Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, for use in improving the communication performance of terminals in AIOT scenarios. According to the method, an access network device can receive first data; for example, the access network device can receive first data of a first service by means of a first session, the first session being used for transmitting data of the first service; or for another example, the access network device can receive first signaling, the first signaling being used for triggering paging, and the first signaling comprising the first data. The access network device can further send random access configuration information and the first data to a first terminal device, wherein the random access configuration information is used for the first terminal device to perform random access.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on August 17, 2023, with application number 202311045366.6 and invention name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of mobile communication technologies, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0004] With the increasing adoption of fifth-generation (5G) mobile communications (NR), machine-type communications (MTC), and the Internet of Things (IoT) communications, the number of connected IoT devices is growing daily. Consequently, the industry is increasingly demanding lower costs and power consumption for IoT devices. During the fourth-generation (4G) mobile communications era, 3GPP introduced the narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) system to reduce the cost and power consumption of IoT devices. However, NB-IoT terminals require an external power supply, such as a battery or external power supply, and they have the ability to generate a local high-frequency local oscillator carrier. Therefore, these terminals can only consume milliwatts of power, and further energy consumption reduction is needed. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology offers a promising low-power technology, capable of supporting microwatts of power consumption, and therefore offers promising application prospects.

[0005] Given the low-power advantages of RFID communication technology, the 5G-based ambient IoT (AIOT) has emerged. AIOT terminals, known as AIOT terminals, utilize low-precision, low-power, medium- and low-frequency ring oscillators to meet ultra-low power requirements, or even support receiving downlink signals without a local oscillator. Currently, the communication performance of terminals in AIOT scenarios needs to be improved.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for improving the communication performance of terminals in AIOT scenarios.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be implemented by an access network device or a component of the access network device. The component in the present application may, for example, include at least one of a chip, a chip system, a processor, a transceiver, a processing unit, or a transceiver unit. Taking the execution subject as an access network device as an example, the method may be implemented by the following steps: the access network device receives first data of a first service through a first session, and the first session is used to transmit the data of the first service; or, the access network device receives first signaling, and the first signaling is used to trigger paging, and the first signaling includes the first data; the access network device sends random access configuration information and the first data to a first terminal device, and the random access configuration information is used for the first terminal device to perform random access.

[0009] In the existing AIOT scenario, when sending data, the terminal device needs to receive the signal sent by the access network device or other communication device, and modulate and reflect the signal according to the data to be sent to achieve the transmission of the data to be sent. Therefore, the terminal device in the current AIOT scenario does not access the access network device, and the performance of data transmission is reduced. Based on the method of the first aspect, the access network device can send the first data and random access configuration information after receiving the downlink data of the first service, so that the terminal device receiving the first data can perform random access according to the random access configuration information. Therefore, the access network device can trigger the first terminal device in the AIOT scenario to perform random access based on the downlink first data of the first service or the first signaling carrying the first data, so that the first terminal device sends uplink data through the interface between the first terminal device and the access network device during or after accessing the access network device. Compared with the terminal device in the existing AIOT scenario sending data by modulating and reflecting the signal, the method shown in the first aspect can improve the data transmission performance of the terminal device in the AIOT scenario. Among them, the interface between the first terminal and the access network device is, for example, a universal user network interface (Uu) interface.

[0010] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the access network device may also receive second data of the first service from the first terminal device, and send the second data through the first session.

[0011] Based on this implementation, when uplink data exists in the first terminal device, the uplink data can be transmitted through the first session to further improve transmission reliability and transmission efficiency.

[0012] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, an access network device may receive a first indication from a first core network network element. The first indication may be used to indicate that the first session corresponds to the first terminal device; or, the first indication is used to indicate that the first session corresponds to multiple terminal devices or corresponds to the first service. In addition, the first indication may also be used to indicate the subsequent data transmission of the first session. For example, the first indication may be used to indicate a single (or single-packet) data transmission or multiple (or multi-packet) data transmissions of the first terminal device included in the first session; or, the first indication is specifically used to indicate whether there is subsequent uplink and / or downlink data of the first service; or, the first indication is specifically used to indicate the number of subsequent uplink and / or downlink data of the first service; or, the first indication is specifically used to indicate whether the transmission needs to be ended after confirmation by the core network.

[0013] It can be understood that, in this application, subsequent downlink data may include downlink data of at least one first service other than (or after) the first data. Subsequent uplink data may include uplink data of at least one first service other than (or after) the second data; it can also be understood that subsequent uplink data refers to uplink data of at least one first service after the first data.

[0014] As an example, the access network device may receive a first indication indicating that the first session corresponds to the first terminal device. Optionally, if the first indication is received, the access network device may release the first session after completing the data transmission of the first terminal device to reduce the resource occupancy of the first session. For example, when the first indication is used to indicate that the first session is not in the subsequent uplink and / or downlink data of the first service, or the first indication is used to indicate that the first session only has a single data transmission of the first terminal, or the first indication is used to indicate the first session or multiple data transmissions, or the first indication is used to indicate that the first service has only one uplink and / or downlink data, or the first indication is used to indicate that the first session does not need to end the transmission after confirmation by the core network, or is used to indicate that the first service is an inventory service, the access network device releases the first session after completing the data transmission of the first service of the first terminal device.

[0015] Based on the implementation of this example, the access network device can learn, based on the first indication, that the first session corresponds to the first terminal device. The access network device can then release the first session after completing data transmission with the first terminal device, thereby conserving session resources. Otherwise, if the access network device does not receive the first indication, it can retain the first session after completing data transmission with the terminal device, so as to transmit data of the first service for other terminals through the first session.

[0016] As another example, the access network device may also receive a first indication indicating that the first session corresponds to multiple terminal devices or corresponds to a first service. Based on the indication, the access network device may retain or not release the first session after completing data transmission of the first service for the first terminal device, thereby avoiding reestablishing sessions when transmitting data for other terminals and / or the first service. The existing first session may be directly used for transmission, thereby reducing transmission latency. For example, when the first indication indicates that the first session corresponds to multiple terminal devices, or when the first indication indicates that the first session corresponds to the first service, or when the first indication indicates the first session, or when the first indication indicates that the first session specifically indicates the presence of subsequent uplink and / or downlink data for the first service, or when the first indication indicates the number of subsequent uplink and / or downlink data for the first service in the first session, or when the first indication specifically indicates that transmission requires confirmation from the core network before termination, the access network device may retain the first session after completing data transmission of the first service for the first terminal device. Optionally, the access network device may wait for subsequent data transmission and / or release the first session after receiving an indication from the core network.

[0017] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be implemented by a first core network element or a component within the first core network element. The components herein may include, for example, at least one of a chip, a chip system, a processor, a transceiver, a processing unit, or a transceiver unit. The first core network element may be, for example, a UPF, an SMF, or an AMF. Taking the first core network element as an example, the method may be implemented by the following steps: the first core network element receives first data of a first service, the first data being used to trigger access of one or more terminal devices, or the first data being used to page one or more terminal devices; the first core network element sends the first data to an access network device via a first session, the first session being used to transmit data of the first service between the first core network element and the access network device.

[0018] Based on the method shown in the second aspect, the first core network network element can be used to send first data to the access network device through the first session, or to send first signaling carrying the first data to the access network device. Referring to the description of the first aspect, the access network device can trigger the first terminal in the AIOT scenario to perform random access based on the first data or the first signaling, so that the first terminal sends uplink data through the interface between the first terminal and the access network device during or after accessing the access network device. Compared with the existing AIOT scenario where the terminal sends data by modulating and reflecting signals, the method shown in the second aspect can improve the data transmission performance of the terminal in the AIOT scenario.

[0019] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, a first core network element may receive second data of a first service from a first terminal device of an access network device through a first session. Therefore, uplink data of the first service may be received through the first session. The first core network element may also forward the second data to an NEF, AF, or an application server of the first service to implement uplink data transmission.

[0020] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the first core network element may send a first indication to the access network device. The implementation of the first indication and corresponding beneficial effects can be found in the description of the first aspect.

[0021] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first signaling may further include address information of the first session, wherein the address information of the first session is used by the access network device to send data of the first service through the first session.

[0022] Based on this implementation, the first signaling may be signaling used during the first session establishment process to carry address information for the first session. In other words, downlink data of the first service may be carried via signaling during the first session establishment process, thereby improving data transmission efficiency. Furthermore, this signaling may also be used to trigger the access network device to send random access configuration information to the first terminal, thereby improving random access efficiency.

[0023] In one possible implementation of the first or second aspect, the first data is used to trigger access of one or more terminal devices, or the first data is used to page one or more terminal devices, where the one or more terminal devices include the first terminal device. Compared to existing AIOT scenarios in which terminals transmit data through modulation and reflected signals, this implementation uses the first data to trigger multiple terminal devices to access an access network device, further improving transmission performance.

[0024] In a possible implementation of the first or second aspect, the first session is initiated and established by a core network device, and the first session is used for uplink transmission or downlink transmission of one or more terminal devices, including the first terminal device. This implementation can support the core network device initiating and establishing the first session for transmitting data related to AIOT services of one or more terminal devices, thereby supporting the transmission of service data in the session in AIOT scenarios.

[0025] In a possible implementation of the first or second aspect, the access network device sending the first data to the first terminal device includes: the access network device sending the first data to the first terminal device through paging signaling or MAC signaling. Compared to existing AIOT scenarios where terminals send data through modulation and reflected signals, this implementation can support the access network device sending data to the first terminal through paging signaling or MAC signaling.

[0026] In a possible implementation of the first or second aspect, the type of the first service includes at least one of an AIOT service, a read service, a write service, or an inventory service. This implementation can improve data transmission performance for services such as read services, write services, and inventory services in AIOT scenarios.

[0027] In a possible implementation of the first or second aspect, the first session is used to transmit data of a first service of one or more terminal devices, where the one or more terminal devices include the first terminal device. This implementation can support transmission of downlink AIOT data from one or more terminal devices through the session, thereby supporting the transmission of service data within the session in AIOT scenarios.

[0028] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first data is carried in first information, and the first indication is carried in a header of the first information. The first information is, for example, a GTP-U message.

[0029] Based on this implementation, the header of the information carried in the first data may carry an indication indicating that the first session is associated with one terminal, multiple terminals, or a service, thereby improving indication efficiency and reliability.

[0030] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first indication may include service type information of the first service. Therefore, the service type indication can be used to associate the session with the service, and / or the service type indication can be used to indicate the subsequent transmission of data, so that the access network device can reasonably determine whether to release the session after completing the data transmission of the first terminal. For example, if the service type information indicates an inventory service, or the service type information indicates a service with only uplink data of the first service, that is, the first service is an inventory service or a service with only uplink data, then the access network device can release the terminal after completing the data transmission of the first service of the first terminal. For another example, if the service type information indicates that there is a service with subsequent uplink data and downlink data, the access network device cannot release the transmission of the first terminal or the first session immediately after completing the data transmission of the first service of the first terminal, and the access network device can wait for the subsequent transmission of the first terminal; for example, the access network device can release the transmission of the terminal after waiting for a release indication from the core network.

[0031] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be implemented by an access network device or a component of the access network device. The components in this application may include, for example, at least one of a chip, a chip system, a processor, a transceiver, a processing unit, or a transceiver unit. Taking the execution subject as an access network device as an example, the method can be implemented by the following steps: the access network device receives third data of a first service from a second terminal device. If the access network device determines that a second session has been established, the third data is sent through the second session, wherein the second session is used to transmit data of the first service of a terminal device group, and the terminal device group includes the second terminal device.

