Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a terminal device receiving a first message from a network device, wherein the first message is used for indicating that a power threshold value corresponding to a first access type is set to a first preset value; and on the basis of the first message, the terminal device setting the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type. In the method, a network device flexibly instructs a terminal device to set a power threshold value corresponding to a first access type; thus, it can be effectively prevented that the terminal device accesses an access network device / network having a relatively low level of security, resulting in that the terminal device cannot communicate normally due to undergoing attacks from a non-real network. By means of the method, the security of communication between the terminal device and a real network can be effectively ensured.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on September 26, 2023, with application number 202311268410.X and application name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] With the advancement of communication technology, the number of terminals has gradually increased. To achieve higher-quality communications, more and more base stations have been deployed. To eavesdrop on user messages and steal user data (such as bank card information and ID card information), attackers may deploy fake base stations (FBSs). Fake base stations attract terminals by providing higher signal power. Once a terminal connects to a fake base station, the fake base station can launch a denial of service (DoS) attack against the terminal, resulting in the theft of user data. If the uplink messages sent by the terminal or the downlink messages sent by the real base station lack integrity protection, the fake base station can also tamper with the content of the uplink or downlink messages, making the information exchanged between the terminal and the real base station insecure.

[0005] Therefore, how to ensure the security of communication between the terminal and the real network is an urgent problem to be solved.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] This application proposes a communication method and apparatus that can effectively ensure the security of communication between terminal devices and a real network.

[0008] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the terminal device, without limitation. Taking a terminal device as an example, the specific steps of the method may include: the terminal device receiving a first message from a network device, the first message being used to instruct the terminal device to set a value for access information; and the terminal device setting the value for the access information based on the first message.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an access network device or a core network device. If the access network device generates the first message and sends the first message to the terminal device, then the first message may be an access layer AS message, such as a radio resource control establishment RRC setup message, a radio resource control reconstruction RRC reestablishment message, a radio resource control release RRC release message, a radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message, etc. If the core network device generates the first message and sends the first message to the terminal device, then the first message may be a non-access layer NAS message, such as a registration accept message, a registration reject message, a protocol data unit PDU session establishment accept message, a PDU session modification accept message, etc.

[0010] System messages are key information for mobile terminal devices to connect to the network. System messages provide the terminal device with all the necessary information (parameters) required to access the network. The access information involved in the embodiments of the present application refers to the information or parameters required for the terminal device to connect (including access / switching / selection / reselection / residence) to the network in the system message. For example, the access information may be, but is not limited to, the power threshold corresponding to the access type and / or the frequency priority corresponding to the access type.

[0011] In the present application scheme, the network device instructs the terminal device to flexibly set the value of the access information, which can effectively prevent the terminal device from accessing a less secure network and then being attacked by a non-real network / malicious network / non-secure network and unable to communicate normally. This method can effectively ensure the communication security between the terminal device and the real network.

[0012] In a possible implementation, before the terminal device receives the first message from the network device, the method further includes: the terminal device sends capability information of the terminal device to the network device, where the capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports setting the value of the access information.

[0013] Through this implementation, the network device can learn that the terminal device has the ability to set the value of the access information, and then effectively instruct the terminal device to perform the setting.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the first message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to set a power threshold corresponding to a first access type to a first preset value. The first access type is a low-priority access type; illustratively, the first access type may be, but is not limited to, a second-generation radio access network (2G GERAN) or a third-generation universal mobile telecommunications system (3G UTRAN).

[0015] In an embodiment of the present application, since the first access type is a low-priority access type, in order to prevent the terminal device from accessing / switching / selecting / reselecting / residing in the access network device / network of the first access type, which may cause security problems, the power threshold value corresponding to the access network device needs to be set to a relatively large value, that is, the first preset value should be a larger value.

[0016] This implementation can prevent the terminal device from connecting to a low-priority network and being attacked by a non-real network / malicious network / non-secure network, and effectively ensure the security of the terminal device's communications.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the first indication information is further used to instruct that the power threshold corresponding to the second access type be set to a second preset value. The second access type is a high-priority access type; illustratively, the second access type may be, but is not limited to, the fourth-generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network (4G E-UTRAN) or the fifth-generation new air interface (5G NR). The second access type may also be an access type corresponding to a future communication network, such as an access type corresponding to a sixth-generation (6G) communication network or an extended access type of a 6G communication network.

[0018] Since the second access type is a high-priority access type, in order to make it easier for the terminal device to access the access network device / network of the second access type to ensure its security, the power threshold value corresponding to the second access type should be set to a relatively small value, that is, the second preset value should be a smaller value, which is equivalent to lowering the threshold for the terminal to access / switch / select / reselect / reside in the access network device / network of the second access type.

[0019] Through this implementation, the terminal device can be more easily connected to a high-priority network, thereby ensuring the security of the terminal device's communication.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the first message also includes the first preset value and / or the second preset value. Through this implementation, the network device can provide the first preset value and / or the second preset value to the terminal device based on the actual situation of the network corresponding to the first access type and / or the second access type, so that the terminal device effectively sets the value of the power threshold corresponding to the access type.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to set a value of the access information according to a value in the system message.

[0022] Through this implementation, when the terminal device no longer needs to protect itself from attacks from non-real networks / malicious networks / non-secure networks, the terminal device can normally use the system information broadcast by the network device to achieve network connection.

[0023] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the network device, without limitation. Taking a network device as an example, the specific steps of the method may include: the network device generates a first message, the first message being used to instruct the terminal device to set a value for access information; and the terminal device sends the first message to the terminal device.

[0024] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an access network device or a core network device. If the access network device generates the first message and sends the first message to the terminal device, then the first message may be an access layer AS message, such as a radio resource control establishment RRC setup message, a radio resource control reconstruction RRC reestablishment message, a radio resource control release RRC release message, a radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message, etc. If the core network device generates the first message and sends the first message to the terminal device, then the first message may be a non-access layer NAS message, such as a registration accept message, a registration reject message, a protocol data unit PDU session establishment accept message, a PDU session modification accept message, etc.

[0025] System messages are key information for mobile terminal devices to connect to the network. System messages provide all necessary information (parameters) for terminal devices to access the network. The access information involved in the embodiments of the present application refers to the information or parameters located in the system messages that are required for the terminal device to connect (including access / handover / selection / reselection / residence) to the network. For example, the access information may include, but is not limited to, the power threshold corresponding to the access type and / or the frequency priority corresponding to the access type.

[0026] In the present application scheme, the network device instructs the terminal device to flexibly set the value of the access information, which can effectively prevent the terminal device from accessing a less secure network and then being attacked by a non-real network / malicious network / non-secure network and unable to communicate normally. This method can effectively ensure the communication security between the terminal device and the real network.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving capability information of the terminal device, where the capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports setting a value of the access information.

[0028] Through this implementation, the network device can learn that the terminal device has the ability to set the value of the access information, and can then effectively instruct the terminal device to perform the setting.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the first message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to set the power threshold corresponding to the first access type to a first preset value. The first access type is a low-priority access type; illustratively, the first access type may be, but is not limited to, a second-generation radio access network (2G GERAN) or a third-generation universal mobile telecommunications system (3G UTRAN).

[0030] This implementation can prevent the terminal device from connecting to a low-priority network and being attacked by a non-real network / malicious network / non-secure network, and effectively ensure the security of the terminal device's communications.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the first indication information is further used to instruct that the power threshold corresponding to the second access type be set to a second preset value. The second access type is a high-priority access type; illustratively, the second access type may be, but is not limited to, the fourth-generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network (4G E-UTRAN) or the fifth-generation new air interface (5G NR). The second access type may also be an access type corresponding to a future communication network, such as an access type corresponding to a sixth-generation (6G) communication network or an extended access type of a 6G communication network.

[0032] Through this implementation, the terminal device can be more easily connected to a high-priority network, thereby ensuring the security of the terminal device's communication.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the first message also includes the first preset value and / or the second preset value. Through this implementation, the network device can provide the first preset value and / or the second preset value to the terminal device based on the actual situation of the network corresponding to the first access type and / or the second access type, so that the terminal device effectively sets the value of the power threshold corresponding to the access type.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the network device sending second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to set a value of the access information according to a value in the system message.

[0035] Through this implementation, when the terminal device no longer needs to be protected from attacks from non-real networks / malicious networks / non-secure networks, the terminal device can normally use the system information broadcast by the network device to achieve network connection.

[0036] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the terminal device, without limitation. Taking a terminal device as an example, the specific steps of the method may include: the terminal device receiving a first message from a network device, the first message being used to instruct the power threshold value corresponding to a first access type to be set to a first preset value; and the terminal device then setting the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type based on the first message.

[0037] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an access network device or a core network device. If the first message is generated by the access network device and sent to the terminal device, the first message may be an access layer AS message, such as a radio resource control setup RRC setup message, a radio resource control reconstruction RRC reestablishment message, a radio resource control release RRC release message, a radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message, etc. If the first message is generated by the core network device and sent to the terminal device, the first message may be a non-access layer NAS message, such as a registration accept message, a registration reject message, a protocol data unit PDU session establishment accept message, a PDU session modification accept message, etc. The above-mentioned first access type belongs to a low-priority access type; illustratively, the first access type may be, but is not limited to, a second-generation radio access network 2G GERAN, or a third-generation universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 3G UTRAN.

[0038] In the present application scheme, the network device can flexibly instruct the terminal device to set the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type (low priority access type), so that the terminal device can ignore the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type contained in the system message and set the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type to a first preset value (i.e., a pre-set value) according to the instruction of the network device; through this method, it can be seen that the network device can indicate the power threshold value corresponding to the access type to the terminal device according to the actual situation of the access type to prevent the terminal device from accessing a low-priority network and then suffering from attacks from a low-priority non-real network / malicious network / non-secure network, thereby effectively ensuring the security of communication between the terminal device and the real network.

