Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus applied to the field of communications. In the technical solution provided in the present application, a UPF entity is selected for a first service on the basis of a service type of the service, and the selected UPF entity should be a UPF entity capable of supporting the service type. In the technical solution provided in the present application, the UPF entity selected for the service on the basis of the service type of the service can support the service of the service type, so that when the selected UPF entity transmits a data stream of the service, the service requirement of the service can be better met.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on September 26, 2023, with application number 202311260340.3 and application name “Communication Method and Communication Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0003] With the rise of digital technology and the gradual deployment of fifth-generation mobile communication systems (5G), high-bandwidth, low-latency network services (such as extended reality (XR)) will gradually penetrate homes, government, and enterprise sectors as digital transformation progresses, placing greater demands on network bandwidth and low latency. Extended reality (XR) services refer to those involving XR technologies, which include virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR).

[0004] Therefore, when communication systems provide network services for large-bandwidth, low-latency network services, how to meet the bandwidth and latency requirements of such services has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device, so that the UPF entity selected for a service can better meet the service requirements of the service when transmitting the data stream of the service. For example, when the service is a high-bandwidth, low-latency network service, the network requirements for bandwidth and latency of the service can be met.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a first network device, and the method includes: determining a service type of a first service; selecting a first user plane function UPF entity for the first service, and the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the service type.

[0008] As an example, the first network device may be a session management function (SMF) entity, or a chip system, hardware circuit and / or software module applied to the SMF entity. This application will be described uniformly with reference to the SMF entity.

[0009] As an example, the first network device may be a user plane function (UPF) entity, or a chip system, hardware circuit and / or software module applied to a UPF entity. This application is uniformly described in terms of the UPF entity.

[0010] As an example, the first service may be a high-bandwidth, low-latency service, such as an extended reality (XR) service.

[0011] This technical solution selects a first UPF entity for the first service based on the service type of the first service, so that the communication system can meet the service requirements of this type of service when providing network services for the first service.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, selecting the first UPF entity for the first service includes: selecting the first UPF entity for the first service based on first information, wherein the first information is used to indicate one or more UPF entities that support the service type.

[0013] Optionally, the first information may explicitly or implicitly indicate one or more UPF entities supporting the first service type, which is not specifically limited in this application. The first service type may be understood as the service type of the first service.

[0014] In this implementation, a first UPF entity may be selected from one or more UPF entities supporting the first service type.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information includes at least one sub-information, the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity, and each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate the service type supported by the corresponding UPF entity.

[0016] As an example, the first information may include three sub-information: sub-information A corresponds to UPF entity A, sub-information B corresponds to UPF entity B, and sub-information C corresponds to UPF entity C. Sub-information A is used to indicate that the service type supported by UPF entity A is the first service type, sub-information B is used to indicate that the service type supported by UPF entity B is the second service type, and sub-information C is used to indicate that the service type supported by UPF entity C is the first service type. This allows the first information to implicitly indicate the UPF entities that support the first service type, namely, UPF entity A and UPF entity B.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information includes at least one sub-information, the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity, and each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate that the corresponding UPF entity supports the service type.

[0018] As an example, the sub-information may be a simple identification information used to indicate whether the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information supports the first service type. For example, when the sub-information is "0", it is considered that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information does not support the first service type; when the sub-information is "1", it is considered that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information supports the first service type; for another example, when the sub-information is "1", it is considered that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information does not support the first service type; when the sub-information is "0", it is considered that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information supports the first service type.

[0019] In this implementation, the first information may implicitly indicate the UPF entity that supports the first service type.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information includes an identifier of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities.

[0021] In this implementation, the first information may explicitly indicate the UPF entity that supports the first service type.

[0022] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information also includes at least one item of the following information of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities: computing power usage, computing power remaining, or location information.

[0023] In this implementation, after determining the UPF entity supporting the first service type, if there are more than one UPF entity supporting the first service type, the first UPF entity may be determined based on the principle of optimal computing power and / or the principle of optimal path. Optimal computing power can be understood as the UPF entity having the largest remaining computing power, and optimal path can be understood as when a terminal device establishes a connection with an application server (AS) entity, the first path between the UPF entity and the terminal device is the shortest, or the second path between the UPF entity and the AS entity is the shortest, or the sum of the first path and the second path is the smallest.

[0024] In this implementation method, the first UPF entity can be selected for the first service based on at least one of the computing power usage, computing power remaining and location information of the UPF entity, so that the selected first UPF entity is more suitable for the first service.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: sending second information to a network storage function NRF entity, where the second information is used to indicate the service type; and receiving the first information from the NRF entity.

[0026] Optionally, the second information can be carried in the UPF discovery request message.

[0027] Optionally, when indicating the first service type, the second information may indicate the first service type explicitly or implicitly, just like the first information.

[0028] In this implementation, the first network device may obtain the first information by accessing a network repository function (NRF) entity.

[0029] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first information is configured in the first network device.

[0030] In this implementation, the first information may be pre-configured on the first network device.

[0031] As an example, when the first network device is an SMF entity, the UPF entity can send network access information such as the UPF entity's location information, remaining computing power, computing power usage, and supported service types to the SMF entity when registering on the network; the SMF entity can implement local configuration of the first information based on the network access information received from the UPF entity, thereby eliminating the need to access the NRF entity to obtain the first information, saving resources.

[0032] As an example, when the first network device is a UPF entity, the UPF entity can obtain information such as the location information, remaining computing power, computing power usage, and supported service types of each UPF entity in the first area, and implement local configuration of the first information based on the obtained information, so that there is no need to access the NRF entity to obtain the first information, saving resources. The first area is the service area of ​​the SMF entity or an area of ​​other specific range.

[0033] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the service type is indicated by at least one of the following information: an identifier of the service type, a slice type of a network slice supporting the service type, or service characteristics of a service data flow of the service type.

[0034] As an example, if the first service is an XR service, the first service type identifier may be an identifier of the XR service.

[0035] As an example, if the first service is an XR service, the slice type of the network slice supporting the first service type may be a high bandwidth and low latency slice (high data rate and low latency communication, HDLLC).

[0036] For example, if the first service is an XR service, the service characteristics of the service data flow of the first service include at least one of the following: the service traffic of the first service is greater than or equal to a traffic threshold, the first service is periodic, the first service is jittery, and the service data of the first service includes protocol data unit set (PDU set) information. The PDU set information includes the importance of the PDU set, the sequence number of the PDU set, and the size of the PDU set.

[0037] In this implementation, the second information may indicate the first service type through the service characteristics of the first service; or, the second information may indicate the first service type through the service type identifier of the first service; or, the second information may indicate the first service type through the slice type of the network slice supporting the first service.

