Communication method, apparatus and system

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method, an apparatus and a system, which are used for improving the reliability of a communication network. The method can be executed by a network data analysis function network element. The method comprises: receiving a first request from a first network element, the first request comprising a first identifier of a target network element; and sending a first response to the first network element, the first response comprising analysis information of a message received by the target network element and / or analysis information of a message sent by the target network element.

Description

Communication method, device and system

[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 September 22, 2023, with application number 202311253085.X and invention name "A Communication Method, Device and System", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] With the advancement of communications technology, the types and number of network elements in communication networks are increasing, and the number of user terminals participating in wireless communications is also increasing. User terminals can initiate signaling requests to various network elements in the wireless communication network to obtain the network functions provided by each network element. However, if a network element receives a large number of request messages and its processing capacity is insufficient, it can cause network congestion and an avalanche effect, rendering the entire network unavailable. The industry calls this phenomenon a network signaling storm.

[0005] There are many reasons for the occurrence of network signaling storms. In one case, a network signaling storm is caused by abnormal users. A network failure in a certain area causes users in that area to be unable to access the network, making the users in that area abnormal users. The abnormal users will send multiple request messages to the network elements in the network. When the network elements receive a large number of request messages, these network elements will randomly discard some of the received request messages. The randomly discarded request messages may include registration request messages initiated by abnormal users and update request messages initiated by normal users. When the update request messages of normal users are discarded, the communication process of normal users will be blocked, and the normal users will become abnormal users. In this way, the number of abnormal users in the network increases, which will cause the network elements in the network to receive more and more request messages. When the request messages received by the network elements in the network exceed the message processing capacity of the network elements, a network signaling storm will be generated. As shown in Figure 1A, in another case, a network signaling storm is caused by an abnormal path. Taking the PCF device in the data domain as an example, when a communication path to the PCF is temporarily disconnected, the UE sends 50,000 request messages to the PCF, while the request message sent to the PCF via another path is 50001. After this request message reaches the PCF, because the PCF's processing capacity is already occupied, the PCF will discard the message or reply with an error code, thereby blocking the communication process of this path, causing this path to become an abnormal path. The increasing number of abnormal paths in the network will trigger a network signaling storm on all paths.

[0006] Therefore, how to prevent network signaling storms to improve the reliability of communication networks is an urgent problem to be solved in this field.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] The present application provides a communication method, device, and system for improving the reliability of a communication network.

[0009] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network data analysis function network element. The method may include: receiving a first request from a first network element, the first request including a first identifier of a target network element; sending a first response to the first network element, the first response including analysis information of a message received by the target network element and / or analysis information of a message sent by the target network element.

[0010] In the above technical solution, the first request received by the network data analysis function network element from the first network element includes the first identifier of the target network element, and then the network data analysis function network element can feed back to the first network element the analysis information of the message received by the target network element and / or the analysis information of the message sent by the target network element. In this way, the first network element can preliminarily judge the behavioral characteristics of the user equipment sending messages and / or the status of the network (such as whether signaling congestion occurs, and then judge the probability of a signaling storm occurring in the network) based on the analysis information of the message received by the target network element and / or the analysis information of the message sent by the target network element, and take corresponding measures to prevent the occurrence of network signaling storms, thereby effectively improving the reliability of the communication network.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present application, analysis information of a message received by a target network element includes at least one piece of statistical information. The at least one piece of statistical information may include, for example, at least one of a specific value corresponding to a parameter, a specific value corresponding to a parameter being within a first value interval, a specific value corresponding to a parameter being greater than or equal to a first value, or a specific value corresponding to a parameter being less than or equal to the first value.

[0012] In one possible design, the at least one statistical information may include the total number of messages received by the target network element and / or the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element. In this design, by counting the total number of messages received by the target network element, the network data analysis function network element or the first network element can determine whether there is a risk of a network signaling storm in the communication network based on the total number of messages received by the target network element; and / or, by counting the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element, the network data analysis function network element or the first network element can determine whether there is a risk of a network signaling storm in the first message type dimension based on the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element.

[0013] Optionally, the at least one statistical information also includes at least one of the following: the total number of messages received by the target network element in the first time period, the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element in the first time period, and the total number of devices that initiate messages of the first message type greater than the first number in the first time period. In this design, by counting the total number of messages received by the target network element in the first time period, the network data analysis function network element or the first network element can determine whether the communication network has a risk of a network signaling storm in the first time period based on the total number of messages received by the target network element in the first time period; or, by counting the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element in the first time period, the network data analysis function network element or the first network element can determine whether the communication network has a risk of a network signaling storm in the first time period based on the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element in the first message type dimension; or, by counting the total number of devices that initiate messages of the first message type greater than the first number in the first time period, the network data analysis function network element or the first network element can analyze devices with abnormal behavior.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present application, the analysis information of the message sent by the target network element includes at least one piece of statistical information. The at least one piece of statistical information may include, for example, at least one of a specific value corresponding to a parameter, a specific value corresponding to a parameter being within a first value interval, a specific value corresponding to a parameter being greater than or equal to a first value, or a specific value corresponding to a parameter being less than or equal to the first value.

[0015] In one possible design, the at least one statistical information includes the total number of messages sent by the target network element and / or the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element. In this design, by counting the total number of messages sent by the target network element, the network data analysis function network element or the first network element can determine whether there is a risk of a network signaling storm in the communication network based on the total number of messages sent by the target network element; and / or, by counting the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element, the network data analysis function network element or the first network element can determine whether there is a risk of a network signaling storm in the first message type dimension based on the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element.

[0016] Optionally, the at least one statistical information further includes at least one of the following: the total number of response messages sent by the target network element, the total number of response messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element, the cause corresponding to the response message sent by the target network element, or the total number of response messages corresponding to the first cause sent by the target network element. In this design, the analysis information of the message sent by the target network element also includes statistical information related to the response message sent by the target network element, so that the network data analysis function network element or the first network element can determine whether there is a risk of a network signaling storm in the communication network based on the statistical information related to the response message sent by the target network element.

[0017] In one possible design, the first response further includes at least one of the following: the type of the target network element, the instance identifier of the target network element, or the CPU usage of the target network element. The type of the target network element, the instance identifier of the target network element, =, and the CPU usage of the target network element are target network element dimension information; thus, by collecting statistics on the target network element dimension information, the first network element or the NWDAF network element can analyze the target network element dimension information, which helps the first network element to adjust its strategy in the network element dimension to prevent the occurrence of network signaling storms.

[0018] In one possible design, the first request also includes a first condition; wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following: the first parameter corresponds to a first value; the first value corresponding to the first parameter is greater than or equal to a first threshold; or, the first value corresponding to the first parameter is less than or equal to the first threshold; accordingly, sending a first response to the first network element includes: sending a first response to the first network element when the first condition is met.

[0019] In one possible design, the first request also includes a first time window, where the first time window is used to determine a second time period for the target network element to receive a message and / or the target network element to send a message, and the second time period is used to determine the time used for performing statistical analysis on the message received by the target network element and / or the message sent by the target network element. In one possible scenario, for example, the time used for performing statistical analysis on the message received by the target network element to obtain at least one statistical information is the first time period, and in this case, the second time period may include the first time period.

[0020] In one possible design, the method also includes: obtaining first information from a second network element, the first information including the type and / or total number of messages received by the target network element, and / or the type and / or total number of messages sent by the target network element; and determining the first response based on the first information.

[0021] In one possible design, the method further includes: obtaining second information from a third network element, the second information including at least one of an instance identifier of the target network element, a signaling statistic measurement, a CPU usage of the target network element and / or a fourth network element, or a load of the target network element and / or the fourth network element; and correspondingly, determining a first response based on the first information includes: determining the first response based on the first information and the second information. In this design, the first response corresponding to the first request can be determined in combination with the first information and the second information.

[0022] In one possible design, the first network element is any one of the following: a mobility management function (AMF) network element, an operation and maintenance management (OAM) network element, a network resource function (NRF) network element, a policy control function (PCF) network element, or an application function (AF) network element. In this design, the first network element can have multiple implementations, so that the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be flexibly implemented.

[0023] In second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a first network element, and the method includes: sending a first request to a network data analysis function network element, the first request including a first identifier of a target network element; receiving a first response from the network data analysis function network element, the first response including analysis information of a message received by the target network element and / or analysis information of a message sent by the target network element.

[0024] In an embodiment of the present application, the analysis information of the message received by the target network element includes at least one statistical information.

[0025] In one possible design, the at least one statistical information includes the total number of messages received by the target network element and / or the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element.

[0026] Optionally, the at least one statistical information also includes at least one of the following items: the total number of messages received by the target network element in the first time period, the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element in the first time period, and the total number of devices that initiate messages of the first message type in the first time period that are greater than the first number.

