Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and provides a communication method and apparatus, capable of improving the accuracy of a terminal device matching a user equipment route selection policy (URSP) rule on the basis of application information, thereby improving a session establishment success rate and a data transmission success rate, and improving the communication performance. The method comprises: a terminal device acquiring first information of a first application on the basis of a first acquisition path, and matching the first application information with the URSP rule of the terminal device; when the first application information does not match the URSP rule, acquiring second application information of the first application on the basis of a second acquisition path; and matching the second application information with the URSP rule.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on August 10, 2023, with application number 202311010465.0 and invention name “A Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0003] In a communication system, the communication requirements of various communication services may vary greatly. By flexibly allocating network resources and networking on demand, multiple network slices with different characteristics and isolated from each other can be virtually created on the same set of physical facilities to meet the communication needs of different services.

[0004] Among them, when the terminal device is transmitting services, it can obtain application information associated with the traffic descriptor (TD) and match the appropriate terminal equipment route selection policy (URSP) rules according to the application information for communication. For example, according to the application information, the URSP rules are matched to select the network slice that can meet the communication requirements for communication.

[0005] In related technologies, a terminal device may obtain multiple application information, and each of the multiple application information may be different, which may cause errors when the terminal device matches the URSP rules according to the application information. For example, a terminal device that is expected to be mapped to network slice 1 is mapped to network slice 2, which may cause the session establishment to fail and data transmission to be impossible.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, which can improve the accuracy of terminal devices matching URSP rules according to application information, thereby increasing the success rate of session establishment and data transmission, and improving communication performance.

[0008] The embodiments of this application adopt the following technical solutions:

[0009] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be performed by a terminal device, or by a chip, system-on-chip, or system-on-chip in the terminal device. The following description uses the terminal device as an example. The method includes: obtaining first information of a first application according to a first acquisition path; matching the first application information with a terminal device routing policy (URSP) rule of the terminal device; if the first application information does not match the URSP rule, obtaining second application information of the first application according to a second acquisition path; and matching the second application information with the URSP rule.

[0010] Based on the first aspect, since different application information corresponds to different acquisition paths, the terminal device obtains the first application information through the first acquisition path. After obtaining the first application information, the first application information is matched with the URSP rules. If the first application information does not match the URSP rules, the second application information is obtained through the second acquisition path. After obtaining the second application information, the second application information is matched with the URSP rules, thereby improving the accuracy of the terminal device in matching the URSP rules according to the application information, thereby improving the session establishment success rate and the data transmission success rate, and improving the communication performance.

[0011] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the URSP rule includes a traffic descriptor TD, and the TD is associated with one or more of the following application information: application descriptor, IP descriptor, domain descriptor, non-IP descriptor, data network name, and connection capability; the method also includes: when the first application information matches the URSP rule, determining the network slice information according to the TD in the URSP rule, and communicating according to the network slice information.

[0012] In this implementation, when the first application information matches the URSP rule, the terminal device determines the network slice information based on the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule and communicates based on the network slice information, that is, there is no need to obtain the second application information through a second acquisition path, thereby achieving the purpose of streamlining resource overhead.

[0013] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first application information includes one or more application information associated with the TD; or the first application information includes an index used to represent the TD, and a mapping relationship exists between the index and the TD.

[0014] Optionally, the first application information includes one or more of an application descriptor, an IP descriptor, a domain descriptor, a non-IP descriptor, a data network name, and a connection capability.

[0015] Optionally, the first application information includes: one or more of A, B, C, D, E; or one or more of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; or a descriptive symbol such as bit table 00000.

[0016] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: when the second application information does not match the URSP rule, combining the first application information and the second application information to obtain third application information; and matching the third application information with the URSP rule.

[0017] In this implementation, when the first application information does not match the URSP rule and the second application information does not match the URSP rule, by combining the first application information and the second application information and matching the combined third application information with the URSP rule, the session establishment success rate and the data transmission success rate can be further improved, thereby improving communication performance.

[0018] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, a priority of the first acquisition approach is higher than a priority of the second acquisition approach.

[0019] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, before matching the first application information with the terminal device routing selection policy URSP rule, the method further includes: receiving a URSP rule sent from a network device, the URSP rule including indication information, and the indication information indicates that the priority of the first acquisition path is higher than the priority of the second acquisition path.

[0020] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the preset priority information indicates a priority of the first acquisition approach and a priority of the second acquisition approach.

[0021] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the preset priority information is determined based on the traffic descriptor field in the URSP rule; or, the preset priority information is predefined; or, the preset priority information is determined by the operating system (OS) manufacturer; or, the preset priority information is determined by the operator; or, the preset priority information is determined by the terminal device manufacturer.

[0022] Optionally, the terminal device has the ability to obtain M application information from N acquisition paths; wherein M and N are integers, M is greater than or equal to 1, and M is less than or equal to N.

[0023] It can be understood that in this application, the terminal device has the ability to obtain application information from multiple acquisition channels. In actual communication scenarios, the terminal device may not be able to obtain application information from all acquisition channels, and the terminal device may not be able to obtain application information from one or some acquisition channels.

[0024] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the way to obtain application information includes one or more of the following: obtaining application information through a method provided by the application; or obtaining application information of the application through an application program interface (API); or determining application information of the application based on an OS entity; or identifying the service to be transmitted based on a preset configuration file to obtain application information; or obtaining application information defined by the operator; or obtaining application information customized by the terminal device; or obtaining application information associated with the communication scenario; or obtaining application information pre-configured by the application store.

[0025] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, obtaining the first application information of the first application according to the first acquisition path includes: the OS entity of the terminal device obtaining the first application information of the first application according to the first acquisition path; or, the software tool development kit SDK entity of the terminal device obtaining the first application information of the first application according to the first acquisition path; or, the modem of the terminal device obtaining the first application information of the first application according to the first acquisition path.

[0026] In this implementation, different manufacturers may configure different entities (such as OS entity, SDK entity, modem entity) in the terminal device, and the terminal device may obtain application information based on the entity and different acquisition paths.

[0027] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, matching the first application information with the terminal device routing policy URSP rule includes: the OS entity of the terminal device matches the first application information with the URSP rule; or, the SDK entity of the terminal device matches the first application information with the URSP rule; or, the modem entity of the terminal device matches the first application information with the URSP rule.

[0028] In this implementation, different manufacturers may configure different entities (such as OS entity, SDK entity, modem entity) in the terminal device, and the terminal device may match the first application information with the URSP rule based on the entity.

[0029] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first application information includes security verification information; and the mismatch between the first application information and the URSP includes: if the security verification information is invalid, the first application information and the URSP do not match. The matching between the first application information and the URSP includes: if the security verification information is valid, the first application information and the URSP match.