[0038] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the at least one information includes the identifier, the first UPF entity is the UPF entity associated with the identifier; or, when the at least one information includes the slice type, the first UPF entity is the UPF entity that supports the slice type; or, when the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes periodicity, the first UPF entity is the UPF entity that supports the periodicity identification function of the service data flow; or, when the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes jitter, the first UPF entity is the UPF entity that supports the jitter identification function of the service data flow; or, when the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes a protocol data unit data set PDU set as the scheduling granularity, the first UPF entity is the UPF entity that supports the identification function of the PDU set information and uses PDU set is a UPF entity with a scheduling granularity; or, when the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes a service flow greater than or equal to a flow threshold, the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the function of forwarding service data flows greater than or equal to the flow threshold; or, when the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes encrypted service data, the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the function of identifying encrypted flow information of service data.

[0039] This implementation method provides a correspondence between a service type and a UPF entity function, thereby making the selected first UPF entity more suitable for the first service.

[0040] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method also includes: receiving a first message, the first message including a session establishment request message, a UPF entity switching request message or a policy message, the first message including third information, the third information indicating the service type; determining the service type of the first service includes: determining the service type based on the third information.

[0041] As an example, when the first message is a session establishment request, the third information may indicate the first service type by the slice type of the network slice supporting the first service. The first network device is an SMF entity, and the SMF entity receives the session establishment request from the terminal device.

[0042] As an example, when the first message is a UPF entity switching request message, the third information may indicate the first service type through a first service type identifier and / or a service characteristic of a service data flow of the first service. Wherein, the first network device is an SMF entity, and the SMF entity receives the UPF entity switching request message from the UPF entity.

[0043] As an example, when the first message is a policy message, the third information may indicate the first service type through a first service type identifier and / or a service characteristic of a service data flow of the first service. The first network device is an SMF entity, and the SMF entity receives the policy message from a policy control function (PCF) entity.

[0044] Optionally, the information contained in the second information and the third information may be consistent or inconsistent, and this application does not impose any specific restrictions on this.

[0045] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, determining the service type of the first service includes: obtaining a service data flow of the first service; and determining the service type according to service characteristics of the service data flow.

[0046] The method can be executed by a UPF entity, and the UPF entity can obtain the service data flow of the first service from the AS entity, and determine the first service type based on the service characteristics of the service data flow.

[0047] In the second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to an NRF entity, and the method includes: receiving second information from a first network device, where the second information is used to indicate a service type of a first service; and sending first information to the first network device, where the first information is used to indicate one or more UPF entities that support the service type.

[0048] Exemplarily, the second information may be carried in the UPF discovery request message.

[0049] Exemplarily, the first service may be a high-bandwidth, low-latency service, such as an XR service.

[0050] Exemplarily, the second information may indicate the first service type by a service characteristic of the first service; or, the second information may indicate the first service type by a service type identifier of the first service; or, the second information may indicate the first service type by a slice type of a network slice supporting the first service. The first service type may be understood as the service type of the first service.

[0051] Optionally, the first information may explicitly or implicitly indicate one or more UPF entities supporting the first service type, without specific limitation herein.

[0052] In this technical solution, after receiving the second information sent by the first network device, the NRF entity can send the first information to the first network device, so that the first network device can select the first UPF entity for the first service based on the first information.

[0053] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first information includes at least one sub-information, the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity, and each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate the service type supported by the corresponding UPF entity.

[0054] As an example, the first information may include three sub-information: sub-information A corresponds to UPF entity A, sub-information B corresponds to UPF entity B, and sub-information C corresponds to UPF entity C. Sub-information A is used to indicate that the service type supported by UPF entity A is the first service type, sub-information B is used to indicate that the service type supported by UPF entity B is the second service type, and sub-information C is used to indicate that the service type supported by UPF entity C is the first service type, so that the first information can implicitly indicate the UPF entities that support the first service type, namely, UPF entity A and UPF entity B.

[0055] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first information includes at least one sub-information, the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity, and each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate that the corresponding UPF entity supports the service type.

[0056] As an example, the sub-information may be a simple identification information used to indicate whether the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information supports the first service type. For example, when the sub-information is "0", it is considered that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information does not support the first service type; when the sub-information is "1", it is considered that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information supports the first service type; for another example, when the sub-information is "1", it is considered that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information does not support the first service type; when the sub-information is "0", it is considered that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information supports the first service type.

[0057] In this implementation, the first information may implicitly indicate the UPF entity that supports the first service type.

[0058] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first information includes an identifier of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities.

[0059] In this implementation, the first information may explicitly indicate the UPF entity that supports the first service type.

[0060] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first information also includes at least one item of the following information of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities: computing power usage, computing power remaining, or location information.

[0061] In this implementation, the NRF entity can also send at least one of the UPF entity's computing power usage, computing power remaining status and location information to the first network device, so that the first network device can select the first UPF entity based on at least one piece of information of the UPF entity, thereby making the selected first UPF entity more suitable for the first service.

[0062] In the third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a UPF entity, and the method includes: obtaining a service data flow of a first service; determining the service type of the first service based on the service characteristics of the service data flow; and sending a UPF entity switching request message to an SMF entity, wherein the UPF entity switching request message includes third information, and the third information is used to indicate the service type.

[0063] Exemplarily, the first service may be a high-bandwidth, low-latency service, such as an XR service.

[0064] As an example, the UPF entity may be a UPF entity in a PDU session established in the terminal device.

[0065] As an example, the third information may indicate the first service type through a service feature of the first service; or the third information may indicate the first service type through a service type identifier of the first service. The first service type may be understood as the service type of the first service.

[0066] In this technical solution, the UPF entity can determine the service type of the first service based on the service characteristics of the acquired service data flow, and when the UPF entity in the current PDU session cannot meet the service requirements of the first service, the UPF entity can send a UPF entity switching request message to the SMF entity to instruct the SMF entity to reselect the first UPF entity for the first service and switch the UPF entity in the current PDU session to the first UPF entity.

[0067] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a PCF entity, and the method includes: receiving indication information from an application function (AF) entity, wherein the indication information is used to indicate the service characteristics of a first service; and sending a policy message to an SMF entity based on the indication information, wherein the policy message includes third information, and the third information is used to indicate the service type of the first service.

[0068] Exemplarily, the first service may be a high-bandwidth, low-latency service, such as an XR service.

[0069] As an example, the third information may indicate the first service type through a service feature of the first service; or the third information may indicate the first service type through a service type identifier of the first service. The first service type may be understood as the service type of the first service.

[0070] In this technical solution, the PCF entity may convert the instruction information from the AF entity into a policy message and transmit the policy message to the SMF entity. The SMF entity may determine the service type of the first service based on the policy message.

[0071] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes modules for implementing the method in the first aspect or any one of the implementation methods, and each module can be implemented in the form of hardware and / or software.

[0072] For example, the apparatus may include: a processing module configured to determine a service type of a first service; and further configured to select a first UPF entity for the first service, where the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the service type.

[0073] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the processing module is further used to select the first UPF entity for the first service based on first information, where the first information is used to indicate one or more UPF entities that support the service type.