[0032] Based on this method, if the access network device determines that the terminal device group to which the second terminal device belongs has established a group session, it can transmit the terminal's third data through the group session, thereby improving the terminal's transmission performance in AIOT scenarios. In addition, the access network device can also avoid repeatedly establishing a session for the second terminal device in this situation, thereby saving session resources.

[0033] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the access network device may receive the identifier of the second terminal device and the information of the second session from the second core network network element, and the access network device may also determine that the second session has been established based on the information of the second session.

[0034] Based on this implementation method, the access network device can obtain the identification of the second terminal device and the information of the second session according to the instructions of the second core network network element, so that the access network device knows that the group session of the terminal device group where the second terminal device is located has been established, and the group session is the second session, so that the access network device transmits the data of the second terminal device through the second session.

[0035] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the access network device may further determine, based on an identifier of the second terminal device, that the second terminal device belongs to the terminal device group. The access network device determines, based on the terminal device group, that the second session has been established.

[0036] Based on this implementation, the access network device can determine, based on the identifier of the second terminal device, that the second terminal device belongs to a terminal device group that has established a group session, namely, the second session, so that the access network device can transmit data of the second terminal device through the second session.

[0037] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the access network device may further receive a group identifier of the terminal device group from the second core network element. In this case, the group identifier of the terminal device group may be allocated by the second core network element.

[0038] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the access network device may further send the group identifier to the second terminal device. In this case, the group identifier of the terminal device group may be allocated by the access network device.

[0039] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be implemented by a second core network element or a component in the second core network element. The components in the present application may include, for example, at least one of a chip, a chip system, a processor, a transceiver, a processing unit, or a transceiver unit. The first core network element is, for example, an SMF or an AMF. Taking the execution subject as the second core network element as an example, the method can be implemented by the following steps: the second core network element receives an identifier of a second terminal device, and the identifier of the second terminal device is associated with a terminal device group. The second core network element sends the identifier of the second terminal device and information about a second session to the access network device. The second session is an established session, and the second session is used to transmit data of the first service of the terminal device group.

[0040] Based on the method shown in the fourth aspect, the second core network network element can receive the identifier of the second terminal device and send the identifier of the second terminal device and the information of the second session to the access network device, which is used to indicate that the second session has been established, and the second session can be used to transmit the data of the first service of the terminal in the group where the second terminal device is located. Referring to the description of the third aspect, the access network device can determine that the terminal device group where the second terminal device is located has established a group session based on the identifier of the second terminal device and the information of the second session, and in this case transmit the third data of the terminal through the group session to improve the transmission performance of the terminal in the AIOT scenario. In addition, it is also possible to avoid repeatedly establishing the session of the second terminal device in this case to save session resources.

[0041] In a possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the second core network element may further receive an identifier of a third terminal device, where the identifier of the third terminal device is associated with the terminal device group. If the second core network element determines that a session corresponding to the group identifier for transmitting data of the first service has not been established, the second core network element may send a session establishment request for a second session.

[0042] Based on this implementation, if the session corresponding to the group identifier is not established, the second core network element may send a session establishment request to trigger the establishment of the session corresponding to the group identifier. This process may be performed before the second core network element receives the identifier of the second terminal device. Optionally, after the second session is established, the second core network element may store the association between the second session and the group identifier to identify whether the group session has been established.

[0043] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the session establishment request includes the group identifier, so that an association between the session and the terminal device group can be established.

[0044] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the information of the second session includes an identifier of the second session or core network address information of the second session, so as to achieve accurate indication of the second session.

[0045] In a possible implementation of the third or fourth aspect, the type of the first service includes at least one of an AIOT service, a read service, a write service, or an inventory service. This implementation can improve data transmission performance for services such as read services, write services, and inventory services in AIOT scenarios.

[0046] In a possible implementation of the third or fourth aspect, the second session is specifically used to transmit data of a first service of one or more terminal devices, where the one or more terminal devices include the first terminal device. This implementation can support transmission of downlink AIOT data of one or more terminal devices through a session, thereby supporting the transmission of service data within a session in AIOT scenarios.

[0047] In a fifth aspect, a communications device is provided. The device can implement the method described in any possible implementation of any of the first to fourth aspects. The device has the functions of the access network device, the first core network element, or the second core network element. The device may be, for example, a terminal device, a functional module in a terminal device, a network device, or a functional module in a network device.

[0048] In an optional implementation, the device may include a module corresponding to the method / operation / step / action described in any possible implementation of any aspect from the first to the fourth aspect, and the module may be a hardware circuit, or software, or a hardware circuit combined with software. In an optional implementation, the device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module, a communication module, etc.). The transceiver unit can implement a sending function and a receiving function. When the transceiver unit implements the sending function, it can be called a sending unit (sometimes also referred to as a sending module). When the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver unit, and the functional module can implement a sending function and a receiving function; or, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a general term for these functional modules.

[0049] Exemplarily, when the apparatus is used to execute the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the apparatus may include a communication unit and a processing unit.

[0050] In the sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, comprising a processor for executing a computer program (or computer executable instructions) stored in a memory, so that when the computer program (or computer executable instructions) is executed, the device executes the method described in any possible implementation of any aspect from the first to the fourth aspect.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the processor and memory are integrated;

[0052] In another possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device.

[0053] The communication device also includes a communication interface, which is used for the communication device to communicate with other devices, such as sending or receiving data and / or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface can be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module or other type of communication interface.

[0054] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which is used to store computer programs or instructions. When the computer-readable storage medium is executed, the method described in any possible implementation of any aspect from the first to the fourth aspect and the method shown in any possible implementation thereof are implemented.

[0055] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a computer, enables the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to fourth aspects to be implemented.

[0056] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device for executing the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0057] In the tenth aspect, a chip system is provided, which includes a logic circuit (or it can be understood that the chip system includes a processor, and the processor may include a logic circuit, etc.), and may also include an input and output interface. The input and output interface can be used to input messages and can also be used to output messages. The input and output interfaces can be the same interface, that is, the same interface can implement both the sending function and the receiving function; or, the input and output interfaces include an input interface and an output interface, the input interface is used to implement the receiving function, that is, for receiving messages; the output interface is used to implement the sending function, that is, for sending messages. The logic circuit can be used to perform the operations other than the sending and receiving functions in the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to fourth aspects above; the logic circuit can also be used to transmit messages to the input and output interface, or receive messages from other communication devices from the input and output interface. The chip system can be used to implement the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to fourth aspects above. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0058] Optionally, the chip system may further include a memory, which may be used to store instructions, and the logic circuit may call the instructions stored in the memory to implement corresponding functions.

[0059] In an eleventh aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication system may include the method implemented by an access network device as shown in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and the method implemented by a first core network network element as shown in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof. Alternatively, the communication system may include the method implemented by an access network device as shown in the third aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and the method implemented by a second core network network element as shown in the fourth aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0060] In a twelfth aspect, a communications system is provided, which may include an access network device and a first core network element, or may include an access network device and a second core network element. The access network device may be used to implement the method of the first aspect or the third aspect, and any possible implementation thereof; the first core network element may be used to implement the method of the second aspect, and any possible implementation thereof; and the second core network element may be used to implement the method of the fourth aspect, and any possible implementation thereof.

[0061] The technical effects brought about by the above-mentioned fifth to twelfth aspects can be found in the description of the corresponding solutions in the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG2A is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG2B is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a communication process between an AIOT terminal and a reader / writer provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG4 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG5 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG6 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG7 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG8 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0074] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus. The method and apparatus are based on the same inventive concept. Since the method and apparatus solve similar problems, the implementation of the apparatus and method can refer to each other, and the repetitive parts will not be repeated.

[0075] In the description of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are used solely for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or order. It should be noted that this application does not limit the order of appearance of "first," "second," etc. For example, "second" may appear before "first," and this is not a limitation in this application.

[0076] In the description of this application, "at least one (kind)" refers to one (kind) or more (kinds), and more (kinds) refers to two (kinds) or more than two (kinds). "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: 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. In the description of this application, " / " means "or", for example, a / b means a or b.

[0077] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes an access network 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system may also include the Internet 300. The radio access network (RAN) 100 may include at least one RAN node (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 1) and may also include at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1). The terminal is connected to a radio access network device (or simply referred to as an access network device) via wireless communication, and the radio access network device is connected to the core network via wireless or wired communication. The core network device and the radio access network device may be independent and different physical devices, or the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the radio access network device may be integrated into the same physical device, or a physical device may integrate some of the functions of the core network device and some of the functions of the radio access network device. Terminals and radio access network devices may be connected to each other via wired or wireless communication. FIG1 is only a schematic diagram. It is understood that, in addition to the access network equipment, the communication system may also include other network equipment, such as wireless relay equipment and wireless backhaul equipment, which are not shown in FIG1 .

[0078] In this application, a network device is a network-side device with transceiver functions. For example, a network device may be a device in a RAN that provides priority and / or wireless communication functions for a terminal device, referred to as a RAN device. The RAN may be an access network in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), for example, 4G, 5G, or a future-oriented sixth generation (6G) mobile communication network. The RAN may also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a communication network of two or more of the above networks. RAN equipment can be a base station, evolved NodeB (eNodeB), transmission reception point (TRP) in LTE or Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) communication systems, a next-generation nodeB (gNB) in fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication systems, a next-generation base station in sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication systems, a base station in future mobile communication systems, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a long-range radio (LoRa) system, or an access node in a connected vehicle system. RAN equipment can also be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station, such as a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). The CU here completes the functions of the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer, and can also complete part of the physical layer or all of the physical layer. For detailed descriptions of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).The CU and DU can be set up separately, or they can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). In different systems, CU, DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, and RU may also be called O-RU. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. The radio access network device may be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 1), a relay node, a donor node, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the radio access network device. For the convenience of description, network equipment can be used as an abbreviation of wireless access network equipment, and base station can be used as an example of wireless access network equipment.

[0079] It is understood that the access network device may include one or more of CU, DU, and AAU. In addition, the CU may be classified as a network device in the access network or as a network device in the core network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

[0080] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send signals to or receive signals from a base station. A terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, smart home, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, aircraft, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0081] It is understood that the terminal in this application can be a device with a backscatter transmission function, such as an AIOT terminal, which can also be called a tag or AIOT tag or a terminal in an AIOT scenario or a tag in an AIOT scenario. The AIOT terminal can be a terminal device that supports RFID technology.

[0082] The types of AIOT terminals can be classified based on whether they use backscatter-based communication methods. For example, terminals can be divided into three types: active terminals, passive terminals, and semi-active terminals. The types of tags can be divided into active tags, passive tags, and semi-passive tags. Among them, passive tags and semi-passive tags use a reflection-based communication method; active tags use a technology that actively generates carrier waves, that is, they communicate non-reflection-based. AIOT terminals can also be called AIOT devices, that is, in order to distinguish them from 5G terminals, they can also be called devices.

[0083] In addition, AIOT terminals can also be classified based on the ability to store energy and the ability not to store energy, or based on the ability of a combination of the two. For example, the terminal in this application can also be device A, device B or device C. Among them, device A refers to a device without energy storage and without independent signal generation, for example, it can be a device with backscatter transmission that specifically has this characteristic. Device B can be a device with energy storage but without independent signal generation, for example, it can be a device with backscatter transmission that specifically has this characteristic, wherein the use of stored energy can include amplification of reflected signals. Device C can be a device with energy storage and independent signal generation, for example, an active wireless radio frequency (RF) component for transmission.