[0027] In an embodiment of the present application, the analysis information of the message sent by the target network element includes at least one statistical information.

[0028] In one possible design, the at least one statistical information includes the total number of messages sent by the target network element and / or the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element.

[0029] Optionally, the at least one statistical information also includes at least one of the following items: the total number of response messages sent by the target network element, the total number of response messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element, the reasons corresponding to the response messages sent by the target network element, or the total number of response messages corresponding to the first reason sent by the target network element.

[0030] In one possible design, the first response also includes at least one of the following: the type of the target network element, the instance identifier of the target network element, or the CPU usage of the target network element.

[0031] In one possible design, the first request also includes a first time window, the first time window is used to determine a second time period for the target network element to receive messages and / or the target network element to send messages, and the second time period is used to determine a time period corresponding to at least one statistical information. In one possible scenario, the at least one statistical information includes at least one of the following: the total number of messages received by the target network element in the first time period, the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element in the first time period, the total number of devices that initiate messages of the first message type in the first time period that is greater than the first number, in which case the second time period may include the first time period.

[0032] In one possible design, when the first network element is an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, the method further includes: adjusting the flow control policy of the AMF network element based on the first response; wherein the flow control policy includes one or more of the following: adjusting the number of AMFs in the AMF pool that perform signaling interactions with the wireless access device NG-RAN, adjusting the proportion of rejection messages returned by the AMF network element, adjusting the value of the backoff timer carried in the rejection message returned by the AMF network element, or adjusting the number of messages sent by each NG-RAN to the AMF network element. In this design, after receiving the analysis information, the AMF network element adjusts the flow control policy of the AMF network element based on the analysis information, which can effectively prevent network signaling storms and thereby effectively improve the reliability of the communication network.

[0033] In one possible design, when the first network element is an operation, maintenance, and management (OAM) network element, the method further includes: adjusting the network configuration based on the first response; wherein adjusting the network configuration includes at least one or more of the following: adjusting the flow control threshold configured for each network element in the wireless communication network, adjusting the number of AMFs in the AMF pool, adjusting the number of devices with processing bottlenecks in the network, or adjusting the routing policy. In this design, after receiving the analysis information, the OAM network element adjusts the network configuration based on the analysis information, which can effectively prevent network signaling storms and thereby effectively improve the reliability of the communication network.

[0034] In one possible design, when the first network element is a network storage function (NRF) network element, the method further includes: adjusting the priority of the target network element based on the first response, where the priority of the target network element is reference information used by the NRF network element when selecting the target network element. In this design, after receiving the analysis information, the NRF network element can adjust the priority of the target network element based on the analysis information, and then the NRF network element can refer to the priority when selecting the target network element, so that the network element selected by the NRF network element will not cause network congestion, and the occurrence of signaling storms due to signaling congestion of the network element can be prevented, thereby effectively improving the reliability of the communication network.

[0035] In one possible design, when the first network element is a policy control function (PCF) network element, the method further includes: adjusting a routing selection policy (URSP) for UE data transmission or a future background data transmission policy based on the first response. In this design, after receiving the analysis information, the PCF network element can adjust the routing selection policy (URSP) for UE data transmission or the future background data transmission policy based on the analysis information, so that the UE can avoid network elements where signaling requests are rejected, thereby effectively avoiding increased network congestion caused by UE data transmission and future background data transmission, thereby preventing the occurrence of network signaling storms, and effectively improving network reliability.

[0036] In one possible design, when the first network element is an application function (AF) network element, the method further includes: adjusting, based on the first response, the policy for initiating service requests by the AF; wherein the policy for initiating service requests by the AF includes the time and / or frequency at which the AF initiates service requests. In this design, after receiving the analysis information, the AF network element can adjust the policy for initiating service requests by the AF network element based on the analysis information, such as reducing the duration and / or frequency of service requests initiated by the AF. This can prevent network congestion caused by AF requests and the generation or spread of network signaling storms, thereby effectively improving network reliability.

[0037] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, which includes a module or unit for implementing the method described in the first aspect and any possible design of the first aspect.

[0038] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, which includes a module or unit for implementing the method described in the second aspect and any possible design of the second aspect.

[0039] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, comprising: a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to receive signals from other devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other devices outside the communication device, wherein the processor executes code instructions through a logic circuit to implement the method described in the first aspect and any possible design of the first aspect, or implements the method described in the second aspect and any possible design of the second aspect. Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory, which is coupled to the processor and stores program instructions and data necessary for the device.

[0040] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes the communication device as described in the third aspect and the communication device as described in the fourth aspect.

[0041] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, comprising: a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory, the memory being used to store programs or instructions, and when the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the chip system implements the method of the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or implements the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0042] Optionally, the chip system further includes an interface circuit for interacting code instructions with the processor.

[0043] Optionally, there may be one or more processors in the chip system, and the processor may be implemented in hardware or software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc. When implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory.

[0044] Optionally, the memory in the chip system may be one or more. The memory may be integrated with the processor or may be provided separately from the processor, which is not limited in this application. Exemplarily, the memory may be a non-transient processor, such as a read-only memory (ROM), which may be integrated with the processor on the same chip or provided on different chips. This application does not specifically limit the type of memory or the configuration of the memory and the processor.

[0045] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program or instruction stored thereon. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the computer executes the method of the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or executes the method of the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0046] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product. When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer executes the method in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or executes the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0047] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes the communication device described in the third aspect or the communication device described in the fourth aspect.

[0048] For the beneficial effects of the second to tenth aspects mentioned above, please refer to the technical effects that can be achieved by the corresponding design in the first aspect mentioned above, and no further details will be given here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] FIG1A shows one of the flow diagrams of a network signaling storm;

[0050] FIG1B shows a second schematic diagram of a process of a network signaling storm;

[0051] FIG2A exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of a possible communication system applicable to embodiments of the present application;

[0052] FIG2B exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of another possible communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0053] FIG2C exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of another possible communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0054] FIG3 exemplarily shows a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG4 exemplarily shows a structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG5 exemplarily shows a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG6 exemplarily shows a structural diagram of yet another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0058] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0059] Below, some of the terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0060] In the embodiments of the present application, the term "network element" can be replaced with "entity" or "device". For example, "AMF network element" can also be written as "AMF entity" or "AMF device", and "SMF network element" can also be written as "SMF entity" or "SMF device". For the convenience of description below, "XXX network element" will be uniformly abbreviated as "XXX", for example, "AUSF network element" can also be abbreviated as "AUSF", and "SMF network element" can also be abbreviated as "SMF".

[0061] It should be understood that the various network elements shown in the terms in the embodiments of the present application can be physical concepts, for example, it can be a single device physically, or at least two network elements can be integrated on the same physical device, or the network elements shown in this article can also be logical concepts, such as software modules or network functions corresponding to the services provided by each network element. The network function can be understood as a virtualization function under virtualization implementation, and can also be understood as a network function that provides services under a service-oriented architecture.

[0062] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "plural" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there may be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B means: A or B. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c means: 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.

[0063] Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" in the embodiments of the present application, the claims, and the drawings are not exclusive. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or modules is not limited to the listed steps or modules and may also include steps or modules that are not listed.

[0064] As shown in Figure 1B, in order to prevent signaling storms from occurring in the network, a technical solution is to set up flow control in advance at each node in the network by constructing hierarchical flow control of network elements. The current network flow control is divided into four lines of defense, and each line of defense is equipped with self-protection flow control. For the first three lines of defense, there is also a flow control for protecting others, mainly to prevent the back-end network elements from causing equipment downtime under the impact of signaling, which would trigger a larger-scale signaling storm. Access flow control is also set for AMF and SMF themselves, the purpose of which is to control the number of messages from the source of the message. In this solution, the network can only self-adjust according to the pre-configured mechanism when a signaling storm occurs, but it cannot predict that a signaling storm is about to occur in the network based on the characteristics of the signaling received by the network.

[0065] In another technical solution, a group of UEs in the target area are analyzed, and the behavior of the UE is mainly analyzed to determine whether the UE has an abnormality, but the cause of the abnormality cannot be distinguished. Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether the UE abnormality is caused by an attack on the UE itself or network congestion, and it is impossible to directly conclude that a signaling storm is about to occur in the network based on the abnormality.

[0066] Another technical solution analyzes UE anomalies that deviate from expected UE behavior, primarily referring to UE mobility or communication characteristics. These analyses focus on the UE itself, rather than the overall UE behavior of the network. Therefore, it is not possible to determine whether a signaling storm has occurred based on a single UE or a group of UEs.

[0067] In summary, how to prevent network signaling storms to improve the reliability of communication networks is an urgent problem to be solved in this field.