[0074] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the first information includes at least one sub-information, the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity, and each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate the service type supported by the corresponding UPF entity.

[0075] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the first information includes at least one sub-information, the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity, and each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate that the corresponding UPF entity supports the service type.

[0076] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the first information includes an identifier of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities.

[0077] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the first information also includes at least one item of the following information of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities: computing power usage, computing power remaining, or location information.

[0078] In conjunction with the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the apparatus further includes a sending module and a receiving module. The sending module is configured to send second information to a network storage function (NRF) entity, where the second information is configured to indicate the service type; and the receiving module is configured to receive the first information from the NRF entity.

[0079] In combination with the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the first information is configured in the first network device.

[0080] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the service type is indicated by at least one of the following information: an identifier of the service type, a slice type of a network slice supporting the service type, or service characteristics of a service data flow of the service type.

[0081] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, when the at least one information includes the identifier, the first UPF entity is the UPF entity associated with the identifier; or, when the at least one information includes the slice type, the first UPF entity is the UPF entity that supports the slice type; or, when the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes periodicity, the first UPF entity is the UPF entity that supports the periodicity identification function of the service data flow; or, when the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes jitter, the first UPF entity is the UPF entity that supports the jitter identification function of the service data flow; or, when the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes a protocol data unit data set PDU set as the scheduling granularity, the first UPF entity is the UPF entity that supports the identification function of the PDU set information and uses PDU set is a UPF entity with a scheduling granularity; or, when the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes a service flow greater than or equal to a flow threshold, the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the function of forwarding service data flows greater than or equal to the flow threshold; or, when the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes encrypted service data, the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the function of identifying encrypted flow information of service data.

[0082] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the receiving module is also used to receive a first message, the first message including a session establishment request message, a UPF entity switching request message or a policy message, the first message containing third information, and the third information indicating the service type; the processing module is also used to determine the service type based on the third information.

[0083] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the processing module is further used to obtain a service data flow of the first service; the processing module is further used to determine the service type based on service characteristics of the service data flow.

[0084] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes modules for implementing the method in the second aspect or any one of the implementation methods, and each module can be implemented in the form of hardware and / or software.

[0085] For example, the apparatus may include: a receiving module and a sending module. The receiving module is configured to receive second information from a first network device, where the second information is used to indicate a service type of a first service; and the sending module is configured to send first information to the first network device, where the first information is used to indicate one or more user plane function (UPF) entities that support the service type.

[0086] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first information includes at least one sub-information, the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity, and each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate the service type supported by the corresponding UPF entity.

[0087] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first information includes at least one sub-information, the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity, and each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate that the corresponding UPF entity supports the service type.

[0088] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first information includes an identifier of each UPF entity among the one or more UPF entities.

[0089] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first information also includes at least one item of the following information of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities: computing power usage, computing power remaining, or location information.

[0090] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes modules for implementing the method in the third aspect or any one of the implementation methods, and each module can be implemented in the form of hardware and / or software.

[0091] For example, the apparatus may include: a processing module and a sending module. The processing module is configured to obtain a service data stream of a first service; the processing module is further configured to determine a service type of the first service based on service characteristics of the service data stream; and the sending module is configured to send a UPF entity switching request message to a session management function (SMF) entity, wherein the UPF entity switching request message includes third information, and the third information is configured to indicate the service type.

[0092] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes modules for implementing the method in the fourth aspect or any one of the implementation methods thereof, and each module can be implemented in the form of hardware and / or software.

[0093] For example, the apparatus may include: a receiving module and a sending module. The receiving module is configured to receive indication information from an application function (AF) entity, where the indication information is used to indicate a service feature of a first service; and the sending module is configured to send a policy message to a session management function (SMF) entity based on the indication information, where the policy message includes third information, where the third information is used to indicate a service type of the first service.

[0094] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory and configured to call program code in the memory to execute the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

[0095] Optionally, the device may be an SMF entity, or a chip system, hardware circuit and / or software module applied in an SMF entity.

[0096] Optionally, the device may be a UPF entity, or a chip system, hardware circuit and / or software module applied in a UPF entity.

[0097] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory and configured to call program code in the memory to execute the method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

[0098] Optionally, the device may be an NRF entity, or a chip system, a hardware circuit and / or a software module applied in the NRF entity.

[0099] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory and configured to call program code in the memory to execute the method described in the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

[0100] Optionally, the device may be a UPF entity, or a chip system, hardware circuit and / or software module applied in a UPF entity.

[0101] In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory and configured to call program code in the memory to execute the method described in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

[0102] Optionally, the device may be a PCF entity, or a chip system, hardware circuit and / or software module applied in a PCF entity.

[0103] In the thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes the device in the fifth aspect or the ninth aspect, the device in the sixth aspect or the tenth aspect, the device in the seventh aspect or the eleventh aspect, and the device in the eighth aspect or the twelfth aspect.

[0104] In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0105] In a fifteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable medium storing a program code for execution by a device, wherein the program code includes a method for executing the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, or any possible implementation thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0106] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0107] FIG2 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in Example 1 of the present application;

[0108] FIG3 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in Example 2 of the present application;

[0109] FIG4 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in Example 3 of the present application;

[0110] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in Example 4 of the present application;

[0111] FIG6 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in Example 5 of the present application;

[0112] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0113] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in yet another embodiment of the present application.

[0114] The above drawings illustrate specific embodiments of the present application, which will be described in more detail below. These drawings and the textual description are not intended to limit the scope of the present application in any way, but rather to illustrate the concepts of the present application to those skilled in the art by reference to specific embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0115] Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, with examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, when referring to the drawings, identical numerals in different figures represent identical or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments are not intended to represent all embodiments consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present application, as detailed in the appended claims.

[0116] To facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art will understand that the words "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and the words "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different.

[0117] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner.

[0118] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more" refers to 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 previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0119] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device. The method determines the service type of a service and selects a user plane function (UPF) entity that supports the service type for the service based on the service type, so that the UPF entity in the communication system can meet the service requirements of the service.

[0120] It should be noted that the communication method and communication device provided in this application are based on the same technical concept. Since the principles of solving problems by the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the method and the device can refer to each other, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0121] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, including but not limited to: narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, fifth generation mobile communication systems (5G) or new radio (NR), or other evolved communication systems. 5G systems generally include the following three application scenarios: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type of communication (mMTC).

[0122] Taking the fifth generation mobile communication system (5G) as an example, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the network architecture of a communication system provided in one embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes terminal equipment, access network, core network and data network.

[0123] The terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), which refers to a device that provides voice / data connectivity to a user. Currently, some examples of terminal devices include: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, etc., which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0124] The access network may be a (radio) access network (R)AN), which is used to implement functions related to radio access and is located between the UE and the core network (CN). As an example, the (R)AN may be a base station, a relay station, or an access point. The base station may be a base transceiver station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communication (GSM) or a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, a node base station (NB) in wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), an evolutionary NB (eNB or eNodeB) in long term evolution (LTE), a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, a base station device in a future 5G network, an access network device in a future evolved PLMN network, or a wearable device or an in-vehicle device.

