management network element to indicate the quality of service channel / quality of service parameters to the user plane function network element / terminal.

[0303] One possible implementation is that the session management network element instructs the user plane function network element to have multiple packet detection rules and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules, the multiple packet detection rules corresponding to the aforementioned first data channel; and / or, the session management network element instructs the terminal to have multiple QoS rules, the multiple QoS rules corresponding to the aforementioned first data channel.

[0304] Each of the aforementioned service quality rules corresponds to one service quality channel. Each of the aforementioned service quality enforcement rules also corresponds to one service quality channel.

[0305] Another possible implementation is that the session management network element instructs the aforementioned user plane function network element to a packet inspection rule and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules, wherein the packet inspection rule corresponds to the aforementioned first data channel and each QoS enforcement rule corresponds to a QoS channel; and / or, the session management network element instructs the terminal to a QoS rule, wherein the QoS rule corresponds to the first data channel and the QoS rule corresponds to multiple QoS channels.

[0306] Another possible implementation is that the session management network element instructs the user plane function network element to a first packet detection rule, multiple second packet detection rules, and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules. The first packet detection rule corresponds to the first data channel, and the first packet detection rule instructs a forwarding action rule. This forwarding action rule is used to determine the second packet detection rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service. The multiple second packet detection rules and the multiple QoS enforcement rules are in one-to-one correspondence, and each QoS enforcement rule corresponds to a QoS channel. Alternatively, the session management network element instructs the terminal to a first QoS rule and multiple second QoS rules. The first QoS rule corresponds to the first data channel, and the first QoS rule instructs a forwarding action rule. This forwarding action rule is used to determine the second QoS rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service. Each of the multiple second QoS rules corresponds to a QoS channel.

[0307] The following section will explain in detail the above implementation methods when the first data channel is the first service flow and when the first data channel is the first session.

[0308] Scenario 1: The first data channel is the first business flow

[0309] Implementation methods one through three are methods for the session management network element to instruct multiple Quality of Service (QoS) channels to the user plane function network element. Implementation methods X through Z are methods for the session management network element to instruct multiple QoS channels to the terminal.

[0310] Implementation Method 1: The session management network element sends multiple packet detection rules and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules to the user plane function network element. These multiple packet detection rules correspond to the first service flow. In other words, the session management network element configures multiple packet detection rules and multiple QoS enforcement rules for the same service flow. The data packets filtered based on the above multiple packet detection rules all belong to the same service flow. Then, the user plane function network element can determine the service type (which can be identified by service identification information) / QoS channel / QoS parameters corresponding to the data packets based on model reasoning, thereby determining the packet detection rules and QoS enforcement rules corresponding to the data packets.

[0311] It is understandable that when a session management network element configures multiple packet detection rules and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules for the same service flow, it can implicitly instruct the user plane function network element to enable model-assisted QoS matching. In addition, the session management network element can also instruct the user plane function network element to enable model-assisted QoS matching based on the following: that is, the session management network element can also instruct the user plane function network element on the following content, for example, the following content can be carried in the packet detection rules.

[0312] 1. Indication information a: Used to indicate the enabling of model-assisted quality of service matching. This indication information a can be, for example, an example of the fourth indication information, that is, the aforementioned fourth indication information can be carried in the packet inspection rules.

[0313] 2. Service identification information (which can be a flow identifier or a string, etc.). The flow identifier is generated by the session management network element and is used to distinguish different packet detection rules and quality of service execution rules.

[0314] 3. Model Information: Indicates the model used for quality of service matching, and may include at least one of the following: model identification information, model feature information, or the model itself. A detailed explanation of model information can be found above and will not be repeated here.

[0315] When the session management network element indicates service identification information, the model's output parameter can be the service identification information. User plane function network elements can then determine the corresponding quality of service (QoS) parameters / QoS channel for the data packet based on this information, and subsequently perform QoS control on the data packet. When the session management network element does not indicate service identification information, the model's output parameter can be a QoS parameter, allowing user plane function network elements to perform QoS control on the data packet based on the corresponding QoS parameter.

[0316] For example, the packet detection rule is PDR, the service quality enforcement rule is QER, and service flow 1 includes 2 services, or service flow 1 corresponds to 2 service quality channels / service quality parameters, as shown in Tables 6 and 7. For service flow 1, the session management network element configures multiple PDRs (such as PDR 1 and PDR 2) and multiple QERs (such as QER 1 and QER 2) to the user plane function network element. The PDR may include a packet filtering set (this name is only an example and does not exclude the possibility of using other names in future protocols) and the identifier of the QER. The PDR may also include one or more of the following: service identification information (such as different service identification information corresponding to PDR 1 and PDR 2), indication information a, or model information. The data packets filtered by the user plane function network element based on PDR 1 and PDR 2 all belong to service flow 1. Service flow 1 corresponds to QER 1 and QER 2. The user plane function network element can determine the service identification information / quality of service parameters corresponding to the data packets based on model inference. Based on the service identification information / quality of service parameters corresponding to the data packets, the corresponding PDR can be determined, and then the corresponding QER can be determined based on the PDR. For example, the input parameters of the model can include at least one of the following: the unencrypted part of the data packet header, the size of the data packet, the size of the data packet header, the arrival interval of the data packets, or the behavior of the traffic in the service flow, etc. The output parameters of the model can be the service type of the data packet (such as indicated by service identification information) or the corresponding quality of service parameters of the data packet, etc. Optionally, the service identification information can also be part of the data packet filtering set, such as the data packet filtering set being IP 5-tuple + service identification information. In this case, the user plane function network element can filter data packets based on the IP 5-tuple, then determine the service identification information based on the model, and then determine the PDR, QER, etc. based on the service identification information.

[0317] Table 6

[0318]

[0319] Table 7

[0320]

[0321] For example, Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of one implementation method provided in this application. Figure 5 In this context, the message detection rules take PDR as an example, the service quality execution rules take QER as an example, and the service flow 1 includes two service data flows as an example, or in other words, service flow 1 corresponds to two service quality channels / service quality parameters.

[0322] like Figure 5As shown, for service flow 1, the session management network element configures two PDRs (such as PDR 1 and PDR 2) and two QERs (such as QER 1 and QER 2) to the user plane function network element. PDR 1 and QER 1 correspond to the data flow of service 1, and PDR 2 and QER 2 correspond to the data flow of service 2. The data packets filtered by the user plane function network element based on PDR 1 belong to service 1, and the quality of service parameters corresponding to the data packets filtered by PDR 1 are determined based on QER 1. The data packets filtered by PDR 2 belong to service 2, and the quality of service parameters corresponding to the data packets filtered by PDR 2 are determined based on QER 2.

[0323] For example, after receiving a data packet, the user plane function network element can determine that it matches both PDR 1 and PDR 2 based on the data packet filtering set (such as the IP 5-tuple corresponding to service flow 1). Then (optionally, based on model information), it can determine to further match the data packet according to the inference result of the model. For example, if the data packet is used as the input parameter of the model and the model output parameter is obtained as the service quality parameter corresponding to service identification information 1 or QER 1, then it can determine that the data packet matches PDR 1, and determine the service quality channel corresponding to the data packet according to QER 1, and forward the data packet through the service quality channel.

[0324] Implementation Method 2: The session management network element sends a packet inspection rule and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules to the user plane function network element. The packet inspection rule corresponds to the first service flow. In other words, the session management network element configures a packet inspection rule and multiple QoS enforcement rules for the same service flow. Based on the packet inspection rule, it filters out data packets belonging to the above service flow. Then, the user plane function network element can determine the service type / QoS channel / QoS parameters corresponding to the data packets based on model reasoning, thereby determining the QoS enforcement rule corresponding to the data packets.

[0325] It is understandable that when a session management network element configures one packet inspection rule and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules for the same service flow, it can implicitly instruct the user plane function network element to enable model-assisted QoS matching. Furthermore, the session management network element can also instruct the user plane function network element to enable model-assisted QoS matching based on one or more of the following: instruction information a, service identification information, or model information. That is, the session management network element can also instruct the user plane function network element on one or more of the above, for example, one or more of the above can be carried in the packet inspection rule. A detailed explanation of the above instruction information a, service identification information, or model information can be found in Implementation Method 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0326] When the session management network element indicates service identification information, the output parameter of the model can be the service identification information; when the session management network element does not indicate service identification information, the output parameter of the model can be the quality of service parameter. For a detailed explanation, please refer to Implementation Method 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0327] For example, the packet inspection rule is PDR, the service quality enforcement rule is QER, and service flow 1 includes two services, or service flow 1 corresponds to two service quality channels / service quality parameters, as shown in Table 8. For service flow 1, the session management network element configures one PDR (e.g., PDR 1) and multiple QERs (e.g., QER 1 and QER 2) to the user plane function network element. The PDR includes a packet filtering set and the identifier of the QER. The PDR may also include one or more of the following: service identification information (e.g., the service identification information corresponding to QER 1 and QER 2, which may be different), indication information a, or model information. Based on the packets belonging to service flow 1 filtered by the above PDR 1, which correspond to QER 1 and QER 2, the user plane function network element can determine the service identification information / service quality parameters corresponding to the packets of service flow 1 based on model inference. According to the service identification information / service quality parameters corresponding to the packets, the QER corresponding to the packets can be determined. For example, the input parameters of the model may include at least one of the following: the unencrypted portion of the packet header, the size of the packet, the size of the packet header, the arrival interval of the packet, or the traffic behavior of the service flow, etc. The output parameters of the model may be the service type of the packet or the service quality parameters corresponding to the packet, etc. Unlike implementation method one, in implementation method two, the user plane function network element only needs to determine the QER based on the inference result of the model, without needing to determine the PDR (there is only one PDR).

[0328] Table 8

[0329]

[0330] For example, Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of implementation method two provided in the embodiments of this application. Figure 6 In this context, the message detection rules take PDR as an example, the service quality execution rules take QER as an example, and the service flow 1 includes two service data flows as an example, or in other words, service flow 1 corresponds to two service quality channels / service quality parameters.

[0331] like Figure 6As shown, for service flow 1, the session management network element configures one PDR and two QERs (such as QER 1 and QER 2) to the user plane function network element. The data packets filtered by the user plane function network element based on the above PDR all belong to service flow 1. The user plane function network element can classify data packets based on the model, or in other words, determine the service type / service quality parameters to which the data packets belong, thereby providing corresponding service quality control.