[0084] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station functions. The control subsystem that includes the base station functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0085] In this application, the base station sends downlink (DL) signals or downlink information to the terminal, and the downlink information is carried on the downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink (UL) signals or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on the uplink channel. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection with the cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a wireless connection is called the serving cell of the terminal. When the terminal communicates with the serving cell, it will also be interfered with by signals from neighboring cells.

[0086] It is understood that the roles of base stations and terminals in this application can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j that access the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, that is, communication between 110a and 120i is conducted via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also be conducted via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with base station functions, and 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functions.

[0087] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0088] The network equipment may also include CN equipment. The core network element may include one or more of the following:

[0089] (1) User plane network element, which is used for packet routing and forwarding, as well as quality of service (QoS) processing of user plane data. In a 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a user plane function (UPF) network element. In future communication systems, the user plane network element may still be a UPF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0090] (2) Data network element, used to provide a network for transmitting data. In a 5G communication system, the data network element may be a data network (DN) element. In future communication systems, the data network element may still be a DN element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0091] (3) Authentication server, used to perform user security authentication. In the 5G communication system, the authentication server can be an authentication server function (AUSF) network element.

[0092] (4) Mobility management network element, mainly used for mobility management and access management. In the 5G communication system, the access management network element can be the access and mobility management function (AMF), which mainly performs functions such as mobility management and access authentication / authorization. In addition, it is also responsible for transmitting user policies between the terminal and the policy control function (PCF) network element.

[0093] (5) Session management network element, which is mainly used for session management, allocation and management of Internet protocol (IP) addresses of user equipment, selection of endpoints for manageable user plane functions, policy control and charging function interfaces, and downlink data notification. In the 5G communication system, the session management network element can be a session management function (SMF) network element, which completes terminal IP address allocation, UPF selection, and billing and QoS policy control.

[0094] (6) Application network element. In the 5G communication system, the application network element can be an application function (AF) network element, which represents the application function of a third party or operator. It is the interface for the 5G network to obtain external application data and is mainly used to transmit the requirements of the application side to the network side.

[0095] (7) Unified data management network element, responsible for the management of user identification, contract data, authentication data, and user service network element registration management. In the 5G communication system, the unified data management network element can be unified data management (UDM).

[0096] (8) Policy control network element, including user subscription data management functions, policy control functions, billing policy control functions, quality of service (QoS) control, etc., is used to guide the unified policy framework of network behavior and provide policy rule information to control plane function network elements (such as AMF, SMF network elements, etc.). In the 5G communication system, this policy control network element can be PCF.

[0097] (9) Network function repository function network element, which is used to provide storage and selection functions for network function entity information for other core network elements. In the 5G communication system, this network element can be a network function repository function network element (NRF).

[0098] (10) Network open element. In a 5G communication system, this network open element may be a network element function (NEF), which is primarily used to expose the services and capabilities of 3GPP network functions to the AF and also allows the AF to provide information to the 3GPP network functions. In this application, an application server (AS) may connect to the NEF through the AF to obtain 3GPP network functions.

[0099] (11) Network slice selection function network element, which is responsible for selecting network slices for the terminal. In the 5G communication system, this application network element can be a network slice selection function (NSSF) network element.

[0100] In future communication systems, such as 6G communication systems, the above-mentioned network elements or devices may still use their names in the 5G communication system, or may have other names, and this is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The functions of the above-mentioned network elements or devices may be completed by an independent network element or by several network elements. In actual deployment, the network elements in the core network may be deployed on the same or different physical devices. For example, as a possible deployment, AMF and SMF may be deployed on the same physical device. For another example, the network elements of the 5G core network may be deployed on the same physical device as the network elements of the 4G core network. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0101] In a 5G communication system, the application network element may be an application function (AF) network element. In future communication systems, the application network element may still be an AF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0102] Figures 2A and 2B show schematic diagrams of the 5G network architecture. Figure 2A shows the 5G network architecture under a non-service-based architecture, while Figure 2B shows the 5G network architecture under a service-based architecture (SBA). The service-based architecture is the foundational architecture of the 5G network. Service-based architecture is primarily reflected in the control plane. The essence of SBA is to define network functions as a number of flexibly callable "service" modules based on the three principles of "self-contained, reusable, and independently manageable." This allows operators to flexibly customize their networks based on business needs. Interactions between network functions are implemented through service invocations. Each network function presents a common service-based interface that can be called by authorized network functions or services. Figure 2B shows an exemplary service-based architecture for a 5G network. In this architecture, core network elements can communicate with other core network elements via service-based interfaces. For example, the service-based interface corresponding to the AMF is called the Namf interface, and the interface corresponding to the LMF is called the Nlmf interface.

[0103] The 5G network architecture shown in Figures 2A and 2B includes three parts: the terminal, the DN, and the operator network. The following briefly describes the functions of some of these network elements.

[0104] The operator network may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following network elements: AUSF, PCF, UDM, AF, AMF, SMF network elements, RAN equipment, UPF, and NSSF. In the above operator network, network elements or devices other than radio access network equipment may be referred to as core network network elements or core network equipment.

[0105] In addition, some of the communication interfaces shown in Figure 2A may include: N1 interface, which is a signaling plane interface between the AMF and the terminal, used for exchanging signaling messages between the core network and the terminal, such as terminal registration, terminal establishment of packet data unit (PDU) session, network side configuration of terminal policy, etc.; N2 interface, which is an interface between the AMF and the RAN, used to transmit radio bearer control information from the core network to the RAN; N3 interface, which is an interface between the RAN and the UPF, used to transmit terminal service data between the RAN and the UPF; The N4 interface is the interface between SMF and UPF, used to transmit information between the control plane and the user plane, including the control plane terminal equipment completing the network access operation according to the contract information with the operator; the N6 interface is the interface between UPF and DN, used to transmit terminal service data between UPF and DN; the N5 interface is the interface between PCF and AF; the N7 interface is the interface between PCF and SMF, used to issue PDU session granularity and service data flow granularity control policy; the N8 interface is the interface between AMF and UDM, used by AMF to obtain access and mobility management related contract data and authentication data from UDM, and AMF to register terminal current mobility management related information with UDM; the N9 interface is the interface between two UPFs. For example, as shown in Figure 2A, the N9 interface is the interface between the intermediate UPF (I-UPF) and the UPF serving as the PDU session anchor (PSA); the N10 interface is the interface between the SMF and the UDM, used by the SMF to obtain session management-related subscription data from the UDM, and for the SMF to register the terminal's current session-related information with the UDM; the N11 interface is the interface between the SMF and the AMF, used to transmit PDU session tunnel information between the RAN and the UPF, transmit control messages sent to the terminal, transmit wireless resource control information sent to the RAN, etc.; the N12 interface includes the interface between the AMF and the AUSF; the N13 interface includes the interface between the AUSF and the UDM; the N22 interface includes the interface between the NSSF and the AMF.

[0106] It is understood that the above-mentioned network element or function can be a network element in a hardware device, a software function running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualized function instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). Optionally, the above-mentioned network element or function can be implemented by a single device, or by multiple devices, or can be a functional module within a single device, and this is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0107] The session management network element, user plane network element, and mobility management network element in this application may be the SMF, UPF, and AMF in Figure 2A, respectively, or may be network elements having the functions of the above-mentioned SMF, UPF, and AMF in future communications such as 6G networks. This application is not limited to this. In the embodiments of this application, SMF, UPF, and AMF are used as examples of session management network elements, user plane network elements, and mobility management network elements, respectively.

[0108] In this application, base stations are used as an example of access network devices. Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0109] With the increasing adoption of 5G NR MTC technology and IoT communications, the number of connected IoT devices is growing daily. Consequently, the industry is increasingly demanding lower costs and power consumption for IoT devices. During the 4G era, 3GPP introduced the NB-IoT system to reduce the cost and power consumption of IoT devices. However, NB-IoT terminals require external power, such as batteries or an external power supply. Furthermore, NB-IoT terminals have the ability to generate local high-frequency local oscillator carrier waves. Therefore, these terminals can only consume milliwatts of power, requiring further reduction in energy consumption. RFID technology offers a promising low-power technology reference, supporting microwatt-level power consumption and thus possessing promising application prospects. In this application, the terminal can use a low-precision, low-power medium- and low-frequency ring oscillator, or even a completely local oscillator-free downlink signal receiver. For example, when the terminal is operating, the communication energy and carrier wave are supplied by the reader / writer, and communication is based on a reflected carrier wave. The reader / writer can be a handheld or fixed device that reads tag information and can optionally also be used to write information to the terminal. This application does not limit the form of the reader / writer; it can be a base station, terminal, or relay node accessing an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. For example, when the reader / writer is a terminal, the communication between it and the terminal can be considered as inter-terminal transmission. For another example, when the reader / writer is a base station, the communication between it and the terminal is the Uu interface, i.e., air interface communication. The terminal can be located within the coverage provided by the reader / writer.

[0110] As shown in Figure 3, the reader transmits the carrier shown by the solid line through the antenna, and the terminal modulates the carrier sent by the reader and reflects the signal shown by the dotted line to transmit information. The process in which the reader triggers multiple terminals to complete the report is called the inventory process. The terminal can decide whether to access the reader based on the inventory flag. The inventory flag can be implemented by software or hardware capacitors. For example, the inventory flag can be a flag containing two states, and the two states are B or 0 and 1, without specific limitation. Any terminal can contain at least one inventory flag, and the terminal can determine whether to respond to the reader based on the inventory flag. For example, the reader can choose to access the network with the inventory flag A or the inventory flag B. In addition, optionally, the present application can also be applied to a communication scenario where a reader / writer and an excitation source (helper) exist at the same time, wherein the terminal has only an uplink (or downlink) connection with the reader / writer (such as a base station), and the terminal has only a downlink (or uplink) connection with the excitation source (such as another terminal), that is, the terminal transmits uplink and downlink data through the reader / writer and the excitation source respectively.

[0111] In summary, current terminals have reduced downlink reception power consumption. However, for such low-power reception methods, only amplitude detection, such as envelope detection, can be performed, as low-precision ring oscillators cannot guarantee accurate demodulation of signal phase information. As cellular networks gradually support AIOT terminals and their services, the data transmission performance of terminals with low reception power consumption, such as those in AIOT scenarios, needs to be improved within the cellular network framework.

[0112] The present application provides a communication method, which can be used by the base station to send the data of the first service and random access configuration information to the first terminal after the first session is established, after receiving the data of the AIOT service from the network through the first session, so that the first terminal can initiate random access to the base station according to the random access configuration information; or, the base station carries the first data through the signaling for triggering paging, so that the terminal receives the data and initiates paging. It can be understood that the first terminal can also be referred to as a first terminal device or a first terminal device, for example, it can be an AIOT terminal, or it can be other equipment or devices that perform AIOT services. This method can improve the data transmission performance of the terminal in the AIOT scenario. Among them, the AIOT terminal may include the device A, device B or device C described in this application. The method is introduced below in conjunction with Figure 4.

[0113] In Figure 4 , a base station is used as an example of an access network device for illustration. It is understood that in actual implementation, the actions of the base station shown in Figure 4 may be performed by other access network devices other than the base station, and / or the actions of the first terminal shown in Figure 4 may be performed by a terminal device other than the first terminal.