[0039] In an embodiment of the present application, since the first access type belongs to a low-priority access type, when the terminal device sets the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type to a first preset value (i.e., a pre-set value) according to the instruction of the network device, the first preset value should be a larger value to prevent the terminal device from accessing / switching / selecting / reselecting / residing in the access network device corresponding to the first access type, thereby effectively ensuring the communication security of the terminal device.

[0040] In a possible implementation, before the terminal device receives the first message from the network device, the method further includes: the terminal device sends the capability information of the terminal device to the network device, where the capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports setting the power threshold value corresponding to the access type.

[0041] In an embodiment of the present application, if the network device is an access network device, the terminal device may carry its own capability information in an access layer AS message (e.g., an RRC setup request message or an RRC control resource release request message) to send to the access network device. If the network device is a core network device, the terminal device may carry its own capability information in a non-access layer NAS message (e.g., a registration request message) to send to the core network device.

[0042] Through this implementation, the network device can effectively learn that the terminal device supports setting the power threshold value corresponding to the access type, and can then effectively instruct the terminal device to execute the setting of the power threshold value corresponding to the specified access type.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the first message is further used to indicate that the power threshold value corresponding to the second access type is set to a second preset value. In this embodiment of the present application, the second access type is a high-priority access type, and the second access type may be, but is not limited to, the fourth-generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN and the fifth-generation new air interface 5G NR. The second access type may also be an access type corresponding to a future communication network, such as an access type corresponding to a sixth-generation 6G communication network / an extended access type of a 6G communication network.

[0044] In an embodiment of the present application, since the second access type belongs to a high-priority access type, when the terminal device sets the power threshold value corresponding to the second access type to a second preset value (i.e., a pre-set value) according to the instructions of the network device, the second preset value should be a smaller value so that the terminal device can more easily access / switch / select / reselect / reside in the access network device corresponding to the second access type.

[0045] Through this implementation, the network device can also flexibly instruct the terminal device to set the power threshold value corresponding to the high-priority access type, so that the terminal device can access the high-priority access network device to ensure the security of the terminal device.

[0046] In a possible implementation manner, the first message includes the first preset value and / or the second preset value.

[0047] Through this implementation, the terminal device can effectively obtain the value of the power threshold corresponding to the first access type (i.e., the first preset value) and the value of the power threshold corresponding to the second access type (i.e., the second preset value) from the network device (i.e., the access network device / core network device) to perform subsequent settings.

[0048] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the network device, without limitation. Taking a network device as an example, the method can specifically include: the network device generating a first message, the first message being used to instruct that a power threshold value corresponding to a first access type be set to a first preset value; and the network device sending the first message to a terminal device.

[0049] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an access network device or a core network device. If the first message is generated by the access network device and sent to the terminal device, the first message may be an access stratum (AS) message, such as a radio resource control setup RRC setup message, a radio resource control reestablishment RRC reestablishment message, a radio resource control release RRC release message, a radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message, etc. If the first message is generated by the core network device and sent to the terminal device, the first message may be a non-access stratum (NAS) message, such as a registration accept message, a registration reject message, a protocol data unit PDU session establishment accept message, a PDU session modification accept message, etc. In addition, the above-mentioned first access type belongs to a low-priority access type; illustratively, the first access type may be, but is not limited to, a second-generation radio access network 2G GERAN or a third-generation universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 3G UTRAN.

[0050] In the present application scheme, the network device can flexibly instruct the terminal device to set the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type (low priority access type), so that the terminal device can ignore the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type contained in the system message and set the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type to a first preset value (i.e., a pre-set value) according to the instruction of the network device; through this method, it can be seen that the network device can indicate the power threshold value corresponding to the access network type to the terminal device according to the actual situation of the access type to prevent the terminal device from accessing a low-priority network and then suffering attacks from low-priority non-real networks / malicious networks, thereby effectively ensuring the security of communication between the terminal device and the real network.

[0051] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the network device receiving capability information of the terminal device, where the capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports setting a power threshold value corresponding to an access type.

[0052] Through this implementation, the network device can effectively learn that the terminal device supports setting the power threshold value corresponding to the access type, and can then effectively instruct the terminal device to execute the setting of the power threshold value corresponding to the specified access type.

[0053] In one possible implementation, the first message is further used to indicate that the power threshold value corresponding to the second access type is set to a second preset value. In this embodiment of the present application, the second access type is a high-priority access type, and the second access type may be, but is not limited to, the fourth-generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN and the fifth-generation new air interface 5G NR. The second access type may also be an access type corresponding to a future communication network, such as an access type corresponding to a sixth-generation 6G communication network / an extended access type of a 6G communication network.

[0054] Through this implementation, the network device can also flexibly instruct the terminal device to set the power threshold value corresponding to the access network device of the high-priority access type, so that the terminal device can access the high-priority access network device to ensure the security of the terminal device.

[0055] In a possible implementation manner, the first message includes the first preset value and / or the second preset value.

[0056] Through this implementation, the network device (i.e., access network device / core network device) can effectively provide the terminal device with the value of the power threshold corresponding to the first access type (i.e., the first preset value) and the value of the power threshold corresponding to the second access type (i.e., the second preset value), so that the terminal device can subsequently effectively execute the corresponding settings.

[0057] The embodiments of the present application also provide a solution for resolving the problem of terminal devices being attacked by non-real network attacks. The details of the solution are described in the following fifth and sixth aspects.

[0058] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the terminal device, without limitation. Taking a terminal device as an example, the method can specifically include: the terminal device receiving a second message from a network device, the second message including first tracking area indication information and identification information of a first access type corresponding to the first tracking area; and based on the second message, determining that the first access type is not available in the first tracking area.

[0059] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an access network device or a core network device. If the access network device generates the second message and sends the second message to the terminal device, the second message may be an access stratum (AS) message, such as a radio resource control setup RRC setup message, a radio resource control reestablishment RRC reestablishment message, a radio resource control release RRC release message, a radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message, etc. If the core network device generates the second message and sends the second message to the terminal device, the second message may be a non-access stratum (NAS) message, such as a registration accept message, a registration reject message, a protocol data unit PDU session establishment accept message, a PDU session modification accept message, etc.

[0060] In the above, the first tracking area indication information may be the address / identifier of the first tracking area, etc., or other information that can represent the first area, and this application does not make specific limitations on this. The first access type corresponding to the first tracking area may belong to a low-priority access type (or a low-security access type) or a high-priority access type, without limitation. Exemplarily, the first access type may be a second-generation radio access network 2G GERAN, a third-generation universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 3G UTRAN, a fourth-generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN, a fifth-generation new air interface 5G NR, etc. The first access type may also include an access type corresponding to a future communication network, such as an access type corresponding to a sixth-generation 6G communication network / an extended access type of a 6G communication network.

[0061] In the present application scheme, in order to ensure the security of communication with the terminal device, the network device can indicate to the terminal device through a second message the identification information of the first access type that is unavailable in the first tracking area based on the actual situation of the access type existing in the first tracking area; after the terminal device receives the second message, it can determine that the first access type cannot be used in the first tracking area, and then when it is located in the first tracking area, it cannot use the first access type to access / switch / select / reselect / reside in the corresponding network, thereby effectively ensuring the security of communication between the terminal device and the real network.

[0062] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device sending capability information of the terminal device to the network device, where the capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports starting or stopping a function corresponding to a corresponding access type.

[0063] In an embodiment of the present application, if the access network device provides the terminal device with information about an access type that cannot be used within the tracking area, the terminal device may report to the access network device via the air interface whether it supports starting / stopping (activating / deactivating, enabling / disabling) the function corresponding to the access type. If the core network device provides the terminal device with information about an access type that cannot be used within the tracking area, the terminal device may carry its own capability information in a non-access layer NAS message (e.g., a registration request message) and send it to the core network device, so as to effectively report to the core network device whether it supports starting / stopping (activating / deactivating, enabling / disabling) the function corresponding to the access type.

[0064] Through this implementation, the network device can effectively know whether it supports starting / closing (activating / deactivating, enabling / disabling) the function corresponding to the access type, and then the network device can effectively provide the terminal device with the corresponding unusable access type in the tracking area.

[0065] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device, within the first tracking area, disabling a functional module corresponding to the first access type or ignoring signals and system messages corresponding to the first access type. In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also, within the first tracking area, deactivate / disable its own function corresponding to the first access type, thereby preventing the terminal device from using the first access type.

[0066] Through this implementation, it can be ensured that the terminal device cannot access the corresponding access network device through the first access type.

[0067] In a possible implementation, the second message further includes second tracking area indication information and identification information of a second access type corresponding to the second tracking area. The second access type is a low-priority access type (or an access type with lower security). Exemplarily, the second access type is one or more of the following: second-generation radio access network 2G GERAN, third-generation universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 3G UTRAN, fourth-generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN, and fifth-generation new air interface 5GNR. Similarly, the second access type may also include an access type corresponding to a future communication network, such as an access type corresponding to a sixth-generation 6G communication network / an extended access type of a 6G communication network.

[0068] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device can provide one or more tracking area indication information and identification information of at least one access type corresponding to each tracking area to the terminal device (the present application does not specifically limit the number of tracking areas that the network device can provide and the number of access types corresponding to each tracking area).

[0069] Through this implementation, the network device can provide the terminal device with more tracking areas corresponding to unusable access types, so as to ensure the security of the terminal device's access to the network in a wider range.

[0070] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the network device, without limitation. Taking a network device as an example, the method can specifically include: the network device generating a second message, the second message including first tracking area indication information and identification information of a first access type corresponding to the first tracking area; and the network device sending the second message to the terminal device.

[0071] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an access network device or a core network device. If the access network device generates the second message and sends the second message to the terminal device, the second message may be an access stratum (AS) message, such as a radio resource control setup RRC setup message, a radio resource control reestablishment RRC reestablishment message, a radio resource control release RRC release message, a radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message, etc. If the core network device generates the second message and sends the second message to the terminal device, the second message may be a non-access stratum (NAS) message, such as a registration accept message, a registration reject message, a protocol data unit PDU session establishment accept message, a PDU session modification accept message, etc.