[0125] CN includes any one of the following functional entities: access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, session management function (SMF) entity, policy control function (PCF) entity, application function (AF) entity, network slice selection function (NSSF) entity, authentication server function (AUSF) entity, unified data management function (UDM) entity, and UPF entity.

[0126] As an example, the AMF entity is mainly responsible for managing user registration, reachability detection, SMF entity selection, mobile state transition management, etc.

[0127] The SMF entity is mainly responsible for controlling the establishment, modification and deletion of sessions, executing the control policies issued by the PCF entity, and selecting the UPF entity.

[0128] The PCF entity is a policy decision point that provides rules based on service data flow and application detection, gating, quality of service (QoS), and flow-based charging control.

[0129] The AF entity is mainly responsible for interacting with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) core network to provide services, influence traffic routing, access network capability exposure, policy control, etc.

[0130] The NSSF entity mainly determines the network slice instance that the terminal is allowed to access based on the terminal's slice selection auxiliary information, contract information, etc.; the AUSF entity is mainly used to provide authentication services.

[0131] The UDM entity is mainly used to store user subscription data; the UPF entity is mainly responsible for data packet routing and forwarding, mobility anchor point, uplink classifier to support routing service flows to the data network, branch point to support multi-homing protocol data unit (PDU) sessions, etc.

[0132] A data network (DN) refers to an operator network that provides data transmission services to users, such as the Internet Protocol Multimedia Service (IMS) and the Internet.

[0133] The UE may access the DN by establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session between the UE and the (R)AN and between the UPF entity and the DN.

[0134] Referring to Figure 1, the UE and the AMF entity can communicate through the N1 interface, the (R)AN and the AMF entity can communicate through the N2 interface, the (R)AN and the UPF entity can communicate through the N3 interface, the UPF entity and the SMF entity can communicate through the N4 interface, the PCF entity and the AF entity can communicate through the N5 interface, the UPF entity and the DN can communicate through the N6 interface, the SMF entity and the PCF entity can communicate through the N7 interface, the AMF entity and the UDM entity can communicate through the N8 interface, the UPF entities can communicate through the N9 interface, the UDM entity and the SMF entity can communicate through the N10 interface, the AMF entity and the SMF entity can communicate through the N11 interface, the AMF entity and the AUSF entity can communicate through the N12 interface, the AUSF entity and the UDM entity can communicate through the N13 interface, the AMF entities can communicate through the N14 interface, the AMF entity and the PCF entity can communicate through the N15 interface, and the AMF entity and the NSSF entity can communicate through the N22 interface.

[0135] The technical solution provided in this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0136] Figure 2 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in Example 1 of the present application. As shown in Figure 2, the method may include S201 to S205.

[0137] S201, the SMF entity receives a PDU session establishment request message from a UE, where the PDU session establishment request message is used to request establishment of a PDU session for a first service.

[0138] As an example, when the UE establishes a new PDU session for the first service, it can send a PDU session establishment request message to the SMF entity to request the SMF entity to establish a PDU session for the first service.

[0139] As an example, the PDU session establishment request message may carry third information, where the third information indicates the service type of the first service. To describe the solution, in this embodiment, the service type of the first service is referred to as the first service type.

[0140] As an example, the third information may include at least one of the following information: an identifier of the first service type, a slice type of a network slice supporting the first service type, or a service characteristic of a service data flow of the first service type. In this implementation, the service type may be characterized by the service type identifier, the slice type of the network slice supporting the service type, and the service characteristics of the service data flow belonging to the service type.

[0141] As an example, different identifiers may be defined for different service types, and the third information may include an identifier predefined for the first service type. For example, when the first service is an extended reality (XR) service, the third information may include an identifier for the XR service.

[0142] As an example, when the first service type is XR, the slice type included in the third information may be a high bandwidth low latency slice (high data rate and low latency communication, HDLLC).

[0143] As an example, when the first service type is XR, the third information may include at least one of the following service characteristics: periodicity, jitter, scheduling granularity based on protocol data unit data set (PDU set), service traffic greater than or equal to the traffic threshold, or encrypted service data.

[0144] As an example, when the first service is an XR service, the UE may be a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, or a mixed reality (MR) device.

[0145] S202: The SMF entity determines the service type of the first service.

[0146] After receiving the PDU session establishment request message, the SMF entity determines which service type the first service belongs to.

[0147] As an example, the SMF entity may obtain the third information carried in the PDU session establishment request message, and thereby determine the service type of the first service based on the third information.

[0148] S203, the SMF entity sends a UPF request message to the NRF entity, where the UPF request message is used to request discovery of the UPF entity. Correspondingly, the NRF entity receives the UPF request message from the SMF entity.

[0149] As an example, the UPF request message may include second information, and the second information is used to indicate the first service type. The method for the second information to indicate the first service type can refer to the method for the third information to indicate the first service type, which will not be repeated here.

[0150] As an example, the second information and the third information may be the same or different. In other words, the second information and the third information may indicate the first service type in the same manner or in different manners.

[0151] When the second information and the third information indicate the first service type in the same way, as an example, the third information includes the slice type of the network slice that supports the first service type, and the second information also includes the slice type of the network slice that supports the first service type.

[0152] When the second information and the third information indicate the first service type in different ways, as an example, the third information includes the service characteristics of the service data flow of the first service type or the slice type of the network slice supporting the first service type, and the second information includes the identifier of the first service type.

[0153] It can be understood that when the second information and the third information indicate the first service type in different ways, after obtaining the third information, the SMF entity can determine the information that should be included in the second information based on the mapping relationship between the way the third information indicates the first service type and the way the second information indicates the first service type.

[0154] For example, the SMF entity can be configured with a mapping relationship between the business characteristics of the business data flow of the first business type and the identifier of the first business type. In this way, when the third information obtained by the SMF entity contains the business characteristics of the business data flow of the first business type, the SMF entity can determine the identifier of the first business type based on the aforementioned mapping relationship, so that the identifier of the first business type can be carried in the second information.

[0155] S204: The NRF entity sends first information to the SMF entity, where the first information is used to indicate one or more UPF entities that support the first service type. Correspondingly, the SMF entity receives the first information from the NRF entity.

[0156] In this embodiment, the NRF may be configured with relevant information of the UPF entity. For example, when the UPF entity joins the network, relevant information of the UPF entity may be configured in the NRF entity.

[0157] The relevant information of the UPF entity includes fourth information, and the fourth information indicates the service types supported by the UPF. The manner in which the fourth information indicates the service types supported by the UPF entity can refer to the manner in which the third information indicates the first service type, for example, the manner in which the first service type in the manner in which the third information indicates the first service type is replaced with the manner in which the UPF entity supports the service types, which will not be repeated here.