[0068] In view of this, the present application provides a communication method, device and system for improving the reliability of the communication network. In this method, the first request received by the network data analysis function network element from the first network element includes the first identifier of the target network element, and then the network data analysis function network element can feedback to the first network element the analysis information of the message received by the target network element and / or the analysis information of the message sent by the target network element. In this way, the first network element can preliminarily judge the behavioral characteristics of the user device sending the message and / or the status of the network (such as whether signaling congestion occurs, and then judge the probability of a signaling storm occurring in the network) based on the analysis information of the message received by the target network element and / or the analysis information of the message sent by the target network element, and then the first network element can take corresponding measures to prevent the network signaling storm, thereby effectively improving the reliability of the communication network.

[0069] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to communication systems of various standards, such as: long term evolution (LTE) communication system, universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wireless local area network (WLAN), next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) system, new radio (NR) communication technology, fifth generation (5G) communication system, sixth generation (6G) communication system or other future evolution systems (such as 7G communication system), vehicle to everything (V2X), long term evolution - vehicle network (LTE-vehicle, LTE-V), vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle network, machine type communications (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), long term evolution - machine to machine (LTE-M), machine to machine (machine to machine (M2M), Internet of Things or other wireless communication systems that use wireless access technology.

[0070] Figure 2A is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a possible communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. In other possible scenarios, the communication system architecture may also include other devices. In Figure 2A, the communication system includes a first network element and a network data analytics function (NWDAF) network element. The first network element can be understood as a network function service consumer (NFc) entity, referred to as "NFc entity" or "NFc". Specifically, it can be an NF that can call functional services in a service-oriented architecture. For example, the first network element can be any of the following: an operations administration management (OAM) network element, an access and mobility management function (AMF), a policy control function (PCF) network element, a session management function (SMF) network element, a network repository function (NRF) network element, or an application function (AF) network element. The NWDAF network element has a data analysis function, and the first network element can send an analysis request to the NWDAF network element to obtain the corresponding data analysis service.

[0071] In one possible implementation, the first network element may send a first request to the NWDAF network element, where the first request includes a first identifier of the target network element; accordingly, after receiving the first request, the NWDAF network element may perform corresponding analysis on the message received by the target network element and / or the message sent by the target network element, and send a first response to the first network element, where the first response includes analysis information on the message received by the target network element and / or analysis information on the message sent by the target network element.

[0072] Figure 2B is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another possible communication system applicable to the embodiment of the present application. In Figure 2A, the communication system may also include a second network element and a third network element. Among them, the second network element may be a target network element, or it may be other network elements that manage the reception and / or transmission of messages by the target network element; the third network element may be a network element that manages the operation and maintenance information of network elements in the network, and the target network element is also in the network. Exemplarily, the second network element may be an AMF network element, which manages the messages received by the target network element and / or the messages sent by the target network element; the third network element may be, for example, an OAM network element, which manages signaling statistical measurements, CPU usage and / or load of the target network element and the fourth network element (i.e., the network element that has information interaction with the target network element) and other information.

[0073] Accordingly, in a possible implementation, after the NWDAF network element receives the first request from the first network element, since the first request includes the first identifier of the target network element, the NWDAF network element can obtain first information from the second network element, the first information including the type and / or total number of messages received by the target network element, and / or the type and / or total number of messages sent by the target network element; and the NWDAF network element can obtain second information from the third network element, the second information including at least one of the instance identifier of the target network element, signaling statistical measurements, CPU usage of the target network element and / or the fourth network element, or the load of the target network element and / or the fourth network element; then, the NWDAF network element can determine a first response based on the first information and the second information, and send the first response to the first network element, the first response including analysis information of the message received by the target network element and / or analysis information of the message sent by the target network element.

[0074] Among them, the target network element can be, for example, at least one of an AMF network element, a PCF network element, a unified data management (UDM) network element, a user plane function (UPF) or a session management function (SMF) network element.

[0075] 2C is an exemplary embodiment of a specific communication system applicable to the present invention, wherein the communication system includes a terminal device, a radio access network (RAN), and a core network (CN).

[0076] The terminal device may include, for example, a handheld device with wireless connection capabilities, or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal device may include user equipment (UE), wireless terminal device, mobile terminal device, device-to-device communication (D2D) terminal device, V2X terminal device, machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC) terminal device, Internet of Things (IoT) terminal device, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote station, access point (AP), remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, or user device. For example, it may include a mobile phone (also known as a "cellular" phone), a computer with a mobile terminal device, a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, or computer-built-in mobile device, etc. For example, personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other devices. Also included are restricted devices, such as devices with low power consumption, limited storage capacity, or limited computing power. Examples include information sensing devices such as barcodes, radio frequency identification (RFID), sensors, global positioning systems (GPS), and laser scanners. In Figure 2C, the terminal device is taken as an example of a UE. The UE can communicate with the CN via the RAN and exchange voice and / or data with the RAN.

[0077] By way of example and not limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices, also known as wearable smart devices or smart wearable devices, are a general term for wearable devices developed by applying wearable technology to intelligently design everyday wearables, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not just hardware devices; they achieve powerful functionality through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include devices that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve full or partial functionality independently of a smartphone, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as devices that focus on a specific application function and require use with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets, smart helmets, and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring. The various terminal devices described above, if located on a vehicle (e.g., placed inside or installed in the vehicle), can be considered vehicle-mounted terminal devices. Vehicle-mounted terminal devices are also called on-board units (OBUs).

[0078] The RAN is mainly responsible for UE access. The RAN device is located on the network side of the communication system and has wireless transceiver functions or a chip that can be set in the device. The access network equipment includes but is not limited to: evolved node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (for example, home evolved nodeB, or home nodeB, HNB), base band unit (BBU), access point (AP) in (wireless fidelity, Wi-Fi) system, wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TRP or Transmission Point, TP), etc., and can also be 5G, such as gNB in ​​new radio (NR) system, or transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of (including multiple antenna panels) antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system, or it can also be a network node constituting a gNB or transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU), etc.

[0079] As a bearer network, CN provides an interface to the data network (DN), providing terminal devices with communication connection, authentication, management, policy control, and data service carrying, etc. The above-mentioned CN may include one or more CN devices. Among them, the CN device may be a network element for performing the above-mentioned single network function, or a network element for performing the above-mentioned multiple network functions. In the case where a CN device is used to perform the above-mentioned multiple network functions, the CN device may include one or more functional modules for performing the above-mentioned multiple network functions. The functional module may be a software module or a hardware and software module, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. Taking the 5G system as an example, CN may include the following network elements: network exposure function (NEF) network element, NRF network element, NWDAF network element, AF network element, PCF network element, unified data repository (UDR) network element, UDM network element, OAM network element, AMF network element, SMF network element, binding support function (BSF) network element, UPF network element, etc.

[0080] The core network elements involved in the embodiments of this application are introduced below.

[0081] Among them, the NWDAF network element is used to analyze the data provided by the 5G core network function (5GC NF) and the OAM network element. The 5GC NF or OAM network element can send an analysis request to the NWDAF network element. After receiving the analysis request, the NWDAF network element can collect data from relevant network elements and train an artificial intelligence (AI) model. Finally, the AI ​​model is used to perform data reasoning and the reasoning results are fed back to the corresponding 5GC NF or OAM network element. Depending on the function, the NWDAF can be divided into an NWDAF that supports training (i.e., NWDAF (MTLF)) and an NWDAF that supports reasoning (i.e., NWDAF (AnLF)). The NWDAF (AnLF) can request AI model information from the NWDAF (MTLF) for data reasoning.

[0082] The OAM network element is responsible for the operation, management, and maintenance of network elements in the 5GC. It can collect measurement data of network elements in the 5GC, including signaling measurements, data measurements, and general network element measurements.

[0083] The AMF network element is responsible for managing and controlling the access, mobility, session, and policy control of user equipment.

[0084] The SMF network element is responsible for managing and controlling user equipment sessions, policy control, user plane routing, data transmission control, etc.

[0085] The PCF network element is responsible for formulating and executing network policies to control user device access, service quality, resource allocation, etc., thereby ensuring the effective use of network resources and efficient communication of user devices.

[0086] The NRF network element is responsible for the automated management, selection, and expansion of NFs, including NF service registration, discovery, status monitoring, and service authorization. It enables on-demand configuration of network functions and services and interconnection between NFs. For example, NRF has functions such as generating tokens and verifying tokens.

[0087] The AF network element is responsible for policy control, QoS assurance, application classification and other functions for specific applications, ensuring that user devices can obtain high-quality communication services according to application requirements.

[0088] The UPF network element is responsible for handling the actual data transmission between user devices and services. It also undertakes functions such as data policy processing, QoS control, and data path management to ensure that user devices obtain efficient and stable communication services in the 5G network.