[0332] For example, after receiving a data packet, the user plane function network element can determine whether it matches PDR 1 based on the data packet filtering set (such as the IP 5-tuple corresponding to service flow 1). Then (optionally, based on model information), it can determine whether to perform further rule matching on the data packet based on the inference result of the model. For example, if the data packet is used as the input parameter of the model and the model output parameter is obtained as service identification information 1 or the service quality parameter corresponding to QER 1, then it can determine that the data packet should perform the action corresponding to QER 1, and determine the service quality channel corresponding to the data packet according to QER 1, and forward the data packet through the service quality channel.

[0333] Implementation Method 3: The session management network element sends a first packet detection rule, multiple second packet detection rules, and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules to the user plane function network element. The first packet detection rule corresponds to the first service flow, and the first packet detection rule indicates the forwarding action rule. The forwarding action rule is used to determine the second packet detection rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first service flow. The multiple second packet detection rules and the multiple QoS enforcement rules correspond one-to-one, and each QoS enforcement rule corresponds to a QoS channel.

[0334] User plane function network elements can filter out data packets belonging to the above-mentioned service flow according to the first packet detection rule, and then determine the data packets of the above-mentioned service flow as input parameters to the model according to the indicated forwarding action rule, so as to obtain the output parameters of the model (such as service identification information). Based on the output parameters, the second packet detection rule corresponding to each data packet is determined, and the corresponding quality of service execution rule is determined according to the second packet detection rule.

[0335] For example, the second packet detection rule is PDR, the quality of service enforcement rule is QER, and service flow 1 includes two services, or in other words, service flow 1 corresponds to two quality of service channels / quality of service parameters, as shown in Tables 9, 10, and 11. For service flow 1, the session management network element configures PDR 0, PDR 1, and PDR 2 to the user plane function network element. PDR 0 includes the IP 5-tuple corresponding to service flow 1 and the identifier of the forwarding action rule (such as the forwarding action rule (FAR) identifier). This identifier can indicate the corresponding forwarding action rule. For example, the forwarding action rule includes the indication information and / or model information input into the model. PDR 1 and PDR 2 include service identification information and QER identifier. User plane function network elements can filter data packets belonging to a service flow based on the IP 5-tuple corresponding to the service flow in PDR 0, and then perform inference based on a model. The input parameters of the model can be one or more of the following: the data packet of the service flow, the unencrypted part of the data packet header, the size of the data packet, the size of the data packet header, the arrival interval of the data packet, or the behavior of the traffic within the service flow. The output parameters of the model can be the service identification information corresponding to each data packet. The user plane function network element can determine the PDR corresponding to each data packet based on the output parameters of the model, and then determine the QER based on the PDR, thereby performing corresponding quality of service control on the data packets.

[0336] It should be noted that in this application, the identifier of the forwarding action rule included in the above PDR 0 is only an example and should not constitute any limitation on this application, as long as the corresponding forwarding action rule can be determined.

[0337] Table 9

[0338]

[0339] Table 10

[0340] PDR 1 Message detection information: Packet filtering set (service identification information 1) QER 1

[0341] Table 11

[0342] PDR 2 Message detection information: Data packet filtering set (service identification information 2) QER 2

[0343] For example, Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of implementation method three provided in the embodiments of this application. Figure 7 In this context, the message detection rules take PDR as an example, the service quality execution rules take QER as an example, and the service flow 1 includes two service data flows as an example, or in other words, service flow 1 corresponds to two service quality channels / service quality parameters.

[0344] like Figure 7As shown, for service flow 1, the session management network element configures PDR 0, PDR 1, PDR 2, and two QERs (such as QER 1 and QER 2) to the user plane function network element. PDR 0 indicates the forwarding action rule. If PDR 0 includes an identifier for the forwarding action rule, the corresponding forwarding action rule can be determined based on this identifier, and this forwarding action rule is input into the model. More specifically, the user plane function network element can filter out data packets belonging to the service flow based on the IP 5-tuple corresponding to the service flow in PDR 0, and then perform inference based on the model. The input parameters of the model can be one or more of the following: the data packet of the service flow, the size of the data packet, the unencrypted part of the data packet header, the size of the data packet header, the arrival interval of the data packet, or the traffic behavior of the service flow. The output parameters of the model can be the service identification information corresponding to each data packet. The user plane function network element can determine the PDR corresponding to each data packet according to the output parameters of the model, and then determine the QER according to the PDR, thereby performing the corresponding quality of service control on the data packet.

[0345] Optionally, the session management network element can also send a second instruction to the user plane function network element, which is used to indicate that only one quality of service enforcement rule is in effect at the same time.

[0346] The above statement that only one quality of service (QoS) enforcement rule is in effect at any given time can also be replaced with: only one QoS channel is in effect at any given time; or only one QoS enforcement rule / QoS channel is enabled at any given time; or only one QoS channel is allowed to transmit data packets at any given time; or only one QoS channel can be used at any given time.

[0347] The aforementioned second instruction information can, for example, be carried in the PDR.

[0348] For example, the packet inspection rule uses PDR as an example, and the quality of service enforcement rule uses QER as an example. Service flow 1 includes two services, or in other words, service flow 1 corresponds to two quality of service channels / quality of service parameters, as shown in Table 12. For service flow 1, the session management network element configures PDR 1 to the user plane function network element. PDR 1 includes the IP 5-tuple corresponding to service flow 1, the QER identifier, and indication information to indicate that only one quality of service enforcement rule is effective at the same time. The user plane function network element can filter out the data packets belonging to the service flow based on the IP 5-tuple corresponding to the service flow in PDR 1, and then perform inference based on the model.

[0349] Table 12

[0350]

[0351] For example, Figure 8This is a schematic diagram illustrating how only one Quality of Service (QoS) enforcement rule is effective at any given time, as provided in the embodiments of this application. Figure 8 In this context, the message detection rules take PDR as an example, the service quality execution rules take QER as an example, and the service flow 1 includes two service data flows as an example, or in other words, service flow 1 corresponds to two service quality channels / service quality parameters.

[0352] like Figure 8 As shown, for service flow 1, the session management network element configures a PDR and two QERs (such as QER 1 and QER 2) to the user plane function network element. The PDR indicates that only one quality of service (QoS) enforcement rule is effective at any given time. More specifically, the user plane function network element can filter packets belonging to the service flow based on the IP 5-tuple corresponding to the service flow in the PDR, and then perform inference based on a model. The input parameters of this model can be one or more of the following: the data packets of the service flow, the unencrypted portion of the packet header, the size of the data packets, the size of the packet header, the arrival interval of the data packets, or the behavior of the traffic within the service flow. The output parameters of the model can be the service identification information corresponding to each data packet. The user plane function network element can determine the QER corresponding to each data packet based on the output parameters of the model, thereby performing the corresponding QoS control on the data packets. However, only one of the two QERs is effective at any given time.

[0353] For example, after receiving a data packet, the user plane function network element can determine whether it matches the above-mentioned PDR based on the data packet filtering set (such as the IP 5-tuple corresponding to service flow 1), and determine whether to further match the data packet according to the inference result of the model. For example, the data packet can be used as the input parameter of the model, and the inference result can be the QoS parameter corresponding to service identification information 1 or QER 1. Furthermore, the service quality channel corresponding to the data packet can be determined according to the QER 1 corresponding to the above-mentioned service identification information 1, and the data packet can be forwarded through the service quality channel.

[0354] The following section will describe in detail how the session management network element indicates to the terminal the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first service flow.

[0355] Implementation method X: The session management network element sends multiple quality of service rules to the terminal. These multiple quality of service rules correspond to the first service flow. In other words, the session management network element configures multiple quality of service rules for the same service flow.

[0356] Each quality of service rule includes a packet filtering set, such as an IP 5-tuple. The packets filtered by the packet filtering sets in the above multiple quality of service rules all belong to the same service flow. Therefore, the terminal can determine the service type / quality of service channel / quality of service parameter corresponding to the packet based on model reasoning.

[0357] It is understandable that when a session management network element configures multiple quality of service rules for the same service flow, it can implicitly instruct the terminal to enable model-assisted quality of service matching. In addition, the session management network element can also instruct the terminal to enable model-assisted quality of service matching based on the following: that is, the session management network element can also instruct the terminal on the following, for example, the following can be carried in the quality of service rules.

[0358] 1. Indication information a: Used to indicate the use of model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0359] 2. Business identification information.

[0360] 3. Model Information: Indicates the model used for quality of service matching, including at least one of the following: model identification information, model feature information, or the model itself.

[0361] When the session management network element indicates service identification information, the model's output parameter can be the service identification information. The terminal can then determine the corresponding quality of service (QoS) parameters / QoS channel based on the service identification information, and subsequently perform QoS control on that data packet. When the session management network element does not indicate service identification information, the model's output parameter can be a QoS parameter, allowing the terminal to perform QoS control on the data packet based on the corresponding QoS parameter.

[0362] For example, service flow 1 includes two services, or service flow 1 corresponds to two quality of service (QoS) channels / QoS parameters, as shown in Tables 13 and 14. For service flow 1, the session management network element configures multiple QoS rules for the terminal, such as QoS rule 1 and QoS rule 2. Each QoS rule includes a set of packet filters, and each QoS rule corresponds to a QFI. The QoS rule may also include one or more of the following: service identification information (e.g., the service identification information corresponding to QoS rule 1 and QoS rule 2 are different), indication information a, or model information. The data packets filtered by the terminal based on the above QoS rule 1 and QoS rule 2 all belong to service flow 1. Service flow 1 corresponds to QFI 1 and QFI 2. The terminal can determine the service identification information / QoS parameters corresponding to the data packets based on model inference. For example, the input parameters of the model can be the unencrypted part of the packet header, the size of the data packet, the size of the packet header, the arrival interval of the data packets, or the behavior of the traffic within the service flow, etc. The output parameters of the model can be the service type of the data packet (e.g., identified by service identification information) or the QoS parameters corresponding to the data packet, etc.

[0363] The following is an example of how the terminal processes uplink data packets. For instance, when the terminal's operating system is about to send a data packet or the terminal's modem module receives an uplink data packet, it first determines, based on the data packet filtering set (such as the IP 5-tuple corresponding to service flow 1), that the packet matches both Quality of Service (QoS) rule 1 and QoS rule 2. Then (optionally, based on model information), it determines to further match the data packet against the rules based on the model's inference results. For example, if the data packet is used as the model's input parameter, and the inference results in the model's output parameter being the QoS parameter corresponding to service identifier information 1 or QFI 1, then the data packet is determined to match QoS rule 1. Furthermore, based on the QoS channel identifier corresponding to QoS rule 1, the data packet is forwarded through that QoS channel.