[0158] It can be understood that the fourth information may be the same as or different from the second information in the UPF entity request message.

[0159] When the fourth information is different from the second information, after the NRF entity obtains the second information, it can determine whether the second information and the fourth information indicate the same service type based on the mapping relationship between the way the second information indicates the first service type and the way the fourth information indicates the first service type.

[0160] For example, the NRF entity can be configured with a mapping relationship between the business characteristics of the business data flow of the first business type and the identifier of the first business type. In this way, when the second information obtained by the NRF entity contains the business characteristics of the business data flow of the first business type, and the fourth information contained in the relevant information of the UPF contains the identifier of the business type, the NRF entity can determine that the identifier of the business type corresponding to the second information is the identifier of the first business type based on the above-mentioned mapping relationship, thereby determining that the UPF containing the identifier of the first business type in the fourth information is the UPF entity that supports the first business type, that is, the UPF entity that should be discovered.

[0161] As an example, the relevant information of the UPF entity may also include at least one of the following information: computing power usage, computing power remaining, or location information.

[0162] As an example, the UPF entity can periodically update its relevant information to the NRF entity; or, the UPF entity can update its relevant information to the NRF entity when the change value of the relevant information exceeds a preset threshold. For example, when the change value of the remaining computing power is greater than or equal to the preset threshold, the UPF entity can update the changed remaining computing power to the NRF entity. The preset threshold can be set according to actual needs.

[0163] After receiving the UPF request message from the SMF entity, the NRF entity can determine the first information based on the second information in the UPF request message and send the first information to the SMF entity.

[0164] Optionally, the first information may explicitly or implicitly indicate one or more UPF entities supporting the first service type. It is understandable that the one or more UPF entities indicated by the first information may all be UPF entities within the service scope of the SMF entity.

[0165] As an example, the first information may include at least one sub-information, and the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity. Each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information supports the first service type, thereby implicitly indicating one or more UPF entities that support the first service type.

[0166] In this example, the sub-information can be a simple identification information used to indicate whether the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information supports the first service type. For example, when the sub-information is "0", it indicates that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information does not support the first service type, and when the sub-information is "1", it indicates that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information supports the first service type. For another example, when the sub-information is "1", it indicates that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information does not support the first service type, and when the sub-information is "0", it indicates that the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information supports the first service type.

[0167] As an example, the first information may include an identifier of each UPF entity in one or more UPF entities, each of which supports the first service type, thereby explicitly indicating one or more UPF entities that support the first service type.

[0168] Optionally, the first information may also include at least one of the computing power usage, computing power remaining and location information of each UPF entity supporting the first service type.

[0169] S205, the SMF entity selects a first UPF entity for the first service based on the first information, and the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the first service type.

[0170] In this embodiment, after the SMF entity receives the first information from the NRF entity, it can select a UPF entity that meets the requirements for the first service type from one or more UPF entities indicated by the first information. For the sake of convenience of description, the selected UPF entity is called the first UPF entity.

[0171] As an example, the SMF entity may determine the first UPF entity for the first service according to the principle of optimal computing power based on the computing power information of each UPF entity in one or more UPF entities indicated by the first information. Among them, optimal computing power can be understood as the UPF entity with the largest remaining computing power. The computing power information may include computing power usage and / or computing power remaining.

[0172] As an example, the SMF entity may determine the first UPF entity for the first service according to the path optimal principle based on the location information of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities indicated by the first information. Wherein, the optimal path can be understood as when the terminal device establishes a connection with the application server (AS) entity, the first path between the UPF entity and the terminal device is the shortest, or the second path between the UPF entity and the AS entity is the shortest, or the sum of the first path and the second path is the smallest.

[0173] As an example, the SMF entity may determine the first UPF entity for the first service based on the computing power information and location information of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities indicated by the first information, according to the computing power optimal principle and the path optimal principle. The selected first UPF entity may be the UPF entity with the optimal path among the UPF entities with the optimal computing power, or may be the UPF entity with the optimal computing power among the UPF entities with the optimal path.

[0174] As an example, the SMF entity can select the UPF entity with the best comprehensive score of computing power and path for the first service based on the computing power information and location information of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities indicated by the first information. For example, the computing power is divided into multiple computing power ranges, and each computing power range is defined with a certain score; the path is divided into multiple path ranges, and each path range is defined with a certain score; the total score or average score of the computing power score and path score of each UPF entity indicated by the first information is calculated, and the UPF entity with the highest total score or average score is selected as the first UPF entity.

[0175] In this embodiment, after the SMF entity determines the first UPF entity for the first service, it can establish a user plane connection with the first UPF entity, and establish a communication link from the UE to the base station to the first UPF entity, so that the UE can access the target DN through the communication link for data interaction.

[0176] In this embodiment, when the UE requests the SMF entity to establish a new PDU session, the SMF entity can select a UPF entity that supports the first service type for the first service, so as to better meet the service requirements of the first service.

[0177] In this embodiment, optionally, in S203, the UPF request message sent by the SMF entity to the NRF entity may not carry the second information. In this case, the first information sent by the NRF entity to the SMF entity in S204 may include at least one sub-information, and the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one with at least one UPF entity, and each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate the service type supported by the UPF entity corresponding to the sub-information.

[0178] For example, the first information may include three sub-information, sub-information A corresponds to UPF entity A, sub-information B corresponds to UPF entity B, and sub-information C corresponds to UPF entity C. Sub-information A is used to indicate that the service type supported by UPF entity A is the first service type, sub-information B is used to indicate that the service type supported by UPF entity B is the second service type, and sub-information C is used to indicate that the service type supported by UPF entity C is the first service type, so that the first information can implicitly indicate the UPF entities that support the first service, namely, UPF entity A and UPF entity B.

[0179] It can be understood that the first information in this example may also include at least one of the following information of each UPF entity: computing power usage, computing power remaining, or location information.

[0180] In this example, after receiving the first information, the SMF entity may select a first UPF entity for the first service based on the first service type and the first information determined by the SMF entity in S202.

[0181] For example, the SMF entity can first select one or more UPF entities that support the first service type from the one or more UPF entities indicated by the first information, and select the first UPF entity based on one or more of the computing power usage, computing power remaining and location information contained in the first information.

[0182] It can be understood that in this embodiment, the UE sending a PDU session establishment request message in S201 to trigger the SMF entity to select the first UPF entity for the first service is only an example. In this embodiment, the message that triggers the SMF entity to select the first UPF entity for the first service is not limited to this, as long as the trigger message carries the first information indicating the service type of the first service.

[0183] In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, optionally, the SMF entity may be locally configured with relevant information of the UPF entity. For example, the UPF entity configures relevant information of the UPF entity in the SMF entity during network registration and subsequent updating of relevant information. In this scenario, the receiving and sending operations in S202, S203, and S204 may not be performed, that is, the SMF entity may not discover the UPF entity through the NRF entity, but in S205, the SMF entity selects the first UPF entity for the first service based on the relevant information of the locally configured UPF entity.