[0089] It should be noted that the above-mentioned NWDAF, AMF, SMF, AUSF, UDM, NEF, PCF, AF, NSSF, etc. can interact using service-based interfaces. For example, as shown in Figure 2C, Namf, Nsmf, Nausf, Nudm, Nnef, Npcf, Naf, Nnssf, and Nnrf are the service-based interfaces presented by AMF, SMF, AUSF, UDM, NEF, PCF, AF, NSSF, and NRF, respectively; N2 is the service-based interface between RAN and AMF; N3, N4, and N6 are the service-based interfaces between RAN, SMF, DN, and UPF, respectively.

[0090] The first network element in Figure 2A can specifically be any one of the AMF, SMF, NRF, PCF, AF, etc. in Figure 2C; the NWDAF network element in Figure 2A can specifically be the NWDAF in Figure 2C.

[0091] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0092] Please refer to FIG3 , which is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method can be applied to the communication system shown in FIG2A to FIG2C . The communication method includes the following process:

[0093] S301: A first network element sends a first request to an NWDAF network element, where the first request includes a first identifier of a target network element. Correspondingly, the NWDAF network element receives the first request.

[0094] S302: The NWDAF network element sends a first response to the first network element, where the first response includes analysis information of a message received by the target network element and / or analysis information of a message sent by the target network element. Accordingly, the first network element receives the first response.

[0095] In the embodiment of the present application, the first request may also be referred to as any one of an analysis subscription request, a subscription request, or an analysis request, and the first response is a response message corresponding to the first request. The information carried by the first request and the first response is described in detail below.

[0096] In this embodiment of the present application, the first request may include but is not limited to at least one of the following information:

[0097] 1) The first identifier of the target network element.

[0098] In an embodiment of the present application, the first identifier of the target network element may include one or more of a network function instance identifier (NF instance ID) corresponding to the target network element, a network function instance identifier list (NF instance ID list) corresponding to the target network element, a target area corresponding to the target network element, or a network element type corresponding to the target network element. Wherein, the target network element is one or more network elements to be analyzed. Accordingly, the first identifier of the target network element may be an instance identifier of a network element to be analyzed, or the first identifier of the target network element may be a list of instance identifiers corresponding to multiple network elements to be analyzed, or the first identifier of the target network element may be a target area where one or more network elements to be analyzed are located, or the first identifier of the target network element may be a network element type corresponding to one or more network elements to be analyzed.

[0099] For example, when the target network element is an AMF network element, the first identifier of the target network element may include at least one of the following: the network function instance identifier of the AMF network element, the target area where the AMF network element is located, or the network element type of the target network element is set to AMF.

[0100] For example, when the target network element is multiple AMF network elements, the first identifier of the target network element may include at least one of the following: a list of network function instance identifiers of the multiple AMF network elements, the target area where the multiple AMF network elements are located, or the network element type of the target network element is set to AMF.

[0101] For example, when the target network element is an AMF network element and an SMF network element, the first identifier of the target network element may include at least one of the following: a list of network function instance identifiers of the AMF network element and the SMF network element, the target area where the AMF network element and the SMF network element are located, or the network element type of the target network element is set to AMF and SMF.

[0102] 2) The first condition.

[0103] In the embodiment of the present application, the first condition may be understood as a condition for the NWDAF network element to feed back a first response to the first network element. The first condition may also be included in the filter information of the analysis report (analytics report filter).

[0104] In the embodiment of the present application, the first condition may include but is not limited to one or more of the following situations:

[0105] Case 1: The first condition is that the first parameter corresponds to the first value.

[0106] In case 1, the first parameter may include, for example, the reason why the target network element sends the rejection message and / or the message type corresponding to the rejection message sent by the target network element.

[0107] For example, the first parameter is the reason why the target network element sends the rejection message, and the first value is a network failure. The first condition may include: the reason why the target network element sends the rejection message is a network failure.

[0108] For another example, the first parameter is the message type corresponding to the rejection message sent by the target network element, and the first value is a session request message. The first condition may include: the type of the rejection message sent by the target network element is a session request message.

[0109] For example, the first parameter includes the reason why the target network element sends the rejection message and the message type corresponding to the rejection message sent by the target network element. The first value is network failure and session request message. The first condition may include: the reason why the target network element sends the rejection message is network failure, and the type of the rejection message sent by the target network element is a session request message.

[0110] Case 2: The first condition is that the first value corresponding to the first parameter is greater than or equal to the first threshold.

[0111] In case 2, the first parameter may include, for example, one or more of the following: the total number of messages received by the target network element, the total number of messages rejected by the target network element, the total number of messages sent by the target network element, the total number of rejection messages sent by the target network element, the failure rate of request messages, the total number of rejection messages corresponding to the first reason sent by the target network element, the total number of rejection messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element, or the total number of rejection messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element. The first threshold may include one or more thresholds, and the value of each of the one or more thresholds may be the same or different. The message rejected by the target network element is a message whose request failed.

[0112] For example, the first parameter takes the total number of messages received by the target network element as an example, the first value corresponding to the first parameter is the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of messages received by the target network element, and the first threshold takes 10,000 as an example. The first condition may include: the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of messages received by the target network element in unit time or in the first time period is greater than or equal to 10,000.

[0113] For another example, the first parameter takes the total number of messages rejected by the target network element as an example, the first value corresponding to the first parameter is the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of messages rejected by the target network element, and the first threshold takes 1000 as an example. Then the first condition may include: the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of messages rejected by the target network element within a unit time or within the first time period is greater than or equal to 1000.

[0114] For another example, the first parameter takes the total number of messages sent by the target network element as an example, the first value corresponding to the first parameter is the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of messages sent by the target network element, and the first threshold takes 10,000 as an example. Then the first condition may include: the total number of messages sent by the target network element in unit time or in the first time period is greater than or equal to 10,000.

[0115] For another example, the first parameter takes the total number of rejection messages sent by the target network element and the failure rate of the request messages as an example, and the first value corresponding to the first parameter is the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of rejection messages sent by the target network element and the specific numerical value corresponding to the failure rate of the request messages; the first threshold takes 100 and 30% as examples, then the first condition may include: the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of rejection messages sent by the target network element within a unit time or within the first time period is greater than or equal to 100, and the specific numerical value corresponding to the failure rate of the request message is greater than or equal to 30%.

[0116] For another example, the first parameter takes the total number of rejection messages corresponding to the first reason sent by the target network element as an example, the first value corresponding to the first parameter is the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of rejection messages corresponding to the first reason sent by the target network element, the first threshold takes 1000 as an example, and the first reason takes network failure as an example, then the first condition may include that the total number of rejection messages sent by the target network element within a unit time or a first time period due to network failure is greater than or equal to 1000.

[0117] For another example, the first parameter takes the total number of rejection messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element as an example, the first value corresponding to the first parameter is the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of rejection messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element, the first threshold takes 1000 as an example, and the first message type takes the registration request message as an example, then the first condition may include: the total number of rejection messages of the registration request message type sent by the target network element within unit time or the first time period is greater than or equal to 1000.

[0118] Case 3: The first value corresponding to the first parameter is less than or equal to the first threshold.

[0119] In case 3, the first parameter may include, for example, one or more of the following: the time taken by the target network element to receive a fixed number of messages, messages accepted by the target network element, the total number of approval messages sent by the target network element, or the success rate of request messages. The first threshold may include one or more thresholds, each of which may have the same or different values. A message accepted by the target network element is a message indicating a successful request.

[0120] For example, the first parameter takes the time taken by the target network element to receive a fixed number of messages as an example. The first value corresponding to the first parameter is the specific numerical value corresponding to the time taken by the target network element to receive a fixed number of messages. The fixed number is 10,000 as an example. The first threshold includes the time threshold 30s corresponding to the time taken by the target network element to receive 10,000 messages. The first condition can be that the specific numerical value corresponding to the time taken by the target network element to receive 10,000 messages is less than or equal to 30.

[0121] For another example, the first parameter takes the total number of messages accepted by the target network element as an example, the first value corresponding to the first parameter is the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of messages accepted by the target network element, and the first threshold takes 500 as an example. The first condition can be that the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of messages accepted by the target network element within a unit time or within the first time period is less than or equal to 500.

[0122] For another example, the first parameter takes the total number of consent messages sent by the target network element and the success rate of the request messages as an example, and the first value corresponding to the first parameter is the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of consent messages sent by the target network element and the specific numerical value corresponding to the success rate of the request messages; the first threshold takes 100 and 10% as examples, and the first condition may include: the specific numerical value corresponding to the total number of consent messages sent by the target network element within a unit time or within the first time period is less than or equal to 100, and the specific numerical value corresponding to the success rate of the request messages is less than or equal to 10%.

[0123] It should be understood that a message accepted by the target network element is a message of successful request, and a message rejected by the target network element is a message of failed request. The first time period may include one or more time periods, and the duration of each time period may be, for example, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, etc., which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0124] 3) The first time window.