[0364] Table 13

[0365]

[0366] Table 14

[0367]

[0368] Implementation method Y: The session management network element sends a Quality of Service (QoS) rule to the terminal, which corresponds to the first service flow. This single QoS rule corresponds to multiple QoS parameters. In other words, the session management network element configures one QoS rule for the same service flow, and this QoS rule corresponds to multiple QoS parameters. Based on this QoS rule, data packets belonging to the aforementioned service flow are filtered out. The terminal can then use model reasoning to determine the corresponding service type / QoS channel / QoS parameter for each data packet.

[0369] It is understandable that when a session management network element configures a Quality of Service (QoS) rule for the same service flow, and this QoS rule corresponds to multiple QoS parameters, it can implicitly instruct the terminal to enable model-assisted QoS matching. Furthermore, the session management network element can also instruct the terminal to enable model-assisted QoS matching based on one or more of the following: instruction information a, service identification information, or model information. That is, the session management network element can also instruct the terminal on one or more of the above, for example, one or more of the above can be carried in the QoS rule. For a detailed explanation of the above instruction information a, service identification information, or model information, please refer to implementation method X, which will not be elaborated here.

[0370] When the session management network element indicates service identification information, the output parameter of the model can be the service identification information; when the session management network element does not indicate service identification information, the output parameter of the model can be the quality of service parameter / quality of service channel. For a detailed explanation, please refer to implementation method X, which will not be repeated here.

[0371] For example, service flow 1 includes two services, or service flow 1 corresponds to two quality of service (QoS) channels / QoS parameters, as shown in Table 15. For service flow 1, the session management network element configures a QoS rule for the terminal. This QoS rule corresponds to QFI 1 and QFI 2. The QoS rule includes a packet filtering set and may also include one or more of the indication information 'a' or model information. Based on the IP 5-tuple filtered by the terminal, the data packets belonging to service flow 1, which correspond to QFI 1 and QFI 2, can be used by the terminal to determine the service identification information / QoS parameters corresponding to the data packets of service flow 1 based on model inference. For example, the input parameters of the model may include at least one of the following: the unencrypted part of the packet header, the size of the data packet, the size of the packet header, the arrival interval of the data packet, or the behavior of the traffic within the service flow, etc. The output parameters of the model may be the service type of the data packet or the QoS parameters corresponding to the data packet, etc. Unlike implementation method X, implementation method Y has only one QoS rule.

[0372] An example of how a terminal processes uplink data packets is as follows: When the terminal's operating system is about to send a data packet or the terminal's modem module receives an uplink data packet, it first determines whether the packet matches the quality of service (QoS) rules based on the packet filtering set (such as the IP 5-tuple corresponding to service flow 1). Then (optionally, based on model information), it determines whether to further match the data packet with the rules based on the inference results of the model. For example, if the data packet is used as the input parameter of the model and the inference results in the model output parameter being the QoS parameter corresponding to service identification information 1 or QFI 1, then it is determined that the data packet matches QFI 1 and the data packet is forwarded through the QoS channel.

[0373] Table 15

[0374]

[0375] Implementation method Z: The session management network element sends a first quality of service rule and multiple second quality of service rules to the terminal. The first quality of service rule corresponds to the first service flow. The first quality of service rule indicates a forwarding action rule. The forwarding action rule is used to determine the second quality of service rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first service flow. Each of the multiple second quality of service rules corresponds to a quality of service channel.

[0376] It should be noted that, in this application, the instruction forwarding action rule in the first service quality rule is merely an example. This application does not limit the instruction method in any way. For example, it may include instruction information to input the data packets in the service flow into the model, or the first service quality rule may implicitly indicate that the data packets in the service flow are input into the model, thereby facilitating the determination of the second service quality rule corresponding to the data packets.

[0377] The terminal can filter out data packets belonging to the above-mentioned service flow according to the first service quality rule, and then determine to input the data packets of the above-mentioned service flow as input parameters into the model, thereby obtaining the output parameters of the model (such as service identification information). Based on the output parameters, the terminal determines the second service quality rule corresponding to each data packet, and then determines the corresponding service quality parameters according to the second service quality rule.

[0378] For example, service flow 1 includes two services, or service flow 1 corresponds to two quality of service (QoS) channels / QoS parameters, as shown in Tables 16, 17, and 18. For service flow 1, the session management network element configures QoS rule 0, QoS rule 1, and QoS rule 2 to the terminal. QoS rule 0 includes the IP 5-tuple corresponding to service flow 1, and also includes at least one of the following: indication information or model information for inputting data packets into the model. QoS rule 1 and QoS rule 2 include service identification information. The terminal can filter out data packets belonging to the service flow based on the IP 5-tuple corresponding to the service flow in QoS rule 0, and then perform inference based on the model. The input parameters of the model can be one or more of the following: data packets of the service flow, the unencrypted part of the data packet header, the size of the data packet, the size of the data packet header, the arrival interval of the data packets, or the behavior of the traffic within the service flow. The output parameters of the model can be the service identification information corresponding to each data packet. The terminal can determine the QFI corresponding to each data packet according to the output parameters of the model, thereby performing corresponding QoS control on the data packets.

[0379] Table 16

[0380] Service Quality Rule 0 Packet filtering sets (such as IP 5-tuples) Input into the model / Model information

[0381] Table 17

[0382] QFI 1 Service Quality Rule 1 Packet filtering set (service identification information 1)

[0383] Table 18

[0384] QFI 2 Service Quality Rule 2 Data packet filtering set (service identification information 2)

[0385] Optionally, the session management network element can also send a second indication message to the terminal, which indicates that only one quality of service enforcement rule is in effect at the same time.

[0386] The above statement that only one quality of service (QoS) enforcement rule is in effect at any given time can also be replaced with: only one QoS channel is in effect at any given time; or only one QoS enforcement rule / QoS channel is enabled at any given time; or only one QoS channel is allowed to transmit data packets at any given time; or only one QoS channel can be used at any given time.

[0387] For example, service flow 1 includes 2 services, or service flow 1 corresponds to 2 quality of service channels / quality of service parameters, as shown in Table 19. For service flow 1, the session management network element configures quality of service rule 1 to the terminal. This quality of service rule 1 corresponds to QFI 1 and QFI 2. This quality of service rule 1 includes the IP 5-tuple corresponding to service flow 1 and indication information used to indicate that only one quality of service channel is effective at the same time.

[0388] Table 19

[0389]

[0390] Scenario 2: The first data channel is the first session.

[0391] Implementation methods four through six are implementation methods where the session management network element instructs the user plane function network element on multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first session. Implementation methods seven through nine are implementation methods where the session management network element instructs the terminal on multiple quality of service channels for the first session.

[0392] Implementation Method 4: The session management network element sends multiple packet detection rules and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules to the user plane function network element. These multiple packet detection rules correspond to the first session. In other words, the session management network element configures multiple packet detection rules and multiple QoS enforcement rules for the same session. Then, the user plane function network element can determine the service type / QoS channel / QoS parameters corresponding to the data packets in the first session based on model reasoning, thereby determining the packet detection rules and QoS enforcement rules corresponding to the data packets.

[0393] For a detailed explanation of the above implementation method four, please refer to implementation method one, except that the business flow is replaced with a session.

[0394] For example, the packet detection rule is PDR, the service quality enforcement rule is QER, and session 1 includes two services, or in other words, session 1 corresponds to two service quality channels / service quality parameters, as shown in Tables 20 and 21. For session 1, the session management network element configures multiple PDRs (such as PDR 1 and PDR 2) and multiple QERs (such as QER 1 and QER 2) to the user plane function network element. In the PDR, the packet filtering set is empty / wildcard / service identification information. Optionally, the PDR may also include indication information 'a', used to indicate that model-assisted service quality matching is enabled. For packets in the first session, the user plane function network element can determine the service identification information / service quality parameters / service quality channels corresponding to the packets in the first session based on the model, and then determine the PDR corresponding to the packets, and then determine the corresponding QER based on the PDR. For example, the model's input parameters may include at least one of the following: the unencrypted portion of the packet header, the packet size, the packet header size, the packet arrival interval, or the traffic behavior in the first session, etc. The model's output parameters may be the service type of the packet (e.g., identified by service identification information) or the service quality parameters corresponding to the packet, etc. For example, after receiving a packet, the user plane function network element uses the packet as the model's input parameter (or other input parameters), infers that the model's output parameter is the service quality parameter corresponding to service identification information 1 or QER 1, then determines that the packet matches PDR 1, and determines the service quality channel corresponding to the packet based on QER 1, and forwards the packet through that service quality channel.

[0395] Table 20

[0396] PDR 1 Message detection information: Packet filtering set (service identifier information 1 / empty / wildcard) QER 1

[0397] Table 21

[0398] PDR 2 Message detection information: Packet filtering set (service identifier information 2 / empty / wildcard) QER 2

[0399] Implementation Method 5: The session management network element sends a packet detection rule and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules to the user plane function network element. The packet detection rule corresponds to the first session. In other words, the session management network element configures a packet detection rule and multiple QoS enforcement rules for the same session.

[0400] For a detailed explanation of implementation method five, please refer to implementation method two, except that the business flow is replaced with a session. The difference between implementation method five and implementation method two is that in implementation method five, the packet filtering set is empty / wildcard, while in implementation method two, the packet filtering set is the IP 5-tuple, etc.

[0401] For example, the packet detection rule is PDR, the service quality enforcement rule is QER, and session 1 includes two services, or in other words, session 1 corresponds to two service quality channels / service quality parameters, as shown in Table 22. For session 1, the session management network element configures one PDR (e.g., PDR 1) and multiple QERs (e.g., QER 1 and QER 2) to the user plane function network element. The packet filtering rule in the PDR is service identification information / wildcard / empty. Optionally, the PDR may also include one or more of the indication information a or model information. For example, after receiving a packet, the user plane function network element can use the packet (an example of an input parameter) as the input parameter of the model, infer that the model output parameter is the service quality parameter corresponding to service identification information 1 or QER 1, then determine that the packet should perform the action corresponding to QER 1, and determine the service quality channel corresponding to the packet according to QER 1, and forward the packet through the service quality channel.