[0030] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The execution subject of the method can be a network device, or a chip, chip system, or system-on-chip in the network device. The following description takes the execution subject being a network device as an example. The method includes: sending a terminal device routing selection policy (URSP) rule to a terminal device, wherein the URSP rule instructs the terminal device to use network slice information to establish a PDU session; and indicating to the terminal device that a first acquisition path has a higher priority than a second acquisition path.

[0031] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the URSP rule includes indication information, where the indication information indicates that a priority of the first acquisition path is higher than a priority of the second acquisition path.

[0032] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the URSP rule includes a traffic descriptor TD, and the TD is associated with one or more of the following application information: application descriptor, IP descriptor, domain descriptor, non-IP descriptor, data network name, and connection capability.

[0033] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which can be applied to a terminal device in the above-mentioned first aspect or a possible design of the first aspect to implement the functions performed by the above-mentioned terminal device. The communication device can be a terminal device, or it can be a chip or chip system or system on chip of the terminal device, etc. The communication device can perform the functions performed by the above-mentioned terminal device through hardware, or it can perform corresponding software implementation through hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions. For example, a transceiver module and a processing module. The transceiver module is used to obtain first application information of a first application according to a first acquisition path; the processing module is used to match the first application information with the terminal device routing policy URSP rule of the terminal device; the transceiver module is also used to obtain second application information of the first application according to a second acquisition path when the first application information does not match the URSP rule; the processing module is also used to match the second application information with the URSP rule.

[0034] In an implementation of the third aspect, the URSP rule includes a traffic descriptor TD, and the TD is associated with one or more of the following application information: application descriptor, IP descriptor, domain descriptor, non-IP descriptor, data network name, and connection capability; the processing module is also used to determine the network slice information according to the TD in the URSP rule when the first application information matches the URSP rule, and communicate according to the network slice information.

[0035] In an implementation manner of the third aspect, the first application information includes one or more application information associated with the TD; or the first application information includes an index used to represent the TD, and there is a mapping relationship between the index and the TD.

[0036] In an implementation of the third aspect, the processing module is further configured to, when the second application information does not match the URSP rule, combine the first application information and the second application information to obtain third application information; and match the third application information with the URSP rule.

[0037] In an implementation manner of the third aspect, the priority of the first acquisition approach is higher than the priority of the second acquisition approach.

[0038] In an implementation of the third aspect, before matching the first application information with the terminal device routing selection policy URSP rule, the processing module is also used to receive the URSP rule sent from the network device, and the URSP rule includes indication information, and the indication information indicates that the priority of the first acquisition path is higher than the priority of the second acquisition path.

[0039] In an implementation manner of the third aspect, the preset priority information indicates the priority of the first acquisition approach and the priority of the second acquisition approach.

[0040] In an implementation of the third aspect, the preset priority information is determined based on the traffic descriptor field in the URSP rule; or, the preset priority information is predefined; or, the preset priority information is determined by the operating system OS manufacturer; or, the preset priority information is determined by the operator; or, the preset priority information is determined by the terminal device manufacturer.

[0041] In one implementation of the third aspect, the way to obtain application information includes one or more of the following: obtaining application information through a method provided by the application; or, obtaining application information of the application through an application program interface (API); or, determining application information of the application based on an OS entity; or, identifying the service to be transmitted based on a preset configuration file to obtain application information; or, obtaining application information defined by the operator; or, obtaining application information customized by the terminal device; or, obtaining application information associated with the communication scenario; or, obtaining application information pre-configured by an application store.

[0042] In an implementation of the third aspect, the processing module is specifically used to: control the OS entity of the terminal device to obtain the first application information of the first application according to the first acquisition path; or control the software tool development kit SDK entity of the terminal device to obtain the first application information of the first application according to the first acquisition path; or control the modem of the terminal device to obtain the first application information of the first application according to the first acquisition path.

[0043] In an implementation of the third aspect, the processing module is specifically used to: control the OS entity of the terminal device to match the first application information with the URSP rule; or, control the SDK entity of the terminal device to match the first application information with the URSP rule; or, control the modem entity of the terminal device to match the first application information with the URSP rule.

[0044] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the first application information includes security verification information; and the processing module is specifically configured to: if the security verification information is invalid, determine that the first application information does not match the URSP. The processing module is specifically configured to: if the security verification information is valid, determine that the first application information matches the URSP.

[0045] It should be noted that the specific implementation method of the communication device in the third aspect can refer to the behavioral function of the terminal device in the communication method provided by the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0046] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which can be applied to the network device in the above-mentioned second aspect or the possible design of the second aspect to implement the functions performed by the above-mentioned network device. The communication device can be a network device, or a chip or system on chip of the network device, etc. The communication device can execute the functions performed by the above-mentioned network device through hardware, or execute the corresponding software implementation through hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions. Such as a transceiver module. The transceiver module is used to send a terminal device routing policy URSP rule to the terminal device, and the URSP rule is used to instruct the terminal device to use network slicing information to establish a PDU session; the transceiver module is also used to indicate to the terminal device that the priority of the first acquisition path is higher than the priority of the second acquisition path.

[0047] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the URSP rule includes indication information, where the indication information indicates that a priority of the first acquisition path is higher than a priority of the second acquisition path.

[0048] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the URSP rule includes a traffic descriptor TD, and the TD is associated with one or more of the following application information: application descriptor, IP descriptor, domain descriptor, non-IP descriptor, data network name, and connection capability.

[0049] It should be noted that the specific implementation method of the communication device in the fourth aspect can refer to the behavioral function of the network device in the communication method provided by the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0050] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes one or more processors; one or more processors are used to run computer programs or instructions, and when the one or more processors execute the computer instructions or instructions, the communication device executes the communication method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or executes the communication method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0051] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the communication device further includes one or more memories, the one or more memories being coupled to one or more processors, and the one or more memories being used to store the above-mentioned computer programs or instructions. In one possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device. In another possible implementation, the memory is located within the communication device. In an embodiment of the present application, the processor and the memory may also be integrated into one device, that is, the processor and the memory may also be integrated together. In a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a transceiver, and the transceiver is used to receive information and / or send information.

[0052] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the communication device further includes one or more communication interfaces, the one or more communication interfaces are coupled to the one or more processors, and the one or more communication interfaces are used to communicate with other modules outside the communication device.

[0053] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes an input / output interface and a logic circuit; the input / output interface is used to input and / or output information; the logic circuit is used to execute the communication method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or to execute the communication method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0054] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores computer instructions or programs. When the computer instructions or programs are run on a computer, the communication method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect is executed, or the communication method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect is executed.

[0055] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product comprising computer instructions is provided, which, when run on a computer, causes the communication method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect to be executed, or the communication method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect to be executed.

[0056] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program, which, when running on a computer, enables the communication method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect to be executed, or the communication method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect to be executed.