[0072] In the above, the first tracking area indication information may be the address / identifier of the first tracking area, or other information that can represent the first area, which is not limited in this application. The first access type may refer to a low-priority access type (or a low-security access type). Exemplarily, the first access type is but not limited to the second-generation radio access network 2G GERAN, the third-generation universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 3G UTRAN, the fourth-generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN, and the fifth-generation new air interface 5G NR. The first access type may also include an access type corresponding to a future communication network, such as an access type corresponding to a sixth-generation 6G communication network / an extended access type of a 6G communication network.

[0073] In the solution of the present application, the network device can indicate to the terminal device, through a second message, identification information of the first access type that is unavailable in the first tracking area, and then the terminal device can determine, based on the second message, that the first access type cannot be used in the first tracking area. Generally, the security performance of the network corresponding to the low-priority access type is weak. Through the solution of the present application, when the terminal device is located in the tracking area, it can effectively prevent / avoid the terminal device from using the first access type to access / switch / select / reselect / reside in a low-priority network, thereby ensuring the communication security of the terminal device.

[0074] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the network device receiving capability information of the terminal device, where the capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports enabling or disabling a function of a corresponding access type.

[0075] In an embodiment of the present application, if the access network device provides the terminal device with information about an access type that is not available within the tracking area, the terminal device can report to the access network device via the air interface whether it supports starting / stopping (activating / deactivating, enabling / disabling) the function corresponding to the access type. If the core network device provides the terminal device with information about an access type that is not available within the tracking area, the terminal device can carry its own capability information in a non-access layer NAS message (e.g., a registration request message) and send it to the core network device, so as to effectively report to the core network device whether it supports starting / stopping (activating / deactivating, enabling / disabling) the function of the corresponding access type.

[0076] Through this implementation, the network device can effectively know whether it supports starting / closing (activating / deactivating, enabling / disabling) the function corresponding to the access type, and then the network device can effectively provide the terminal device with the corresponding unusable access type in the tracking area.

[0077] In one possible implementation, the second message also includes second tracking area indication information and identification information of a second access type corresponding to the second tracking area. Exemplarily, the second access type may be, but is not limited to, a second-generation radio access network (2G GERAN), a third-generation universal mobile telecommunications system (3G UTRAN), a fourth-generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (4GE-UTRAN), or a fifth-generation new radio (5G NR). The second access type may also include an access type corresponding to a future communication network, such as an access type corresponding to a sixth-generation (6G) communication network or an extended access type of a 6G communication network.

[0078] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device can provide one or more tracking area indication information and identification information of at least one access type corresponding to each tracking area to the terminal device (the present application does not specifically limit the number of tracking areas that the network device can provide and the number of access types corresponding to each tracking area).

[0079] Through this implementation, the network device can provide the terminal device with more tracking areas corresponding to unusable access types, so as to ensure the security of the terminal device's access to the network in a wider range.

[0080] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, which can be used to execute the method of the first aspect / third aspect / fifth aspect. The device can be a terminal device, or the device can be a component in the terminal device (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit), or it can be a device that can be used in combination with the terminal device.

[0081] In one possible implementation, the device may include a module or unit corresponding to each of the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the first aspect / third aspect / fifth aspect, and the module or unit may be a hardware circuit, or software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. In one possible implementation, the device may include a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (also referred to as a communication module), wherein the communication unit may be used to perform the functions of receiving and / or sending, and the processing unit may be used to perform the method described in any possible implementation of the first aspect / third aspect / fifth aspect or the first aspect.

[0082] In the eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, which can be used to execute the method of the second aspect / fourth aspect / sixth aspect. The device can be a network device, or the device can be a component in the network device (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit), or it can be a device that can be used in combination with the network device.

[0083] In one possible implementation, the device may include a module or unit corresponding to the method / operation / step / action described in the second aspect / fourth aspect / sixth aspect, and the module or unit may be a hardware circuit, or software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. In one possible implementation, the device may include a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (also referred to as a communication module), wherein the communication unit may be used to perform the functions of receiving and / or sending, and the processing unit may be used to perform the method described in any possible implementation of the second aspect or the second aspect / fourth aspect / sixth aspect.

[0084] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a device, which includes: at least one processor and a communication interface; wherein the communication interface is used to communicate with other devices; the processor is used to run a set of programs so that the device can implement the method provided by the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or so that the device can implement the method provided by the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or so that the device can implement the method provided by the above-mentioned third aspect or any possible implementation method thereof; or so that the device can implement the method provided by the above-mentioned fourth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or so that the device can implement the method provided by the above-mentioned fifth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof; or so that the device can implement the method provided by the above-mentioned sixth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof.

[0085] In the tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a software program. When the software program is read and executed by one or more processors, it can implement the method provided by the first aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or implement the method provided by the second aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or implement the method provided by the third aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or implement the method provided by the fourth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or implement the method provided by the fifth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or implement the method provided by the sixth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof.

[0086] In the eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when run on a computer, enables the method provided in the first aspect or any possible implementation method thereof to be executed, or enables the method provided in the second aspect or any possible implementation method thereof to be executed, or enables the method provided in the third aspect or any possible implementation method thereof to be executed, or enables the method provided in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof to be executed, or enables the method provided in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof to be executed, or enables the method provided in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof to be executed.

[0087] In the twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including a terminal device capable of implementing the method provided in the first or third aspect above, and a network device (i.e., an access network device and / or a core network device) capable of implementing the method provided in the second or fourth aspect above.

[0088] In the thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a terminal device to implement the functions involved in the above-mentioned first or third aspect; or for supporting a network device to implement the functions involved in the above-mentioned second or fourth aspect.

[0089] In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data for execution by the loading device. The chip system can be composed of a chip or include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0090] It should be noted that the technical effects that can be achieved by any possible implementation method of the above-mentioned seventh to thirteenth aspects or the seventh to thirteenth aspects can be correspondingly described with reference to the technical effects that can be achieved by any possible implementation method of the above-mentioned first to sixth aspects or the first to sixth aspects; they will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0091] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a fake base station attack in a high-speed mode;

[0092] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture to which the method according to an embodiment of the present application is applicable;

[0093] FIG3A is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG3B is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a process flow of a first embodiment provided in the embodiments of the present application;

[0096] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a second embodiment provided in the embodiments of the present application;

[0097] FIG6 is a flow chart of a third embodiment provided in the embodiments of the present application;

[0098] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0099] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0100] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0101] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The terms used in the following embodiments are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to be limiting of the present application. As used in the specification and appended claims of the present application, the singular expressions "one", "a kind of", "said", "above", "the" are intended to also include expressions such as "one or more", unless there is a clear contrary indication in the context. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "one or more" refers to one, two or more; "and / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist; for example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0102] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" described in this specification mean that one or more embodiments of the present application include specific features, structures or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment. The terms "including", "comprising", "having" and their variations involved in this application all mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized. Words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions, and any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. The use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete way for easy understanding.

[0103] The multiple involved in the embodiments of the present application refers to greater than or equal to two. It should be noted that in the description of the embodiments of the present application, words such as "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish the purpose of description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying order. In addition, the term "used for indication" mentioned in the description of the embodiments of the present application can include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing a certain indication information used to indicate A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and it does not mean that the indication information must carry A.

[0104] In the embodiments of the present application, "value" may refer to a specific numerical value. For example, the value of access information set by a terminal device refers to the terminal device setting the numerical value corresponding to the access information. "Value" may also be replaced with "numerical value", "value", etc.

[0105] In order to better understand the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, the following first explains the scenarios, related technologies and terms used in the embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that these explanations are intended to make the embodiments of the present application easier to understand and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0106] 1. Fake base station attack:

[0107] Traditional low-standard base stations (such as 2G / 3G base stations) have many deficiencies in protocol security design, making them vulnerable to attacks from fake base stations. Although the security of currently used higher-standard base stations has been greatly improved, attacks from fake base stations still exist. As shown in Figure 1, assuming that there are both 2G and 4G signals in the air, the terminal (UE) will generally prefer to select / reside in the 4G cell. The low-standard fake base station can switch the terminal (UE) to it through the following steps:

[0108] (1) The attacker can forge a high-standard base station, such as a 4G fake base station. The power of the signal transmitted by the 4G fake base station is higher than the power of the signal transmitted by the surrounding normal high-standard base stations (such as 4G normal base stations). In this way, the UE will be attracted to the 4G fake base station and choose to reside on the 4G fake base station with higher signal strength.

[0109] (2) The 4G fake base station can send some parameters to the UE by broadcasting system messages. These parameters include the conditions that the UE needs to meet in order to reside / select the 4G standard, and the conditions that the UE needs to meet in order to switch / reselect / reside in the 2G standard. The fake base station can set the value of the parameter P1 (such as the parameter ThreshServing, LowP) related to controlling the UE to select / reside in 4G to a relatively high value, and / or set the value of the parameter P2 (such as the parameter Q-RXLevMin) related to controlling the UE to switch / reselect / reside in 2G to a relatively low value. This can increase the threshold for the UE to reside in 4G and lower the threshold for switching / reselecting / residing in 2G. At this time, the attacker forges a low-standard base station, such as a 2G fake base station, so that the UE is likely to switch to the 2G fake base station.

[0110] In the above, the parameter ThreshServing,LowP represents the lowest threshold of the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) for serving cell reselection. The parameter Q-RXLevMin represents the minimum received signal level of the serving cell, that is, the minimum reference signal level for allowing access to the serving cell.

[0111] (3) 2G fake base stations can exploit the weakness of 2G security mechanisms and launch regular 2G fake base station attacks on UEs, thereby causing UE information and / or data to be stolen by attackers.