[0125] In the embodiment of the present application, the first time window can be understood as one or more time periods. The one or more time periods are used to determine the second time period for the target network element to receive messages and / or the target network element to send messages. Among them, the above-mentioned second time period may include one or more time periods, and the duration corresponding to the second time period may be, for example, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, etc., and the embodiment of the present application does not impose specific restrictions. For example, when the duration corresponding to the second time period is 30 minutes, the NWDAF network element can count the messages received by the target network element and / or the messages sent by the target network element every 30 minutes.

[0126] Furthermore, the second time period may be used to determine the time used for statistical analysis of the target network element receiving messages and / or the target network element sending messages. In a possible scenario, the second time period may include the first time period.

[0127] For example, the second time period corresponds to a duration of 30 minutes, and the second time period is 11:00-11:30; the first time period corresponds to a duration of 10 minutes, and the first time period is 11:00-11:10; the NWDAF network element can count the total number of messages received by the target network element and / or the total number of messages sent by the target network element within 11:00-11:30, but the NWDAF network element only analyzes the messages received by the target network element and / or the messages sent by the target network element within 11:00-11:10.

[0128] For example, the second time period corresponds to a duration of 30 minutes, and the second time period is 11:00-11:30; the first time period corresponds to a duration of 30 minutes, and the first time period is 11:00-11:10; the NWDAF network element can count the total number of messages received by the target network element and / or the total number of messages sent by the target network element within 11:00-11:30, and analyze the total number of messages received by the target network element and / or the total number of messages sent by the target network element within 11:00-11:30.

[0129] In this embodiment of the present application, the first response may include but is not limited to at least one of the following information:

[0130] 1) Analysis information of the message received by the target network element.

[0131] In an embodiment of the present application, analysis information of a message received by a target network element includes statistical information 1. Statistical information 1 may include, for example, at least one of a specific value corresponding to a parameter, a specific value corresponding to a parameter being within a first value interval, a specific value corresponding to a parameter being greater than or equal to a first value, or a specific value corresponding to a parameter being less than or equal to the first value.

[0132] In a possible implementation, the statistical information 1 may include but is not limited to one or more items of information indicated by the following A1-A5.

[0133] A1. The total number of messages received by the target network element.

[0134] For example, if the target network element is AMF, statistical information 1 may include the total number of messages received by AMF. For another example, if the target network element is AMF and SMF, statistical information 1 may include the total number of messages received by AMF and SMF, the total number of messages received by AMF, and the total number of messages received by SMF.

[0135] In this way, by counting the total number of messages received by the target network element, the NWDAF network element or the first network element can determine whether there is a risk of a network signaling storm in the communication network according to the total number of messages received by the target network element.

[0136] Optionally, statistical information 1 may also include the total number of messages accepted by the target network element, the number interval to which the total number of messages accepted by the target network element belongs, the message type corresponding to the messages accepted by the target network element, and the proportion of messages accepted by the target network element in the messages received by the target network element; and statistical information 1 may also include the total number of messages rejected by the target network element, the number interval to which the total number of messages rejected by the target network element belongs, the message type corresponding to the messages rejected by the target network element, and the proportion of messages rejected by the target network element in the messages received by the target network element.

[0137] For example, taking AMF as an example, statistical information 1 may include the total number of messages accepted by AMF, the number interval to which the total number of messages accepted by AMF belongs, the message type corresponding to the messages accepted by AMF, and the proportion of messages accepted by AMF in the messages received by AMF; and statistical information 1 may also include the total number of messages rejected by AMF, the number interval to which the total number of messages rejected by AMF belongs, the message type corresponding to the messages rejected by AMF, and the proportion of messages rejected by AMF in the messages received by AMF.

[0138] For another example, taking AMF and SMF as target network elements, statistical information 1 may include the total number of messages accepted by AMF, the number interval to which the total number of messages accepted by AMF belongs, the message type corresponding to the messages accepted by AMF, the proportion of messages accepted by AMF in the messages received by AMF, the total number of messages accepted by SMF, the number interval to which the total number of messages accepted by SMF belongs, the message type corresponding to the messages accepted by SMF, the proportion of messages accepted by SMF in the messages received by SMF, the total number of messages accepted by AMF and SMF, the number interval to which the total number of messages accepted by AMF and SMF belongs, the message type corresponding to the messages accepted by AMF and SMF, the proportion of messages accepted by AMF and SMF in the messages received by AMF and SMF and, the statistical information 1 may also include the total number of messages rejected by AMF, the number interval to which the total number of messages rejected by AMF belongs, the message type corresponding to the messages rejected by AMF, the proportion of messages rejected by AMF in the messages received by AMF, the total number of messages rejected by SMF, the number interval to which the total number of messages rejected by SMF belongs, the message type corresponding to the messages rejected by SMF, the proportion of messages rejected by SMF in the messages received by SMF, the total number of messages rejected by AMF and SMF, the number interval to which the total number of messages rejected by AMF and SMF belongs, the message type corresponding to the messages rejected by AMF and SMF, and the proportion of messages rejected by AMF and SMF in the messages received by AMF and SMF.

[0139] A2. The total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element.

[0140] The first message type may include at least one of a registration request message, a session request message, and a service request message. The registration request message may, for example, be at least one of an initial registration request, a periodic registration request, an emergency registration request, or a mobility registration update request. The session request message may, for example, be at least one of a protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment request, a quality of service (QoS) flow establishment request, or a paging request. The service request message may, for example, be at least one of an authentication request, an access request, and a resource request.

[0141] In this way, by counting the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element, the NWDAF network element or the first network element can determine whether there is a risk of a network signaling storm based on the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element. For example, when the NWDAF network element reports to the first network element that the total number of registration request messages received by the target network element within a certain analysis time period exceeds 5000, the first network element determines that the target network element is at risk of generating a network signaling storm.

[0142] Optionally, the statistical information 1 may further include the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type accepted by the target network element, and the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type rejected by the target network element.

[0143] A3: The total number of messages received by the target network element in the first time period.

[0144] In this way, by counting the total number of messages received by the target network element within the first time period, the NWDAF network element or the first network element can determine whether the communication network is at risk of a network signaling storm within the first time period based on the total number of messages received by the target network element within the first time period. The first time period can be, for example, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc., and is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. The first time period can be the same as or different from the time period included in the first time window.

[0145] Optionally, the statistical information 1 may include the total number of messages accepted by the target network element within the first time period and / or the total number of messages rejected by the target network element within the first time period.

[0146] A4. The total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element within the first time period.

[0147] In this way, by counting the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element within the first time period, the NWDAF network element or the first network element can judge whether there is a risk of network signaling storm within the first time period based on the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element in the first message type dimension.

[0148] A5. The total number of messages of the first message type initiated within the first time period is greater than the total number of devices of the first number.

[0149] In this way, by counting the number of devices that initiate messages of the first message type within the first time period that is greater than the first number, the first network element can analyze the device with abnormal behavior. The device here can be a UE and / or a network element, and the embodiments of the present application do not impose specific limitations.

[0150] For example, the first time period is 1 minute and the first number is 50. The information shown in B3 is the total number of UEs that send more than 50 messages of the first message type to the target network element within 1 minute.

[0151] For another example, the first time period is 5 minutes and the first number is 50. The information shown in B3 is the total number of network elements that send more than 50 messages of the first message type to the target network element within 5 minutes.

[0152] For example, the first time period is 10 minutes and the first number is 50. The information shown in B3 is the total number of UEs and network elements that send more than 50 messages of the first message type to the target network element within 10 minutes.

[0153] 2) Analysis information of the message sent by the target network element.

[0154] In an embodiment of the present application, the analysis information of the message sent by the target network element includes statistical information 2, which may, for example, include at least one of the following: a specific numerical value corresponding to a certain parameter, a specific numerical value corresponding to a certain parameter being within a first numerical range, a specific numerical value corresponding to a certain parameter being greater than or equal to a first numerical value, or a specific numerical value corresponding to a certain parameter being less than or equal to the first numerical value.

[0155] In a possible implementation, the statistical information 2 may include but is not limited to one or more items of information indicated by B1-B6 below.

[0156] B1. The total number of messages sent by the target network element.

[0157] In this way, by counting the total number of messages sent by the target network element, the first network element or the NWDAF network element can determine whether there is a risk of a network signaling storm in the communication network according to the total number of messages sent by the target network element.

[0158] For example, when the total number of messages sent by the target network element to the fourth network element in a unit time or a first time period exceeds 10,000, the first network element may believe that the fourth network element is congested or at risk of causing a network signaling storm based on the information fed back by the NWDAF network element, or the NWDAF network element believes that the fourth network element is congested or at risk of causing a network signaling storm.