[0057] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any design method in the fifth to ninth aspects can refer to the technical effects brought about by any possible design of the first aspect mentioned above, or refer to the technical effects brought about by any possible design of the second aspect mentioned above and will not be repeated here.

[0058] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes a communication device as described in any possible design of the third aspect to or the third aspect, or includes a communication device as described in any possible design of the fourth aspect or the fourth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0059] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure of a URSP rule provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG6 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG7 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] Before describing the embodiments of the present application, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are described.

[0067] Network slicing: With the development of mobile communications technology, a wide range of new services and application scenarios are constantly emerging, and a large number of devices are continuously connected to the network. These devices may belong to different industrial fields, and their requirements for network mobility, security, latency, reliability, and even billing methods vary greatly. If traditional network construction approaches are followed, using a single network to carry these services will make it difficult to simultaneously meet these diverse service requirements. For operators, this will be a costly and inefficient investment, and for users, it will not provide high-quality services that meet their specific needs. To this end, the concept of end-to-end network slicing is proposed to provide users with customized network services. Through flexible allocation of network resources and on-demand networking, multiple, unique and isolated network slices can be created on the same physical infrastructure. Alternatively, a physical network can be abstractly divided into multiple network slices. Each network slice constitutes an end-to-end logical network, which is logically isolated from each other. This allows for targeted services to be provided to users, meeting the business needs of individual communications services. Network slicing can also be referred to as slices, logical subnets, etc., without limitation.

[0068] With the introduction of network slicing technology, operators will be able to offer network capabilities with diverse functional characteristics, providing dedicated networks for users with diverse business needs. This ensures high-quality service and meets differentiated business requirements. Users will also be able to use more advanced applications, further stimulating the development of new industry applications. Ultimately, this will improve network resource utilization efficiency, optimize operator network construction investments, and build a flexible and agile communications network.

[0069] For example, taking the following cloud game as an example, the feature of network slicing that can meet business needs is described.

[0070] Cloud gaming relies on real-time audio and video streaming technology. The server sends real-time audio and video streams to the client. The client then sends control commands to the server based on the received audio and video streams. The server then applies the received control commands to the game. The entire loop involves server-side game rendering, audio and video encoding, network transmission, and client-side audio and video decoding and rendering. Each of these processes is time-consuming, with network transmission being the most significant factor impacting the user experience.

[0071] Using traditional fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication networks or wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks, cloud gaming response latency fluctuates between 50ms and 140ms under normal network conditions. For games with high latency requirements (such as action, fighting, multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), first-person shooters, and racing), the experience still differs significantly from local gaming, necessitating further reductions in latency. Furthermore, due to the unique characteristics of virtual reality (VR) headsets, high latency can cause motion sickness, requiring latency to be controlled within 20ms to effectively mitigate these effects. The unique business scenarios of cloud gaming place even higher demands on the network: low latency, high bandwidth, and zero or minimal jitter.

[0072] Therefore, based on the above description of network slicing, exclusive network slices can be deployed for cloud gaming, such as deploying low-latency, high-bandwidth, jitter-free or low-jitter network slices for cloud gaming to meet the business needs of cloud gaming and improve user experience.

[0073] User equipment route selection policy (URSP) rules are the core rules for configuring and managing network slicing for terminal devices. They act on terminal devices in the network slicing business process and are used to guide terminal devices to transmit business data through the corresponding network slice based on business characteristics.

[0074] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication method that can improve the accuracy of a terminal device matching URSP rules based on application information, thereby improving the success rate of session establishment and data transmission, and improving communication performance. Specifically, the method includes: in a scenario where different application information corresponds to different acquisition paths, the terminal device obtains application information in the order of the acquisition paths; after obtaining a piece of application information, the terminal device matches the application information with the URSP rules; if the application information does not match the URSP rules, the terminal device will continue to obtain the next piece of application information and match it with the URSP rules.

[0075] Correspondingly, when the application information matches the URSP rule, the terminal device will not obtain the next application information, thereby achieving the purpose of streamlining resource overhead.

[0076] The real-time method of the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0077] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be used for any communication system including network slicing. The communication system can be a third generation partnership project (3GPP) communication system, for example, a long term evolution (LTE) system, or a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, a new radio (NR) communication system, a new radio vehicle to everything (NR V2X) system, and can also be applied to a system of LTE and 5G hybrid networking, or a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication system, an Internet of Things (IoT), and other next-generation communication systems, such as future communication systems such as 6G, and can also be a non-3GPP communication system without limitation.

[0078] The following describes the communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application using Figure 1 as an example.

[0079] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system may include one or more terminal devices, access network elements, core network elements, and data networks (DNs). The core network elements may include mobility management elements, session management elements, policy control elements, and other network elements.

[0080] After accessing the network, the terminal device can establish a protocol data unit (PDU) session, access the external DN through the PDU session, and interact with the application server deployed in the DN.

[0081] The terminal device in Figure 1 may be located within the cell coverage of the access network element. The terminal device may communicate with the access network element via an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) over the air interface. For example, the terminal device may send uplink data to the access network element via a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in the uplink direction; and the access network element may send downlink data to the terminal device via a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in the downlink direction. The terminal device may also communicate with the core network element via a specific interface. For example, the terminal device may communicate with the mobility management element in the core network element via the N1 interface.

[0082] The terminal device in Figure 1 can be a device with wireless transceiver capabilities or a chip or chip system that can be installed in the device, which can allow users to access the network and is used to provide voice and / or data connectivity to users. The terminal device can also be called user equipment (UE), subscriber unit (subscriber unit), terminal (terminal), mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal (MT).

[0083] For example, the terminal device in FIG1 may be a cellular phone, a smart phone, a wireless data card, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer or a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, a wireless modem, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a smart speaker, a train detector, a gas station sensor, etc. The terminal device may also be a VR terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal used in industrial control, a wireless terminal used in unmanned driving, a wireless terminal used in telemedicine, a wireless terminal used in smart grids, a wireless terminal used in transportation safety, a wireless terminal used in smart cities, a wireless terminal used in smart homes, a vehicle-mounted terminal for machine type communication (MTC), a vehicle with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication capabilities, an intelligent connected vehicle, a drone with UAV-to-UAV (U2U) communication capabilities, etc., without limitation.

[0084] The access network element in Figure 1 can be any device deployed in the access network that can wirelessly communicate with terminal devices, or a chip or chip system that can be installed in the above-mentioned device, and is mainly used to implement functions such as wireless physical control, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, wireless access control, and mobility management. Specifically, the access network element can be a device that supports wired access or a device that supports wireless access.