[0112] In the embodiments of this application, a "pseudo base station," also known as a "fake base station" or "fake base station," is an illegal radio communication device that exploits the one-way authentication flaw of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). It primarily consists of a host computer and a laptop computer and is capable of searching for GSM user terminal information (such as mobile phone information) within a certain radius centered on it. It can also forcibly send fraudulent, promotional, and other spam text messages to user terminals, impersonating other people's information. Therefore, when the pseudo base station is operating, the user's signal will be forcibly connected to the device, causing not only the leakage of the user's data / information, but also the inability of the user to connect to the public network (i.e., the real network), affecting the user's normal communication.

[0113] 2. The systems involved in the embodiments of this application:

[0114] With the continuous development of mobile communication technology and network specifications, currently defined communication network standards include 5G, 4G, 3G, and 2G. Generally, the newer the technology, the higher its level or priority. Furthermore, network security for high-priority / high-level standards is stronger than that for low-priority / low-level standards. If a terminal device has access to both high-level and low-level standards, and if both high-level and low-level networks / cells / signals exist in the same space, the terminal device will prioritize access to the high-level standard.

[0115] In the embodiment of the present application, the high-level standard (also referred to as high standard, or high-priority standard) and the low-level standard (also referred to as low standard, or low-priority standard) can be divided according to the priority of the standard. The higher the priority, the higher the level. The high-level standard and the low-level standard can refer to two different types of standards currently defined, for example, the high-level standard is the 4G / 5G standard and the low-level standard is the 2G / 3G standard. They can also refer to two standards with different priorities under the same standard currently defined, such as the more fine-grained 4G standard 1 and 4G standard 2 under the 4G standard. If the priority of 4G standard 2 is higher than the priority of 4G standard 1, then 4G standard 2 is regarded as the high-level standard and 4G standard 1 is regarded as the low-level standard.

[0116] In the embodiments of the present application, the current 4G / 5G standard is not fixed as the high-level standard, nor is the current 2G / 3G standard fixed as the low-level standard. Instead, it can be flexibly set based on priority. For example, under normal circumstances, 4G / 5G is a high-level standard and 2G / 3G is a low-level standard. However, in a scenario where only 4G and 5G are available, 5G is the high-level standard and 4G is the low-level standard. In a scenario where only 2G and 3G are available, 3G is the high-level standard and 2G is the low-level standard.

[0117] In the embodiments of the present application, the priority of the standard can be set by the network or terminal manufacturer or the user. For example, a user considers that 5G package charges are more expensive, so he sets 4G as the high priority standard. At the same time, for the same terminal device, there may be overlap between the high priority and low priority standards.

[0118] In addition, when a terminal accesses a network of different standards, the access type adopted is also different. The access types of different standards involved in the embodiments of the present application may include NR (5G), 4G-E-UTRA, 3G-UTRAN, 2G-GERAN, and access types corresponding to future higher-standard networks (for example, the access type / extended access type corresponding to the sixth-generation 6G network). In the embodiments of the present application, high-priority access types and priority access types are defined. Similar to the above-mentioned communication network standards, high-priority access types correspond to high-priority standard communication networks, and low-priority access types correspond to low-priority standard communication networks.

[0119] 3. System information (also called system message):

[0120] System information is periodically broadcast by base stations in the downlink. It contains basic configuration information for the base station and key parameters of the air interface (Uu interface) protocol layer. Therefore, system information is crucial for UEs. After powering on (or being powered on) any mobile communication system UE must first read the system information for the cell before performing operations such as cell selection, reselection, and PLMN selection. 5G UEs are no exception.

[0121] The system information mainly includes the master information block (MIB), the system information block (SIB) and the positioning system information block. The master information block includes some of the most important and most frequently transmitted parameters that the terminal needs to obtain from the accessed cell, such as downlink bandwidth configuration, system frame number, etc.; the system information block includes multiple different information blocks. Taking system information block 1 as an example, it includes public land mobile network identification, tracking area number, cell identification, cell selection information, etc. The positioning system information block mainly includes positioning-related parameters, such as base station location, etc. Since the content in the positioning system information may change at any time as the terminal location changes, the system information used to calculate the hash value in this application only includes the master information block and / or system information block.

[0122] In view of the above-mentioned problem that terminal devices are currently vulnerable to attacks from pseudo base stations (non-real networks / malicious networks / non-secure networks), the present application provides a communication method that can prevent terminal devices from being attacked by non-real networks / malicious networks / non-secure networks, and effectively ensure the security of communication between terminal devices and real networks.

[0123] The embodiments of the present application may be applicable to a wireless communication system. The wireless communication system may comply with the wireless communication standards of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), or may comply with other wireless communication standards, such as the 802 series (such as 802.11, 802.15, or 802.20) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

[0124] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), general packet radio service (GPRS), enhanced data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), interim standard 95 CDMA (IS-95 CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), CDMA2000, time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), LTE, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, as well as 5G communication system and future communication system. Among them, LTE includes time division duplex LTE (LTE TDD, or TD-LTE) and frequency division duplex LTE (LTE FDD). It can also be applied to vehicle network communication systems and satellite communication systems.

[0125] Among them, the TD-SCDMA and WCDMA systems are the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a 3G mobile phone technology standard issued by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The UMTS network structure can be divided into the UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) and the core network (CN). In the UTRAN architecture, the radio access network (RAN) is divided into multiple radio network subsystems (RNSs). Each RNS includes a radio network controller (RNC) and one or more Node Bs (base stations). The RNC is responsible for allocating, reconfiguring, and releasing radio resources within the RNS. The Node B is a node with wireless transceiver capabilities that supports the air interface with wireless terminal devices within its cell and provides services to the cell. Node Bs and RNCs communicate via the Iub interface. RNCs can be interconnected via interfaces, including direct physical connections or virtual networks using any appropriate transport network.

[0126] Unless otherwise specified, 2G networks generally include GSM, CDMA, GPRS, EDGE, and IS-95CDMA. 3G networks generally include TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, CDMA2000, and CDMA2000 upgrades. 4G networks include Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. 5G networks include New Radio (NR). Currently, terminal devices can also support multiple networks, enabling roaming across multiple networks.

[0127] Figure 2 illustrates a possible, non-restrictive communication system architecture applicable to embodiments of the present application. As shown in Figure 2 , the communication system 2000 may include a wireless access network 100, wherein the wireless access network 100 may include at least one access network device (such as 110a, 110b, and 110c in Figure 2 ) and may also include at least one terminal device (such as 120a-120j in Figure 2 ). Figure 2 is merely a schematic diagram, and the communication system 2000 may also include a core network 200 and the Internet 300, as well as other communication devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices. The terminal device is connected to the access network device wirelessly. The access network device may be connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or wiredly. The core network device and each access network device in the core network 200 may be different physical devices, or the same physical device may integrate the core network logical functions and the wireless access network logical functions.

[0128] The network device provided in the embodiments of the present application may be an access network device, such as a base station, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation Node B (gNB) in a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, an access network device in an open radio access network (O-RAN or open RAN), a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. Alternatively, the network device may be a module or unit that performs part of the functions of a base station, for example, a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a centralized unit control plane (CU-CP) module, or a centralized unit user plane (CU-UP) module. The network device can be a satellite (such as 110a in Figure 2), a macro base station (such as 110b in Figure 2), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110c in Figure 2), a relay node or a donor node, etc. This application does not limit the specific communication technology and specific device form used by the network device. For ease of description, the following description uses a network device as an example.

[0129] It should be noted that in different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), or DU may have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the open radio access network (O-RAN) system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application takes CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0130] The terminal device provided in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a terminal, including but not limited to user equipment (UE), mobile station, or mobile terminal. The terminal device can be widely used in various communication scenarios. The scenarios include, but are not limited to, at least one of the following: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, or smart city. The terminal device may be a mobile phone (e.g., mobile phones 120a, 120d, 120f, 120j in FIG. 2 ), a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities (e.g., computer 120g in FIG. 2 ), a wearable device, a vehicle (e.g., 120b in FIG. 2 ), a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship (e.g., ship 120i in FIG. 2 ), a robot, a robotic arm, or a smart home device (e.g., printer 120h in FIG. 2 ). This application does not limit the specific communication technology and specific device form used by the terminal device. For ease of description, the following description uses a terminal device as an example.

[0131] The network equipment and / or terminal equipment can be fixed or movable. The network equipment and / or terminal equipment can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; or can be deployed on the water surface; or can be deployed on aircraft, balloons and artificial satellites in the air. This application does not limit the environment / scenario in which the network equipment and terminal equipment are located. The network equipment and terminal equipment can be deployed in the same or different environments / scenarios, for example, the network equipment and terminal equipment are deployed on land at the same time; or, the network equipment is deployed on land and the terminal equipment is deployed on water surface, etc., and no further examples are given.

[0132] In the embodiments of this application, the term "system" and "network" can be used interchangeably. The system architecture described in the embodiments of this application is intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that as network architecture evolves, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0133] The technical solution of this application is introduced below in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0134] The present application provides a communication method, which is applicable to, but not limited to, the communication system shown in FIG2 . The method can be executed by a terminal device or a network device; or the method can be executed by a component (module, chip, etc.) in the terminal device or the network device; or the method can be executed by a device that is used in conjunction with the terminal device or the network device. The present application does not specifically limit the specific form and quantity of the terminal device and the network device. Referring to FIG3A , the specific process of the method is as follows:

[0135] S301A: The network device sends a first message to the terminal device, where the first message is used to indicate a value for setting access information. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first message from the network device.

[0136] In a possible implementation, the first message is used to instruct that a power threshold corresponding to the first access type is set to a first preset value.

[0137] Exemplarily, the power threshold may be a minimum threshold of the reference signal received power RSRP when the UE reselects a serving cell. For example, the first preset value is 6, that is, the parameter ThershServingLowP=6dB.

[0138] In a possible implementation manner, the first message may be generated by the network device.