[0402] Table 22

[0403] PDR Message detection information: Packet filtering set (empty / wildcard) QER 1 + (optional) service identification information 1 QER 2+ (optional) Service Identification Information 2

[0404] Implementation Method Six: The session management network element sends a first packet detection rule, multiple second packet detection rules, and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules to the user plane function network element. The first packet detection rule corresponds to a first session and instructs a forwarding action rule. This forwarding action rule is used to determine the second packet detection rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first session. The multiple second packet detection rules and the multiple QoS enforcement rules are in one-to-one correspondence, with each QoS enforcement rule corresponding to a QoS channel. The user plane function network element can input the data packets from the first session as input parameters into the model based on the first packet detection rule to obtain the model's output parameters (such as service identification information). Based on the output parameters, it determines the second packet detection rule corresponding to each data packet, and then determines the corresponding QoS enforcement rule based on the second packet detection rule.

[0405] For a detailed explanation of implementation method six, please refer to implementation method three. The difference between implementation method six and implementation method three is that in implementation method six, the packet filtering set is business identification information / empty / wildcard, while in implementation method three, the packet filtering set is IP 5-tuple, etc.

[0406] For example, the second packet detection rule is PDR, the quality of service enforcement rule is QER, and session 1 includes two services, or in other words, session 1 corresponds to two quality of service channels / quality of service parameters, as shown in Tables 23, 24, and 25. For session 1, the session management network element configures PDR 0, PDR 1, and PDR 2 to the user plane function network element. In PDR 0, the packet filtering set is empty / wildcard, and the forwarding action rule includes indication information and / or model information input into the model. PDR 1 and PDR 2 include service identification information and QER identifiers. For a more detailed explanation, please refer to implementation method three, which will not be elaborated here.

[0407] An example of how a user plane function network element processes downlink data packets is as follows: After receiving a data packet, the user plane function network element can determine whether it matches PDR 0 based on the data packet filtering set. Then, the FAR corresponding to PDR 0 (optional, based on the model information therein) determines whether to further match the data packet with rules based on the inference results of the model. For example, if the data packet is used as the input parameter of the model and the inference results in the model output parameter being the service quality parameter corresponding to service identification information 1 or QER 1, then the data packet is determined to be further matched with PDR 1. Then, the service quality channel corresponding to the data packet is determined according to QER 1, and the data packet is forwarded through the service quality channel.

[0408] Table 23

[0409] PDR 0 Message detection information: Packet filtering set (empty / wildcard) FAR identifier (Action: Input into model / Model information)

[0410] Table 24

[0411]

[0412]

[0413] Table 25

[0414]

[0415] Optionally, the session management network element can also send a second instruction to the user plane function network element, which is used to indicate that only one quality of service enforcement rule is in effect at the same time.

[0416] For a detailed explanation of the second instruction mentioned above, please refer to the text above; it will not be repeated here.

[0417] The following section will describe in detail how the session management network element indicates multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first session to the terminal.

[0418] Implementation Method 7: The session management network element sends multiple quality of service rules to the terminal. These multiple quality of service rules correspond to the first session. In other words, the session management network element configures multiple quality of service rules for the same session.

[0419] Each quality of service rule includes a set of packet filtering elements, such as service identification information, empty strings, and wildcards. The terminal can determine the service type, quality of service channel, and quality of service parameters corresponding to the packet based on model reasoning.

[0420] For a detailed explanation of implementation method seven above, please refer to implementation method X. It will not be elaborated here. Just replace the business flow with a session.

[0421] For example, Session 1 includes two services, or in other words, Session 1 corresponds to two Quality of Service (QoS) channels / QoS parameters, as shown in Tables 26 and 27. For Session 1, the session management network element configures multiple QoS rules for the terminal, such as QoS rule 1 and QoS rule 2. The packet filtering set in the QoS rules is service identification information / wildcard / empty. Optionally, the QoS rules may also include one or more of the indication information a or model information. A more detailed explanation is similar to the above implementation method X, and will not be repeated here.

[0422] An example of how a terminal processes uplink data packets is that when the terminal's operating system is about to send a data packet or the terminal's modem module receives an uplink data packet, it can use the data packet as the input parameter of the model and infer that the output parameter of the model is the service quality parameter corresponding to service identification information 1 or QFI 1. Then, it is determined that the data packet matches service quality rule 1, and the data packet is forwarded through the service quality channel according to the service quality channel identifier corresponding to service quality rule 1.

[0423] Table 26

[0424] QFI 1 Service Quality Rule 1 Packet filtering set (empty / wildcard / service identifier information 1) Indication information a / Model information

[0425] Table 27

[0426] QFI 2 Service Quality Rule 2 Packet filtering set (empty / wildcard / service identifier information 2) Indication information a / Model information

[0427] Implementation Method 8: The session management network element sends a Quality of Service (QoS) rule to the terminal, and this QoS rule corresponds to the first session. This QoS rule can correspond to multiple QoS parameters. In other words, the session management network element configures one QoS rule for the same session, and this QoS rule corresponds to multiple QoS parameters.

[0428] For a detailed explanation of implementation method eight above, please refer to implementation method Y. Simply replace the business flow with a session.

[0429] For example, Session 1 includes two services, or in other words, Session 1 corresponds to two Quality of Service (QoS) channels / QoS parameters, as shown in Table 28. For Session 1, the session management network element configures a QoS rule for the terminal. This QoS rule includes a wildcard / service flow identifier that is empty. The QoS rule also includes one or more of the indication information 'a' or model information.

[0430] Table 28

[0431] QFI 1+ (optional) service identification information 1 QFI 2+ (optional) service identification information 2 Service Quality Rules Packet filtering set (empty / wildcard) Model information / indication information a

[0432] Implementation Method Nine: The session management network element sends a first quality of service rule and multiple second quality of service rules to the terminal. The first quality of service rule corresponds to the first session. The first quality of service rule indicates a forwarding action rule. The forwarding action rule is used to determine the second quality of service rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first session. Each of the multiple second quality of service rules corresponds to a quality of service channel.

[0433] For a detailed explanation of implementation method nine, please refer to implementation method Z; it will not be repeated here.

[0434] For example, Session 1 includes two services, or in other words, Session 1 corresponds to two Quality of Service (QoS) channels / QoS parameters, as shown in Tables 29, 30, and 31. For Session 1, the session management network element configures QoS rule 0, QoS rule 1, and QoS rule 2 to the terminal. QoS rule 0 uses wildcards / empty as the packet filtering set and indicates that packets should be input into the model. Alternatively, QoS rule 0 includes model information to indicate that packets should be input into the model, thereby determining the second QoS rule (e.g., QoS rule 1 and QoS rule 2). QoS rule 1 and QoS rule 2 include service identification information. The terminal can infer the packets in the first session based on the model. The input parameters of the model can be one or more of the following: packets, the unencrypted portion of the packet header, the size of the packets, the size of the packet header, the arrival interval of packets, or the behavior of traffic in the first session. The output parameters of the model can be the service identification information corresponding to each packet. The terminal can determine the QFI corresponding to each packet based on the output parameters of the model, thereby performing corresponding QoS control on the packets.

[0435] Table 29

[0436] Service Quality Rule 0 Packet filtering set (e.g., wildcards / empty) Instructions to input into the model / Model information

[0437] Table 30

[0438] QFI 1 Service Quality Rule 1 Packet filtering set (service identification information 1)

[0439] Table 31

[0440] QFI 2 Service Quality Rule 2 Data packet filtering set (service identification information 2)

[0441] Optionally, the session management network element can also send a second indication message to the terminal, which indicates that only one quality of service enforcement rule is in effect at the same time.

[0442] The explanation of the second instruction mentioned above can be found in the text above, and will not be repeated here.

[0443] In one possible implementation, Figure 4 The method 400 further includes: the session management network element instructs the access network device on multiple quality of service (QoS) channels corresponding to the first data channel, wherein at any given time, only one of the multiple QoS channels is allowed to transmit data packets. In this way, the access network device can release resources on QoS channels that are not transmitting data or are not active, thereby conserving resources.

[0444] In one possible implementation, before executing step 401, Figure 4 The method 400 shown further includes: the terminal sending a request message to the session management network element, and correspondingly, the session management network element receiving the request message from the terminal, wherein the request message is used to request the first data channel to enable model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0445] This request message can be a service quality control feature for a specific session / business flow request model. For example, the aforementioned request message could be a session establishment request.

[0446] One possible design is that the terminal can directly request the session management element to enable model-assisted QoS matching. For example, the terminal can request the session management element to enable model-assisted QoS matching using only one bit.

[0447] Another possible design is that the terminal can request model-assisted quality of service (QoS) matching from the session management network element via session attributes. For example, one or more session attributes might correspond to a request for model-assisted QoS matching. The terminal can request these session attributes, such as data network information or slice information, in the session establishment request. Data network information identifies the specific data network the terminal wishes to connect to, and slice information selects a specific network slice. Data network information could be, for example, a data network name (DNN), and slice information could be, for example, single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI). The session management network element can then determine whether model-assisted QoS matching is required for the session / service flow based on these session attributes.

[0448] Another possible design is that the application function network element can request the core network to enable model-assisted quality of service (AQS) matching for terminals and / or services. For example, the application function network element sends an AQS request message to the policy control network element (either directly or via a NEF network element), which can then forward it to the session management network element. This message can be forwarded by multiple network elements, and its content and format can change during the forwarding process, but the ultimate goal is to instruct the activation of model-assisted AQS matching for one or more terminals and / or one or more services. Upon receiving this message, the policy control network element and / or the session management network element determine that they are requesting model-assisted AQS matching for that session / service flow. Optionally, the policy control network element and / or the session management network element may also authorize this AQS request message.

[0449] exist Figure 4 In one possible implementation of the method 400 shown, prior to step 401, the method 400 further includes: a session management network element receiving instruction information from a unified data management network element, the instruction information being used to instruct the authorized first data channel to perform model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0450] This indication information may be a quality of service matching aided by the authorization model for the first data channel (such as the first business flow / first session).

[0451] For example, after receiving the aforementioned request message from the terminal, the session management network element can query the UDM network element for the subscription information corresponding to the terminal. This subscription information indicates whether the terminal is authorized / allowed for model-assisted quality of service matching. Correspondingly, after receiving the query request, the UDM network element can instruct the session management network element to authorize model-assisted quality of service matching. Optionally, the UDM can also determine authorized model-assisted quality of service matching based on the aforementioned session attributes, terminal identifier, and other information.