[0085] Exemplarily, the access network element may be an access network (AN) / radio access network (RAN) device, which is composed of multiple AN / RAN nodes. The AN / RAN node may be: an access point (AP), a base station (nodeB, NB), a macro base station, a micro base station (or described as a small station), a pico base station, a relay station, an enhanced nodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a next generation nodeB (gNB), a base station in a future mobile communication system, a transmission reception point (TRP), a transmission point (TP), a transmission measurement function (TMF), a wearable device, an in-vehicle device, or some other access node, etc., without limitation.

[0086] The mobility management network element in Figure 1 is mainly responsible for terminal device access authentication, mobility management, and signaling interaction between various functional network elements. For example, it manages user registration status, user connection status, user registration and network access, tracking area updates, cell handover user authentication and key security.

[0087] The session management network element in Figure 1 can be referred to as a session management function, a multicast / multicast service management function, or a multicast session management network element, etc., without limitation. The session management network element is primarily used to implement user plane transmission logical channels, such as session management functions such as establishing, releasing, and modifying PDU sessions.

[0088] The policy control network element in FIG1 can be used to provide policies, such as URSP policies, quality of service (QoS) policies, etc., to mobility management network elements, session management network elements, and terminal devices.

[0089] The DN in Figure 1 may be a carrier network that provides data transmission services to users. An application server (AS) may be deployed in the DN to provide data transmission services to users.

[0090] It should be noted that the terminal equipment, access network network elements and core network network elements of the embodiments of the present application can be one or more chips, or a system on chip (SOC), etc. Figure 1 is only an exemplary figure, and the number of devices included therein is not limited. In addition, in addition to the devices shown in Figure 1, the communication system may also include other devices. The names of the various devices and the names of the various links in Figure 1 are not restricted. In addition to the names shown in Figure 1, the various devices and the various links may also be named other names. In addition to the network elements shown in Figure 1, the network shown in Figure 1 may also include user plane network elements, application function network elements, network storage network elements, network slice selection network elements, network warehouse network elements, authentication service network elements, network data analysis network elements, network presentation network elements, etc., without limitation.

[0091] For example, taking the communication system shown in Figure 1 as a 5G communication system as an example, the network element or entity corresponding to the above-mentioned mobility management network element can be the access and mobility management function (AMF) in the 5G communication system, the network element or entity corresponding to the session management network element can be the session management function (SMF) in the 5G communication system, and the policy control network element can be the policy control function (PCF) in the 5G communication system, etc.

[0092] In specific implementation, as shown in Figure 1, each terminal device, access network element, and core network element can adopt the composition structure shown in Figure 2, or include the components shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a communication device 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 200 can be a terminal device or a chip or system on chip in a terminal device; it can also be an access network element or a chip or system on chip in an access network element, or it can also be a core network element or a chip or system on chip in a core network element. As shown in Figure 2, the communication device 200 includes a processor 201, a transceiver 202, and a communication line 203.

[0093] Furthermore, the communication device 200 may further include a memory 204 , wherein the processor 201 , the memory 204 and the transceiver 202 may be connected via a communication line 203 .

[0094] The processor 201 is a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device (PLD), or any combination thereof. The processor 201 may also be other devices with processing functions, such as circuits, devices, or software modules, without limitation.

[0095] Transceiver 202 is used to communicate with other devices or other communication networks. Such other communication networks may be Ethernet, radio access networks (RAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), etc. Transceiver 202 may be a module, circuit, transceiver, or any device capable of communication.

[0096] The communication line 203 is used to transmit information between the components included in the communication device 200.

[0097] The memory 204 is used to store instructions, where the instructions may be computer programs.

[0098] The memory 204 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and / or instructions, or a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and / or instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, etc., without limitation.

[0099] It should be noted that memory 204 can exist independently of processor 201 or can be integrated with processor 201. Memory 204 can be used to store instructions, program code, or data. Memory 204 can be located within or outside of communication device 200, without limitation. Processor 201 is configured to execute instructions stored in memory 204 to implement the communication methods provided in the following embodiments of this application.

[0100] In an example, the processor 201 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 2 .

[0101] As an optional implementation, the communication device 200 includes multiple processors. For example, in addition to the processor 201 in FIG. 2 , it may also include a processor 207 .

[0102] As an optional implementation, the communication apparatus 200 further includes an output device 205 and an input device 206. For example, the input device 206 is a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a joystick, or the like, and the output device 205 is a display screen, a speaker, or the like.

[0103] It should be noted that the communication device 200 may be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a network server, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal, an embedded device, a chip system, or a device having a structure similar to that shown in FIG2 . Furthermore, the structure shown in FIG2 does not limit the communication device. In addition to the components shown in FIG2 , the communication device may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently.

[0104] In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system can be composed of chips, or can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0105] In addition, the actions and terms involved in the various embodiments of this application can refer to each other without limitation. The message names or parameter names in the messages exchanged between the various devices in the embodiments of this application are only examples, and other names can also be used in specific implementations without limitation.

[0106] In conjunction with the communication system shown in Figure 1, with reference to Figure 3 below, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described. Among them, the terminal device can be any terminal device in the communication system shown in Figure 1, the access network network element can be a service access network network element of the terminal device, or it can be described as an access network network element to which the terminal device belongs, and the policy control network element can be any policy control network element in the communication system shown in Figure 1. The terminal device, access network network element, and policy control network element described in the following embodiments can all have the components shown in Figure 2. The processing performed by the single execution subject (terminal device or access network network element or policy control network element) shown in the embodiment of the present application can also be divided into executions by multiple execution subjects, and these execution subjects can be logically and / or physically separated without restriction.

[0107] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3 , the method may include the following steps.

[0108] Step 301: The terminal device obtains first application information of a first application according to a first acquisition method.

[0109] Different application information may correspond to different acquisition paths (or acquisition methods). Application information may also be referred to as information related to an application, information from an application, etc., without limitation.

[0110] Exemplarily, the application information may be a traffic descriptor component, or one or more traffic descriptor components, or an index representing a traffic descriptor component, or one or more indexes representing a traffic descriptor combination part, without limitation.

[0111] As an example, the first application information includes application information related to the traffic descriptor. Exemplarily, the first application information includes: one or more of application descriptors, IP descriptors, domain descriptors, non-IP descriptors, data network names (DNNs), and connection capabilities.

[0112] As another example, the first application information includes an index for representing a traffic descriptor. Exemplarily, the index for representing the traffic descriptor may include one or more of A, B, C, D, and E. A mapping relationship exists between the index and the traffic descriptor, for example, A corresponds to the application descriptor, B corresponds to the IP descriptor, C corresponds to the domain descriptor, D corresponds to the data network name, and E corresponds to the connection capability.