[0139] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an access network device or a core network device. If the first message is generated by the access network device and sent to the terminal device, the first message may be an access stratum (AS) message, such as a radio resource control setup RRC setup message, a radio resource control (RRC) reconstruction message, a radio resource control release RRC release message, a radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message, etc. If the first message is generated by the core network device and sent to the terminal device, the first message may be a non-access stratum (NAS) message, such as a registration accept message, a registration reject message, a protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment accept message, a protocol data unit (PDU) session modification accept message, etc.

[0140] System messages are key information for mobile terminal devices to connect to the network. System messages provide the terminal device with all the necessary information (parameters) required to access the network. The access information involved in the embodiments of the present application refers to the information or parameters required for the terminal device to connect (including access / switching / selection / reselection / residence) to the network in the system message. For example, the access information may be, but is not limited to, the power threshold corresponding to the access type and / or the frequency priority corresponding to the access type.

[0141] In one possible implementation, before receiving the first message from the network device, the terminal device sends its capability information to the network device. The capability information indicates that the terminal device supports setting a value for the access information. That is, for the access information, the terminal device may not use the value provided in the system information, but may instead support setting it to another preset value.

[0142] In an embodiment of the present application, if the destination reported by the terminal device is an access network device, the terminal device can carry its own capability information in an access layer AS message (such as an RRC establishment request message or an RRC control resource release request message) through the air interface to send it to the access network device. If the destination reported by the terminal device is a core network device, the terminal device can carry its own capability information in a non-access layer NAS message (such as a registration request message) to send it to the core network device.

[0143] In one possible implementation, the first message includes first indication information, which is used to instruct the terminal device to set the power threshold corresponding to the first access type to a first preset value. The first access type is a low-priority access type; illustratively, the first access type may be, but is not limited to, a second-generation radio access network (2G GERAN) or a third-generation universal mobile telecommunications system (3G UTRAN). This implementation prevents the terminal device from connecting to a low-priority network and being attacked by a non-authentic, malicious, or insecure network, effectively ensuring the security of the terminal device's communications.

[0144] In one embodiment, the first indication information is further used to indicate that the power threshold corresponding to the second access type is set to a second preset value. The second access type belongs to a high-priority access type; illustratively, the second access type may be, but is not limited to, the fourth-generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN or the fifth-generation new air interface 5G NR. The second access type may also be an access type corresponding to a future communication network, such as an access type corresponding to a sixth-generation 6G communication network / an extended access type of a 6G communication network. Through this embodiment, the terminal device can be more easily connected to a high-priority network, thereby ensuring the security of the terminal device's communication.

[0145] In a possible implementation, the first message may further include the first preset value and / or the second preset value.

[0146] S302A: The terminal device sets the value of the access information based on the first message.

[0147] In one implementation, the terminal device sets the power threshold corresponding to the first access type based on the first indication information in the first message, which may include but is not limited to the following methods:

[0148] Method 1: Based on the instruction of the first message, the terminal device sets the power threshold corresponding to the first access type to a first preset value (ie, a pre-set / agreed value).

[0149] Method 2: The first message includes the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type, that is, the first preset value. Then the terminal device can use the first preset value in the first message as the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type and set it.

[0150] In an embodiment of the present application, since the first access type is a low-priority access type, in order to prevent the terminal device from accessing / switching / selecting / reselecting / residing in the access network device / network of the first access type, which may cause security problems, the power threshold value corresponding to the access network device needs to be set to a relatively large value, that is, the first preset value should be a larger value.

[0151] In a possible embodiment, when the first indication information is also used to indicate that the power threshold value corresponding to the second access type is set to a second preset value, the terminal device can also set the power threshold corresponding to the second access type to a second preset value (i.e., a pre-set / agreed value) based on the first indication information.

[0152] If the first message includes the second preset value, the terminal device can use the second preset value in the first message as the power threshold value corresponding to the second access type and set it.

[0153] In an embodiment of the present application, since the second access type belongs to a high-priority access type, in order to enable the terminal device to access the access network device / network of the second access type more easily to ensure its security, the power threshold value corresponding to the second access type should be set to a relatively small value, that is, the second preset value should be a smaller value, which is equivalent to lowering the threshold for the terminal to access / switch / select / reselect / reside in the access network device / network of the second access type.

[0154] In addition, the system message provided (broadcast) by the network device usually includes the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type and / or the second access type. After receiving the first message from the network device (access network device or core network device), the terminal device will ignore (not use) the corresponding power threshold value provided in the system information, but flexibly set the power threshold value corresponding to the first access type and / or the power threshold value corresponding to the second access type according to the instructions of the network device.

[0155] In an embodiment of the present application, a network device (access network device / core network device) can flexibly instruct a terminal device to set a power threshold value corresponding to the first access type and / or a power threshold value corresponding to the second access type according to the actual situation of the first access type and / or the second access type, and this method can be applied to a random access process, a switching process, a reselection process, a selection process, a residency process, etc. of a terminal device. Through this method, the terminal device can be effectively instructed to preferentially access / switch / select / reselect / reside in a network device / network with a high priority (i.e., a higher security), and avoid accessing / switching / selecting / reselecting / residing in a network device / network with a low priority (i.e., a lower security), thereby ensuring the security of the terminal device.

[0156] In some embodiments, the first message may also include other indication information for instructing the terminal device to set the value of other access information, for example, for instructing the terminal device to set the value of the frequency priority corresponding to the first access type, and / or to set the value of the frequency priority corresponding to the second access type. How the terminal device sets the value of the frequency priority can be specifically implemented with reference to the above-mentioned method for the terminal device to set the value of the power threshold corresponding to the access type, and will not be described in detail here.

[0157] Regarding the frequency priority value, generally, a larger value indicates a higher priority, which is equivalent to a higher requirement / threshold for the terminal device to connect to the corresponding network; a smaller value indicates a lower priority, which is equivalent to a lower requirement / threshold for the terminal device to connect to the corresponding network; the opposite design is also possible, that is, a smaller value indicates a higher priority, which is equivalent to a higher requirement / threshold for the terminal device to connect to the corresponding network; a larger value indicates a lower priority, which is equivalent to a lower requirement / threshold for the terminal device to connect to the corresponding network. The values ​​of other access information set by the terminal device are similar to the values ​​of the power threshold corresponding to the access type. The values ​​of these access information will affect the possibility of the terminal device connecting to the corresponding network.

[0158] In an embodiment of the present application, if a network device may need to use multiple indication information to indicate to a terminal device the value of setting multiple access information, then the network device can carry these indication information in the same message to send to the terminal device, or carry them in different messages to send to the terminal device; the network device can be flexibly configured according to actual conditions, and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0159] In one possible implementation, the network device further sends a second instruction to the terminal device, instructing the terminal device to set the value of the access information based on the value in the system information. With this implementation, if the terminal device no longer needs to protect against attacks from unauthentic / malicious / insecure networks, the terminal device can use the system information broadcast by the network device to establish a network connection.

[0160] In summary, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, comprising: a terminal device receiving a first message from a network device, the first message being used to instruct the terminal device to set a value for access information; and the terminal device setting the value for the access information based on the first message. In this method, the network device instructs the terminal device to flexibly set the value for the access information, effectively preventing the terminal device from accessing a less secure network and subsequently being attacked by a non-authentic network, thereby preventing normal communication. This method effectively ensures the security of communication between the terminal device and the authentic network.

[0161] The present application also provides another communication method, which is also applicable to, but not limited to, the communication system shown in FIG2 . Furthermore, the execution entities for implementing the functions of the network device and the terminal device in this method can refer to FIG3A above and will not be described in detail here. Furthermore, the number of terminal devices and network devices corresponding to each other is not limited. Referring to FIG3B , the specific process of this method is as follows:

[0162] S301B: The network device sends a second message to the terminal device, where the second message includes first tracking area indication information and identification information of a first access type corresponding to the first tracking area.

[0163] In one possible implementation, the second message is used to indicate that the first access type is unavailable in the first tracking area. In the embodiment of the present application, the second message is used to indicate that the first access type is unavailable in the first tracking area, and can also be replaced by but not limited to the following expressions:

[0164] 1. The second message is used to instruct the terminal device to deactivate / disable the function corresponding to the first access type within the first tracking area;

[0165] 2. The second message is used to instruct the terminal device to disable the functional module corresponding to the first access type in the terminal device within the first tracking area;

[0166] 3. The second message is used to instruct the terminal device to ignore / not use the signals and system messages sent by the access network device of the first access type within the first tracking area.

[0167] In a possible implementation, the second message is generated by a network device.

[0168] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an access network device or a core network device. If the first message is generated by the access network device and the second message is sent to the terminal device, the second message may be an access layer (AS) message, such as a radio resource control RRC setup message, a radio resource control reestablishment RRC reestablishment message, a radio resource control release RRC release message, or a radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message. If the second message is generated by the core network device and the second message is sent to the terminal device, the second message may be a non-access layer (NAS) message, such as a registration accept message, a registration reject message, a protocol data unit PDU session establishment accept message, or a PDU session modification accept message.

[0169] In the above, the first tracking area indication information may be the address / identifier of the first tracking area, etc., or other information that can represent the first area, and this application does not make specific limitations on this. The first access type corresponding to the first tracking area may belong to a low-priority access type (or a low-security access type) or a high-priority access type, without limitation. Exemplarily, the first access type corresponding to the first tracking area may be a second-generation radio access network 2G GERAN, a third-generation universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 3G UTRAN, a fourth-generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN, a fifth-generation new air interface 5G NR, etc. The first access type may also be an access type corresponding to a future communication network, such as an access type corresponding to a sixth-generation 6G communication network / an extended access type of a 6G communication network.