[0452] It is understandable that even if the terminal does not instruct the session management network element to enable model-assisted quality of service matching, the session management network element can still query the subscription information.

[0453] To understand more clearly Figure 4 The communication method shown will be combined with the following. Figures 9 to 10 Give Figure 4 The detailed flow of possible implementations of the method shown is as follows. Among them, Figures 9 to 10 The difference in the illustrated embodiment is that: Figure 9 In the embodiment shown, the first service flow enables model-assisted quality of service matching; Figure 10 In the embodiment shown, the first session enables model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0454] The following describes the communication method provided in this application in detail using the interaction between session management network elements, policy control network elements, application function network elements, unified data management network elements, user plane function network elements, terminals, and access network equipment as examples, but this should not constitute any limitation on this application. For example, the session management network element can also be replaced by components configured in the session management network element (such as chips, chip systems, processors, etc.), or logical modules or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the session management network element, etc. Other network elements are similar, and will not be described in detail here. Exemplarily, the method described below can be applied to Figure 1 The network architecture shown.

[0455] Figure 9 This is a detailed flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0456] In step 901, the terminal sends indication information 1 to the session management network element, which indicates support for model-assisted quality of service matching. Correspondingly, the session management network element receives the aforementioned indication information 1.

[0457] Here, "support" can also be replaced with "expectation," "hope," or "request." The aforementioned indication information 1 can be forwarded through one or more intermediate network elements. For example, when a terminal sends the aforementioned indication information 1 to an access network device, the access network device receives the aforementioned indication information 1 and forwards it to the session management network element, which then receives the aforementioned indication information 1.

[0458] The alternative description of the model-assisted service quality matching mentioned above can be found in [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 4 This will not be elaborated upon here.

[0459] Optionally, the aforementioned indication information 1 may be a service quality matching assisted by a certain business flow support model.

[0460] Optionally, the aforementioned indication information 1 may be carried in a session establishment request, which is used to request the establishment of a session.

[0461] For possible designs of the above instruction information 1, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 4 (For details, please refer to...) Figure 4 A detailed description of the possible design of the request message for service quality matching assisted by the terminal request model is omitted here.

[0462] Optionally, the terminal can also indicate desired / expected model functions to the session management network element, such as for quality of service matching, encrypted flow detection, etc.

[0463] In step 902, the session management network element queries the subscription information from the unified data management network element.

[0464] For example, the session management network element can send request message 1 to the unified data management network element (such as the UDM network element), which requests to query the subscription information of the aforementioned terminal. Correspondingly, the unified data management network element receives the aforementioned request message 1. Furthermore, the unified data management network element sends response message 1 to the session management network element, which can indicate whether the aforementioned service flow is subject to authorized / allowed model-assisted quality of service matching. In one scenario, response message 1 indicates that the aforementioned service flow is subject to authorized / allowed model-assisted quality of service matching. In another scenario, response message 1 indicates that the aforementioned service flow is not subject to authorized / allowed model-assisted quality of service matching. It is understood that the steps described below can be performed, for example, if the aforementioned service flow is subject to authorized / allowed model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0465] It should be noted that the granularity of the above-mentioned response message 1 and the granularity of the above-mentioned indication information 1 can be the same. For example, the above-mentioned indication information 1 indicates that the service flow enables model-assisted quality of service control, and the above-mentioned response message 1 indicates that the service flow is authorized to perform model-assisted quality of service matching. The granularity of the above-mentioned response message 1 and the granularity of the above-mentioned indication information 1 can also be different. The above-mentioned indication information 1 indicates that the terminal enables model-assisted quality of service control, and the above-mentioned response message 1 indicates that a certain service flow of the terminal is authorized to perform model-assisted quality of service matching. This application does not limit this.

[0466] Additionally, steps 901 and 902 above are optional. When the terminal does not execute step 901, the session management network element can directly query the subscription information according to step 902 to determine whether to enable model-assisted quality of service matching. For example, the session management network element can query the subscription information after receiving a session establishment request (which does not include indication information 1 indicating support for model-assisted quality of service matching). When the session management network element does not execute step 902, the above service flow can be authorized / allowed for model-assisted quality of service matching by default. When neither step 901 nor step 902 above is executed, model-assisted quality of service matching can be enabled by default for all terminals. Alternatively, the session management network element can enable model-assisted quality of service matching after instructing the application function network element / policy control network element.

[0467] In step 903, the application function network element sends indication information 2 to the policy control network element, indicating that model-assisted quality of service matching should be enabled. Correspondingly, the policy control network element receives the aforementioned indication information 2. Indication information 2 is an example of a third indication information.

[0468] The aforementioned instruction information 2 can instruct the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching for one or more services. This instruction information 2 can be sent directly from the application function network element to the policy control network element, or it can be forwarded through the NEF network element; this application does not limit its scope.

[0469] Optionally, the application function network element can also indicate model information for quality of service matching (this model information is used to determine the model) to the policy control network element, such as model identification information, model feature information, or one or more of the model itself. The model can be trained by the application function network element and indicated to the operator, or it can be a model configured in the core network in advance with the operator, and the application function network element indicates the model to be enabled.

[0470] For a detailed explanation of the above model identification information and model feature information, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 4 This will not be elaborated upon here.

[0471] Optionally, the application function network element can also indicate the first identification information corresponding to the quality of service (QoS) parameter to the policy control network element. This first identification information is used to identify the service type corresponding to the QoS parameter. In one possible design, when the application function network element indicates the first identification information corresponding to the QoS parameter to the policy control network element, the model's output parameter can be the service type to which the data packet belongs (e.g., identified by service identification information); when the application function network element does not indicate the first identification information corresponding to the QoS parameter to the policy control network element, the model's output parameter can be the QoS parameter or QoS channel corresponding to the data packet (e.g., the identifier of the QoS channel).

[0472] It is understandable that the application function network element may not send indication information 2. In this case, the application function network element may indicate the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching through the first identification information. That is to say, if the quality of service parameters correspond to the first identification information, the activation of model-assisted quality of service matching can be implicitly indicated.

[0473] For example, as shown in Table 32, the application function network element can instruct the policy control network element on service flow identification information (such as IP 5-tuple), instruction information 2 indicating the use of model-assisted quality of service matching, quality of service parameters, service identification information corresponding to the quality of service parameters, and model information (such as model identification information / model feature information / the model itself), etc.

[0474] Table 32

[0475] Contents of application function network element instructions Service flow identification information (such as IP 5-tuple) Instruction Message 2 Service quality parameters + business identification information Model information (model identification information / model feature information / the model itself)

[0476] It should be noted that step 903 above may also be omitted. For example, the session management network element may instruct the policy control network element to enable model-assisted quality of service matching for the first service flow.

[0477] After the policy control network element determines that model-assisted quality of service matching needs to be enabled for a certain service flow, it can issue policy information to the session management network element through implementation method a or implementation method b. This policy information is used to indicate the quality of service parameters. Taking the PCC rule as an example, this should not constitute any limitation on this application, nor does it exclude the possibility of using other names in future protocols. Implementation method a includes step 904a, and implementation method b includes step 904b (such as steps 904b1 and 904b2). The above steps will be explained in detail below.

[0478] (Implementation method a) In step 904a, the policy control network element sends a PCC rule to the session management network element. The PCC rule includes service flow identification information and multiple quality of service parameters. Correspondingly, the session management network element receives the aforementioned PCC rule.

[0479] The aforementioned business flow identification information is used to identify business flows, which may include data flows from multiple businesses. The relationship between business flows and business data flows can be found in the explanation above, and will not be repeated here.

[0480] The explanation of the service quality parameter mentioned above can be found in the text above, and will not be repeated here.

[0481] As can be seen, in existing protocols, a PCC rule includes / corresponds to one quality of service parameter (or a set / group of quality of service parameters). However, in this application, a PCC rule includes multiple quality of service parameters. In this case, it can be indicated by default that model-assisted quality of service matching is enabled. Alternatively, it can be indicated by one or more of the following: first identification information, indication information for indicating the enabling of model-assisted quality of service matching, or model information, to instruct the session management network element to enable model-assisted quality of service matching for the aforementioned service flow.

[0482] Optionally, the PCC rules mentioned above may also include indication information for indicating the enabling of model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0483] Optionally, the PCC rules may also include first identification information corresponding to each quality of service parameter, which indicates the service type corresponding to each quality of service parameter. This first identification information may, for example, be service identification information.

[0484] When the PCC rule includes the aforementioned first identification information, the output parameter of the model can be the first identification information when the user plane function network element / terminal performs model inference. Thus, the user plane function network element / terminal can determine the service quality parameters corresponding to the data packet based on the first identification information, and then perform service quality control on the data packet.

[0485] When the PCC rule does not include the aforementioned first identification information, when the user plane function network element / terminal performs model inference, the output parameter of the model can be a quality of service parameter. Thus, the user plane function network element / terminal can perform quality of service control on the data packet based on the quality of service parameter corresponding to the data packet.

[0486] Optionally, the PCC rules described above may also include model information. This model information may include, for example, at least one of model identification information, model feature information, or the model itself.

[0487] For an example of the PCC rules mentioned above, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 4 This will not be elaborated upon here.

[0488] (Implementation Method b) In step 904b, the policy control network element sends multiple PCC rules to the session management network element. Each PCC rule includes service flow identification information, a quality of service parameter, and indication information 3. The service flow identification information included in the multiple PCC rules is the same. Correspondingly, the session management network element receives the multiple PCC rules.

[0489] The aforementioned instruction information 3 is used to indicate the use of model-assisted quality of service matching. Optionally, the policy control network element may also indicate the use of model-assisted quality of service matching through the first identification information and / or model information. In other words, each of the above PCC rules may include one or more of the following: instruction information 3, the first identification information corresponding to each quality of service parameter, or model information, to indicate the use of model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0490] For example, consider the policy control network element sending two PCC rules to the session management network element, or consider the data flow that includes two services in the above service flow.

[0491] Step 904b includes steps 904b1 and 904b2. In step 904b1, the policy control network element sends PCC rule 1 to the session management network element. PCC rule 1 includes service flow identification information 1, service quality parameter 1, and indication information 3. Correspondingly, the session management network element receives the aforementioned PCC rule 1.