[0113] Exemplarily, an index, such as a value, used to represent a traffic descriptor. For example, the value used to represent a traffic descriptor includes one or more of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. A mapping relationship exists between the index and the traffic descriptor, for example, 1 corresponds to an application descriptor, 2 corresponds to an IP descriptor, 3 corresponds to a domain descriptor, 4 corresponds to a data network name, and 5 corresponds to a connection capability.

[0114] Exemplarily, the index used to represent the traffic descriptor may include one or more descriptors such as a bitmap. For example, the index used to represent the traffic descriptor may be a descriptor such as a bitmap 00000, and setting the corresponding bit to 1 may represent different traffic descriptors.

[0115] For example, setting the last bit in the bit table 00000 to 1 (ie, 00001) indicates that the terminal device has obtained the application information, and setting the last bit in the bit table 00000 to 0 (ie, 00000) indicates that the terminal device has not obtained the application information.

[0116] There is a mapping relationship between the index and the traffic descriptor. For example, 00001 corresponds to the application descriptor, 00010 corresponds to the IP descriptor, 00100 corresponds to the domain descriptor, 01000 corresponds to the data network name, and 10000 corresponds to the connection capability.

[0117] Optionally, setting multiple bits in the bit table to 1 may also correspond to multiple traffic descriptors, and setting two bits in the bit table 00000 to 1 (such as 00011) corresponds to an application descriptor and an IP descriptor.

[0118] Exemplarily, the mapping relationship between the index used to represent the traffic descriptor and the traffic descriptor may be as shown in Table 1 below, wherein Table 1 shows the mapping relationship between the value used to represent the traffic descriptor and the traffic descriptor.

[0119] Table 1

[0120] Exemplarily, as shown in Table 1 above, assuming that the value included in the first application information is 1, it means that the application information included in the first application information is an application descriptor.

[0121] It should be noted that Table 1 above is merely an example of the mapping relationship between indexes and traffic descriptors and does not constitute a limitation on this application. Of course, Table 1 above may also include other indexes and corresponding traffic descriptors; or, the indexes in Table 1 above may also correspond to other traffic descriptors, which will not be detailed here.

[0122] Among them, when the terminal device is transmitting business, it can obtain multiple application information through different acquisition channels. The application information obtained by the terminal device through different acquisition channels can be the same or different, and there is no restriction.

[0123] Optionally, the terminal device has the ability to obtain M application information from N acquisition paths; wherein M and N are integers, M is greater than or equal to 1, and M is less than or equal to N.

[0124] It can be understood that in this application, the terminal device has the ability to obtain application information from multiple acquisition channels. In actual communication scenarios, the terminal device may not be able to obtain application information from all acquisition channels, and the terminal device may not be able to obtain application information from one or some acquisition channels.

[0125] Exemplarily, the terminal device can obtain application information through one or more of the following methods: ①: obtaining application information through the method provided by the application; ② obtaining application information of the application through the application program interface (API); ③ determining the application information of the application based on the OS entity; ④: identifying the transmission service according to the preset profile to obtain application information; ⑤: obtaining application information defined by the operator; ⑥: obtaining application information customized by the terminal device; ⑦: obtaining application information associated with the communication scenario; ⑧: obtaining application information pre-configured by the application store.

[0126] Among them, for the above-mentioned method ①, the method provided by the application can be a preset method; or, it can also be an access method, which is not restricted.

[0127] For method ② above, the API can be provided by the OS, or the operator can request the OS to provide it. Applications can transmit application information to the terminal device through the OS-provided API (also known as direct acquisition). Applications can also access traffic descriptors through the API to determine application information based on the traffic descriptors (also known as indirect acquisition).

[0128] In this method ②, the application information transmitted by the application is relatively clear. The terminal device does not need to identify the application information based on the configuration file or determine the application information using customization or other methods. The terminal device can directly receive the application information transmitted by the application, thereby reducing the error rate of the application information and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0129] In accordance with the aforementioned method ③, the OS entity of the terminal device can infer application information based on the connection request. The connection request can be from the application or from the OS entity itself, without limitation. Optionally, in method ③, the application information inferred by the OS entity can be part of the traffic descriptor.

[0130] For the above method ④, a configuration file for identifying application information can be pre-configured for the terminal device. In this way, the terminal device can identify the application information by itself based on the configuration file, so that the OS manufacturer does not need to provide an API for transmitting application information, which facilitates the promotion and implementation of the OS manufacturer.

[0131] For the above methods ⑤ or ⑥, the application information may also be customized by the operator or the terminal device, without limitation. The terminal device may obtain the operator-defined application information through the SDK entity, or obtain the terminal device-defined application information through the modem entity.

[0132] Regarding the above method ⑦, the application information may also be associated with a communication scenario. The communication scenario may be an enterprise scenario, a consumer scenario, or other scenarios, without limitation. The terminal device may determine the application information based on the communication scenario, or the terminal device may obtain operator-defined application information based on the communication scenario.

[0133] Optionally, different entities may be configured in the terminal device for different manufacturers, such as an OS entity configured by the OS manufacturer, a software development kit (SDK) entity configured by the operator, and a modem entity configured by the terminal device manufacturer. The terminal device may obtain application information through different acquisition channels based on the entities configured by each manufacturer.

[0134] Exemplarily, the OS entity of the terminal device obtains the first application information according to the first acquisition path; or, the SDK of the terminal device obtains the first application information according to the first acquisition path; or, the modem of the terminal device obtains the first application information according to the first acquisition path, without limitation.

[0135] In some embodiments, different acquisition paths correspond to different priorities, and the terminal device can acquire application information according to different acquisition paths based on preset priority information.

[0136] Among them, the preset priority information can be used to indicate the priority of the acquisition path of application information. The preset priority information can also be described as preset acquisition path sequence information, and the preset acquisition path sequence information can be used to indicate the acquisition path sequence of application information. The acquisition path priority can also be described as usage priority, usage priority of application information, and the acquisition path sequence can also be described as usage sequence, usage sequence of application information, etc. The preset priority information is used as an example for description in this application, and the remaining descriptions can refer to the following description of the preset priority information without limitation.

[0137] Optionally, the preset priority information may be determined by the terminal device according to the traffic descriptor field in the URSP rule; or, the preset priority information may be predefined; or, the preset priority information may be determined by the OS manufacturer; or, the preset priority information may be determined by the operator; or, the preset priority information may be determined by the terminal device manufacturer.

[0138] Among them, different manufacturers may have different priorities for the access paths they expect terminal devices to use to obtain application information. For example, operator 1 may expect terminal devices to prioritize access path 1 for obtaining application information; operator 2 may expect terminal devices to prioritize access path 2 for obtaining application information; OS manufacturers may expect terminal devices to prioritize access path 3 for obtaining application information; and terminal device manufacturers may expect terminal devices to prioritize access path 4 for obtaining application information, and so on, without limitation. Based on this, terminal devices can be pre-configured with preset priority information determined by each manufacturer to indicate the priorities of the various access paths expected by different manufacturers for terminal devices to obtain application information.