[0170] In a possible implementation, the second message may also include second tracking area indication information (i.e., other tracking area indication information) and identification information of the second access type corresponding to the second tracking area. This application takes the first tracking area as an example to describe the solution. Similar to the first access type, the second access type corresponding to the second tracking area may also be, but not limited to, the second generation radio access network 2G GERAN, the third generation universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 3G UTRAN, the fourth generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN, and the fifth generation new air interface 5G NR. The second access type corresponding to the second tracking area may also be an access type corresponding to a future communication network, such as the access type corresponding to the sixth generation 6G communication network / the extended access type of the 6G communication network.

[0171] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device can send a second message to the terminal device, where the second message includes a tracking area identity (TAI) list (TAI list for short), which includes the addresses / IDs of one or more tracking areas and at least one access type ID corresponding to each tracking area.

[0172] Exemplarily, after the UE initiates a registration request to the core network, the core network sends a registration acceptance message to the UE. The registration acceptance message (equivalent to the second message described above) includes a list of registration areas (registration area list) (the list of registration areas is equivalent to the TAI list described above). The list of registration areas includes the addresses / IDs of one or more valid areas in which the UE is registered with the core network this time and at least one access type ID corresponding to each valid area. If the UE moves out of the registration area, the UE needs to re-initiate a registration request to the core network.

[0173] In one possible implementation, before the terminal device receives the second message from the network device, the method further includes: the terminal device sends the capability information of the terminal device to the network device, and the capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports starting / turning off (or activating / deactivating, or enabling / disabling) the function of the corresponding access type.

[0174] Exemplarily, if the network device is a core network device, then when initiating a registration process to the core network device, the terminal device may carry its own capability information in a registration request and send it to the core network device.

[0175] S302B: The terminal device determines, based on the second message, that the first access type is not available in the first tracking area.

[0176] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device determines, based on the second message, that the first access type is not available in the first tracking area, which may be replaced by, but not limited to, the following expressions:

[0177] 1. The terminal device deactivates / disables the function corresponding to the first access type within the first tracking area;

[0178] 2. The terminal device is within the first tracking area, and the functional module corresponding to the first access type in the terminal device is disabled;

[0179] 3. Within the first tracking area, the terminal device ignores / does not use the signals and system messages sent by the access network device of the first access type.

[0180] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device (access network device / core network device) can flexibly instruct the terminal device not to use the first access type in the first tracking area, and this method can be applied to but not limited to the random access process of the terminal device, the switching process, reselection process, selection process, and resident process of the access network device.

[0181] In an embodiment of the present application, when the terminal device receives a system message sent from the access network device of the first access type within the first tracking area, the terminal device will ignore or not use the system message.

[0182] In actual applications, the network device (access network device / core network device) can also indicate to the terminal device the access type corresponding to its tracking area (i.e., the second tracking area and the second access type corresponding to the second tracking area). The terminal device can refer to the method of processing the first access type corresponding to the first tracking area, and deactivate / disable / turn off / the corresponding access type function in other tracking areas. It will not be described in detail here.

[0183] In summary, an embodiment of the present application proposes another communication method, which includes: a terminal device receives a second message from a network device, the second message including first tracking area indication information and identification information of a first access type corresponding to the first tracking area, and then the terminal device can determine, based on the second cell, that the first access type is not available in the first tracking area. In this method, the network device (access network device / core network device) can flexibly indicate the target tracking area (such as the first tracking area) and the unusable access type in the target tracking area to the terminal device. This indication method can effectively avoid the terminal device from accessing / switching / reselecting / selecting / residing in a low-priority (lower security) network device, thereby effectively ensuring the security of the terminal device's communication with the real network.

[0184] Based on the communication method shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B , several specific embodiments are further described below.

[0185] Example 1:

[0186] Based on the solution described in FIG3A , in Example 1, using a base station gNB (or core network CN) as a network device and UE1 as an example terminal device, the base station gNB (or core network CN) instructs UE1 to set the values ​​of parameters P1 (e.g., ThershServing, LowP) and / or P2 (e.g., Q-RXLevMin) in a system message (parameters P1 and P2 are equivalent to the access information in the solution described in FIG3A ) to prevent UE1 from accessing a fake base station and being attacked. Referring to FIG4 , the process of Example 1 is as follows:

[0187] S401: UE1 sends its capability information to the gNB. The capability information is used to indicate that UE1 supports setting the value of parameter P1 and / or parameter P2 broadcast in the system message.

[0188] Exemplarily, UE1 may send the capability information to gNB via the air interface.

[0189] In this embodiment, parameter P1 (e.g., ThershServing, LowP) and / or parameter P2 (e.g., Q-RXLevMin) in the system message is used as a basis for determining whether UE1 can access / switching / reselecting / selecting / residing in a cell of the corresponding standard; that is, parameter P1 is a parameter used by UE1 to access / switching / reselecting / selecting / residing in a high-standard (e.g., 4G, 5G) base station / cell, and parameter P1 can be used to determine whether UE1 can access / switching / reselecting / selecting / residing in a high-standard (e.g., 4G, 5G) base station / cell. Parameter P2 is a parameter used by UE1 to access / switching / reselecting / selecting / residing in a low-standard (e.g., 2G, 3G) base station / cell, and parameter P2 can be used to determine whether UE1 can access / switching / reselecting / selecting / residing in a low-standard (e.g., 2G, 3G) base station / cell.

[0190] In a possible implementation, the capability information of UE1 can also be used to indicate that UE1 supports a solution for preventing attacks from fake base stations. In this embodiment, the solution for preventing attacks from fake base stations can be: UE1 ignores the values ​​of relevant parameters (i.e., parameter P1 and / or parameter P2) in the system message broadcast by the base station, but sets the value of parameter P1 (e.g., ThershServing, LowP) and / or the value of P2 (e.g., Q-RXLevMin) by UE1 itself to prevent access / switching / reselection / residence on a fake base station, thereby preventing attacks from fake base stations.

[0191] In this embodiment 1, the value of the parameter P1 corresponding to the high standard is set to a smaller value, such as 6dB, which is equivalent to lowering the threshold for UE1 to access / switch / reselect / select / reside in the base station / cell of the high standard, making it easier or preferential for UE1 to access / switch / reselect / select / reside in the base station / cell of the high standard. In addition, since UE1 is in a base station / cell of a low standard, it is very easy to be attacked by a pseudo base station / pseudo cell of a low standard. Therefore, in order to prevent UE1 from accessing / switching / reselecting / selecting / reside in a base station / cell of a low standard, it is necessary to increase the threshold for UE1 to access / switch / reselect / select / reside in the base station / cell of a low standard, that is, to set the value of the parameter P2 corresponding to the low standard to a larger value, such as -116dBm.

[0192] S402: The gNB sends a radio resource control release (RRC release) message to UE1. The message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct UE1 to set a value of parameter P1 and / or a value of parameter P2.

[0193] In S401-S402, UE1 reports its capability information to the gNB, and the gNB instructs UE1 to set the values ​​of P1 and / or P2. This is equivalent to the gNB controlling the switch of UE1's defense against counterfeit base station attacks. In this way, the gNB can instruct UE1 to take or not take the anti-counterfeit base station attack plan based on the actual situation.

[0194] In other embodiments, the CN may also control whether UE1 is protected from counterfeit base station attacks. In this case, after the gNB receives UE1's capability information in S401, the gNB also reports UE1's capability information to the CN (as indicated by the dashed line in FIG4 ). When the CN determines to enable UE1's protection from counterfeit base station attacks, it sends an indication (such as the first indication) to the gNB (as indicated by the dashed arrow in FIG4 ) to instruct UE1 to set the values ​​of parameters P1 and / or P2, or to instruct UE1 to implement or not implement a counterfeit base station attack protection plan. Furthermore, in S402, the gNB carries the indication sent by the CN in an RRC release message to UE1.

[0195] Alternatively, in the case where the CN controls the switch for UE1 to prevent counterfeit base station attacks, in the above S401, UE1 may carry the UE1 capability information in a NAS message (e.g., a registration request) and send it directly to the CN. Furthermore, when the CN determines to turn on the switch for UE1 to prevent counterfeit base station attacks, the CN carries the indication information in a NAS message (e.g., a registration accept) and then sends the NAS message directly to UE1. The indication information carried in the NAS message is used to instruct UE1 to set the value of parameter P1 and / or parameter P2, or to instruct UE1 to adopt / not adopt a solution for preventing counterfeit base station attacks.

[0196] S403: UE1 sets the value of parameter P1 and / or parameter P2 based on the first indication information.

[0197] In some embodiments, the first indication information instructs UE1 to adopt an anti-counterfeit base station attack solution or to enable an anti-counterfeit base station attack function, and UE1 adopts the above anti-counterfeit base station attack solution.

[0198] Specifically, UE1 ignores the values ​​of P1 and / or P2 in the system message broadcast by gNB, and instead chooses to set the values ​​of the parameters P1 and / or P2 to preset values ​​or default values.

[0199] Exemplarily, if the value of the preset parameter P1 (or the default value of P1) is a first value (for example, parameter ThershServing = x, where x is the preset value of ThershServing), and if the value of the preset parameter P2 (or the default value of P2) is a second value (for example, parameter Q-RXLevMin = y, where y is the preset value of Q-RXLevMin), then after receiving the first indication information, UE1 may set the value of parameter P1 in the system message to the first value, and / or set the value of parameter P2 in the system message to the second value. Subsequently, UE1 may perform access / switching / selection / reselection / residence processes based on the values ​​of P1 and / or P2.

[0200] In this first embodiment, in order to prevent the UE from accessing / switching / selecting / reselecting / residing on a base station / cell of a lower standard and being vulnerable to attacks by fake base stations, an anti-fake base station attack scheme is developed (i.e., instructing the UE to set the values ​​of parameters P1 and / or P2 in the system message); if the UE supports the use of this anti-fake base station attack scheme, the network device (i.e., gNB or CN) can control the execution of the scheme. Therefore, the network device (i.e., gNB or CN) can flexibly instruct the UE to turn on / off the anti-fake base station attack scheme (or instruct the UE whether to set the values ​​of parameters P1 and / or P2 in the system message) according to actual conditions. This method can not only effectively prevent the UE from being attacked by fake base stations, but also improve the flexibility of implementing the anti-fake base station attack scheme.