[0492] In step 904b2, the policy control network element sends PCC rule 2 to the session management network element. PCC rule 2 includes service flow identification information 1, quality of service parameters 2, and indication information 3. Correspondingly, the session management network element receives the aforementioned PCC rule 2.

[0493] The aforementioned PCC rule 1 and PCC rule 2 include the same service flow identification information. Since the instruction is to enable model-assisted quality of service matching, the subsequent session management network element determines to bind these PCC rules to different quality of service channels, rather than treating PCC rule 2 as an update of PCC rule 1.

[0494] Optionally, PCC Rule 1 and PCC Rule 2 may also include model information and / or first identification information corresponding to each quality of service parameter.

[0495] The contents of PCC Rule 1 and PCC Rule 2 mentioned above can be found in [reference]. Figure 4The relevant descriptions will not be repeated here. It should be noted that when PCC rule 1 and PCC rule 2 include the aforementioned first identification information, the output parameters of the model can be the first identification information when the user plane function network element / terminal performs model inference; when PCC rule 1 and PCC rule 2 do not include the aforementioned first identification information, the output parameters of the model can be service quality parameters when the user plane function network element / terminal performs model inference. For a detailed explanation, please refer to the introduction in step 904a, which will not be repeated here.

[0496] After receiving the PCC rule, the session management network element binds the PCC rule to the quality of service channel. Step 905a corresponds to the binding method of the quality of service channel when the PCC rule is indicated in implementation mode a, and step 905b corresponds to the binding method of the quality of service channel when the PCC rule is indicated in implementation mode b.

[0497] In step 905a, the session management network element binds PCC rules, which include multiple quality of service parameters, to multiple quality of service channels.

[0498] In step 905b, the session management network element binds multiple PCC rules (such as PCC rule 1 and PCC rule 2) that include the same service flow identification information to different quality of service channels.

[0499] In step 906, the session management network element sends packet inspection rules (such as PDR) and quality of service enforcement rules (such as QER) to the user plane function network element, and instructs it to determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet according to the model. Correspondingly, the user plane function network element receives the packet inspection rules, the quality of service enforcement rules, and the aforementioned instruction information (instructing it to determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet according to the model).

[0500] The implementation method of step 906 above can be found in the text above. Figure 4 The implementation methods one through three are not described here.

[0501] In step 907, the session management network element sends a Quality of Service (QoS) rule to the terminal and instructs it to determine the QoS channel corresponding to the data packet based on the model. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the QoS rule and the aforementioned instruction information (instructing it to determine the QoS channel corresponding to the data packet based on the model).

[0502] The implementation method of step 907 above can be found in the text above. Figure 4 The implementation methods X to Z are not described in detail here.

[0503] In step 908, the session management network element sends a quality of service (QoS) configuration file to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the aforementioned QoS configuration file.

[0504] The implementation method of step 908 above can be found in the text above. Figure 4 The relevant descriptions will not be repeated here.

[0505] In step 909, the user plane function network element / terminal acquires the model. Step 909 includes steps 909a and 909b. In step 909a, the user plane function network element acquires the model, and in step 909b, the terminal acquires the model.

[0506] For example, the user plane function network element / terminal obtains the model based on the model information.

[0507] For example, a user plane function network element / terminal can obtain the corresponding model based on the model identification information, such as obtaining the corresponding model from other network elements based on the model identification information, or obtaining the corresponding model from local storage based on the model identification information.

[0508] Another example is that user plane function network elements / terminals can obtain the corresponding model based on the model feature information, such as obtaining the corresponding model from other network elements / local storage based on the model feature information.

[0509] It should be noted that in this application, the sending of model information by the session management network element to the user plane function network element / terminal, and the acquisition of the corresponding model by the user plane function network element / terminal based on the model information, is merely an example and should not constitute any limitation on this application. In this application, the session management network element may also directly send the model to the user plane function network element / terminal. Similarly, the sending of model information by the application function network element to the policy control network element, and then the policy control network element instructing the session management network element on the model information, is also merely an example and should not constitute any limitation on this application. For example, the application function network element may also send the model to the policy control network element, and then the policy control network element instructing the session management network element on the model. The embodiments shown below are similar and will not be described again below.

[0510] It should be noted that this application does not limit the scope of the application. Figure 9 The execution time of the steps can vary. For example, step 909a can be executed before step 907, and step 909b can be executed after step 911. These will not be listed individually here. Furthermore, step 909a only needs to be executed before the user plane function network element performs model-assisted quality of service matching, and step 909b only needs to be executed before the terminal performs model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0511] After obtaining the model, the terminal and user plane function network elements can perform inference based on the model. Steps 910 to 912 below describe the downlink data packet processing procedure, and steps 913 to 915 describe the uplink data packet processing procedure. It can be understood that only one of the downlink data packet processing procedure and the uplink data packet processing procedure can be executed, or both can be executed. For example, the terminal can execute the uplink data packet processing procedure, and the user plane function network element executes the downlink data packet processing procedure; or, the terminal can execute the uplink data packet processing procedure, but the user plane function network element does not execute the downlink data packet processing procedure; or, the user plane function network element can execute the downlink data packet processing procedure, but the terminal does not execute the uplink data packet processing procedure.

[0512] In step 910, the server sends downlink data packets to the user plane function network element. Correspondingly, the user plane function network element receives the downlink data packets.

[0513] In step 911, the user plane function network element determines the quality of service channel corresponding to the downlink data packet based on the model.

[0514] For a detailed explanation of step 911, please refer to the relevant descriptions in Implementation Methods 1 to 4 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0515] In step 912, the user plane function network element sends the aforementioned downlink data packet to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the downlink data packet. The user plane function network element can send the downlink data packet to the terminal through access network equipment.

[0516] For example, assuming that downlink data packet 1 and downlink data packet 2 belong to different services, the user plane function network element sends downlink data packet 1 to the terminal through quality of service channel 1 and downlink data packet 2 to the terminal through quality of service channel 2.

[0517] In step 913, the terminal determines the quality of service channel corresponding to the uplink data packet based on the model.

[0518] For a detailed explanation of step 913, please refer to the relevant descriptions in implementation methods X to W above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0519] In step 914, the terminal sends the aforementioned uplink data packet to the user plane function network element. Correspondingly, the user plane function network element receives the uplink data packet. The terminal can send the uplink data packet to the user plane function network element through access network equipment.

[0520] For example, assuming that uplink data packet 1 and uplink data packet 2 belong to different services, the terminal sends uplink data packet 1 to the user plane function network element through the quality of service channel 1, and sends uplink data packet 2 to the user plane function network element through the quality of service channel 2.

[0521] In step 915, the user plane function network element sends an uplink data packet to the server. Correspondingly, the server receives two data packets.

[0522] Figure 10 This is another detailed flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0523] In step 1001, the terminal sends indication information 1 to the session management network element, which indicates support for model-assisted quality of service matching. Correspondingly, the session management network element receives the aforementioned indication information 1.

[0524] For a detailed explanation of step 1001, please refer to step 901, which will not be repeated here.

[0525] Optionally, the aforementioned indication information 1 may be a service quality matching assisted by a specific session support model.

[0526] Optionally, the aforementioned indication information 1 may be carried in a session establishment request, which is used to request the establishment of a session.

[0527] For possible designs of the above instruction information 1, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 4 (For details, please refer to...) Figure 4 A detailed description of the possible design of the request message for service quality matching assisted by the terminal request model is omitted here.

[0528] Optionally, the terminal can also indicate desired / expected model functions to the session management network element, such as for quality of service matching, encrypted flow detection, etc.

[0529] In step 1002, the session management network element queries the subscription information from the unified data management network element.

[0530] For example, the session management network element can send request message 1 to the unified data management network element (such as the UDM network element), which requests to query the subscription information of the aforementioned terminal. Correspondingly, the unified data management network element receives request message 1. Furthermore, the unified data management network element sends response message 1 to the session management network element, which can indicate whether the session is authorized / allowed for model-assisted quality of service matching. In one scenario, response message 1 indicates that the session is authorized / allowed for model-assisted quality of service matching. In another scenario, response message 1 indicates that the session is not authorized / allowed for model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0531] Additionally, steps 1001 and 1002 above are optional. When the terminal does not execute step 1001, the session management network element can directly query the subscription information according to step 1002 to determine whether to enable model-assisted quality of service matching. When the session management network element does not execute step 1002, the above session can be authorized / allowed by default for model-assisted quality of service matching. When neither step 1001 nor step 1002 above is executed, model-assisted quality of service matching can be enabled by default for all terminals. Alternatively, the session management network element can enable model-assisted quality of service matching only after being instructed by the application function network element / policy control network element.

[0532] In step 1003, the policy control network element sends a PDU session policy to the session management network element, which indicates model-assisted service quality matching. Correspondingly, the session management network element receives the aforementioned PDU session policy.

[0533] The aforementioned PDU session policy is used to indicate policy requirements at the entire session level, such as the total traffic rate of the entire session not exceeding a threshold. The PCC rule is used to indicate the policy requirements for a specific service flow within the session, such as the maximum / minimum rate requirements for service flow 1. In this application, the aforementioned PDU session policy indicates service quality matching assisted by the authorization model for that session, and the aforementioned PCC rule indicates service quality parameters.

[0534] Optionally, the above PDU session strategy also includes model information. For a detailed explanation of the model information, please refer to the above text, which will not be repeated here.

[0535] For an example of PDU session policies, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 4 This will not be elaborated upon here.

[0536] In step 1004, the policy control network element sends PCC rules to the session management network element. Correspondingly, the session management network element receives the aforementioned PCC rules.

[0537] One possible implementation is that the policy control network element can indicate multiple quality of service parameters corresponding to the aforementioned session to the session management network element through multiple PCC rules. Figure 10 The following are two PCC rules as examples.

[0538] When the policy control network element can indicate multiple service quality parameters corresponding to the aforementioned session to the session management network element through multiple PCC rules, the design of each PCC rule can be found in [reference needed]. Figure 4 This will not be elaborated upon here.

[0539] In step 1005, the session management network element binds the PCC rule to the quality of service channel.

[0540] When a PCC rule includes a quality of service parameter, if the business data flow template in the PCC rule is business identification information or the PCC rule includes indication information for indicating model-assisted quality of service matching, then the PCC rule is bound to a quality of service channel. The quality of service channel can also be bound to ordinary PCC rules, which can refer to PCC rules where the business data flow template is business flow identification information.