[0184] Figure 3 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in Embodiment 2 of the present application. As shown in Figure 3 , the method may include S301 to S307.

[0185] A scenario in which the communication method in the embodiment shown in FIG3 is applicable is as follows: the UE has established a PDU session, and a high-bandwidth, low-latency service (such as an XR service) shares a PDU session with other services. At this time, if the current PDU session is not established based on a network slice type that supports the service type of the high-bandwidth, low-latency service, the UPF entity in the current PDU session may not be able to meet the service requirements of the high-bandwidth, low-latency service. In this scenario, it is necessary to reselect the UPF entity in the current PDU session to meet the service requirements of the high-bandwidth, low-latency service.

[0186] S301, the UPF entity receives a service data flow from the AS entity.

[0187] It should be noted that the UPF entity refers to the UPF entity that has established a PDU session with the UE, and may also be referred to as the source UPF entity.

[0188] S302, the UPF entity identifies the service characteristics of the service data flow.

[0189] In this embodiment, after receiving the service data flow, the UPF entity can identify whether the service data flow contains at least one of the following characteristics: service identification, periodicity, jitter, PDU set information, service traffic greater than or equal to the traffic threshold, or encrypted service data.

[0190] S303: The UPF entity sends a UPF entity handover request message to the SMF entity based on the service feature identification result. The UPF entity handover request message carries third information, and the third information indicates the first service type. The first service type is the service type of the first service to which the service data flow belongs. Accordingly, the SMF entity receives the UPF entity handover request message from the UPF entity.

[0191] As an example, when the UPF entity identifies the service characteristics of the service data flow and determines that the service data flow includes at least one of the following characteristics: the service identifier is an identifier of a large-bandwidth, low-latency service, the service data flow contains PDU set information, the service data flow is periodic, the service data flow has jitter (such as uneven data fluctuations), the service traffic of the service data flow is greater than or equal to the traffic threshold, or the service data flow is encrypted service data, a UPF entity switching request message can be sent to the SMF entity. The PDU set information can include at least one of the following information: the importance of the PDU set, the sequence number of the PDU set, or the size of the PDU set.

[0192] As an example, the UPF entity can determine the service identifier of the first service and / or whether the service data stream contains PDU set information based on the information in the real-time transport protocol (RTP) header or the secure real-time transport protocol (SRTP) header of the service data stream.

[0193] In this embodiment, the manner in which the third information indicates the first service type may refer to the manner in which the third information indicates the first service type in the embodiment shown in FIG2 , and will not be described in detail here.

[0194] It is understood that if the third information does not include the service characteristics obtained by the aforementioned identification, the UPF entity may first determine the third information based on the mapping relationship between the service characteristics and the indication information of the service type. For example, the UPF entity may determine the identifier of the service type corresponding to the identified service characteristics based on the mapping relationship between the service characteristics and the identifiers of the service type, and include the determined service type identifier in the third information.

[0195] For example, after the UPF entity recognizes the aforementioned service characteristics, it can determine that the first service is a high-bandwidth, low-latency service. In order to meet the service requirements of the first service, it is necessary to reselect a UPF entity that can support high-bandwidth, low-latency services for the first service so that the service transmission requirements of the first service can be met. Therefore, the UPF entity can send a UPF entity switching request message to the SMF entity to request the switching of the UPF entity for the first service, that is, to reselect the UPF entity in the current PDU session.

[0196] S304, the SMF entity sends a UPF request message to the NRF entity. The UPF request message is used to request the discovery of the UPF entity.

[0197] S305, the SMF entity receives first information from the NRF entity, where the first information is used to indicate one or more UPF entities that support the first service type.

[0198] S306, the SMF entity selects a first UPF entity for the first service based on the first information, and the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the first service type.

[0199] S304 , S305 and S306 in this embodiment may refer to S203 , S204 and S205 respectively, and are not described again here.

[0200] In this embodiment, when the first service type is represented by the identifier of the first service type, as an example, the third information in the UPF entity switching request message includes the identifier of the first service type, and the first UPF entity is the UPF entity associated with the service type identifier.

[0201] When the first service type is characterized by the service characteristics of the service data flow of the first service type, as an example, the third information in the UPF entity switching request message includes the service characteristic "periodicity", and the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the periodic identification function of the service data flow.

[0202] When the first service type is characterized by the service characteristics of the service data flow of the first service type, as an example, the third information in the UPF entity switching request message includes the service characteristic "jitter", and the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the jitter identification function of the service data flow.

[0203] When the first service type is characterized by the service characteristics of the service data flow of the first service type, as an example, the third information in the UPF entity switching request message includes the service characteristic "scheduling granularity with PDU set", and the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the identification function of PDU set information and uses PDU set as the scheduling granularity.

[0204] When the first service type is characterized by the service characteristics of the service data flow of the first service type, as an example, the third information in the UPF entity switching request message includes the service characteristic "service traffic is greater than or equal to the traffic threshold", and the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the function of forwarding service data flows greater than or equal to the traffic threshold.

[0205] When the first service type is characterized by the service characteristics of the service data flow of the first service type, as an example, the third information in the UPF entity switching request message includes the service characteristic "for encrypted service data", and the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the identification function of the encrypted flow information of the service data.

[0206] S307, the SMF entity triggers the PDU session modification process and switches the UPF entity in the current PDU session to the first UPF entity.

[0207] In this embodiment, after the SMF entity selects the first UPF entity for the first service, it can trigger the PDU session modification process, switch the UPF entity in the current PDU session to the first UPF entity, and establish a user plane connection with the first UPF entity, and establish a communication link from the UE to the base station to the first UPF entity, so that the UE can access the target DN through the communication link for data interaction.

[0208] In this embodiment, when the UPF entity determines that the service type of the first service is a high-bandwidth, low-latency service, it requests the SMF entity to switch the UPF entity for the first service to meet the service requirements of the first service. This method switches the UPF entity in the current PDU session to the first UPF entity, so that when the communication system provides services for the first service, the service requirements of the first service can be met.

[0209] FIG4 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in Example 3 of the present application. As shown in FIG4, the method may include S401 to S407. The applicable scenarios of the communication method in this embodiment are the same or similar to the applicable scenarios of the communication method shown in FIG3, and will not be repeated here.

[0210] S401, the UPF entity receives a service data flow from the AS entity.

[0211] S402, the UPF entity identifies the service characteristics of the service data flow.

[0212] In this embodiment, the specific implementation methods of S401 and S402 can refer to S301 and S302 respectively, and will not be repeated here.

[0213] S403, the UPF entity sends a UPF request message to the NRF entity. The UPF request message is used to request discovery of the UPF entity.

[0214] S404, the UPF entity receives first information from the NRF entity, where the first information is used to indicate one or more UPF entities that support a first service type, where the first service type is a service type of the first service.