[0114] As shown in FIG4 , the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may include the following steps:

[0115] S101: A base station receives first data of a first service from a first core network element.

[0116] Optionally, the first data in S101 may originate from a first core network element, which may include an AMF, SMF, or UPF. When the first core network element is a UPF, the base station may receive the first data transmitted by the UPF via the first session. When the first core network element is an AMF or SMF, the base station may receive first signaling from the AMF or SMF, which may include the first data. The manner in which the base station receives the first data is described below in conjunction with the process in Figure 5.

[0117] The first service may be an AIOT service. For example, the first service may include at least one of an AIOT service, a read service, a write service, or an inventory service. In an AIOT scenario, an AIOT service may include receiving and / or sending data by a terminal. A read service may refer to a terminal reading data based on a downlink command and sending the data to a network, such as to an AIOT server. In a write service, a terminal may receive data sent by the network and store the data in memory. In an inventory service, a terminal may send data, such as sending a terminal identifier, and optionally, the terminal may receive data.

[0118] In addition, from the perspective of data content, the first data may include service data, service information of the first service, or information of the terminal performing the first service, etc., without specific limitation. The service information may include information for instructing the terminal to perform a read service, a write service, or an inventory service.

[0119] In this application, the first data may be used to trigger the first terminal to access the base station or to page the first terminal. The first terminal may be one or more terminals supporting the first service. For example, the first data may be data of the first service of the first terminal. For example, the first data of the first service of the first terminal is the first data, which may be used to trigger the first terminal to access the base station or to page the first terminal.

[0120] Optionally, the first data may be used to trigger one or more terminals to access the base station, or the first data may be used to page one or more terminals, where the one or more terminals include the first terminal. Therefore, the base station may perform S102 based on the first data. For example, within the terminal group to which the first terminal belongs, the first data of the first service is the first data, which may be used to trigger the first terminal and / or multiple terminals within the group to access the base station, or to page the first terminal and / or multiple terminals within the group.

[0121] Optionally, the base station may also receive access indication information (or paging indication information). For example, the access indication information is sent to the base station together with the first data. The access indication information may be used to indicate that the first terminal has uplink data, or to instruct the first terminal to perform random access, for the base station to trigger the first terminal to access the base station, or to trigger the first base station to page the first terminal. Therefore, the base station may execute S102 based on the access indication information to trigger the first terminal to initiate random access.

[0122] In addition, the access indication information can also be used to indicate the data transmission status of the first service of the first terminal, to indicate whether the first terminal needs to access, or to indicate whether the first terminal needs to be paged. For example, the indication information can be used to indicate whether the first terminal has only one uplink data, the amount of uplink data of the first terminal, whether it is necessary to send reception feedback of downlink data, subsequent transmission of a single data item or multiple data items of the first service of the first terminal, whether subsequent downlink data is included or the amount of subsequent downlink data included, etc., and whether there is further downlink transmission after the uplink data transmission.

[0123] Among them, the access indication information may include the service type information of the first service, or the access indication information may be used to indicate the service type information of the first service or the identification information corresponding to the first service, for example, it may be used to indicate that the first terminal has uplink data of the first service. Specifically, the service type information of the first service may include the type information of at least one of the AIOT service, read service, write service or inventory service, or include an indication corresponding to the type information of at least one of the AIOT service, read service, write service or inventory service, or include an identification of the first service. The base station may execute S102 when it is learned that the first service is at least one of the AIOT service, read service, write service or inventory service.

[0124] Further optionally, the access indication information may be carried in a first message from the first core network element. The first message may also include first data. As an example, the access indication information may be carried in a header of the first message. For example, the first core network element sends the access indication information and the first data to the base station via a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol-user plane (GTP-U) message. The access indication information may be included in the header of the GTP-U message. The first message may also be data or information.

[0125] S102: The base station sends random access configuration information and first data to the first terminal.

[0126] After receiving the first data in S101, the base station may determine and send the random access configuration information according to the first data to trigger the first terminal to access the base station.

[0127] As an example, the base station may learn, based on configuration information, that after receiving data of the first service from the first core network element, it triggers access of the first terminal. For example, after the base station receives the first data of the first service of the first terminal from the first core network element, the base station may determine based on the first data and send random access configuration information to the first terminal. In other words, the first data is the first data used to trigger the first terminal to access the base station or to page the first terminal. Optionally, the data of the first service of the first terminal subsequently received by the base station may be ordinary data transmission data. That is, the base station does not need to execute S102 after receiving the subsequent data, that is, it does not need to trigger access or paging of the terminal.

[0128] In addition, as described in S101, when the base station receives the access indication information, the base station may determine and send the random access configuration information according to the access indication information to trigger the first terminal to access the base station.

[0129] Optionally, in S102, the random access configuration information may include parameters required for the random access process, such as random access resources. For example, part or all of the random access resources may be used as transmission resources when the first terminal sends a random access request to the base station.

[0130] Correspondingly, the first terminal receives the random access configuration information and the first data from the base station. The first terminal may initiate random access to the base station according to the random access configuration information.

[0131] Optionally, the base station may send the random access configuration and / or the first data through paging signaling or MAC signaling (such as MAC CE).

[0132] Specifically, after receiving the first data, the base station may send the data for triggering paging (such as the first data) together with the random access configuration information. Optionally, the base station may specifically send an RRC message or a MAC layer message or other message carrying data and random access configuration information to select or page one or a group of terminals for access. Among them, the RRC message includes, for example, a select command or a paging message; the MAC layer message includes, for example, a MAC CE. Accordingly, if the first terminal determines that access is triggered, a random access process may be performed according to the random access configuration information. For example, four-step random access or two-step random access may be performed.

[0133] As an example of four-step random access, during the four-step random access process, a first terminal may receive random access configuration information sent by a base station, determine the time-frequency resources of a physical random access channel (PRACH) based on the configuration information, and not perform steps one to four to achieve random access. Step one may include: the first terminal sending a random access preamble (preamble), or sending message 1 (Msg1) containing the random access preamble, to the base station on a determined PRACH time-frequency resource; step two may include: after receiving the random access preamble, the base station sending a random access response (RAR), or sending message 2 (Msg2) containing the random access response, to the first terminal. The random access response may include parameters such as the random access preamble, uplink data timing advance, configuration information of uplink resources for sending uplink data, and a temporary cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI). Step three may include: the first terminal receives the random access response. If the random access preamble indicated by the sequence number of the random access preamble in the random access response is the same as the random access preamble sent by the first terminal to the base station in step one, the first terminal determines that the random access response is for the first terminal. The first terminal sends uplink data to the base station according to the indication of the random access response, or sends message 3 (Msg3) containing uplink data, such as sending the uplink data on PUSCH time-frequency resources. Step four may include: the base station receives the uplink data sent by the first terminal and sends a contention resolution message (also known as a contention resolution message) to the first terminal, or sends message 4 (Msg4) containing the contention resolution message. The base station will carry a unique identifier in the contention resolution message to specify the first terminal that successfully accessed, and other first terminals that failed to successfully access will re-initiate random access.

[0134] As an example of two-step random access, during the two-step random access process, the first terminal may receive random access configuration information sent by the base station, determine the PRACH time-frequency resources and PUSCH time-frequency resources based on the configuration information, and perform steps one and two to achieve random access. Step one may include: the first terminal sends message A (message A, MsgA) to the base station, where MsgA includes a random access preamble and uplink data, wherein the random access preamble is transmitted on a determined PRACH time-frequency resource, and the uplink data is transmitted on a determined PUSCH time-frequency resource. In one embodiment, step one of the two-step random access process is equivalent to steps one and three of the four-step random access process. Step two may include: after the base station receives MsgA sent by the first terminal, it sends message B (message B, MsgB) to the first terminal, where MsgB may be used to send a random access response and / or information for conflict resolution. Step two of the two-step random access process may be equivalent to steps two and four of the four-step random access process.

[0135] As described in S101, the first data received by the base station can be carried in the first signaling sent by the core network element to the base station, or can be carried in the first session, i.e., the transmission tunnel. Optionally, if the base station receives the first data through the first signaling, the base station can send the first data to the first terminal through the signaling. The signaling may include an RRC message, a MAC CE, etc. sent by the base station to the first terminal, and the first data can be used as a field in the signaling. If the first data is received through a transmission tunnel, such as receiving the first data sent by the UPF through the first session, the first data can be sent to the terminal through a PDCP data packet, a radio link control (RLC) data packet, or a MAC data packet.

[0136] Optionally, the content and / or meaning of the first data may be invisible to the base station. For example, when the base station also receives access indication information, the execution of S102 may be triggered according to the access indication information. In this case, the base station does not need to parse or read the first data.

[0137] Based on the process in Figure 4, the base station can send random access configuration information to the first terminal based on the first data, so that the first terminal can access the base station to improve the transmission efficiency of the first service data. For example, the first terminal can be an AIOT device, and the first service can be an AIOT service. Therefore, when the base station receives downlink data of the AIOT service, it can trigger the terminal to initiate random access based on the data.

[0138] The following describes possible implementation methods of the process in FIG4 .

[0139] In one possible implementation, the base station may receive first data for the first service before or during the establishment of the first session. For example, the base station receives first signaling. The first signaling may be used to trigger paging and carry first data or second information, also referred to as a first field. The first data, second information, or first field contains information for paging at least one terminal. Optionally, the first signaling may be used to establish the first session. For example, the first signaling is signaling received by the base station during the establishment of the first session, such as a message carrying address information for the first session, such as uplink address information, which can be used to transmit uplink data via the first session. The first signaling may be sent to the base station by an AMF or SMF. For example, the AMF may obtain the address information for the first session from an SMF or an NEF and send the first signaling. For another example, after obtaining the address information for the first session, the SMF may send the first signaling to the base station. Alternatively, the SMF may send the first signaling to the base station via the AMF. In this application, the term "signaling" may also be replaced with "message" or "information."

[0140] In another possible implementation, the base station may receive the first data of the first service through the first session. That is, after the first session is established, the base station receives the first data transmitted through the first session.

[0141] In the present application, the first session is used to transmit data of the first service, or in other words, the first session is associated with or corresponds to the first service, or the first session is established for the first service.

[0142] In this application, a session may also be referred to as a tunnel or a transport tunnel.

[0143] The following will illustrate the scheme for the base station to receive the first data in these two implementation methods in conjunction with Example 1 shown in Figure 5. In this process, the first session can be initiated and established by a core network device such as SMF or NEF, or it can be initiated and established by AF or the AS of the first service. Among them, Example 1 is an exemplary establishment process for the first session, and it should not be understood that the establishment process of the first session is limited to this. Among them, in the process shown in Figure 5, the establishment of the first session is based on the triggering creation of SMF, NEF or the AF or AS corresponding to the first service.

[0144] As shown in S202 in Figure 5, the SMF can trigger the UPF to establish a first session based on the session establishment request of the NEF (such as called an inventory session establishment request or having other names). The session establishment request can be used to request the SMF to establish a session for the first service. For example, the session establishment request can be an inventory session establishment request, that is, the requested session can be called an inventory session. As shown in S201 and S202, the NEF can send a session establishment request based on a data transmission requirement message. The data transmission requirement message can come from the AF or the AS, and Figure 5 takes the AF as an example for illustration. For example, the data transmission requirement message can be used to request the transmission of data for the first service, and the NEF can send a session establishment request to the SMF based on the data transmission request. The data transmission request and the session establishment request may include data that needs to be transmitted to the terminal, and the data may include the first data.