[0541] When a PCC rule includes multiple quality of service parameters, if the business data flow template in the PCC rule is empty or a wildcard, then the PCC rule is bound to multiple quality of service channels.

[0542] In step 1006, the session management network element sends packet inspection rules (such as PDR) and quality of service enforcement rules (such as QER) to the user plane function network element, and instructs it to determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet according to the model. Correspondingly, the user plane function network element receives the packet inspection rules, the quality of service enforcement rules, and the above-mentioned instruction information (instructing it to determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet according to the model).

[0543] The implementation method of step 1006 above can be found in the text above. Figure 4 The implementation methods four to six are not described in detail here.

[0544] In step 1007, the session management network element sends a Quality of Service (QoS) rule to the terminal and instructs it to determine the QoS channel corresponding to the data packet based on the model. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the QoS rule and the aforementioned instruction information (instructing it to determine the QoS channel corresponding to the data packet based on the model).

[0545] The implementation method of step 1007 above can be found in the text above. Figure 4 The implementation methods seven to nine are not described here.

[0546] In step 1008, the session management network element sends a quality of service (QoS) configuration file to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the aforementioned QoS configuration file.

[0547] The implementation method of step 1008 above can be found in the text above. Figure 4 The relevant descriptions will not be repeated here.

[0548] In step 1009, the user plane function network element / terminal obtains the model. Step 1009 includes steps 1009a and 1009b. In step 1009a, the user plane function network element obtains the model, and in step 1009b, the terminal obtains the model.

[0549] For example, the user plane function network element / terminal obtains the model based on the model information.

[0550] For example, a user plane function network element / terminal can obtain the corresponding model based on the model identification information, such as obtaining the corresponding model from other network elements based on the model identification information, or obtaining the corresponding model from local storage based on the model identification information.

[0551] Another example is that user plane function network elements / terminals can obtain the corresponding model based on the model feature information, such as obtaining the corresponding model from other network elements / local storage based on the model feature information.

[0552] It should be noted that in this application, the sending of model information by the session management network element to the user plane function network element / terminal, and the acquisition of the corresponding model by the user plane function network element / terminal based on the model information, is merely an example and should not constitute any limitation on this application. In this application, the session management network element may also directly send the model to the user plane function network element / terminal. Similarly, the sending of model information by the application function network element to the policy control network element, and then the policy control network element instructing the session management network element on the model information, is also merely an example and should not constitute any limitation on this application. For example, the application function network element may also send the model to the policy control network element, and then the policy control network element instructing the session management network element on the model. The embodiments shown below are similar and will not be described again below.

[0553] It should be noted that this application does not limit the scope of the application. Figure 10 The execution time of the steps can vary. For example, step 1009a can be executed before step 1007, and step 1009b can be executed after step 1011. These will not be listed individually here. Furthermore, step 1009a only needs to be executed before the user plane function network element performs model-assisted quality of service matching, and step 1009b only needs to be executed before the terminal performs model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0554] After the terminal and user plane functional network elements obtain the model, they can perform inference based on the model. Steps 1010 to 1012 below are the processing procedures for downlink data packets, and steps 1013 to 1015 are the processing procedures for uplink data packets.

[0555] In step 1010, the server sends downlink data packets to the user plane function network element. Correspondingly, the user plane function network element receives the downlink data packets.

[0556] In step 1011, the user plane function network element determines the quality of service channel corresponding to the downlink data packet based on the model.

[0557] For a detailed explanation of step 1011, please refer to the relevant descriptions in Implementation Methods 1 to 4 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0558] In step 1012, the user plane function network element sends the aforementioned downlink data packet to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the downlink data packet. The user plane function network element can send the downlink data packet to the terminal through access network equipment.

[0559] For example, assuming that downlink data packet 1 and downlink data packet 2 belong to different services, the user plane function network element sends downlink data packet 1 to the terminal through quality of service channel 1 and downlink data packet 2 to the terminal through quality of service channel 2.

[0560] In step 1013, the terminal determines the quality of service channel corresponding to the uplink data packet based on the model.

[0561] For a detailed explanation of step 1013, please refer to the relevant descriptions in implementation methods X to W above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0562] In step 1014, the terminal sends the aforementioned uplink data packet to the user plane function network element. Correspondingly, the user plane function network element receives the uplink data packet. The terminal can send the uplink data packet to the user plane function network element through access network equipment.

[0563] For example, assuming that uplink data packet 1 and uplink data packet 2 belong to different services, the terminal sends uplink data packet 1 to the user plane function network element through the quality of service channel 1, and sends uplink data packet 2 to the user plane function network element through the quality of service channel 2.

[0564] In step 1015, the user plane function network element sends an uplink data packet to the server. Correspondingly, the server receives two data packets.

[0565] The methods provided in the embodiments of this application have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. The apparatus provided in the embodiments of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0566] It should be understood that Figure 11 and Figure 12 The apparatus shown can be used to implement the functions of the session management network element, policy control network element, access network equipment, user plane function network element or terminal in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments.

[0567] Figure 11 This is a schematic block diagram of the communication device 1100 provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0568] The communication device 1100 can be used to achieve the above. Figure 4 , Figure 9 or Figure 10The method described in any of the above-described embodiments can be used to implement the functions of the session management network element, policy control network element, access network equipment, user plane function network element, or terminal.

[0569] The modules included in the communication device 1100 can be implemented by software and / or hardware.

[0570] For example, the communication device 1100 may include the ability to perform... Figure 4 , Figure 9 or Figure 10 The modules or units corresponding to the methods / operations / steps / actions described in any of the illustrated method embodiments can be hardware circuits, software, or a combination of hardware circuits and software.

[0571] For example, when the communication device 1100 is used to implement Figure 4 When the session management network element is used in the method embodiment shown, the communication device 1100 may include a processing module 1110 and a transceiver module 1120. The processing module 1110 is used to determine multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel; the transceiver module 1120 is used to instruct the user plane function network element / terminal to determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel based on the model.

[0572] Optionally, the first data channel includes data streams from multiple services, including the aforementioned first service.

[0573] Optionally, the processing module 1110 is specifically used to determine multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel based on at least one of the following: quality of service parameters, first identification information, model information or first indication information, wherein the first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first data channel belongs, and the first indication information is used to indicate that model-assisted quality of service matching is enabled.

[0574] Optionally, the aforementioned first service corresponds to a first identification information.

[0575] Optionally, the transceiver module 1120 is also used to obtain multiple quality of service parameters corresponding to the first data channel from the policy management network element.

[0576] Optionally, the transceiver module 1120 is specifically used to obtain first policy information, which includes the aforementioned multiple quality of service parameters.

[0577] Optionally, when the first data channel is the first service flow, the first strategy information may also include the identification information of the first service flow.

[0578] Optionally, the first strategy information may also include first identification information, which is used to identify the service to which the data stream in the first data channel belongs.

[0579] Optionally, the processing module 1110 is specifically used to determine the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first policy information.

[0580] Optionally, the first policy information, which includes multiple service quality parameters, corresponds to multiple service quality channels.

[0581] Optionally, the first strategy information may also include first instruction information, which is used to instruct the use of model-assisted service quality matching.

[0582] Optionally, the transceiver module 1120 is specifically used to acquire multiple second policy information, each of which includes a quality of service parameter.

[0583] Optionally, when the first data channel is the first service flow, each second strategy information also includes one or more of the identification information, first indication information, model information, or first identification information of the first service flow. The first indication information is used to indicate that model-assisted service quality matching is enabled, and the first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first service flow belongs.

[0584] Optionally, when the first data channel is the first session, each second policy information may further include one or more of the following: first identification information, wildcard, or first indication information. The first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first session belongs, and the first indication information is used to indicate that model-assisted quality of service matching is enabled.

[0585] Optionally, the processing module 1110 is specifically used to determine the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the aforementioned multiple second strategy information.

[0586] Optionally, when the first data channel is the first service flow, multiple second policy information, including the same service flow identification information, correspond to different quality of service channels.

[0587] Optionally, the transceiver module 1120 is also used to send model information to the user plane function network element / terminal, which is used to infer and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel.

[0588] Optionally, the transceiver module 1120 is further configured to indicate multiple packet detection rules and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules to the user plane function network element, wherein the multiple packet detection rules correspond to the first data channel; or, to indicate one packet detection rule and multiple QoS enforcement rules to the user plane function network element, wherein the one packet detection rule corresponds to the first data channel and each QoS enforcement rule corresponds to one QoS channel; and / or, to indicate one QoS rule to the terminal, wherein the one QoS rule corresponds to the first data channel and the aforementioned one QoS rule corresponds to multiple QoS channels; or, to indicate multiple QoS rules to the terminal, wherein the multiple QoS rules correspond to the first data channel and each of the aforementioned multiple QoS rules corresponds to one QoS channel.

[0589] Optionally, the transceiver module 1120 is further configured to indicate to the user plane function network element a first packet detection rule, multiple second packet detection rules, and multiple quality of service (QoS) execution rules, wherein the first packet detection rule corresponds to a first data channel, the first packet detection rule indicates a forwarding action rule, the forwarding action rule is used to determine the second packet detection rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service, the multiple second packet detection rules and the multiple QoS execution rules are in one-to-one correspondence, and each QoS execution rule corresponds to a QoS channel; and / or, to indicate to the terminal a first QoS rule and multiple second QoS rules, wherein the first QoS rule corresponds to the first data channel, the first QoS rule indicates a forwarding action rule, the forwarding action rule is used to determine the second QoS rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service, and each of the multiple second QoS rules corresponds to a QoS channel.

[0590] Optionally, the transceiver module 1120 is also used to send a second indication information to the user plane function network element / terminal, the second indication information being used to indicate that only one quality of service execution rule is in effect at the same time.

[0591] Optionally, the transceiver module 1120 is also used to indicate multiple quality of service channels to the access network equipment, wherein only one of the multiple quality of service channels is allowed to transmit data packets at the same time.

[0592] Optionally, the transceiver module 1120 is also configured to receive a request message from the terminal, which requests the first data channel to enable model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0593] For example, when the communication device 1100 is used to implement Figure 4When the policy control network element functions in the method embodiment shown, the communication device 1100 may include a processing module 1110 and a transceiver module 1120. The processing module 1110 is used to determine that the first data channel enables model-assisted quality of service matching. The transceiver module 1120 is used to send policy information to the session management network element. The policy information includes first indication information and multiple quality of service parameters corresponding to the first data channel. The first indication information is used to instruct the first data channel to enable model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0594] Optionally, the transceiver module 1120 is further configured to receive third indication information from the session management network element / application function network element, the third indication information being used to instruct the first data channel to enable model-assisted quality of service matching; and the processing module 1110 is specifically configured to determine, based on the third indication information, that the first data channel enables model-assisted quality of service matching.