[0201] Example 2:

[0202] Compared with the above-mentioned embodiment 1, the main difference of this embodiment 2 is that when UE1 sets the values ​​of parameters P1 and / or P2, the values ​​of P1 and / or P2 do not use non-preset or default values, but come from the base station gNB (or core network CN). Referring to Figure 5, the process of this embodiment 2 is as follows:

[0203] S501: UE1 sends UE1's capability information to the gNB, where the capability information is used to indicate that UE1 supports setting the values ​​of parameters P1 (e.g., ThershServing, LowP) and / or P2 (e.g., Q-RXLevMin) broadcast in system messages.

[0204] The specific implementation of step 501 can refer to the specific implementation of step S401 above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0205] S502: The gNB sends a radio resource control release (RRC release) message to UE1. The message carries first indication information and the value x of parameter P1 and / or the value y of parameter P2. The first indication information is used to instruct UE1 to set the value of parameter P1 and / or parameter P2.

[0206] The specific implementation method of step 502 can refer to the specific implementation method of the above S402, but different from the above S402, the RRC release message in S502 also includes the value of the parameter P1 (for example, ThershServing=x, then x is the value of ThershServing) and / or the value of the parameter P2 (for example, Q-RXLevMin=y, then y is the value of Q-RXLevMin).

[0207] Furthermore, if the CN controls the switch for UE1 to prevent counterfeit base station attacks, the value x of parameter P1 and / or the value y of parameter P2 originate from the CN. Optionally, the first indication information also originates from the CN (as indicated by the dotted line in Figure 5 ), i.e., it is first sent by the CN to the gNB, which then carries the value x of parameter P1 and / or the value y of parameter P2 and the first indication information in an RRC release message and sends it to UE1. Alternatively, the CN may carry the value x of parameter P1 and / or the value y of parameter P2 and the first indication information in a NAS message (e.g., a registration accept message) and send it directly to UE1 without passing through the gNB.

[0208] In this embodiment, the first indication information can be generated by the gNB or by the CN, and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0209] S503: UE1 sets the value of parameter P1 to x, and / or sets the value of parameter P2 to y.

[0210] The specific implementation of step 503 can refer to the specific implementation of step S403 above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0211] In this second embodiment, the network device (i.e., gNB or CN) can flexibly instruct the UE to turn on / off the anti-fake base station attack scheme (or instruct the UE whether to set the value of parameter P1 and / or parameter P2 in the system message) according to actual conditions, and provide the value of parameter P1 and / or parameter P2 to the UE for setting, thereby effectively preventing the UE from being attacked by a fake base station and improving the flexibility of implementing the anti-fake base station attack scheme.

[0212] Example 3:

[0213] Based on the solution described in FIG3B above, in this third embodiment, the core network CN provides UE1 with at least one tracking area and at least one standard that is unavailable in the area to prevent UE1 from being attacked by a fake base station. Referring to FIG6 , the process of this third embodiment is as follows:

[0214] S601a: UE1 sends its capability information to the gNB. The capability information indicates that UE1 supports deactivating / disabling / turning off the corresponding standard function within the tracking area indicated by the gNB.

[0215] Exemplarily, UE1 may send the capability information to gNB via the air interface.

[0216] In one possible implementation, the capability information of UE1 can also be used to indicate that UE1 supports a solution for preventing fake base station attacks. In an embodiment of the present application, the solution for preventing fake base station attacks can be: CN indicates to UE1 that one or more corresponding standards cannot be used within the specified tracking area. This can prevent UE1 from accessing / switching / selecting / reselecting / residing in a fake base station / pseudo cell under the standard within the specified tracking area, thereby preventing UE1 from being attacked.

[0217] S601b: gNB sends UE1's capability information to CN.

[0218] In this embodiment, UE1 may also choose to carry UE1's capability information in a NAS message (e.g., a registration request message), and send the NAS message carrying UE1's capability information directly to the CN without being forwarded by the gNB.

[0219] S602a: The CN sends a tracking area identifier list (TAI list) to the gNB. The list includes the identifier of at least one tracking area and the identifier of at least one unavailable standard in each tracking area.

[0220] Exemplarily, when CN turns on the switch for UE1 to prevent fake base station attacks, it can determine at least one tracking area for UE1. The at least one tracking area can be the registration area of ​​UE1, or it can be a subset of the registration area of ​​UE1 (that is, at least one sub-area within the registration area of ​​UE1), and determine one or more standards that UE1 cannot use within each tracking domain. See Table 1, which is the TAI list configured by the core network for UE1. The TAI list includes three tracking areas identified as 1, 2, and 3. The unavailable standard for tracking area 1 is 2G, the unavailable standard for tracking area 2 is 2G and 3G, and the unavailable standard for tracking area 3 is 2G, 3G, and 4G.

[0221] Table 1

[0222] The above Table 1 is only an example. In actual applications, the TAI list sent by the CN to the UE1 may contain more or less information.

[0223] In this embodiment, the CN may also carry the TAI list in the NAS message and send it directly to UE1 without being forwarded by the gNB (as indicated by the dotted arrow in FIG6 ).

[0224] S602b: gNB sends the tracking area identifier list TAI list to UE1.

[0225] S603: When UE1 determines that it is located within the tracking area in the TAI list, the corresponding system cannot be used.

[0226] For example, CN indicates that UE1 is unavailable in tracking area 1 of the 2G network, while UE1 is capable of accessing the 2G network; when UE1 is within the tracking area 1, UE1 turns off its own 2G module or deactivates / disables its own 2G function.

[0227] In this embodiment three, an anti-fake base station attack scheme is formulated for the UE (i.e., CN indicates to UE1 that the corresponding one or more standards cannot be used in the specified tracking area). When the UE supports the use of this anti-fake base station attack scheme, CN flexibly indicates to the UE some standards that are unavailable within some geographical ranges, thereby effectively preventing the UE from accessing / switching / selecting / selecting / reselecting / residing in base stations / cells with security risks when entering these geographical ranges, thereby effectively preventing the UE from being attacked by fake base stations.

[0228] Regarding the above-mentioned embodiments 1 to 3, it should be noted that:

[0229] (1) The above-mentioned embodiments 1 to 3 may be implemented separately or in combination, without any specific limitation. For example, embodiment 1 or embodiment 2 may be combined with the solution of embodiment 3, that is, when the network device instructs UE1 to set the value of parameter P1 and / or parameter P2, it may also provide UE1 with at least one tracking area and at least one standard that is unavailable in the area. This embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0230] (2) The above description focuses on the differences between Examples 1 to 3. Except for the differences, Examples 1 to 3 can refer to each other.

[0231] (3) The step numbers in the flowcharts described in Examples 1 to 3 are merely examples of the execution process and do not limit the order in which the steps are executed. In the embodiments of this application, there is no strict execution order for steps that have no temporal dependencies. Furthermore, not all steps shown in the flowcharts are mandatory steps, and steps may be added or deleted based on actual needs.

[0232] In the embodiments provided in the present application, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of interaction between various devices. In order to implement the various functions in the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device or network device may include a hardware structure and / or a software module to implement the above functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether a function of the above functions is executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0233] The division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0234] Similar to the above concept, as shown in FIG7 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 700 for implementing the functions of the terminal device or network device in the above method. For example, the communication device 700 may be a software module or a chip system. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices. The communication device 700 may include: a communication unit 701 and a processing unit 702.

[0235] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication unit 701 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, and may include a sending unit and / or a receiving unit, each configured to execute the steps of sending and receiving by the network device or terminal device in the above method embodiments. The processing unit 702 may be configured to read instructions and / or data from the storage module to enable the communication device 700 to implement the above method embodiments.

[0236] Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include a storage unit 703 , which is equivalent to a storage module and may be used to store instructions and / or data.

[0237] The communication device provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with Figures 7 and 8. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, for matters not described in detail, reference can be made to the method embodiments described in Figures 3A-3B and Figures 4 to 6 above, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0238] Communication unit 701 may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver device. A processing unit may also be referred to as a processor, processing board, processing module, or processing device. Alternatively, the device in communication unit 701 that implements the receiving function may be considered a receiving unit, and the device in communication unit 701 that implements the transmitting function may be considered a transmitting unit. That is, communication unit 701 includes both a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. A communication unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver circuit. A receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, receiver, or receiving circuit. A transmitting unit may also be referred to as a transmitter, transmitter, or transmitting circuit.

[0239] When the communication device 700 executes the terminal device in the process shown in Figure 3A of the above embodiment: the communication unit 701 is used to receive a first message from a network device, and the first message is used to instruct the terminal device to set the value of the access information; the processing unit 702 is used to set the value of the access information based on the first message.

[0240] When the communication device 700 executes the network device in the process shown in Figure 3A of the above embodiment: the processing unit 702 is used to generate a first message, and the first message is used to instruct the terminal device to set the value of the access information; the communication unit 701 is used to send the first message to the terminal device.

[0241] When the communication device 700 executes the terminal device in the process shown in Figure 3B of the above embodiment: the communication unit 701 is used to receive a second message from the network device, and the second message includes first tracking area indication information and identification information of the first access type corresponding to the first tracking area; the processing unit 702 is used to determine, based on the second message, that the first access type is not available in the first tracking area.

[0242] When the communication device 700 executes the network device in the process shown in Figure 3B of the above embodiment: the processing unit 702 is used to generate a second message, the second message includes first tracking area indication information and identification information of the first access type corresponding to the first tracking area; the communication unit 701 is used to send the second message to the terminal device.

[0243] The above are just examples. The processing unit 702 and the communication unit 701 can also perform other functions. For more detailed descriptions, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in Figures 3A-3B and Figures 4 to 6, which are not repeated here.