[0145] Optionally, the session establishment request and / or data transfer request may include an identifier for the session of the first service, so that the SMF triggers the UPF to create a first session with the identifier. In addition, the identifier of the first session may also be allocated by the SMF or the UPF, which is not specifically limited in this application. The first session identifier may also be service type information.

[0146] In S203, the SMF may send a session request to the UPF to trigger the UPF to establish a session for the first service, namely the first session. The session request may include service type information for the first service, such as access indication information. The session request may also include information indicating the establishment of a public session, such as a session type indication. Optionally, the session request may also include a session identifier, tunnel identifier (tunnel ID), and / or port number associated with the first session, for establishing the first session. Accordingly, after the first session is established, the SMF may receive a session response message from the UPF. In addition, the session response message may include UPF address information, which is used to send data for the first service to the UPF. For example, the session response message may include CN tunnel information (CN tunnel info) for the first session. The CN tunnel information may include UPF address information, such as a tunnel identifier and / or port number. CN tunnel information is also referred to as uplink tunnel information (UL tunnel info). Optionally, the session response message may include service type information for the first service, such as access indication information. The session response message may also include a session identifier. For example, the UPF may allocate a session identifier for the first session, and the SMF may carry the session identifier in the session response information.

[0147] In one possible example, the session establishment request and / or data transmission request may include access indication information, i.e., service type information of the first service. The SMF may learn to establish a session for the first service based on the access indication information. Optionally, the SMF may send the access indication information to the UPF in S203.

[0148] In another possible example, the session establishment request and / or data transmission request may include time information of the first service. The time information may include, for example, the start time and end time of the first service, or the time when the first service completes transmission. The first session may transmit data of the first service within a corresponding time period. Optionally, the SMF may trigger the establishment of the first session before the start time of the first service, i.e., send a session request to the UPF. Alternatively, if the end time of the first service is reached, the SMF, UPF, or other network element may send a release indication to trigger the release of the first session.

[0149] In another possible example, the session establishment request and / or data transmission request may include address request information of the core network element. Based on the request information, the SMF may send the address information of the UPF to the NEF, so that the NEF, AF, or AS can send the downlink data of the first service to the UPF based on the UPF address information, and the UPF can send the downlink data through the first session.

[0150] Optionally, after S203, the SMF may exchange address information with the NEF. For example, the SMF may obtain the address information of the NEF and send it to the UPF, and / or the SMF may send the address information of the UPF to the NEF. In addition, if the session identifier of the first session is allocated by the UPF or the SMF, the SMF may also send the session identifier of the first session to the NEF. The address information of the UPF and / or the session identifier of the first session may be carried in the session establishment response information sent by the SMF to the NEF. The session establishment response information may also be called an inventory session response. The address of the NEF may be carried in the response information sent by the NEF to the SMF.

[0151] In S204, the SMF may also send a context establishment request to the AMF, such as an inventory context request. The request may include the address information of the UPF, such as CN tunnel information. In addition, the context establishment request may also include the area information of the first service and / or the area information of the first session. The area information of the first service and / or the area information of the first session can be used by the AMF to determine the base station so that the AMF sends the address information of the UPF or the context establishment request to the corresponding base station. For example, the base station is located in the area of ​​the first service and / or the area of ​​the first session. Optionally, the area information of the first service may be included in the session establishment request and / or the data transmission request. Optionally, the message may also include first data for paging at least one terminal.

[0152] Optionally, the context establishment request in this application may be carried in N1N2 message transmission (N1N2MessageTransfer).

[0153] It is understood that the area information of the first service can be used to indicate an inventory area, an inventory storage area, or a working area. The area information of the first session can be determined based on the area information of the first service. For example, the area information of the first service can be the longitude and latitude information of the area where the first service is performed. The area information of the first session can include location information such as a cell list or a tracking area identity (TAI) list mapped based on the area information of the first service.

[0154] Exemplarily, the context establishment request may include area information and an N2 session management (SM) message. The N2 SM message may include UPF address information, such as CN tunnel information. Exemplarily, the AMF may send the N2 SM message to the base station. Optionally, the context establishment request may also include service type information of the first service, such as access indication information, used to indicate that the first session is associated with the first service.

[0155] Optionally, the context establishment request may further include a session identifier and / or a tunnel identifier of the first session.

[0156] In S205, the AMF may send an N2 message request, such as a session establishment request, to the base station. The message request may include UPF address information, such as CN tunnel information. Optionally, the N2 message request may also include service type information of the first service, such as access indication information indicating that the first session is associated with the first service. Optionally, the N2 message request may also include a session identifier and / or tunnel identifier of the first session.

[0157] Optionally, the N2 message may carry information for paging the terminal, and is sent by the base station to the terminal to implement paging of the terminal.

[0158] Optionally, the N2 message request may be carried in the N2 PDU session request message.

[0159] In S206, the base station may send an N2 message response to the AMF, which may carry the address information of the base station. Correspondingly, in S207, the AMF may send the address information of the base station to the SMF through a context establishment response message. For example, the AMF sends an inventory context establishment response message to the SMF, which includes the address information of the base station. In addition, in S208, the SMF may send the address information of the base station to the UPF through a session update message. Alternatively, it can be said that the AMF sends the address information of the base station to the UPF through the SMF. The address information of the base station is, for example, the DL tunnel information (DL tunnel info) of the first session. The downlink tunnel information may include the address information of the base station, such as a tunnel identifier and / or a port number, which is used to send downlink data to the base station through the first session.

[0160] Optionally, the base station may also allocate a session identifier and / or tunnel identifier for the first session, and the N2 message response, context establishment response information, and session update message may also include the session identifier and / or tunnel identifier for the first session. Optionally, the N2 message response may also include service type information of the first service, such as access indication information.

[0161] In S209, the UPF may send data, such as first data, to the base station through the first session according to the address information of the base station.

[0162] Optionally, S102 may be indicated thereafter.

[0163] Based on the process shown in Figure 5, if the base station receives the first data during the establishment of the first session, the first data can be carried in the signaling sent by the AMF or SMF to the base station during the establishment of the first session. For example, the first data is carried in the data transmission request message in S201, the session establishment request in S202, the context establishment request in S204, and the N2 message request in S205. Therefore, the base station can obtain the first data from the N2 message request. The N2 message is the first signaling carrying the first data received by the base station in S101. Optionally, the first data can be carried in the N2 SM message in the context establishment request.

[0164] Optionally, the data transmission request message, session establishment request, or context establishment request N2 message request may also include access indication information. Therefore, the base station may be informed of the receipt of first data of the first service and may therefore execute S102. In this case, the first data may come from an AMF or an SMF, or in other words, the first core network element may be an SMF or an AMF.

[0165] In addition, if the base station receives first data of the first service through the first session, the first data may come from the UPF, in which case the first core network element is the UPF. For example, after the first session is established, the UPF sends data of the first service to the base station through the first session, such as sending the first data.

[0166] Optionally, the UPF may also add access indication information to the header of the first message carrying the first data. The first message may be a GTP-U message. For example, the access indication information includes service type information. When the base station receives the first message and reads the access indication information from the header of the first message, it can be informed that the first data of the first service has been received. Therefore, S102 may be executed to trigger access of the first terminal.

[0167] Optionally, after accessing the base station and / or during the process of accessing the base station, the first terminal may send second data to the base station. The second data may include uplink data of the first service. Accordingly, the base station may receive the second data and send the second data to the AF or the AS of the first service via the core network. For example, the base station may send the second data to the UPF via the first session, and the UPF then sends the second data to the AF, so that the AS of the first service obtains the second data from the AF.

[0168] As an example implementation, in an AIOT scenario, the random access process of the first terminal and the process of the first terminal sending the second data to the base station include the steps shown in Figure 6. As an example, in the random access process of Figure 6, the base station can act as a reader / writer, and the first terminal can act as an AIOT terminal.

[0169] The random access process shown in FIG6 may include the following steps:

[0170] S301: Optionally, the base station sends a paging message or a selection command containing terminal memory information, for selecting or paging one or a group of terminals for access, wherein the one or a group of terminals includes the first terminal. Specifically, the base station uses the select command to select terminals that match signaling selection criteria and sets a state of a specific inventory flag. For example, the state of the first inventory flag is set from A to B. For terminals that do not match the base station selection criteria, the state of the first inventory flag is set from B to A. A and B here can also be replaced by 0 and 1.

[0171] S302: Optionally, the base station sends a query signaling (e.g., query) to initiate an inventory cycle. The query signaling may include the status of the first inventory flag, such as B, to select terminals with the first inventory flag in status B for access. This signaling may also allocate a parameter, Q, to facilitate the terminal's calculation of the total number of time slots allocated by the base station.

[0172] S303: The first terminal matching the first inventory flag state indicated by the query signaling (such as state B in the previous step) selects a random access opportunity or access time slot. Specifically, the first terminal can calculate the access time slot range as [0, 2Q-1] based on the Q value. The first terminal can randomly select a value within the range and save it as a counter. Whenever the first terminal receives the Query signaling again, the counter value is processed as follows: counter = counter-1. When counter is equal to 0, the first terminal can send a random number, such as a 16-bit random number (random number 16, RN16). Optionally, RN16 can be carried in Msg3 of the four-step random access process. It should be noted that the time slot corresponding to the base station sending the query signaling is 0, and the terminal with the initial counter value of 0 can initiate access after receiving the query signaling. The Query signaling received again can be called QueryRep or have other names.

[0173] S304: If the base station successfully receives the RN16, the base station sends an acknowledgment (ACK) message to the first terminal. The acknowledgment message may be included in Msg4 of the four-step random access procedure. The acknowledgment message may include the RN16. Accordingly, the first terminal may determine that access is successful after determining that the RN16 included in the received acknowledgment message is consistent with the RN16 it sent.

[0174] The above access process is an example, and terminal access can also be achieved through other methods in this application.

[0175] S305: The first terminal sends uplink data, such as second data, to the base station.

[0176] The second data includes, for example, an electronic product code (EPC) of the first terminal.

[0177] S306: Optionally, the base station sends an instruction to the first terminal, such as a read instruction or a write instruction, etc. Correspondingly, the first terminal responds to the instruction, such as sending response information after execution.

[0178] S307: Optionally, after the base station completes processing the first terminal, it sends a QueryRep. Based on this signaling, the first terminal can flip the inventory flag, for example, from B to A. This signaling can also be used to trigger the next access opportunity, by decrementing the counter of a terminal that is not 0 by 1. When the counter of the terminal reaches 0, the terminal can initiate access.

[0179] S308: Optionally, the base station may select a terminal with a next access opportunity to initiate a random access procedure.

[0180] Based on the process shown in Figure 6, random access of AIOT terminals and the sending of uplink data after random access can be efficiently implemented. Optionally, the first terminal can send the second data to the base station after the RRC connection is established. For example, the first terminal sends the second data through S305. And / or, the first terminal can carry the second data through the uplink signaling in the random access process during the random access process, for example, carrying the second data in Msg3. It can be understood that the first data, second data and third data in this application all refer to the data of the first business, and do not represent one or more specific data. In other words, the first data, second data and third data can respectively include one or more data of the first business.

[0181] It is understood that when the base station determines that the transmission of the service is completed, for example, after the inventory service is completed, when the base station detects that no new terminals are connected, it can send a completion indication to the core network. For example, the base station sends a stop indication to the AMF to indicate that the service is completed; optionally, the AMF can send a release session indication to the SMF to release the first session. The base station can determine that the inventory service is completed after receiving the indication that the inventory service is completed.