[0139] Optionally, the acquisition methods of the preset priority information indication determined by different manufacturers may be the same, partially the same, or completely different.

[0140] For example, the acquisition paths indicated by the indication information associated with the OS manufacturer may include acquisition path 1, acquisition path 2, and acquisition path 3. The acquisition paths indicated by the indication information associated with the operator may include acquisition path 1, acquisition path 2, and acquisition path 4. The acquisition paths indicated by the indication information associated with the terminal device manufacturer may include acquisition path 4, acquisition path 5, and acquisition path 6.

[0141] Optionally, the priority of each acquisition path may be determined based on the needs of each manufacturer or actual communication needs or actual communication scenarios.

[0142] Optionally, the priorities of the same acquisition path may be the same or different in the preset priority information determined by different manufacturers, without limitation.

[0143] For example, for preset priority information determined by the OS manufacturer, acquisition path 3 can be set as the first priority, acquisition path 1 can be set as the second priority, and acquisition path 2 can be set as the third priority. For preset priority information determined by the operator, acquisition path 1 can be set as the first priority, acquisition path 2 can be set as the second priority, and acquisition path 4 can be set as the third priority. For preset priority information determined by the terminal device manufacturer, acquisition path 4 can be set as the first priority, acquisition path 5 can be set as the second priority, and acquisition path 6 can be set as the third priority.

[0144] Among them, the first priority>the second priority>the third priority.

[0145] Exemplarily, the first acquisition path may be an acquisition path with the highest priority among the corresponding acquisition paths in the preset priority information.

[0146] Optionally, based on the above description of the preset priority information, illustratively, the above preset priority information may be pre-configured in the terminal device.

[0147] Optionally, the terminal device may determine the preset priority information based on factory configuration information. In another exemplary embodiment, the preset priority information is predefined. The preset priority information may be predefined in the communication protocol, and the terminal device determines the preset priority information based on the communication protocol.

[0148] As another example, the terminal device receives the above-mentioned preset priority information from the policy control network element.

[0149] Optionally, as shown in Figure 4, the priority information may be located in a traffic descriptor field in the URSP rule. The URSR rule field may include a traffic descriptor field and a route selection descriptor (RSD) field.

[0150] Step 302: The terminal device matches the first application information with the URSP rules.

[0151] The terminal device matching the first application information with the URSP rule may also be understood as: the terminal device evaluating the first application information with the URSP rule; or, the terminal device evaluating and matching the first application information with the URSP rule.

[0152] For example, as shown in Figure 5, after establishing a connection with an access network element, the terminal device may send a registration request to the access network element to request information about network slices that can provide services to the terminal device, as well as URSP rules. The registration request may be transmitted via the access network element to a core network element (such as a mobility management element and a policy control element), and the mobility management element determines the network slice that can provide services to the terminal device, and the policy control element determines the URSP rules for the terminal device.

[0153] Optionally, the network device may send a URSP rule carrying indication information (indicating different priorities corresponding to different acquisition paths) to the terminal device. For example, as shown in FIG5 , the policy control network element may send a URSP rule carrying indication information to the terminal device via the mobility management network element and the access network element.

[0154] Optionally, as shown in Table 2 below, the URSP rule may also include a rule priority field, an application descriptor field, an IP descriptor field, a domain descriptor field, a non-IP descriptor field, a data network name field, a connection capability field, etc., without limitation.

[0155] Table 2

[0156] Exemplarily, the terminal device may match the first application information with the URSP rule described in Table 2. For example, the terminal device may determine the network slice information from the URSP rule based on the first application information.

[0157] Optionally, the first application information may be matched with the URSP rule by the OS entity of the terminal device; or, the first application information may be matched with the URSP rule by the SDK entity of the terminal device; or, the first application information may be matched with the URSP rule by the modem entity of the terminal device, without limitation.

[0158] Step 303: When the first application information matches the URSP rule, the terminal device determines the network slice information according to the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule and communicates according to the network slice information.

[0159] As an example, the first application information matches the URSP rule, which means that: the application information corresponding to the traffic descriptor included in the first application information is the same as the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule; or, the application information corresponding to the traffic descriptor included in the first application information has a mapping relationship with the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule.

[0160] Exemplarily, the first application information includes application information corresponding to the traffic descriptor, the application information corresponding to the traffic descriptor is a "domain descriptor", and the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule is also a "domain descriptor", so the first application information matches the URSP rule.

[0161] As another example, the first application information includes a value "1", and the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule is an "application descriptor", but the value "1" included in the first application information is related to the "application descriptor". For example, based on the above Table 1, there is a mapping relationship between the value "1" and the "application descriptor", and therefore, the first application information matches the URSP rule.

[0162] Optionally, the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule corresponds one-to-one to the network slice information. When the first application information matches the URSP rule, the terminal device can determine the network slice information based on the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule and communicate according to the network slice information.

[0163] For example, the "application descriptor" in the URSP rule corresponds to network slice information 1; the "IP descriptor" in the URSP rule corresponds to network slice information 2; the "domain descriptor" in the URSP rule corresponds to network slice information 3; the "non-IP descriptor" in the URSP rule corresponds to network slice information 4; the "data network name" in the URSP rule corresponds to network slice information 5; and the "connection capability" in the URSP rule corresponds to network slice information 6.

[0164] For example, the first application information includes application information corresponding to the traffic descriptor. The application information corresponding to the traffic descriptor is a "domain descriptor." The traffic descriptor in the URSP rule is also a "domain descriptor." Therefore, the first application information matches the URSP rule. Thus, based on the correspondence between the "domain descriptor" and network slice information 3, the terminal device determines that the network slice information is network slice information 3 and communicates according to network slice information 3.

[0165] Optionally, as shown in Figure 5, after the terminal device determines the network slice information, it can also carry the determined network slice information in the PDU session establishment request and send it to the access network element to request the establishment of a PDU session. The access network element can forward the PDU session establishment request to the mobility management network element. The mobility management network element checks the network slice information in the PDU session establishment request, and selects the corresponding session management network element based on the network slicing capabilities supported by each session management gateway in the network, and forwards the PDU session establishment request to the session management network element. When the session management network element completes the PDU session establishment process, it sends a PDU session establishment response to the terminal device through the mobility management network element and the access network element to complete the network slice mapping / PDU session establishment.

[0166] As another example, the first application information includes security verification information for determining whether the first application information matches URSP rules. Exemplarily, the terminal device performs security verification based on the security verification information. If the security verification information is invalid, the terminal device determines that the first application information does not match the URSP rules; alternatively, if the security verification information is invalid, the terminal device determines that the first application information is not qualified for evaluation against the URSP rules.