[0244] FIG8 shows a communication device 800 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device shown in FIG8 may be a hardware circuit implementation of the communication device shown in FIG7 . The communication device 800 can be applied to the flowchart shown above to perform the functions of the terminal device or network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. For ease of illustration, FIG8 only shows the main components of the communication device.

[0245] As shown in Figure 8, communication device 800 includes a communication interface 801 and a processor 802. Communication interface 801 and processor 802 are coupled to each other. It is understood that communication interface 801 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface, or an interface circuit such as a transceiver circuit. Optionally, communication device 800 can also include a memory 803 for storing instructions executed by processor 802, input data required by processor 802 to execute instructions, or data generated by processor 802 after executing instructions.

[0246] Exemplarily, when the communication device 800 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 3A to FIG. 3B , the communication interface 801 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned communication unit 701 , and the processor 802 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit 702 .

[0247] The specific connection medium between the communication interface 801, processor 802, and memory 803 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 8, the embodiment of the present application shows that the memory 803, processor 802, and communication interface 801 are connected via a communication bus 804. The communication bus 804 is represented by a bold line in Figure 8. The connection methods between other components are only for schematic illustration and are not limiting. The communication bus 804 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one bold line is used in Figure 8, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0248] When the communication device is a chip, FIG9 shows a simplified schematic diagram of the chip structure, wherein the chip 900 includes an interface circuit 901 and one or more processors 902. Optionally, the chip 900 may further include a bus.

[0249] The processor 902 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above-mentioned communication method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor 902 or instructions in the form of software. The above-mentioned processor 902 can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The various methods and steps disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0250] The interface circuit 901 can be used to send or receive data, instructions or information. The processor 902 can use the data, instructions or other information received by the interface circuit 901 to process it, and can send the processing completion information through the interface circuit 901.

[0251] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory 903, which may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provides operating instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory 903 may also include a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).

[0252] Optionally, the memory stores an executable software module or a data structure, and the processor can perform corresponding operations by calling an operation instruction stored in the memory (the operation instruction may be stored in an operating system).

[0253] Optionally, the chip can be used in a terminal device or network device involved in the embodiments of the present application. Optionally, the interface circuit 901 can be used to output the execution result of the processor 902. For the communication method provided in one or more embodiments of the present application, reference can be made to the aforementioned embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0254] It should be noted that the corresponding functions of the interface circuit 901 and the processor 902 can be implemented through hardware design, software design, or a combination of hardware and software, which is not limited here.

[0255] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium on which computer instructions for implementing the method executed by a terminal device or a network device in the above method embodiment are stored.

[0256] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method performed by the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0257] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method executed by the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0258] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip, including a processor, for calling the computer program or computer instructions stored in the memory so that the processor executes the communication method of the embodiments shown in the above-mentioned Figures 3A-3B and Figures 4 to 6.

[0259] In one possible implementation, the input of the chip corresponds to the receiving operation in the embodiments shown in 3A-3B and Figures 4 to 6 above, and the output of the chip corresponds to the sending operation in the embodiments shown in 3A-3B and Figures 4 to 6 above.

[0260] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0261] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory in which computer programs or computer instructions are stored.

[0262] The processor mentioned in any of the above may be a general-purpose central processing unit, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of a program of a communication method according to the embodiments shown in Figures 3A to 3B and Figures 4 to 6. The memory mentioned in any of the above may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0263] It should be noted that, for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the communication devices provided above may refer to the corresponding communication method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0264] In the present application, the communication devices may further include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer may include hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory). The operating system of the operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as the Linux operating system, Unix operating system, Android operating system, iOS operating system, or Windows operating system. The application layer may include applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

[0265] The division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0266] Through the description of the above embodiments, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, the above functions can be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, wherein the communication media include any medium that facilitates the transmission of a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. For example, but not limited to: a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store a desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection can be appropriately a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium. As used in the embodiments of the present application, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs use lasers to reproduce data optically. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of protection of computer-readable media.

[0267] In short, the above description is only an embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made based on the disclosure of the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a terminal device or a chip of the terminal device, and includes: Receiving a first message from a network device, where the first message is used to instruct the terminal device to set a value of access information; Based on the first message, a value of the access information is set.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Before receiving the first message from the network device, the method further includes: sending capability information of the terminal device to the network device, where the capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports setting a value of the access information.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The access information is information in a system message, and the access information is one or more of the following: The power threshold corresponding to the access type and the frequency priority corresponding to the access type.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first message includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to set the power threshold corresponding to the first access type to a first preset value.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The first indication information is further used to indicate that the power threshold corresponding to the second access type is set to a second preset value.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The first message also includes the first preset value and / or the second preset value.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: The first access type belongs to a low priority access type, and the first access type is one or more of the following: The second generation radio access network 2G GERAN, the third generation universal mobile communication system terrestrial radio access network 3G UTRAN; The second access type belongs to a high priority access type, and the second access type is one or more of the following: The fourth-generation evolved universal mobile communications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN and the fifth-generation new air interface 5G NR.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to set the value of the access information according to the value in the system message.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The first message is an access layer AS message or a non-access layer NAS message; The access layer AS message is any one of the following: Radio resource control establishment RRC setup message, radio resource control reconstruction RRC reestablishment message, radio resource control release RRC release message, radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message; The non-access layer NAS message is any one of the following: Registration accept message, registration reject message, protocol data unit PDU session establishment accept message, PDU session modification accept message.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a terminal device or a chip of the terminal device, and includes: receiving a second message from a network device, wherein the second message includes first tracking area indication information and identification information of a first access type corresponding to the first tracking area; Based on the second message, it is determined that the first access type is not available in the first tracking area.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further includes: sending capability information of the terminal device to the network device, where the capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports starting or shutting down a function of a corresponding access type.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: The method also includes: within the first tracking area, shutting down a functional module corresponding to the first access type or ignoring a signal and a system message corresponding to the first access type.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 11, characterized in that The second message also includes second tracking area indication information and identification information of a second access type corresponding to the second tracking area.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that The first access type or the second access type is one or more of the following: The second-generation radio access network 2G GERAN, the third-generation universal mobile communications system terrestrial radio access network 3G UTRAN, the fourth-generation evolved universal mobile communications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN, and the fifth-generation new air interface 5G NR.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that The second message is an access layer AS message or a non-access layer NAS message; The access layer AS message is any one of the following: Radio resource control establishment RRC setup message, radio resource control reconstruction RRC reestablishment message, radio resource control release RRC release message, radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message; The non-access layer NAS message is any one of the following: Registration accept message, registration reject message, protocol data unit PDU session establishment accept message, PDU session modification accept message.

16. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a network device or a chip of the network device, and includes: Generate a first message, where the first message is used to instruct the terminal device to set a value of access information; Sending the first message to the terminal device.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The method further includes: receiving capability information of the terminal device, wherein the capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports setting a value of the access information.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that The access information is information in a system message, and the access information is one or more of the following: The power threshold corresponding to the access type and the frequency priority corresponding to the access type.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The first message includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to set the power threshold corresponding to the first access type to a first preset value.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The first indication information is further used to indicate that the power threshold corresponding to the second access type is set to a second preset value.

21. The method according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that The first message also includes the first preset value and / or the second preset value.

22. The method according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that The first access type belongs to a low priority access type, and the first access type is one or more of the following: The second generation radio access network 2G GERAN, the third generation universal mobile communication system terrestrial radio access network 3G UTRAN; The second access type belongs to a high priority access type, and the second access type is one or more of the following: The fourth-generation evolved universal mobile communications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN and the fifth-generation new air interface 5G NR.

23. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 22, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending second indication information to the terminal device, wherein the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to set the value of the access information according to the value in the system message.

24. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 23, characterized in that The first message is an access layer AS message or a non-access layer NAS message; The access layer AS message is any one of the following: Radio resource control establishment RRC setup message, radio resource control reconstruction RRC reestablishment message, radio resource control release RRC release message, radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message; The non-access layer NAS message is any one of the following: Registration accept message, registration reject message, protocol data unit PDU session establishment accept message, PDU session modification accept message.

25. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a network device or a chip of the network device, and includes: generating a second message, wherein the second message includes first tracking area indication information and identification information of a first access type corresponding to the first tracking area; Send the second message to the terminal device.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The method further includes: receiving capability information of the terminal device, where the capability information of the terminal device is used to indicate that the terminal device supports starting or shutting down a function of a corresponding access type.

27. The method according to claim 25 or 26, characterized in that The second message also includes second tracking area indication information and identification information of a second access type corresponding to the second tracking area.

28. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 27, characterized in that The first access type or the second access network type is one or more of the following: The second generation radio access network 2G GERAN, the third generation universal mobile communication system terrestrial radio access network 3G UTRAN, the fourth generation The most advanced universal mobile communications system terrestrial radio access network 4G E-UTRAN and the fifth-generation new air interface 5G NR.

29. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 28, characterized in that The second message is an access layer AS message or a non-access layer NAS message; The access layer AS message is any one of the following: Radio resource control establishment RRC setup message, radio resource control reconstruction RRC reestablishment message, radio resource control release RRC release message, radio resource control reconfiguration RRC reconfiguration message; The non-access layer NAS message is any one of the following: Registration accept message, registration reject message, protocol data unit PDU session establishment accept message, PDU session modification accept message.

30. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising a module or unit for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, or comprising a module or unit for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 15, or comprising a module or unit for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 24, or comprising a module or unit for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 29.

31. A communication device, characterized in that: The invention comprises a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor is used to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 through a logic circuit or execute code instructions, or to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 15, or to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 24, or to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 29.

32. A communication system, characterized in that: include: A terminal device that executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 15, and a network device that executes the method as described in any one of claims 16 to 29.

33. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or an instruction, and when the computer program or the instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 29 is implemented.

34. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product stores computer-readable instructions, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 29 is executed.

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