[0159] B2. The total number of messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element.

[0160] In this way, by counting the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element, the first network element or NWDAF network element can judge whether there is a risk of network signaling storm in the first message type dimension based on the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element.

[0161] For example, when the total number of registration request messages sent by the target network element to the fourth network element per unit time or within the first time period exceeds 5,000, the first network element may, based on the information fed back by the NWDAF network element, believe that the target network element is congested or at risk of causing a network signaling storm, or the NWDAF network element may believe that the fourth network element is congested or at risk of causing a network signaling storm.

[0162] B3. The total number of response messages sent by the target network element.

[0163] The response message sent by the target network element may be, for example, a response message to at least one of a registration request message, a session request message, or a service request message. The response message includes an acceptance response message and / or a rejection response message. The acceptance response is used to indicate that a request message is accepted by the target network element, and the rejection response message is used to indicate that a request message is rejected by the target network element.

[0164] Optionally, the statistical information 2 may also include at least one of the following: the total number of acceptance response messages sent by the target network element, the proportion of acceptance response messages sent by the target network element in the response messages sent by it, the total number of rejection response messages sent by the target network element, or the proportion of rejection response messages sent by the target network element in the response messages sent by it. In this way, the first network element can determine whether there is a risk of a signaling storm in the network based on the information fed back by the NWDAF network element or the statistical information related to the acceptance response messages and / or rejection response messages sent by the target network element.

[0165] B4. The total number of response messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element.

[0166] Among them, for the first message type, please refer to the relevant description in the previous text and will not be repeated here.

[0167] B5. The reason corresponding to the response message sent by the target network element.

[0168] The response message sent by the target network element includes a rejection message sent by the target network element. Accordingly, the reason corresponding to the response message sent by the target network element can be understood as the reason why the target network element sent the rejection message. The reason why the target network element sent the rejection message may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: network congestion, expired UE subscription information, UE arrears, UE restricted access to a specific area, etc.

[0169] B6. The total number of response messages corresponding to the first cause sent by the target network element.

[0170] The first reason may be one or more reasons, including but not limited to at least one of the following: network congestion, expiration of UE subscription information, UE arrears, UE restricted from accessing a specific area, etc.

[0171] For example, the first reason may be a network failure; or in another example, the first reason may be a network failure and an illegal UE.

[0172] In combination with the information indicated in any one of items B1-B6, the first network element or the NWDAF network element may determine whether there is a risk of a network signaling storm in the communication network based on statistical information related to the response message sent by the target network element.

[0173] Optionally, the statistical information 2 may further include at least one of the following information items C1-C3. The information items C1-C3 are information related to the target network element. By collecting statistics on the target network element information, the first network element or the NWDAF network element may analyze the target network element information, thereby facilitating the first network element to adjust its policy at the network element level to prevent network signaling storms.

[0174] C1. Type of target network element.

[0175] For example, the type of the target network element may include the type corresponding to SMF and / or AMF.

[0176] C2. Instance identifier of the target network element.

[0177] For example, the instance identifier of the target network element may include the network function instance identifier corresponding to the SMF and / or AMF.

[0178] C3. CPU usage of the target NE.

[0179] For example, the CPU usage of the target network element may include the CPU usage of the SMF and / or AMF.

[0180] 3) Valid time.

[0181] The validity period is used to indicate the validity period of the first response, and the validity period can be, for example, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.

[0182] 4) The probability of a network signaling storm occurring in the first time period.

[0183] The probability of a network signaling storm occurring in the first time period is used to characterize a trend of a network signaling storm occurring in the first time period.

[0184] 5) Confidence.

[0185] The confidence level is used to represent the credibility of the probability of a signaling storm occurring in the first time period.

[0186] 6) The difference between the total number of messages received by the target network element in two adjacent cycles.

[0187] Among them, a cycle can be considered as a time period, and the difference in the total number of messages received by the target network element in two adjacent cycles can be understood as the difference between the total number of messages received by the target network element in the current time period and the total number of messages received in the previous time period.

[0188] As can be seen from the previous description, the first network element can be understood as a network function service consumption entity, and the first network element can be any one of the following: AMF network element, OAM network element, NRF network element, PCF network element, or AF network element.

[0189] In S301 above, after receiving the first request, the NWDAF network element needs to obtain information related to the target network element to determine the first response. The target network element may include the first network element, or the target network element may not include the first network element. The specific implementation method for the NWDAF network element to obtain information related to the target network element varies depending on the situation, and is described below based on each situation.

[0190] Case 1: The target network element is the first network element.

[0191] For example, the first network element is an AMF network element, the target network element is an AMF network element, and the NWDAF network element can obtain first information from the AMF network element, where the first information includes the type and / or total number of messages received by the AMF, and / or the type and / or total number of messages sent by the AMF. And, the NWDAF network element can determine the above-mentioned first response based on the first information. Optionally, the first information may also include the UE identifier, the frequency at which the UE initiates registration requests, the frequency at which the UE initiates service requests, the frequency at which the UE initiates PDU session requests, the result of the registration request, and the corresponding cause value as shown in Table 1.

[0192] Table 1

[0193] Case 2: the target network element includes the first network element.

[0194] For example, if the first network element is an AMF network element, then the target network elements are the AMF network element and the SMF network element. The NWDAF network element can obtain first information from the AMF network element, where the first information includes the type and / or total number of messages received by the AMF, and / or the type and / or total number of messages sent by the AMF, the type and / or total number of messages received by the SMF, and / or the type and / or total number of messages sent by the SMF. Furthermore, the NWDAF network element can determine the above-mentioned first response based on the first information.

[0195] For another example, the first network element is an AMF network element, and the target network elements are an AMF network element and an SMF network element. The NWDAF network element can obtain first information from the AMF network element, and the first information includes the type and / or total number of messages received by the AMF, and / or the type and / or total number of messages sent by the AMF, the type and / or total number of messages received by the SMF, and / or the type and / or total number of messages sent by the SMF. In addition, the NWDAF network element can obtain second information from a third network element, and the second information includes at least one of the instance identifier of the AMF network element, signaling statistics measurement, CPU utilization of the AMF network element and the SMF network element, or load of the AMF network element and the SMF network element. The third network element can be, for example, an OAM network element. Furthermore, the NWDAF network element can determine the above-mentioned first response based on the first information and the second information.

[0196] Among them, signaling statistical measurement is the performance measurement of the OAM network element. Exemplarily, the second information obtained by the NWDAF network element from the OAM network element can be as shown in Table 2 (taking the signaling measurement of RAN and AMF as an example, it can also include performance measurements of other network elements, such as SMF / UDM, etc., which are not listed one by one). The RAN measurement data includes the number of attempted RRC connection establishments, the number of successful RRC connection establishments, the number of failed RRC connection establishments, the number of RRC connection re-establishment attempts, the number of successful RRC connection re-establishment attempts followed by RRC Setup, the number of successful RRC connection re-establishment without UE context, the number of registered subscribers, the number of successful initial registrations, the number of successful mobility registration update requests, the number of successful periodic registration update requests, the average time of the registration procedure, and the total number of attempted or successful service requests. number of attempted / successful service requests), number of (successful) 5G paging procedures, CPU usage of AMF and GNodeB, and load of AMF and GNodeB.

[0197] Table 2

[0198] Case 3: the target network element does not include the first network element.

[0199] For example, if the target network element is an SMF network element, the NWDAF network element can obtain first information from the second network element, where the first information includes the type and / or total number of messages received by the SMF network element, and / or the type and / or total number of messages sent by the SMF network element. Furthermore, the NWDAF network element can obtain second information from the third network element, where the second information includes at least one of the instance identifier of the SMF network element, signaling statistics, CPU usage of the SMF network element and the fourth network element, or the load of the SMF network element and the fourth network element. The second network element can be, for example, an AMF network element, the third network element can be, for example, an OAM network element, and the fourth network element can be, for example, a UDM network element or a PCF network element. Furthermore, the NWDAF network element can determine the above-mentioned first response based on the first information and the second information. For example, the NWDAF network element can determine whether the SMF network element or the PCF network element is congested or at risk of causing a network signaling storm based on the total number of messages received by the SMF network element and the load of the SMF network element and the PCF network element.

[0200] In the above S302, the NWDAF network element sends the first response to the first network element, including but not limited to the following situations:

[0201] In case 1, the first request includes the first time window. The NWDAF network element performs statistical analysis on messages received by the target network element and / or messages sent by the target network element according to the time corresponding to the first time window, and periodically sends a first response to the first network element according to a preset period. The duration corresponding to the first time window is greater than or equal to the duration corresponding to the preset period.

[0202] For example, if the duration corresponding to the first time window is 30 minutes, the NWDAF network element performs statistical analysis on messages received by the target network element and / or messages sent by the target network element every 30 minutes, and sends a first response to the first network element every 30 minutes.