[0182] In addition, the base station may also receive the first indication and decide whether to release the session and / or decide the timing of releasing the session according to the first indication.

[0183] In a possible embodiment, the first indication may indicate that the first session is associated with the first terminal, associated with multiple terminals, or associated with the first service. If the first indication is used to indicate that the first session is associated with the first terminal, the base station may release the session after completing the data transmission of the first service of the first terminal. For example, after the base station sends the second data through the first session, the session is released to reduce the occupancy of session resources. If the first indication is used to indicate that the first session is associated with multiple terminals or associated with the first service, rather than associated with a specific terminal, the base station needs to retain the first session after completing the data transmission of the first terminal to avoid re-establishing the session when transmitting data of other terminals and / or the first service. The existing first session can be directly used for transmission, thereby reducing the transmission delay.

[0184] As an example of a first indication used to indicate that the first session is associated with the first service, the first indication may include service type information or a service identifier of the first service. For example, if the service type information indicates an inventory service, or the service type information indicates a service with only one uplink data of the first service, that is, the first service is an inventory service or a service with only one uplink data, the base station may release the terminal after completing the data transmission of the first service of the first terminal. For another example, if the service type information indicates that there is a service with subsequent uplink data and downlink data, the base station cannot release the transmission of the first terminal or the first session immediately after completing the data transmission of the first service of the first terminal, and the base station may wait for the subsequent transmission of the first terminal; for example, the base station may release the transmission of the terminal after waiting for a release indication from the core network.

[0185] In another possible embodiment, the first indication may not indicate that the first session is associated with one terminal, multiple terminals, or services by displaying the first indication. For example, the first indication may be used to indicate whether there is subsequent uplink and / or downlink data transmission for the first session, so that the base station can determine the timing of releasing the first session based on the first indication. The subsequent downlink data may include downlink data of at least one first service other than (or after) the first data. The subsequent uplink data may include uplink data of at least one first service other than (or after) the second data. Uplink data and downlink data may be collectively referred to as data.

[0186] It can be understood that if the first indication is used to indicate that there is no subsequent data transmission for the first session, the base station can release the transmission of the first terminal or release the first session after completing the data transmission of the first service of the first terminal. For example, the base station receives the second data from the first terminal and releases the first terminal or releases the first session or releases the first terminal after sending the second data through the first session.

[0187] In addition, if there is or may be subsequent data transmission in the first session, the base station may retain (i.e., not release) the first session or retain the transmission of the first terminal after completing the data transmission of the first service of the first terminal. Therefore, when the base station receives the same type of service data sent by the same address (such as the UPF address) within one terminal time, it is not necessary to establish a session again. Optionally, the base station may release the first session after receiving a release indication from the network. The release indication may be initiated by the SMF or the AS of the first service. For example, the SMF or the AS of the first service may send a release indication based on the end time of the first service, or the AS may also send a release indication based on the service requirements of the first service. Therefore, multiple terminals in the same group may use the same session to transmit data of the first service, thereby avoiding the establishment of multiple sessions. In addition, for other services other than the first service, or the same service in other service areas or other service times, a new session may be re-established.

[0188] In this embodiment, the first indication may indicate a session type or a subsequent transmission condition, and accordingly, the base station determines whether to release the session or the terminal according to the service type or the subsequent transmission condition.

[0189] For example, the transmission situation can be seen in the following example:

[0190] For example, the first indication can be specifically used to indicate that the first session contains a single (or single package) of data or multiple (or multiple packages) of data transmission from the first terminal. If the first indication is used to indicate that the first session only contains a single data transmission from the first terminal, it indicates that there is no subsequent data transmission; if the first indication is used to indicate that there are multiple data transmissions from the first terminal in the first session, it indicates that there is or may be subsequent data transmission.

[0191] For another example, the first indication may be used to indicate that the first session corresponds to multiple terminals or corresponds to a first service, wherein if it corresponds to multiple terminals or corresponds to the first service, it indicates that subsequent downlink data transmission exists or may exist.

[0192] For another example, the first indication may be used to indicate whether subsequent uplink and / or downlink data is included or the amount of subsequent uplink and / or downlink data included. For example, the first indication includes one or more bits for indicating the number of times or the range of times of data subsequently transmitted. In addition, the first indication may also be used to indicate the type of data subsequently transmitted to indicate the existence of subsequent data transmission. For example, when the first indication is used to indicate the existence of subsequent reception feedback of uplink data from the UPF, it indicates that there is subsequent data transmission in the first session. Wherein, if the first indication is used to indicate that there is no subsequent data transmission, or the number of subsequent transmissions is zero, it indicates that there is no subsequent data transmission; if the first indication is used to indicate that there is a subsequent transmission, or the number of subsequent transmissions is not zero, it indicates that there is or may be subsequent data transmission.

[0193] For another example, the first indication may also be used to indicate whether transmission needs to be terminated after core network confirmation, or in other words, to indicate that transmission needs to be terminated after core network confirmation. If the first indication indicates that transmission needs to be terminated after core network confirmation, it indicates that subsequent data transmission exists or may exist; if the first indication indicates that transmission does not need to be terminated after core network confirmation, it indicates that there is no subsequent data transmission.

[0194] Optionally, the first indication function can be implemented by information elements in different locations. For example, the information element used to indicate the transmission of a single data item or multiple data items including the first terminal is different from the information element used to indicate that the first session corresponds to multiple terminals or corresponds to the first service.

[0195] As an example, if there is or may be subsequent data transmission, the first indication can be used to specifically indicate that the first session corresponds to multiple terminals. For example, the first indication includes identifiers or grouping information of multiple terminals. Grouping information includes, for example, a group identifier, a group number, or a service number. Therefore, the base station can learn from the grouping information that the first session is associated with a terminal group, that is, the first session is not associated with a specific terminal, or in other words, the first session is associated with multiple terminals. Therefore, the base station can retain the first session and release the first session after receiving the release indication, so as to avoid releasing the session after the data of a certain terminal is sent, resulting in the data of other terminals not being able to be sent in time. Optionally, the base station sends the first data and the terminal grouping information to one or more terminals at the same time, and the terminal belonging to the group initiates access and data transmission.

[0196] In the present application, the first data may include multiple groups of data, and different groups of data may be used to select different groups of terminals for transmission. Optionally, the resources for transmitting data to each group of terminals may be different.

[0197] For example, the grouping information may include a group identifier and the identifiers of one or more terminals corresponding to each group identifier to indicate which terminals are included in each terminal group. In addition, the grouping information may also be pre-configured in the AS, AMF, SMF, base station or terminal.

[0198] In this application, a terminal group may also be referred to as a session group.

[0199] It can be understood that the first indication and the access indication information in the present application can be the same information or indication, that is, the same information can be used to instruct the base station to trigger the first terminal to access the base station or to trigger the first base station to page the first terminal, and can also be used to indicate whether there is subsequent data transmission for the first session. Or it can be said that the access indication information can include the first indication. For example, the access indication information and the first indication are both used to indicate the presence of uplink data of one or more first services of the first terminal, to indicate the amount of uplink data of the first service of the first terminal, to indicate the subsequent transmission status of data of the first service of the first terminal, etc.

[0200] As a possible implementation, the first indication may be carried in a header of a first message, and the first message may carry first data. For example, the first message may be a GTP-U message, or may be data or information.

[0201] Optionally, if the first indication is used to indicate that there is only one uplink data, the first session may be a public session; if the first indication is used to indicate that there is more than one data transmission, the first session may be a session for each terminal, that is, the session is associated with the terminal.

[0202] In addition, optionally, the first indication may also be used to indicate the timing of the base station releasing the first session. For example, the first indication may be used to indicate whether the base station releases the first session after sending the second data in the first session.

[0203] The above is an explanation of the process of Figure 4 and the corresponding embodiment. It can be understood that based on the processes shown in Figures 4 to 6 above, the base station can trigger the first terminal to perform random access based on the first downlink data transmitted through the first session or the first data obtained during the establishment of the first session, so that the first terminal sends uplink data through the interface between the first terminal and the base station during or after accessing the base station. Compared with the existing AIOT scenario where the terminal sends data by modulating and reflecting the signal, the data transmission performance of the terminal in the AIOT scenario can be improved. Optionally, the base station can also send the second data from the first terminal through the first session to improve the network-side transmission performance of the data of the first service.

[0204] As shown in Figure 7, the present application also provides another communication method, in which the network device determines whether a session for the first service associated with the terminal group to which the terminal belongs already exists based on the information of the terminal. If so, there is no need to re-establish a new session. Instead, the data of the first service of the terminal only needs to be transmitted through the existing session. Therefore, multiple terminals can share the session to avoid repeatedly creating sessions for the first service. The network device can be a network element such as a base station, AMF, or SMF. To facilitate the distinction from the first session in the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the session for the first service in this embodiment is referred to as the second session, and the description of the second session can refer to the first session. As an example, Figure 7 takes the execution subject as the base station and the second terminal as an example. In actual implementation, the actions of the base station shown in Figure 7 can also be performed by other base stations other than the base station, and / or the actions of the second terminal shown in Figure 4 can be performed by terminals other than the second terminal.

[0205] S401: A base station receives third data of a first service from a second terminal.

[0206] The first service may refer to the description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 .

[0207] In this application, the second terminal may be an AIOT terminal, such as device A, device B, or device C described in this application. The second terminal may also be another device or apparatus for performing AIOT services. In addition, the second terminal may be a terminal in a terminal group. The terminal group may include one or more terminals performing the first service. As an example, one or more terminals in the terminal group belong to the same group.

[0208] Optionally, in S401, the base station may receive third data during the random access process of the second terminal, for example, the third data is carried in Msg3; or the base station may receive third data from the second terminal after the second terminal performs random access. The third data is uplink data of the first service.

[0209] The random access process of the second terminal can be referred to the introduction of FIG5 .

[0210] S402: The base station determines that the second session has been established, and sends third data to the UPF through the second session.

[0211] The second session may be a session of the first service, and thus the second session may refer to the description of the first session in the embodiment of FIG. 4 .

[0212] 7, the second session is associated with or corresponds to the terminal group, and the second session may also be referred to as a group session. This association may be reflected in that the second session is used to transmit data of the first service of one or more terminals in the terminal group.

[0213] In S402, if the second session has been established, there is no need to repeatedly establish the session for the first service.

[0214] As an implementation method for the base station to determine that the second session has been established, the base station can receive the identifier of the second terminal and the information of the second session from the second core network element, thereby being aware that the second terminal is associated with the established second session. The information of the second session, for example, includes at least one of the session identifier, tunnel identifier, CN tunnel information, UPF address information, or identifier of the first service of the second session. For example, before S402, the base station obtains information about the established second session. After receiving the identifier of the second terminal and the information of the second session, the base station can establish an association between the second terminal and the second session to facilitate transmission of data of the first service of the second terminal through the second session.

[0215] Among them, the second core network network element can be AMF or SMF.