[0215] S405, the UPF entity selects a first UPF entity for the first service based on the first information, and the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the first service type.

[0216] In this embodiment, the specific implementation methods of S403, S404 and S405 can refer to S304, S305 and S306 respectively. For example, the SMF entity in S304, S305 and S306 can be replaced by the UPF entity, so they are not repeated here.

[0217] S406, the UPF entity sends a UPF entity switching request message to the SMF entity. The UPF entity switching request message is used to request switching of the UPF entity for the first service. The UPF entity switching request message carries indication information of the first UPF entity.

[0218] In this embodiment, after the UPF entity selects the first UPF entity for the first service, it can send a UPF entity switching request message to the SMF entity to request switching the UPF entity for the first service, that is, switching the UPF entity in the current PDU session to the first UPF entity.

[0219] Optionally, the indication information of the first UPF entity may include address information or identification of the first UPF entity.

[0220] S407, the SMF entity triggers the PDU session modification process and switches the UPF entity in the current PDU session to the first UPF entity.

[0221] In this embodiment, after receiving the UPF entity switching request message sent by the UPF entity, the SMF entity can trigger the PDU session modification process, switch the UPF entity in the current PDU session to the first UPF entity, and establish a user plane connection with the first UPF entity, and establish a communication link from the UE to the base station to the first UPF entity, so that the UE can access the target DN through the communication link for data interaction.

[0222] In this embodiment, when the UPF entity determines that the service type of the first service is a large-bandwidth, low-latency service, it accesses the NRF entity to obtain the UPF entity that supports the first service type, thereby determining the first UPF entity for the first service, and requests the SMF entity to switch the UPF entity in the current PDU session to the first UPF entity, so that when the communication system provides services for the first service, it can meet the service requirements of the first service.

[0223] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in Example 4 of the present application. As shown in FIG5, the method may include S501 to S505. The applicable scenarios of the communication method in this embodiment are the same or similar to the applicable scenarios of the communication method shown in FIG3, and will not be repeated here.

[0224] S501, the UPF entity receives a service data flow from the AS entity.

[0225] S502: The UPF entity identifies the service characteristics of the service data flow.

[0226] In this embodiment, the specific implementation of S501 and S502 can refer to S301 and S302 and will not be repeated here.

[0227] S503, the UPF entity selects a first UPF entity for the first service based on the identified service characteristics, and the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the first service type.

[0228] The UPF entity may be locally configured with relevant information about itself and other UPF entities. For example, when other UPF entities register with the network and subsequently update relevant information, relevant information about other UPF entities (such as nearby UPF entities, or UPF entities with a distance less than or equal to a distance threshold) is configured in the UPF entity.

[0229] The implementation method of this step can refer to the relevant content in S403, S404 and S405. For example, this step may include operations other than receiving and sending in S403, S404 and S405, that is, the UPF entity does not need to discover other UPF entities through the NRF entity, but the UPF entity selects the first UPF entity for the first service based on its own locally configured information and relevant information of other UPF entities.

[0230] S504, the UPF entity sends a UPF entity switching request message to the SMF entity, where the UPF entity switching request message is used to request switching of the UPF entity for the first service.

[0231] S505, the SMF entity triggers the PDU session modification process and switches the UPF entity in the current PDU session to the first UPF entity.

[0232] In this embodiment, the specific implementation of S504 and S505 can refer to S406 and S407, which will not be repeated here.

[0233] In this embodiment, the UPF entity can locally configure the first information and select the first UPF entity for the first service based on the locally configured first information, thereby saving resources.

[0234] FIG6 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in Example 5 of the present application. As shown in FIG6, the method may include S601 to S604. The applicable scenarios of the communication method in this embodiment are the same or similar to the applicable scenarios of the communication method shown in FIG3, and will not be repeated here.

[0235] S601: A PCF entity receives indication information from an AF entity, where the indication information is used to indicate a service feature of a first service.

[0236] As an example, the indication information may include a service identifier of the first service, whether PDU set information exists in the service data flow of the first service, whether the first service has periodicity, whether the first service has jitter, and other information.

[0237] Optionally, whether the first service has jitter may be determined by measuring whether data exchanged through the N6 interface has jitter.

[0238] Optionally, the indication information may also include periodic and / or jitter measurement indication information, which may be transmitted to the UPF entity via the PCF entity and the SMF entity to instruct the UPF entity to measure the periodicity and / or jitter of the service data flow of the first service, thereby determining that the first service has periodicity and / or jitter.

[0239] S602: The PCF entity sends a policy message to the SMF entity, where the policy message is used to indicate the service type of the first service. Correspondingly, the SMF entity receives the policy message from the PCF entity.

[0240] The implementation method of the policy message in this step can refer to the implementation method of the third information in S201, which will not be repeated here.

[0241] S603, the SMF entity determines to select a first UPF entity for the first service based on the policy message, and the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the first service type.

[0242] As an example, the implementation method of S603 can refer to the relevant content in S304, S305 and S306. For example, this step may include operations other than receiving and sending in S304, S305 and S306, that is, the SMF entity does not need to discover other UPF entities through the NRF entity, but the SMF entity selects the first UPF entity for the first service based on the relevant information of the locally configured UPF entity.

[0243] S604, the SMF entity triggers the PDU session modification process and switches the UPF entity in the current PDU session to the first UPF entity.

[0244] In this embodiment, the SMF entity can determine the service type of the first service based on the policy message sent by the PCF entity. If the first service is a high-bandwidth, low-latency service, the SMF entity needs to reselect the UPF entity for the first service, thereby meeting the service requirements of the first service.

[0245] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7, the device 700 of this embodiment can be used to implement the method shown in any of the aforementioned embodiments. As shown in Figure 7, the device 700 of this embodiment may include: a processing module 710, a sending module 720, and a receiving module 730.

[0246] When the device 700 is used to implement the method shown in Figure 2, the processing module 710 can be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S202 and S205; the sending module 720 can be used to implement the operations performed by the UE in S201, and the sending module 720 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S203, and the sending module 720 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the NRF entity in S204; the receiving module 730 can be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S201 and S204, and the receiving module 730 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the NRF entity in S203.

[0247] When the device 700 is used to implement the method shown in Figure 3, the processing module 710 can be used to implement the operations performed by the UPF entity in S302, and the processing module 710 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S306 and S307; the sending module 720 can be used to implement the operations performed by the AS entity in S301, and the sending module 720 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the UPF entity in S303, and the sending module 720 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S304, and the sending module 720 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the NRF entity in S305; the receiving module 730 can be used to implement the operations performed by the UPF entity in S301, and the receiving module 730 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S303 and S305, and the receiving module 730 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the NRF entity in S304.