[0203] For another example, the duration corresponding to the above-mentioned first time window is 30 minutes. The NWDAF network element performs statistical analysis on the messages received by the target network element and / or the messages sent by the target network element every 30 minutes, and sends a first response to the first network element every 29 minutes.

[0204] Case 2: The above-mentioned first request includes a first condition. The NWDAF may send a first response to the first network element when the first condition is met.

[0205] For example, the NWDAF network element may send a first response to the first network element when the total number of messages received by the target network element within a unit time or within a first time window is greater than 1000.

[0206] For another example, the NWDAF network element may send a first response to the first network element when the failure rate of the request message is greater than 80%.

[0207] For another example, the NWDAF network element may send a first response to the first network element when the first reason for the failure of the request message is a network failure or an illegal UE.

[0208] For another example, the NWDAF network element may send a first response to the first network element when the number of request message failures caused by a network failure is greater than 100.

[0209] For another example, the NWDAF network element may send a first response to the first network element when the total number of rejection messages sent by the target network element corresponding to the first message type is greater than 100.

[0210] For another example, the NWDAF network element may send a first response to the first network element when the failure rate of the request message is greater than 80% and the reason for the signaling request failure is a network failure or an illegal UE.

[0211] In case 3, the first request includes a first time window and a first condition. Accordingly, when the first condition is met, the NWDAF may send a first response to the first network element according to the preset period. The duration corresponding to the first time window is greater than or equal to the duration corresponding to the specific period.

[0212] For example, the duration corresponding to the first time window is 30 minutes, and the preset period is 20 minutes. Then, when the first condition is met, the NWDAF network element sends a first response to the first network element every 20 minutes.

[0213] Furthermore, after receiving the first response, the first network element may perform a first operation based on the first response. The first operation is used to prevent a network signaling storm. As described above, the first network element may be any of the following: an AMF network element, an OAM network element, an NRF network element, a PCF network element, or an AF network element. Different first network elements may perform different first operations. This is described below in different scenarios.

[0214] Case 1: The first network element is the AMF network element.

[0215] When the first network element is an AMF network element, the AMF network element may adjust its flow control policy based on the first response. The flow control policy may include one or more of the following: adjusting the number of AMFs in the AMF pool that perform signaling interactions with the wireless access device NG-RAN, adjusting the proportion of rejection messages sent by the AMF network element, adjusting the backoff timer value carried in the rejection message returned by the AMF network element, or adjusting the number of messages sent by each NG-RAN to the AMF network element. In this way, by adjusting the flow control policy of the AMF network element based on the first response, the AMF network element can effectively prevent network signaling storms and thereby effectively improve the reliability of the communication network.

[0216] For example, the first response indicates that the number of request messages received by the current AMF exceeds 5000 within the unit time or the first time window, and the number of request messages received by the current AMF exceeds the processing capability of the current AMF. The current AMF network element may increase the number of AMFs in the AMF pool that perform signaling interaction with the wireless access device NG-RAN. In this way, more AMF network elements in the AMF pool can provide signaling processing capabilities, thereby enhancing network reliability.

[0217] For another example, if the first response indicates that the number of request messages rejected by the AMF exceeds 1000, the proportion of rejection messages returned by the AMF network element can be reduced, as well as the value of the backoff timer carried in the rejection message returned by the AMF network element. In this way, the number of UEs in the access network can be reduced, allowing UEs to enter the access network in batches, reducing the signaling overhead of the network and preventing network signaling storms caused by UEs frequently initiating request messages.

[0218] For another example, if the first response indicates that the number of request messages received by the current AMF exceeds 1000 within a unit time or a first time window, the number of messages sent by each NG-RAN to the AMF network element can be reduced. This can reduce the number of request messages to be received by the AMF network element, effectively preventing network signaling storms and thereby effectively improving the reliability of the communication network.

[0219] Case 2: The first network element is an OAM network element.

[0220] When the first network element is an OAM network element, the OAM network element can adjust the network configuration based on the first response. Adjusting the network configuration includes at least one or more of the following: a flow control threshold configured by the network element in the wireless communication network, adjusting the number of AMFs in the AMF pool, adjusting the number of devices with processing bottlenecks in the network, or adjusting the routing policy. In this way, the OAM network element can effectively prevent network signaling storms and thereby effectively improve the reliability of the communication network by adjusting the network configuration based on the first response.

[0221] For example, when the above-mentioned first response indicates that the number of request messages received by the current target network element AMF exceeds 5000 within a unit time or a first time window, the OAM network element can reduce the flow control threshold configured by network elements such as the AMF network element, SMF network element, and UDM network element, so that the number of signaling received by the AMF network element and the SMF network element is reduced, thereby effectively preventing network signaling storms and effectively improving the reliability of the communication network.

[0222] For example, when the above-mentioned first response indicates that the number of request messages received by the current target network element AMF exceeds 5000 within the unit time or the first time window, the OAM network element can increase the number of AMFs in the AMF pool, thereby improving the signaling processing capability in the network.

[0223] For example, when the above-mentioned first response indicates that the number of request messages received by the current target network element AMF exceeds 5000 within a unit time or a first time window, the OAM network element can adjust the number of devices with bottlenecks in processing capacity in the network, such as adding the device DRA of the signaling transfer point.

[0224] For example, when the above-mentioned first response indicates that the number of request messages received by the current target network element AMF exceeds 5000 within the unit time or the first time window, the OAM network element can adjust the routing of AMF, SMF to DRA, thereby improving the signaling processing capability in the network.

[0225] Case 3: the first network element is an NRF network element.

[0226] When the first network element is a network storage function NRF network element, the NRF network element can adjust the priority of the target network element based on the first response. The priority of the target network element is the reference information when the NRF network element selects the target network element. In this way, the NRF network element can adjust the priority of the target network element based on the first response, and then the NRF network element can refer to the priority when selecting the target network element, so that the network element selected by the NRF network element will not cause network congestion, and the occurrence of signaling storms caused by signaling congestion of the network element can be prevented, thereby effectively improving the reliability of the communication network.

[0227] For example, the target network element is SMF. The above first response indicates that when the current AMF receives the PDU session request message from the UE, the AMF sends a network element selection request to the NRF network element to request the NRF to allocate a suitable SMF for the PDU session request. The NRF selects the SMF with a high priority and does not select the target network element. In this way, the congestion of the target network element can be alleviated, thereby preventing the occurrence of network signaling storms.

[0228] Case 4: the first network element is a PCF network element.

[0229] When the first network element is a policy control function (PCF) network element, the PCF network element can adjust the user routing selection policy (URSP) for UE data transmission or the future background data transfer (BDT) transmission policy based on the first response. This allows the UE to avoid the network element where the request message was rejected, thereby effectively preventing increased network congestion caused by UE data transmission and future background data transmission, thereby preventing the occurrence of network signaling storms and effectively improving network reliability.

[0230] For example, if the above first response indicates that the proportion of request failures in the request messages received by the AMF is 70%, the PCF network element can avoid the AMF network element in the transmission strategy of URSP or future BDT.

[0231] Case 5: The first network element is an AF network element.

[0232] When the first network element is an AF network element, the AF network element may adjust a policy for initiating a service request by the AF network element according to the first response; wherein the policy for the service request includes a time and / or frequency for initiating a service request by the AF.

[0233] For example, the first response indicates that the failure rate of request messages initiated by the AF is 70%, which reduces the duration and / or frequency of service requests initiated by the AF. This can prevent AF requests from increasing network congestion and prevent the generation or spread of network signaling storms, thereby effectively improving network reliability.

[0234] Please refer to Figure 4, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4, communication device 400 includes a transceiver unit 401. Communication device 400 can be a hardware device, a component of a hardware device, or a software module of a hardware device. Communication device 400 can be used to implement the functions of the NWDAF network element mentioned above.

[0235] Among them, the transceiver unit 401 is used to receive a first request from a first network element, and the first request includes a first identifier of the target network element; the transceiver unit 401 sends a first response to the first network element, and the first response includes analysis information of the message received by the target network element and / or analysis information of the message sent by the target network element.

[0236] In one possible design, the communication device 400 also includes a processing unit 402, which is further used to obtain first information from a second network element, the first information including the type and / or total number of messages received by the target network element, and / or the type and / or total number of messages sent by the target network element; and determine the first response based on the first information.

[0237] In one possible design, the processing unit 402 is also used to obtain second information from the third network element, where the second information includes at least one of an instance identifier of the target network element, signaling statistical measurements, CPU usage of the target network element and / or the fourth network element, or a load of the target network element and / or the fourth network element; and the processing unit 402 is specifically used to determine the first response based on the first information and the second information.