[0216] As an example, after performing random access, the second terminal may initiate session establishment with the AMF. Alternatively, the second terminal may send a session establishment request to the SMF, but the request may be forwarded by the AMF. For example, the request may carry the identifier of the second terminal, requesting session establishment. For example, the identifier of the second terminal may be included in an uplink non-access stratum (NAS) (UL NAS) message. Exemplarily, the UL NAS message may also include the aforementioned access indication information and / or the first indication, indicating a request to establish a session for the first service. Optionally, the AMF may determine, based on the identifier of the second terminal, whether a common session already exists for transmitting data for the first service of the terminal group to which the second terminal belongs. For example, if the AMF determines, based on the identifier of the second terminal, that the second terminal belongs to a terminal group and that a second session has been established for the terminal group, the AMF may send a message to the base station indicating that the second session has been established. For example, the message may include information about the second session and, optionally, the identifier of the second terminal. It will be understood that the aforementioned NAS message is merely an example. If the device does not support the NAS layer, other layers or a separate message may carry the access indication information and / or the first indication.

[0217] Another way to establish a session is that after the second terminal performs random access, it can send data and / or signaling to the base station to request the establishment of a session, and the base station sends signaling to the AMF. The signaling may include the base station address (downlink address information), and the AMF may forward the base station address to the SMF, and then the SMF may forward it to the UPF. Subsequently, the UPF replies to the response message and may send the uplink address (such as the UPF address) to the SMF, which then forwards the uplink address to the AMF, and then the AMF sends it to the base station. This can also be a session or transport connection establishment process, which can be identified by an identifier or session type.

[0218] Optionally, when any one or more of the following are met, it indicates that the second session has been established: in the process of terminal triggering session establishment, the AMF has sent session establishment acceptance information or completion information of the second session, and accordingly, the base station can determine that the second session has been established based on the received acceptance information or the completion information; in the process of core network triggering session establishment, the AMF has received session establishment response information of the second session, and accordingly, the base station can determine that the second session has been established based on the received session establishment response information; the base station and the core network have obtained or stored or have session information such as the transmission address, tunnel address, QoS information or transmission interface of the service, that is, the base station can determine that the second session has been established based on the obtained session information such as the transmission address, tunnel address, QoS information or transmission interface of the service.

[0219] In this example, the AMF may store the association relationship between the second terminal and the group identifier of the terminal group to obtain the terminal group to which the second terminal belongs. If the AMF determines that there is a public session for the first service associated with the terminal group, it may determine that there is a second session associated with the second terminal.

[0220] In addition, after receiving the UL NAS message from the terminal, the AMF may send a session establishment request to the SMF to request the SMF to establish a session for the first service, wherein the SMF may determine whether the second session already exists. Similar to the way in which the AMF determines whether the second session exists, if the SMF determines, based on the identifier of the second terminal, that a public session has been established for transmitting data of the first service of the terminal group to which the second terminal belongs, the SMF may send a message to the base station through the AMF to indicate that the second session has been established. For example, the message may include information about the second session and may optionally include the identifier of the second terminal.

[0221] Optionally, establishing the second session may mean that the SMF has sent a session request for the second session and / or that the SMF has received session response information for the second session.

[0222] In this example, the SMF may store the association relationship between the second terminal and the group identifier of the terminal group to obtain the terminal group to which the second terminal belongs. If the SMF determines that there is a public session of the first service associated with the terminal group, it may determine that there is a second session associated with the second terminal.

[0223] As another implementation, the base station may receive an association between the identifier of the second terminal and the group identifier of the terminal group from the second core network element. For example, before S402, the base station has obtained an association between the established second session and the group identifier of the terminal group. Therefore, after receiving the association between the identifier of the second terminal and the group identifier of the terminal group, the base station may learn that the second terminal is associated with the second session, so as to facilitate transmission of data of the first service of the second terminal through the second session.

[0224] In addition, the base station may also determine, based on the identifier of the second terminal, that the second session has been established.

[0225] For example, referring to the description of the grouping information in the aforementioned method embodiment, the base station may pre-store an association relationship between a group identifier and the identifiers of one or more terminals in a terminal group, wherein the one or more terminals may include a second terminal. After the base station receives the third data from the second terminal through S401, the base station may determine the terminal group to which the second terminal belongs based on the association relationship between the identifier of the second terminal and the group identifier. When the second session corresponding to the terminal group has been established, the base station may determine that the second session corresponding to the second terminal has been established. Optionally, the association relationship between the identifier of the second terminal and the group identifier may be pre-defined in the base station, or may be sent to the base station by a core network element such as an AMF or SMF, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0226] In addition, referring to the process shown in FIG4 and the corresponding embodiment, the base station in the process shown in FIG7 may also receive a first indication, which may be used to indicate whether there is subsequent transmission in the second session. It is understood that if there is no subsequent data transmission in the second session, the base station may release the second session after sending downlink data through the second session. Furthermore, if there is subsequent data transmission in the second session, the base station may retain (i.e., not release) the second session after sending downlink data through the second session. Optionally, the base station may release the second session after receiving a release indication from the network.

[0227] As a possible implementation method, SMF can trigger UPF to establish a second session based on the session establishment request of NEF. For example, referring to the description of Figure 5, SMF can establish a second session based on the session establishment request from NEF. That is to say, the establishment process of the second session can be referred to S201 to S208 and will not be repeated.

[0228] As another possible implementation, the second session can be established by SMF triggering UPF to establish the second session based on the session establishment request of AMF.

[0229] As shown in Figure 8, the process of SMF triggering UPF to establish a second session based on the AMF session establishment request may include the following steps:

[0230] S501: After randomly accessing the base station, the third terminal sends a UL NAS message to the AMF.

[0231] The UL NAS message may include an identifier of the third terminal, such as a UE ID.

[0232] S502: AMF sends a session establishment request to SMF.

[0233] The session establishment request may include a group identifier of the terminal group to which the third terminal belongs, or may include an identifier of the third terminal. Optionally, the session establishment request may also include a non-Internet Protocol (IP) data transmission (NIDD) and / or a session identifier of the second session. NIDD may be used to indicate that data transmission does not require an IP address.

[0234] Optionally, the AMF may identify the third terminal as an AIOT terminal based on the third terminal's identifier and / or group identifier, or identify that the third terminal is associated with the first service, thereby being informed that the third terminal is requesting the first service. Accordingly, the session establishment request may include service type information for the first service, such as carrying access indication information and / or a first indication. For details about the access indication information and the first indication, see the description in the embodiment shown in Figure 4.

[0235] Optionally, the AMF may store the association between the identifier of the third terminal and the group identifier, that is, the AMF may obtain the group identifier of the terminal group to which the third terminal belongs.

[0236] Further optionally, before S502, the AMF may determine, based on the group identifier, that a public session associated with the group identifier for transmitting data of the first service has not been established. If the AMF determines that a public session associated with the group identifier for transmitting data of the first service has been established, S502 and subsequent steps are stopped, and / or the AMF may send an identifier of the public session to the base station accessed by the third terminal to indicate that the data of the first service of the third terminal is transmitted through the public session.

[0237] S503: SMF sends a session request to UPF, instructing UPF to establish a session for the first service, that is, to establish a second session.

[0238] Optionally, before S503, the SMF may determine, based on the group identifier, that a public session for transmitting data of the first service associated with the group identifier has not been established. If the SMF determines that a public session for transmitting data of the first service associated with the group identifier has been established, S503 and subsequent steps are stopped, and / or the SMF may send an identifier of the public session to the AMF or the base station accessed by the third terminal to indicate that the data of the first service of the third terminal is transmitted through the public session.

[0239] Optionally, the SMF may identify the third terminal as an AIOT terminal based on the identifier and / or group identifier of the third terminal or through instructions from other network elements, thereby being aware that the third terminal requests the first service.

[0240] Among them, if the session establishment request in S502 contains the identifier of the third terminal but not the group identifier, the SMF can store the association between the identifier of the third terminal and the group identifier, that is, the SMF can obtain the group identifier of the terminal group to which the third terminal belongs based on the identifier of the third terminal.

[0241] Optionally, the session request may further include information indicating the establishment of a public session, such as a session type indication. In addition, the session request may further include a session identifier, a tunnel identifier (tunnel ID) and / or a port number associated with the first session, for establishing the first session.

[0242] S504: SMF receives session response information from UPF.

[0243] The session response information may include the address information of the UPF, such as CN tunnel information.

[0244] Optionally, the session response information may include access indication information and / or a first indication, such as service type information of the first service. The session response information may also include a session identifier. For example, the UPF may optionally allocate a session identifier for the first session, and the SMF may carry the session identifier in the session response information.

[0245] After S504, the SMF may exchange address information with the NEF. For example, referring to the description of the process in FIG5 , the SMF may obtain the address information of the NEF and send the address information of the UPF to the NEF.

[0246] S505: SMF sends a context establishment request to AMF.

[0247] The context establishment request may include the address information of the UPF, such as CN tunnel information.

[0248] In addition, the context establishment request may also include the area information of the first service and / or the area information of the first session. The area information of the first service and / or the area information of the first session can be used by the AMF to determine the base station so that the AMF can send the address information of the UPF or the context establishment request to the corresponding base station.

[0249] Optionally, the SMF may receive the area information of the first service from the NEF. For example, referring to the description of S201 to S202, the SMF may obtain the area information of the first service from the NEF during a session establishment process or a non-session establishment process.

[0250] For S505 , please refer to the description of S204 .

[0251] S506: The AMF sends an N2 message request to the base station, which may include the address information of the UPF, such as CN tunnel information.

[0252] The base station can configure the air interface and schedule uplink data according to the QoS corresponding to the service.

[0253] S507: The base station sends an N2 message response to the AMF, which may carry the address information of the base station, such as DL tunnel information.

[0254] S508: AMF sends a context establishment response message to SMF, which includes the address information of the base station.

[0255] S509: SMF sends a session update message to UPF, which includes the address information of the base station.

[0256] Based on the above process, the creation of the second session can be completed between the base station and the UPF.

[0257] Subsequently, after the second terminal belonging to the terminal group accesses and sends the terminal identifier to the AMF, the base station, AMF or SMF can determine whether the second session associated with the second terminal has been established based on the registration information and / or the saved terminal information of the second terminal. The terminal information, for example, includes information such as the terminal identifier in the terminal group, the correspondence between the terminal and the terminal group, etc. If the AMF or SMF confirms that the second terminal belongs to the terminal group associated with the second session, it can send a session identifier to the base station, or send a special identifier of this type to indicate that the second session has been established without the need to re-establish the session of the first service. Therefore, when the second terminal belonging to the session group sends data, the base station can directly send the data to the UPF through the tunnel associated with the second session, and the UPF can subsequently send the downlink data to the AS server of the first service.

[0258] The process of downlink data transmission is similar. The UPF can send downlink data to the base station through the second session. The base station determines the only terminal associated with the tunnel and sends the data to the corresponding terminal.

[0259] Optionally, in this application, the UPF or other core network elements may also add indication information in the GTP-U header for the base station to associate the correspondence between the data transmitted in the tunnel and the terminal to facilitate terminal identification. For example, the terminal identifier is carried in the header indication.

[0260] In addition to the process shown in Figure 8, in S501, the third terminal may request the AMF to establish a session through the base station. The base station may allocate DL tunnel information and send the DL tunnel information to the AMF. Accordingly, in S502, the base station may also send DL tunnel information to the AMF. For example, the DL tunnel information may be included in the session establishment request. Furthermore, in S503, the SMF may send DL tunnel information to the UPF. For example, the DL tunnel information may be included in the session request. In this implementation, S507 to S509 may not be performed.