[0167] Optionally, for example, if the first application information is "fake", the terminal device determines that the first application information fails the evaluation with the URSP rules.

[0168] Correspondingly, if the security information is legal, the terminal device determines that the first application information matches the URSP rule; or, if the security information is legal, the terminal device determines that the first application information passes the evaluation of the URSP rule.

[0169] Optionally, for example, if the first application information is "authentic" or "not counterfeit", the terminal device determines that the first application information passes the evaluation of the URSP rules.

[0170] Step 304: When the first application information does not match the URSP rule, the terminal device obtains the second application information of the first application according to the second acquisition method.

[0171] Optionally, the terminal device may obtain the second application information from the second acquisition path based on the preset priority information. For example, assuming that the preset priority information indicates that the priority corresponding to the first acquisition path is the first priority, the priority corresponding to the second acquisition path is the second priority, and the first priority is higher than the second priority, the terminal device first obtains the first application information from the first acquisition path based on the preset priority information, and matches the first application information with the URSP rules. In the case that the first application information does not match the URSP rules, the terminal device obtains the second application information from the second acquisition path, and matches the second application information with the URSP rules. Correspondingly, in the case that the second application information does not match the URSP rules, the terminal device obtains the next application information (or fourth application information) from the third acquisition path.

[0172] It should be understood that the priority corresponding to the third acquisition approach is lower than the second priority and the first priority.

[0173] Optionally, when the fourth application information does not match the URSP rules, the terminal device attempts to obtain the fifth application information through the fourth acquisition path according to the above steps 301 to 304, and so on, until the application information obtained by the terminal device matches the URSP rules.

[0174] For other descriptions of step 304 , reference may be made to the relevant descriptions of step S301 , which will not be repeated here.

[0175] Step 305: The terminal device matches the second application information with the URSP rules.

[0176] The description of step 305 may refer to the relevant description of step S302 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0177] Optionally, when the second application information matches the URSP rule, the terminal device determines the network slice information according to the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule and communicates according to the network slice information.

[0178] Among them, for the relevant description of the terminal device determining the network slice information corresponding to the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule based on the second application information, please refer to the description of the above step S303, and no further details will be given here.

[0179] To sum up, according to the solution of the embodiment of the present application, since different application information corresponds to different acquisition paths, the terminal device obtains the first application information through the first acquisition path. After obtaining the first application information, the first application information is matched with the URSP rule. If the first application information does not match the URSP rule, the second application information is obtained through the second acquisition path. After obtaining the second application information, the second application information is matched with the URSP rule, thereby improving the accuracy of the terminal device in matching the URSP rule according to the application information, thereby improving the session establishment success rate and the data transmission success rate, and improving the communication performance.

[0180] In addition, when the first application information matches the URSP rule, the terminal device determines the network slice information based on the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule and communicates based on the network slice information, that is, there is no need to obtain the second application information through a second acquisition path, thereby achieving the purpose of streamlining resource overhead.

[0181] Optionally, if the second application information does not match the URSP rule, the terminal device combines the first application information with the second application information to obtain third application information. The terminal device then matches the third application information with the URSP rule.

[0182] For example, the terminal device may select part of the application information in the first application information and part of the application information in the second application information to combine; or the terminal device may select all of the application information in the first application information and part of the application information in the second application information to combine; or the terminal device may select all of the application information in the first application information and all of the application information in the second application information to combine; or the terminal device may select part of the application information in the first application information and all of the application information in the second application information to combine, without limitation. The purpose of combining the first application information and the second application information is to combine application information that can match the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule.

[0183] For example, the first application information includes application information corresponding to the traffic descriptor, which includes a "domain descriptor" and an "IP descriptor." The second application information includes application information corresponding to the traffic descriptor, which includes an "application descriptor" and a "data network name." The traffic descriptor in the URSP rule includes a "domain descriptor" and an "application descriptor."

[0184] The terminal device combines the first application information and the second application information, and the obtained third application information includes application information corresponding to the traffic descriptor, and the application information corresponding to the traffic descriptor includes a "domain descriptor" and an "application descriptor", so the combined third application information matches the URSP rule.

[0185] Based on the above method, when the first application information does not match the URSP rule and the second application information does not match the URSP rule, the first application information and the second application information are combined, and the third application information obtained by the combination is matched with the URSP rule, thereby further improving the session establishment success rate and the data transmission success rate, and improving the communication performance.

[0186] Optionally, as shown in FIG5 , the policy control network element may also update the preset priority information when the priority of the path for obtaining the application information changes, and send the updated preset priority information to the terminal device.

[0187] The policy control network element may carry the updated preset priority information in the updated URSP rule and send it to the terminal device.

[0188] Optionally, the policy control network element may carry the updated URSP rule in a registration command (registration commond) message and send it to the terminal device.

[0189] Optionally, the terminal device can update the network slice information based on the updated preset priority information to improve the accuracy of the terminal device in selecting the network slice according to the traffic descriptor in the URSP rule, thereby improving the session establishment success rate and data transmission success rate, and improving communication performance.

[0190] It is understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the execution subject may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application may also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, the various steps may be performed in a different order than those presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiments of the present application need to be performed.

[0191] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of interaction between devices. It is understandable that, in order to realize the above functions, each device includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0192] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functional modules of each device according to the above method examples. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0193] In the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, Figure 6 shows a communication device 400, which can execute the actions performed by the terminal equipment or policy control network element in the methods shown in Figures 3 to 5 above. All relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiments can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module. The technical effects that can be obtained can be referred to the above method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0194] The communication device 400 may include a transceiver module 401 and a processing module 402. Exemplarily, the communication device 400 may be a communication device, or when applied to a communication device, the transceiver module 401 may be a transceiver, which may include an antenna and radio frequency circuits, etc.; the processing module 402 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor, which may include one or more CPUs. When the communication device 400 is a component having the functions of the above-mentioned communication device, the transceiver module 401 may be a radio frequency unit; the processing module 402 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor. When the communication device 400 is a system-on-chip (SoC), the transceiver module 401 may be the input / output interface of the chip (e.g., a baseband chip); the processing module 402 may be the processor (or processing circuit) of the SoC, which may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the transceiver module 401 in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit components; and the processing module 402 may be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components (or processing circuits).

[0195] For example, the transceiver module 401 can be used to perform all transceiver operations performed by the communication device in the embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5, and / or to support other processes of the technology described herein; the processing module 402 can be used to perform all operations other than transceiver operations performed by the communication device in the embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5, and / or to support other processes of the technology described herein.

[0196] As an example, the transceiver module 401 in Figure 6 can be replaced by a transceiver, which can integrate the functions of the transceiver module 401; the processing module 402 can be replaced by a processor, which can integrate the functions of the processing module 402. Furthermore, the communication device 400 shown in Figure 6 can also include a memory.