[0248] When the device 700 is used to implement the method shown in Figure 4, the processing module 710 can be used to implement the operations performed by the UPF entity in S402 and S405, and the processing module 710 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S407; the sending module 720 can be used to implement the operations performed by the AS entity in S401, and the sending module 720 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the UPF entity in S403 and S406, and the sending module 720 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the NRF entity in S404; the receiving module 730 can be used to implement the operations performed by the UPF entity in S401 and S404, and the receiving module 730 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the NRF entity in S403, and the receiving module 730 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S406.

[0249] When the device 700 is used to implement the method shown in Figure 5, the processing module 710 can be used to implement the operations performed by the UPF entity in S502 and S503, and the processing device 710 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S505; the sending module 720 can be used to implement the operations performed by the AS entity in S501, and the sending module 720 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the UPF entity in S504; the receiving module 730 can be used to implement the operations performed by the UPF entity in S501, and the receiving module 730 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S504.

[0250] When the device 700 is used to implement the method shown in Figure 6, the processing module 710 can be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S603 and S604; the sending module 720 can be used to implement the operations performed by the AF entity in S601, and the sending module 720 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the PCF entity in S602; the receiving module 730 can be used to implement the operations performed by the PCF entity in S601, and the receiving module 730 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the SMF entity in S602.

[0251] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in yet another embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, the device 800 is used to implement the method shown in any of the above embodiments.

[0252] As shown in Figure 8 , the apparatus 800 of this embodiment includes a memory 810, a processor 820, a communication interface 830, and a bus 840. The memory 810, the processor 820, and the communication interface 830 are connected to each other via the bus 840.

[0253] The memory 810 may be a read-only memory (ROM), a static storage device, a dynamic storage device, or a random access memory (RAM). The memory 810 may store programs. When the program stored in the memory 810 is executed by the processor 820, the processor 820 is configured to perform the steps in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0254] The processor 820 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits to execute related programs.

[0255] The processor 820 may also be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, the various related steps in the embodiment of the present application may be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor 820 or software instructions.

[0256] The processor 820 may also 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 processor 820 may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0257] The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly implemented as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium well-established in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in memory 810, and processor 820 reads the information in memory 810 and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the functions required to be performed by the units included in the apparatus of the present application.

[0258] Optionally, the memory 810 and the processor 820 may be integrated together.

[0259] The communication interface 830 may use, but is not limited to, a transceiver or other transceiver device to implement communication between the apparatus 800 and other devices or apparatuses.

[0260] The bus 840 may include a path for transmitting information between the various components of the device 800 (eg, the memory 810 , the processor 820 , and the communication interface 830 ).

[0261] Some embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product that, when executed on a processor, can implement the method described in any of the above embodiments. Some embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium that contains computer instructions that, when executed on a processor, can implement the method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0262] It should be noted that the modules or components shown in the above embodiments may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more microprocessors (digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). For another example, when a module is implemented by a processing element calling a program code, the processing element may be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processor that can call a program code, such as a controller. For another example, these modules may be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0263] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, software modules or any combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function according to the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state drive (SSD)).

[0264] It will be understood that the various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are merely distinctions for the convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0265] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a first network device, and the method includes: determining a business type of the first business; A first user plane function UPF entity is selected for the first service, where the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the service type.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The selecting a first UPF entity for the first service includes: The first UPF entity is selected for the first service based on first information, where the first information is used to indicate one or more UPF entities that support the service type.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first information includes at least one sub-information, and the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity. Each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate a service type supported by the corresponding UPF entity.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first information includes at least one sub-information, and the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity. Each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate that the corresponding UPF entity supports the service type.

5. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first information includes an identifier of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that The first information also includes at least one of the following information of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities: computing power usage, computing power remaining, or location information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending a UPF discovery request message to a network storage function NRF entity, where the UPF discovery request message carries second information, where the second information is used to indicate the service type; The first information is received from the NRF entity.

8. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that The first information is configured in the first network device.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The service type is indicated by at least one of the following information: an identifier of the service type, a slice type of a network slice supporting the service type, or a service characteristic of a service data flow of the service type.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that When the at least one information includes the identifier, the first UPF entity is the UPF entity associated with the identifier; or, When the at least one information includes the slice type, the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the slice type; or, When the at least one information includes the service characteristic and the service characteristic includes periodicity, the first UPF entity is a UPF entity supporting a periodic identification function of a service data flow; or, When the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes jitter, the first UPF entity is a UPF entity supporting a jitter identification function of a service data flow; or, When the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes a protocol data unit data set PDU set as the scheduling granularity, the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the identification function of PDU set information and uses PDU set as the scheduling granularity; or, When the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes a service flow greater than or equal to a flow threshold, the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports a function of forwarding a service data flow greater than or equal to the flow threshold; or, When the at least one information includes the service feature and the service feature includes encrypted service data, the first UPF entity is a UPF entity that supports the identification function of encrypted flow information of the service data.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a first message, where the first message includes a session establishment request message, a UPF entity switching request message, or a policy message, and the first message includes third information, where the third information indicates the service type; The determining the service type of the first service includes: The service type is determined based on the third information.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The determining the service type of the first service includes: Acquire a service data flow of the first service; The service type is determined according to the service characteristics of the service data flow.

13. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a network storage function NRF entity, and the method comprises: receiving a UPF discovery request message from a first network device, where the UPF discovery request message carries second information, where the second information is used to indicate a service type of the first service; Send first information to the first network device, where the first information is used to indicate one or more user plane function UPF entities that support the service type.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The first information includes at least one sub-information, and the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity. Each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate a service type supported by the corresponding UPF entity.

15. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The first information includes at least one sub-information, and the at least one sub-information corresponds one-to-one to at least one UPF entity. Each sub-information in the at least one sub-information is used to indicate that the corresponding UPF entity supports the service type.

16. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The first information includes an identifier of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities.

17. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that The first information also includes at least one of the following information of each UPF entity in the one or more UPF entities: computing power usage, computing power remaining, or location information.

18. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a user plane function UPF entity, and the method comprises: Obtaining a service data stream of a first service; determining a service type of the first service according to a service characteristic of the service data flow; A UPF entity switching request message is sent to a session management function SMF entity, wherein the UPF entity switching request message includes third information, and the third information is used to indicate the service type.

19. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a policy control function PCF entity, and the method comprises: receiving indication information from an application function AF entity, where the indication information is used to indicate a service feature of a first service; Based on the indication information, a policy message is sent to a session management function SMF entity, where the policy message includes third information, and the third information is used to indicate a service type of the first service.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises various functional modules for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, any one of claims 13 to 17, claim 18 or claim 19.

21. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store a computer program, when the processor calls the computer program, the device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, any one of claims 13 to 17, claim 18 or claim 19.

22. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises a computer program code, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, any one of claims 13 to 17, claim 18 or claim 19.

23. A computer readable medium, characterized in that The computer-readable medium stores a program code for computer execution, the program code including instructions for executing the method of any one of claims 1 to 12, any one of claims 13 to 17, claim 18 or claim 19.

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