[0595] Optionally, each of the above multiple quality of service parameters corresponds to first identification information, which is used to identify the first service to which the first data packet in the first data channel belongs.

[0596] Optionally, the transceiver module 1120 is also used to obtain model information from the application function network element, which is used to infer and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel; and to send the above model information to the session management network element.

[0597] For example, when the communication device 1100 is used to implement Figure 4 When the terminal / user plane function network element in the method embodiment shown is used, the communication device 1100 may include a processing module 1110 and a transceiver module 1120. The transceiver module 1120 is used to receive fourth indication information, which is used to indicate the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel based on the model. The first data channel corresponds to multiple quality of service channels. The processing module 1110 is used to determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel based on the model corresponding to the first data channel.

[0598] Optionally, the processing module 1110 is specifically used to determine the first identification information corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel based on the model corresponding to the first data channel. The first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data packet belongs. Based on the first identification information, the quality of service channel corresponding to the first identification information is determined.

[0599] Optionally, the first data channel is the first service flow or the first session.

[0600] More detailed descriptions of the above modules can be obtained directly from the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0601] It should be understood that the module division in the embodiments of this application is illustrative and only represents a logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into a single processor, exist as separate physical entities, or be integrated into a single module. The integrated modules described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional modules.

[0602] Figure 12 This is another schematic block diagram of the communication device 1200 provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0603] The communication device 1200 can be a chip system, or it can be an apparatus configured with a chip system to implement the methods described in the above-described method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0604] like Figure 12 As shown, the communication device 1200 may include a processor 1210, which can be used to execute computer programs or instructions stored in memory to achieve... Figure 4 , Figure 9 or Figure 10 The steps performed by the session management network element, policy control network element, access network device, user plane function network element, or terminal in any of the embodiments shown.

[0605] In one possible implementation, the communication device 1200 further includes a communication interface 1220. The communication interface 1220 can be used to communicate with other devices via a transmission medium, thereby enabling the communication device 1200 to communicate with other devices. The communication interface 1220 may be, for example, a transceiver, interface, pin, bus, circuit, or a device capable of transmitting and receiving functions. The processor 1210 can utilize the communication interface 1220 to input and output data and to implement... Figure 4 , Figure 9 or Figure 10 The steps performed by the session management network element, policy control network element, access network device, user plane function network element, or terminal in any of the embodiments shown.

[0606] In one possible implementation, the communication device 1200 further includes at least one memory 1230 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 1230 is coupled to the processor 1210. The coupling in this embodiment is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, and can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. The processor 1210 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1230. The processor 1210 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1230. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

[0607] It should be understood that the coupling in the embodiments of this application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, used for information interaction between devices, units, or modules. The processor 1210 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1230. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific connection medium between the processor 1210, communication interface 1220, and memory 1230. Optionally, the processor 1210, communication interface 1220, and memory 1230 are connected via a bus 1240. The bus 1240 is... Figure 12 The connections between other components are shown in bold lines only and are not intended to be limiting. The bus can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, Figure 12 The bus is represented by a single thick line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0608] This application also provides a computer program product, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions), which, when run, can achieve... Figure 4 , Figure 9 or Figure 10 The steps performed by the session management network element, policy control network element, access network device, user plane function network element, or terminal in any of the embodiments shown.

[0609] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions). When the computer program is executed, it can achieve... Figure 4 , Figure 9 or Figure 10The steps performed by the session management network element, policy control network element, access network device, user plane function network element, or terminal in any of the embodiments shown.

[0610] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In implementation, each step of the above method embodiments can be completed by the integrated logic circuits in the processor's hardware or by instructions in software form. The processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor unit (MPU), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), an artificial intelligence processor (AI processor) or a neural processing unit (NPU), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or a combination of one or more discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly embodied in the execution of a hardware decoding processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can reside in a mature storage medium in the field, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, or registers. This storage medium is located in memory, and the processor reads information from the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above method.

[0611] It should also be understood that the memory in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be a cache, random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory used in the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0612] The terms "unit," "module," etc., used in this specification can be used to refer to computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, combinations of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. In the embodiments of this application, "unit" and "module" have the same meaning and can be used interchangeably.

[0613] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application. In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus, devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for example, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the shown or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be through some interfaces; indirect couplings or communication connections between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0614] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0615] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0616] In the above embodiments, the functions of each functional unit can be implemented entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions (programs). When the computer program instructions (programs) are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., digital video discs, DVDs), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state drives, SSDs), etc.

[0617] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the technology, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0618] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Identify the multiple Quality of Service (QoS) channels corresponding to the first data channel; Instruct the user plane function network element / terminal to determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet of the first service in the first data channel based on the model.

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The first data channel includes data streams from multiple services, including the first service.

3. The method as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The determination of the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel includes: The first data channel is determined based on at least one of the following: service quality parameters, first identification information, model information, or first indication information, wherein the first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first data channel belongs, and the first indication information is used to indicate that model-assisted service quality matching is enabled.

4. The method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The first service corresponds to a first identifier.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The method further includes: Obtain the multiple service quality parameters corresponding to the first data channel from the policy management network element.

6. The method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The step of obtaining the plurality of service quality parameters corresponding to the first data channel from the policy management network element includes: Obtain first policy information, which includes the plurality of service quality parameters.

7. The method as described in claim 6, characterized in that, When the first data channel is the first service flow, the first policy information also includes the identification information of the first service flow.

8. The method as described in claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, The first strategy information also includes first identification information, which is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first data channel belongs.

9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that, The determination of the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel includes: Identify the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first strategy information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that, The first strategy information, which includes multiple service quality parameters, corresponds to multiple service quality channels.

11. The method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The step of obtaining the plurality of service quality parameters corresponding to the first data channel from the policy management network element includes: Obtain multiple second policy information, each of which includes a quality of service parameter.

12. The method as described in claim 11, characterized in that, When the first data channel is the first service flow, each second strategy information also includes one or more of the identification information, first indication information, model information, or first identification information of the first service flow. The first indication information is used to indicate that model-assisted service quality matching is enabled, and the first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first service flow belongs.

13. The method as described in claim 11, characterized in that, When the first data channel is the first session, each second policy information also includes one or more of the following: first identification information, wildcard, or first indication information. The first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data flow in the first session belongs, and the first indication information is used to indicate that model-assisted quality of service matching is enabled.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that, The determination of the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the first data channel includes: Determine the multiple quality of service channels corresponding to the multiple second strategy information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that, When the first data channel is the first service flow, multiple second policy information, including the same service flow identification information, correspond to different quality of service channels.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that, The method further includes: Model information is sent to the user plane function network element / terminal, and the model information is used to infer and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that, The method further includes: The system may instruct the user plane function network element to specify multiple packet inspection rules and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules, wherein the multiple packet inspection rules correspond to the first data channel; or, the system may instruct the user plane function network element to specify one packet inspection rule and multiple QoS enforcement rules, wherein the one packet inspection rule corresponds to the first data channel, and each QoS enforcement rule corresponds to one QoS channel; and / or, The terminal is instructed to provide a quality of service rule, which corresponds to the first data channel, or the service quality rule corresponds to multiple service quality channels; or, the terminal is instructed to provide multiple service quality rules, which correspond to the first data channel, and each service quality rule corresponds to a service quality channel.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that, The method further includes: The user plane function network element is instructed with a first packet detection rule, multiple second packet detection rules, and multiple quality of service (QoS) enforcement rules. The first packet detection rule corresponds to the first data channel and indicates a forwarding action rule. The forwarding action rule is used to determine the second packet detection rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service. The multiple second packet detection rules and the multiple QoS enforcement rules correspond one-to-one, and each QoS enforcement rule corresponds to a QoS channel; and / or, The terminal is instructed with a first quality of service rule and multiple second quality of service rules. The first quality of service rule corresponds to the first data channel. The first quality of service rule indicates a forwarding action rule. The forwarding action rule is used to determine the second quality of service rule corresponding to the data packet of the first service. Each of the multiple second quality of service rules corresponds to a quality of service channel.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that, The method further includes: A request message is received from the terminal, the request message being used to request the first data channel to enable model-assisted quality of service matching.

20. A communication method, characterized in that, include: The first data channel is configured to use model-assisted quality of service matching. The policy information is sent to the session management network element. The policy information includes first indication information and multiple service quality parameters corresponding to the first data channel. The first indication information is used to instruct the first data channel to enable model-assisted service quality matching.

21. The method as described in claim 20, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive third indication information from the session management network element / application function network element, the third indication information being used to instruct the first data channel to enable model-assisted quality of service matching; and, The determination of the first data channel to enable model-assisted quality of service matching includes: Based on the third indication information, it is determined that the first data channel enables model-assisted quality of service matching.

22. The method as described in claim 20 or 21, characterized in that, Each of the plurality of quality of service parameters corresponds to a first identification information, which is used to identify the first service to which the first data packet in the first data channel belongs.

23. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 22, characterized in that, The method further includes: Model information is obtained from application function network elements, and the model information is used to infer and determine the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel; Send the model information to the session management network element.

24. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Receive a fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used to indicate the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel determined based on the model, the first data channel corresponding to multiple quality of service channels; Based on the model corresponding to the first data channel, the quality of service channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel is determined.

25. The method as described in claim 24, characterized in that, The step of determining the Quality of Service (QoS) channel corresponding to the data packets in the first data channel based on the model corresponding to the first data channel includes: Based on the model corresponding to the first data channel, the first identification information corresponding to the data packet in the first data channel is determined. The first identification information is used to identify the service to which the data packet belongs. Based on the first identification information, the quality of service channel corresponding to the first identification information is determined.

26. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 25, characterized in that, The first data channel is the first service flow or the first session.

27. A communication device, characterized in that, include: A module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 26.

28. A communication device, characterized in that, include: A processor, when invoked from a computer program in memory, causes the apparatus to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 26.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, Used to store computer programs, which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 26.

30. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising instructions, characterized in that, When the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 26.

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