[0261] Based on the same concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device. The communication device may include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the functions shown in the above method. Those skilled in the art should easily appreciate that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, 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 hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0262] Figures 9 through 11 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the access network device, first core network element, or second core network element in the aforementioned method embodiments, thereby also achieving the beneficial effects of the aforementioned method embodiments. For details and technical effects related to the access network device, first core network element, or second core network element, please refer to the description of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0263] As shown in Figure 9, communication device 900 includes a processing unit 910 and a communication unit 920. Communication unit 920 can implement corresponding communication functions, and processing unit 910 is used to process data. Communication unit 920 can also be a transceiver unit or an input / output interface. Communication device 900 can be used to implement the functions of the base station, the first core network element, or the second core network element in any of the method embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 8 above.

[0264] For example, when implementing the functions of the base station in the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the communication unit 920 may be configured to receive the first data and send the random access configuration information and the first data to the first terminal. In addition, the communication unit 920 may also be configured to receive access indication information, the second data, or the first indication.

[0265] When implementing the function of the first core network element in the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the communication unit 920 can be used to send access instruction information, first data, and the first instruction. In addition, the communication unit 920 can also be used to send the first instruction.

[0266] For another example, when implementing the functions of the base station in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 , the communication unit 920 may be configured to receive third data and, upon determining that the second session has been established, transmit the third data via the second session. Furthermore, the communication unit 920 may be configured to receive an identifier of a second terminal and information about the second session from a second core network element. The processing unit 910 may be configured to determine that the second session has been established, for example, by determining that the second terminal belongs to the terminal group based on the identifier of the second terminal. Furthermore, the communication unit 920 may be configured to receive a group identifier of the terminal group from the second core network element. The communication unit 920 may also be configured to send the group identifier to the second terminal.

[0267] When implementing the functions of the second core network element in the embodiment shown in Figure 7, the communication unit 920 may be configured to receive the identifier of the second terminal and transmit the identifier of the second terminal and information about the second session. The communication unit 920 may also be configured to receive the identifier of a third terminal and, if it is determined that a session corresponding to the group identifier for transmitting data of the first service has not been established, transmit a session establishment request for the second session.

[0268] The meanings of the above technologies can be found in the description of the method embodiment section and will not be repeated here.

[0269] It is understood that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0270] As shown in Figure 10, a communication device 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application is configured to implement the communication method provided in this application. The communication device 1000 may be a communication device that implements the communication method, a component within a communication device, or a device capable of being used in conjunction with the communication device. The communication device 1000 may be an access network device, a first core network element, or a second core network element. The communication device 1000 may be a system-on-chip (SoC) or a chip. In this embodiment of the present application, a SoC may consist of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete components. The communication device 1000 includes at least one processor 1020 configured to implement the communication method provided in this embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1000 may also include an input / output interface 1010, which may include an input interface and / or an output interface. In this embodiment of the present application, the SoC 1010 may be configured to communicate with other devices via a transmission medium, and its functions may include sending and / or receiving. For example, when the communication device 1000 is a chip, transmission to other chips or devices may be performed via the SoC 1010. The processor 1020 may be configured to implement the method described in the above method embodiment.

[0271] Exemplarily, the processor 1020 may be used to execute actions executed by the processing unit 910 , and the input / output interface 1010 may be used to execute actions executed by the communication unit 920 , which will not be described in detail.

[0272] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include at least one memory 1030 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 1030 is coupled to the processor 1020. Coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. The processor 1020 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1030. The processor 1020 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1030. At least one of the at least one memory may be integrated with the processor.

[0273] In an embodiment of the present application, the memory 1030 may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc., or a volatile memory (volatile memory), such as a random-access memory (RAM). A memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store a desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiment of the present application may also be a circuit or any other device that can implement a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0274] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor 1020 may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0275] As shown in Figure 11, a communication device 1100 provided in an embodiment of the present application is used to implement the communication method provided in the present application. The communication device 1100 can be a communication device that applies the communication method shown in the embodiment of the present application, or it can be a component in a communication device, or it can be a device that can be used in combination with a communication device. The communication device 1100 can be an access network device, a first core network network element, or a second core network network element. Among them, the communication device 1100 can be a chip system or a chip. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices. Part or all of the communication methods provided in the above embodiments can be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the communication device 1100 may include: an input interface circuit 1101, a logic circuit 1102, and an output interface circuit 1103.

[0276] Optionally, taking the device being used to implement the function of the receiving end as an example, the input interface circuit 1101 can be used to execute the above-mentioned receiving action performed by the communication unit 920, the output interface circuit 1103 can be used to execute the above-mentioned sending action performed by the communication unit 920, and the logic circuit 1102 can be used to execute the above-mentioned action performed by the processing unit 910, which will not be repeated.

[0277] Optionally, the communication device 1100 may be a chip or an integrated circuit in a specific implementation.

[0278] Part or all of the operations and functions performed by the communication device described in the above method embodiments of the present application can be completed using a chip or an integrated circuit.

[0279] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions for executing the above method embodiment.

[0280] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the above method embodiment.

[0281] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which may include an access network device and a first core network network element, or include an access network device and a second core network network element, for implementing the method shown in any one of the embodiments in Figures 4 to 8.

[0282] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0283] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, an SSD).

[0284] Note: A portion of this patent application contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner reserves all rights reserved except for copies of the materials in the patent file or patent record in the Patent Office.

[0285] The access network device, first core network element, or second core network element in each of the above-mentioned apparatus embodiments corresponds to the corresponding modules or units performing the corresponding steps. For example, the communication unit (transceiver) performs the receiving or sending steps in the method embodiments, while other steps besides sending and receiving may be performed by the processing unit (processor). The functions of the specific units can be referred to in the corresponding method embodiments. There may be one or more processors.

[0286] As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are used to refer to computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and a computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can be executed from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. Components can communicate, for example, via local and / or remote processes based on signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component across a local system, a distributed system, and / or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems via signals).

[0287] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented using electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professionals and technicians may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0288] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0289] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0290] Units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0291] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

[0292] The above are only specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The access network device receives first data of a first service through a first session, where the first session is used to transmit the data of the first service; or, The access network device receives a first signaling, where the first signaling is used to trigger paging, and the first signaling includes the first data; The access network device sends random access configuration information and the first data to the first terminal device, where the random access configuration information is used by the first terminal device to perform random access.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first data is used to trigger access of one or more terminal devices, or the first data is used to page one or more terminal devices, wherein the one or more terminal devices include the first terminal device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The first session is initiated and established by a core network device, and the first session is used for uplink transmission or downlink transmission of one or more terminal devices, and the one or more terminal devices include the first terminal device.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The access network device sending the first data to the first terminal device includes: The access network device sends the first data to the first terminal device via paging signaling or media access control MAC signaling.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The first signaling also includes address information of the first session, and the address information of the first session is used by the access network device to send data of the first service through the first session.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The access network device receives second data of the first service from the first terminal device; The access network device sends the second data through the first session.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The access network device receives a first indication; The first indication is used to indicate that the first session corresponds to the first terminal device; or The first indication is used to indicate a single data transmission or multiple data transmissions of the first terminal device included in the first session; or, The first indicator is used to indicate that the first session corresponds to a plurality of terminal devices; or, The first indicator is used to indicate that the first session corresponds to the first service; or, The first indication is specifically used to indicate whether there is subsequent data of the first service; or, The first indication is specifically used to indicate the amount of subsequent data of the first service; or, The first indication is specifically used to indicate whether the transmission needs to be ended after confirmation by the core network.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The first data is carried in first information, and the first indication is carried in a header of the first information.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first indication includes service type information of the first service.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The type of the first service includes at least one of an environmental Internet of Things (AIOT) service, a read service, a write service or an inventory service.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: The first session is used to transmit data of a first service of one or more terminal devices, and the one or more terminal devices include the first terminal device.

12. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The first core network element receives first data of the first service; The first core network element sends the first data to the access network device through a first session, and the first session is used to transmit data of the first service; or, the first core network element sends a first signaling to the access network device, and the first signaling is used to trigger paging, and the first signaling includes the first data.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The first data is used to trigger access of one or more terminal devices, or the first data is used to page one or more terminal devices, wherein the one or more terminal devices include the first terminal device.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The first session is initiated and established by a core network device, and the first session is used for uplink transmission or downlink transmission of one or more terminal devices, and the one or more terminal devices include the first terminal device.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that: The first signaling also includes address information of the first session, and the address information of the first session is used by the access network device to send data of the first service through the first session.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The first core network element receives second data of the first service of the first terminal device through the first session.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The first core network element sends a first instruction to the access network device; The first indication is used to indicate that the first session corresponds to the first terminal device; or The first indication is used to indicate a single data transmission or multiple data transmissions of the first terminal device included in the first session; or, The first indicator is used to indicate that the first session corresponds to a plurality of terminal devices; or, The first indicator is used to indicate that the first session corresponds to the first service; or, The first indication is specifically used to indicate whether there is subsequent data of the first service; or, The first indication is specifically used to indicate the amount of subsequent data of the first service; or, The first indication is specifically used to indicate whether the transmission needs to be ended after confirmation by the core network.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The first data is carried in first information, and the first indication is carried in a header of the first information.

19. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, characterized in that: The type of the first service includes at least one of an environmental Internet of Things (AIOT) service, a read service, a write service or an inventory service.

20. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 19, characterized in that: The first session is used to transmit data of a first service of one or more terminal devices, and the one or more terminal devices include the first terminal device.

21. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The access network device receives third data of the first service from the second terminal device; The access network device determines that the second session has been established; The access network device sends the third data through the second session, wherein the second session is used to transmit data of a first service of a terminal device group, and the terminal device group includes the second terminal device.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The method further comprises: The access network device receives the identifier of the second terminal device and the information of the second session from the second core network network element; The access network device determines, according to the information of the second session, that the second session has been established.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein: The information of the second session includes an identifier of the second session or core network address information of the second session.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein: The method further comprises: The access network device determines, according to the identifier of the second terminal device, that the second terminal device belongs to the terminal device group; The access network device determines, based on the terminal device group, that the second session has been established.

25. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The access network device receives the group identifier of the terminal device group from the second core network network element.

26. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 25, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The access network device sends the group identifier of the terminal device group to the second terminal device.

27. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 26, characterized in that: The type of the first service includes at least one of an environmental Internet of Things (AIOT) service, a read service, a write service or an inventory service.

28. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The second core network network element receives an identifier of a second terminal device, where the identifier of the second terminal device is associated with the terminal device group; The second core network network element sends the identifier of the second terminal device and information of a second session to the access network device, where the second session is an established session and is used to transmit data of a first service of the terminal device group.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein: The information of the second session includes an identifier of the second session or core network address information of the second session.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein: The method further comprises: The second core network element receives an identifier of a third terminal device, where the identifier of the third terminal device is associated with the terminal device group; The second core network element determines that a session corresponding to the group identifier and used to transmit data of the first service is not established; The second core network element sends a session establishment request for the second session.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein: The session establishment request includes the group identifier.

32. The method according to any one of claims 28 to 31, characterized in that: The type of the first service includes at least one of an environmental Internet of Things (AIOT) service, a read service, a write service or an inventory service.

33. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor configured to execute a computer program or instructions to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 32.

34. The device according to claim 33, characterized in that The device further comprises a memory and / or a transceiver, wherein the memory is used to store the computer program or instructions, and the transceiver is used for the device to communicate.

35. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising modules for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-32.

36. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 32 is implemented.

37. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises a computer program or an instruction, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 32.

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