[0197] Optionally, when the processing module 402 is replaced by a processor and the transceiver module 401 is replaced by a transceiver, the communication device 400 involved in the embodiment of the present application may also be the communication device 500 shown in Figure 7. The processor may be the logic circuit 501, and the transceiver may be the interface circuit 502. Furthermore, the communication device 500 shown in Figure 7 may also include a memory 503.

[0198] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, which, when executed by a computer, can implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0199] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program, which, when executed by a computer, can implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0200] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. All or part of the processes in the above-mentioned method embodiments can be completed by a computer program to instruct the relevant hardware, and the program can be stored in the above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, it can include the processes of the above-mentioned method embodiments. The computer-readable storage medium can be an internal storage unit of the terminal (including the data sending end and / or the data receiving end) of any of the above-mentioned embodiments, such as the hard disk or memory of the terminal. The above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium can also be an external storage device of the above-mentioned terminal, such as a plug-in hard disk equipped on the above-mentioned terminal, a smart memory card (smart media card, SMC), a secure digital (secure digital, SD) card, a flash card (flash card), etc. Further, the above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium can also include both the internal storage unit of the above-mentioned terminal and an external storage device. The above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium is used to store the above-mentioned computer program and other programs and data required by the above-mentioned terminal. The above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or is to be output.

[0201] It should be noted that the terms "first" and "second" in the specification, claims and drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. "First" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more.

[0202] Furthermore, the terms "include," "comprise," and "have," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements, but may optionally include steps or elements not listed, or may optionally include other steps or elements inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0203] It should be understood that in this application, "at least one (item)" refers to one or more. "Multiple" refers to two or more. "At least two (items)" refers to two or three and more than three. "And / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, c can be single or multiple. “When” and “if” both mean that corresponding measures will be taken under certain objective circumstances. They do not limit the time, nor do they require any judgment action when they are implemented, nor do they mean that there are other limitations.

[0204] In the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner to facilitate understanding.

[0205] Through the description of the above implementation methods, technical personnel in the relevant field can clearly understand that for the convenience and simplicity of description, only the division of the above-mentioned functional modules is used as an example. In actual applications, the above-mentioned functions can be assigned to different functional modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device can be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0206] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the modules or units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0207] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may be one physical unit or multiple physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed in multiple places. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0208] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0209] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a device (which can be a single-chip microcomputer, chip, etc.) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a terminal device, the method comprises: Acquire first application information of the first application according to a first acquisition method; Matching the first application information with a terminal device routing policy URSP rule of the terminal device; When the first application information does not match the URSP rule, acquiring second application information of the first application according to a second acquisition method; The second application information is matched with the URSP rule.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The URSP rule includes a traffic descriptor TD, and the TD is associated with one or more of the following application information: application descriptor, IP descriptor, domain descriptor, non-IP descriptor, data network name, and connection capability; the method further includes: When the first application information matches the URSP rule, the network slice information is determined according to the TD in the URSP rule, and communication is performed according to the network slice information.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first application information includes one or more application information associated with the TD; or, The first application information includes an index used to represent the TD, and there is a mapping relationship between the index and the TD.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: If the second application information does not match the URSP rule, combining the first application information with the second application information to obtain third application information; The third application information is matched with the URSP rule.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The priority of the first acquisition path is higher than the priority of the second acquisition path.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that Before matching the first application information with a terminal device routing selection policy URSP rule, the method further includes: The URSP rule sent from a network device is received, where the URSP rule includes indication information, where the indication indicates that the priority of the first acquisition path is higher than the priority of the second acquisition path.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The preset priority information indicates the priority of the first acquisition path and the priority of the second acquisition path.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The preset priority information is determined according to a traffic descriptor field in the URSP rule; or, The preset priority information is predefined; or, The preset priority information is determined by the operating system OS manufacturer; or, The preset priority information is determined by the operator; or, The preset priority information is determined by the terminal device manufacturer.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The application information can be obtained by one or more of the following methods: Obtain application information through the method provided by the application; or, Obtain application information of the application through the application program interface API; or, Determine application information of the application based on the OS entity; or, Identify the service to be transmitted according to the preset configuration file to obtain application information; or, Get operator-defined application information; or, Get customized application information of terminal devices; or, Obtain application information associated with the communication scenario; or, Get the application information pre-configured by the app store.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The acquiring the first application information of the first application according to the first acquisition method includes: The OS entity of the terminal device acquires the first application information of the first application according to the first acquisition method; or The software development kit SDK entity of the terminal device acquires the first application information of the first application according to the first acquisition path; or The modem of the terminal device obtains the first application information of the first application according to the first acquisition path.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The matching of the first application information with a terminal device routing selection policy URSP rule includes: The OS entity of the terminal device matches the first application information with the URSP rule; or, The SDK entity of the terminal device matches the first application information with the URSP rule; or, The modem entity of the terminal device matches the first application information with the URSP rule.

12. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first application information includes security verification information; the first application information does not match the URSP, including: In the case where the security verification information is illegal, the first application information does not match the URSP; The first application information matches the URSP, including: When the security verification information is legal, the first application information matches the URSP.

13. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a network device, the method comprises: Sending a terminal device routing policy URSP rule to the terminal device, where the URSP rule is used to instruct the terminal device to establish a PDU session using network slice information; Indicate to the terminal device that the priority of the first acquisition path is higher than the priority of the second acquisition path.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The URSP rule includes indication information, and the indication information indicates that the priority of the first acquisition path is higher than the priority of the second acquisition path.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The URSP rule includes a traffic descriptor TD, and the TD is associated with one or more of the following application information: application descriptor, IP descriptor, domain descriptor, non-IP descriptor, data network name, and connection capability.

16. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A transceiver module, used for acquiring first application information of a first application according to a first acquisition method; A processing module, configured to match the first application information with a terminal device routing selection policy URSP rule of the terminal device; The transceiver module is further configured to, when the first application information does not match the URSP rule, Acquire second application information of the first application according to a second acquisition method; The processing module is further configured to match the second application information with the URSP rule.

17. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A transceiver module, used to send a terminal device routing selection policy URSP rule to a terminal device, wherein the URSP rule is used to instruct the terminal device to establish a PDU session using network slicing information; The transceiver module is further used to indicate to the terminal device that the priority of the first acquisition path is higher than the priority of the second acquisition path.

18. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises a processor; the processor is configured to run a computer program or an instruction so that the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, or executes the method according to any one of claims 13 to 15.

19. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs. When the computer instructions or programs are executed on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 13 to 15 is executed.

20. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises computer instructions; when part or all of the computer instructions are run on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 13 to 15 is executed.

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