[0238] Please refer to Figure 5, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, communication device 500 includes a transceiver unit 501. Communication device 500 can be a hardware device, a component of a hardware device, or a software module of a hardware device. Communication device 500 can be used to implement the functions of the first network element mentioned above.

[0239] Among them, the transceiver unit 501 is used to send a first request to the network data analysis function network element, and the first request includes a first identifier of the target network element; the transceiver unit 501 is used to receive a first response from the network data analysis function network element, and the first response includes analysis information of the message received by the target network element and / or analysis information of the message sent by the target network element.

[0240] In one possible design, the communication device 500 also includes a processing unit 502. When the first network element is an AMF network element, the processing unit 502 is further used to adjust the flow control strategy of the AMF network element according to the first response; wherein the flow control strategy includes one or more of the following: adjusting the number of AMFs in the AMF pool that perform signaling interaction with the wireless access device NG-RAN, adjusting the proportion of rejection messages returned by the AMF network element, adjusting the value of the backoff timer carried in the rejection message returned by the AMF network element, or adjusting the number of messages sent by each NG-RAN to the AMF network element.

[0241] In one possible design, the communication device 500 also includes a processing unit 502. When the first network element is an OAM network element, the processing unit 502 is further used to adjust the network configuration according to the first response; wherein the network configuration includes at least one or more of the following: flow control thresholds configured for each network element in the wireless communication network, adjustment of the number of AMFs in the AMF pool, adjustment of the number of devices with processing capacity bottlenecks in the network, or routing strategies.

[0242] In one possible design, the communication device 500 also includes a processing unit 502. When the first network element is an NRF network element, the processing unit 502 is also used to adjust the priority of the target network element according to the first response. The priority of the target network element is the reference information when the NRF network element selects the target network element.

[0243] In one possible design, the communication device 500 also includes a processing unit 502. When the first network element is a PCF network element, the processing unit 502 is further used to adjust the routing selection strategy URSP or future background data transmission strategy for UE data transmission according to the first response.

[0244] In one possible design, the communication device 500 also includes a processing unit 502. When the first network element is an AF network element, the processing unit 502 is further used to adjust the strategy of the AF initiating a service request based on the first response; wherein the service request strategy includes the time and / or frequency of the AF initiating the service request.

[0245] Please refer to FIG. 6 , which is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0246] As shown in Figure 6, communication device 600 includes a processor 601 and a communication interface 602. Processor 601 and communication interface 602 may be coupled to each other or independently designed. Communication interface 602 may be, for example, a transceiver or an input / output interface. Processor 601 and communication interface 602 may implement the methods described above.

[0247] Optionally, the communication device 600 may further include a memory 603 for storing instructions executed by the processor 601 or storing input data required by the processor 601 to run the instructions or storing data generated after the processor 601 runs the instructions.

[0248] Any two of the processor 601, the communication interface 602, and the memory 603 can communicate with each other via a bus 604. The bus 604 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. Buses can be divided into address buses, data buses, control buses, and the like.

[0249] It is understood that the processor 601 can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The memory 603 can include volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM). The memory can also include non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD).

[0250] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0251] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the flow chart and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flow charts and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0252] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0253] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0254] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of this application fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: receiving a first request from a first network element, wherein the first request includes a first identifier of a target network element; A first response is sent to the first network element, where the first response includes analysis information of a message received by the target network element and / or analysis information of a message sent by the target network element.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The analysis information of the message received by the target network element includes at least one statistical information.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The at least one statistical information includes a total number of messages received by the target network element and / or a total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The at least one statistical information further includes at least one of the following: The total number of messages received by the target network element in the first time period, the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element in the first time period, and the total number of devices that initiate messages of the first message type in the first time period are greater than the first number.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The analysis information of the message sent by the target network element includes at least one statistical information.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The at least one statistical information includes a total number of messages sent by the target network element and / or a total number of messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: The at least one statistical information further includes at least one of the following: The total number of response messages sent by the target network element, the total number of response messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element, the reasons corresponding to the response messages sent by the target network element, or the total number of response messages corresponding to the first reason sent by the target network element.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The first response also includes at least one of the following: The type of the target network element, the instance identifier of the target network element, or the CPU usage rate of the target network element.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The first request further includes a first condition; wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following: the first parameter corresponds to a first value; the first value corresponding to the first parameter is greater than or equal to a first threshold; or the first value corresponding to the first parameter is less than or equal to the first threshold; Sending the first response to the first network element includes: sending the first response when the first condition is met.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The first request also includes a first time window, which is used to determine a second time period for the target network element to receive a message and / or the target network element to send a message, and the second time period is used to determine the time used for statistical analysis of the messages received by the target network element and / or the messages sent by the target network element.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Acquire first information from the second network element, where the first information includes the type and / or total number of messages received by the target network element and / or the type and / or total number of messages sent by the target network element; The first response is determined according to the first information.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Acquire second information from a third network element, where the second information includes at least one of an instance identifier of the target network element, a signaling statistical measurement, a CPU usage rate of the target network element and / or a fourth network element, or a load of the target network element and / or the fourth network element; wherein the fourth network element is a network element that interacts with the target network element information; Determining the first response according to the first information includes: determining the first response according to the first information and the second information.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that: The first network element is any one of the following: Mobility management function AMF network element, operation and maintenance management OAM network element, network storage function NRF network element, policy control function PCF network element, or application function AF network element.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Sending a first request to a network data analysis function network element, wherein the first request includes a first identifier of a target network element; A first response is received from the network data analysis function network element, wherein the first response includes analysis information of a message received by the target network element and / or analysis information of a message sent by the target network element.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The analysis information of the message received by the target network element includes at least one statistical information.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The at least one statistical information includes a total number of messages received by the target network element and / or a total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The at least one statistical information further includes at least one of the following: The total number of messages received by the target network element in the first time period, the total number of messages corresponding to the first message type received by the target network element in the first time period, and the total number of devices that initiate messages of the first message type in the first time period are greater than the first number.

18. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The analysis information of the message sent by the target network element includes at least one statistical information.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The at least one statistical information includes a total number of messages sent by the target network element and / or a total number of messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that The at least one statistical information further includes at least one of the following: The total number of response messages sent by the target network element, the total number of response messages corresponding to the first message type sent by the target network element, the reasons corresponding to the response messages sent by the target network element, or the total number of response messages corresponding to the first reason sent by the target network element.

21. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 20, characterized in that: The first response also includes at least one of the following: The type of the target network element, the instance identifier of the target network element, or the CPU usage rate of the target network element.

22. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 21, characterized in that: The first request also includes a first time window, which is used to determine a second time period for the target network element to receive a message and / or the target network element to send a message, and the second time period is used to determine the time used for statistical analysis of the messages received by the target network element and / or the messages sent by the target network element.

23. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 22, characterized in that: When the first network element is an access and mobility management function AMF network element, the method further includes: Adjusting the flow control strategy of the AMF network element according to the first response; Among them, the flow control strategy includes one or more of the following: adjusting the number of AMFs in the AMF pool that perform signaling interaction with the wireless access device NG-RAN, adjusting the proportion of rejection messages returned by the AMF network element, adjusting the value of the backoff timer carried in the rejection message returned by the AMF network element, or adjusting the number of messages sent by each NG-RAN to the AMF network element.

24. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 22, characterized in that: When the first network element is an operation, maintenance and management (OAM) network element, the method further includes: adjusting network configuration according to the first response; Among them, the adjustment of network configuration includes at least one or more of the following: adjusting the flow control threshold configured by each network element in the wireless communication network, adjusting the number of AMFs in the AMF pool, adjusting the number of devices with bottleneck processing capabilities in the network, or routing strategies.

25. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 22, characterized in that: When the first network element is a network storage function NRF network element, the method further includes: According to the first response, the priority of the target network element is adjusted, and the priority of the target network element is reference information when the NRF network element selects the target network element.

26. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 22, characterized in that: When the first network element is a policy control function PCF network element, the method further includes: According to the first response, the routing selection strategy URSP for UE data transmission or the future background data transmission strategy is adjusted.

27. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 22, characterized in that: When the first network element is an application function AF network element, the method further includes: According to the first response, the policy of the AF initiating the service request is adjusted; wherein the policy of the service request includes the time and / or frequency of the AF initiating the service request.

28. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module or a unit for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

29. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module or a unit for implementing the method according to any one of claims 14 to 27.

30. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to receive signals from other devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other devices outside the communication device, and the processor executes code instructions through a logic circuit to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or implements the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 27.

31. A communication system, characterized in that: Includes the communication device as claimed in claim 28 and the communication device as claimed in claim 29.

32. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The method comprises a program or an instruction, and when the program or the instruction is run on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 or claims 14 to 27 is executed.

33. A chip system, characterized in that: The invention comprises a processor, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory and is used to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 or claims 14 to 27.

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