Method and apparatus for determining service address information

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a method and apparatus for determining service address information. The method comprises: a first access network device sending to a second access network device first switching request information, used for requesting a first terminal device to switch to the second access network device, wherein the first switching request information comprises indication information of a first service; receiving first switching confirmation information from the second access network device, wherein the first switching confirmation information comprises address information of the first service determined by the second access network device on the basis of the indication information of the first service; and sending to the first terminal device switching instruction information, used for instructing the first terminal device to switch to the second access network device on the basis of the address information of the first service. In the method, when the first access network device requests the first terminal device to access the second access network device, the second access network device can determine new address information for a service of the first terminal device, so as to ensure that the service of the first terminal device can continue once the switching of the first terminal device has been completed.

Description

A method and apparatus for determining service address information Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method and apparatus for determining service address information. Background Technology

[0002] To address the issues of insufficient dynamism and inability to respond promptly to user mobility and network changes in the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) services using computing power, a novel computing power network architecture (or computing power system architecture) has been proposed. In this new architecture, each network element not only possesses control and forwarding capabilities but also incorporates computing power, with computing nodes deployed throughout the network. This allows computing power to be widely distributed across cloud, edge, terminal, and intermediate network elements, integrating computing power into the network. Furthermore, the control plane of the network elements and computing nodes is integrated in this new architecture, compensating for the current shortcomings in computing power integration and enabling timely responses to mobility and network changes.

[0003] In computing power systems, when a terminal switches between a new service pre-deployment cell and a regular connection cell, or between different service pre-deployment cells, it cannot be guaranteed that the terminal's computing service will not be interrupted during the cell switch. Therefore, ensuring the continuity of services for terminal devices when switching cells is one of the most pressing issues to be addressed.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application proposes a method and apparatus for determining service address information, which can effectively ensure the continuity of service when a terminal device switches cells.

[0006] Firstly, this application provides a method for determining service address information. This method can be executed by a first access network device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the first access network device, without limitation. Taking the first access network device as an example, the method specifically includes: the first access network device sending a first handover request to a second access network device, the first handover request request requesting a first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device, the first handover request including indication information of a first service of the first terminal device; the first access network device receiving first handover confirmation from the second access network device, the first handover confirmation including address information of the first service, the address information of the first service being determined by the second access network device based on the indication information of the first service; and the first access network device sending handover indication to the first terminal device, the first handover indication including the address information of the first service, the handover indication instructing the first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device according to the address information of the first service.

[0007] For example, the indication information of the first service is the identifier ID of the first service. The indication information of the first service may also be a descriptor of the first service, or a corresponding serial number of the first service, etc. This application does not specifically limit the form of the indication information of the first service.

[0008] For example, the first service is artificial intelligence (AI) splitting and reasoning (part on the device side and part on the network side), data processing (data preprocessing, data analysis, etc.), cloud phone services, etc.

[0009] In this embodiment of the application, the first terminal device is connected to the first access network device before the switchover, and is connected to the second access network device after the switchover.

[0010] In this application, the first access network device receives first handover confirmation information from the second access network device. The first handover confirmation information includes the address information of the first service of the first terminal device, wherein the address information of the first service is determined by the second access network device based on the indication information of the first service. The first access network device then sends handover indication information to the first terminal device to instruct the first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device based on the address information of the first service, thereby ensuring that the first service of the first terminal device can be continued after handover to the second access network device.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the address information of the first service includes the ID / address of the service compute execution function (CE) corresponding to at least one target node; the at least one target node is a node that provides the first service; wherein, the at least one target node includes the second access network device and / or at least one adjacent node; any one of the target nodes meets a preset condition, the preset condition including: the node has deployed the first service, and the load corresponding to the first service provided by the node is lower than a preset threshold value.

[0012] Through this implementation, the address information of the first service provided by the second access network device to the terminal device is a CE that can effectively provide the first service, and the load of these CE nodes will not be too heavy when providing the first service.

[0013] In one possible implementation, before the first access network device sends the first handover request information to the second access network device, the method further includes: the first access network device confirming that the first terminal device is switching access cells. In this embodiment, the confirmation by the first access network device of the first terminal device switching access cells may include: the first access network device receiving first measurement information from the first terminal device, the first measurement information including measurement events; and then, based on the measurement events, confirming that the first terminal device is switching access cells when it is determined that the signal quality of a neighboring cell of the cell where the first terminal device is currently located is higher than the signal quality of the cell where the first terminal device is currently located.

[0014] This implementation method measures the measurement events provided by the first terminal device, and uses the measurement results to effectively confirm the cell that the first terminal device needs to switch to, so as to ensure the communication quality of its service.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the first switching request information further includes status indication information, which is used to indicate the service status of the first service.

[0016] This implementation method enables the second access network device to know the service status of the first service of the first terminal device, so as to provide more accurate service address information for the first service in the future.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the handover indication information may further include one or more of the following: indication information for the first service, identification information of the target cell, dedicated random access channel (RACH) resources, system information of the second access network device, and association information between the RACH and the synchronization signal block (SSB). In this embodiment, the target cell may be a cell served / managed by the second access network device.

[0018] This implementation method enables the first terminal device to obtain the information required to perform the handover, so as to effectively perform the handover subsequently.

[0019] Secondly, this application provides a method for determining service address information. This method can be executed by a second access network device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the second access network device, without limitation. Taking the second access network device as an example, the method may specifically include: the second access network device receiving first handover request information from a first access network device, the first handover request information being used to request a first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device, the first handover request information including indication information of a first service of the first terminal device; the second access network device determining the address information of the first service based on the indication information of the first service; and the second access network device sending first handover confirmation information to the first access network device, the first handover confirmation information including the address information of the first service.

[0020] For example, the indication information of the first service is the identifier ID of the first service. The indication information of the first service may also be a descriptor of the first service, or a corresponding serial number of the first service, etc. This application does not specifically limit the form of the indication information of the first service.

[0021] For example, the first service is artificial intelligence (AI) splitting and reasoning (part on the device side and part on the network side), data processing (data preprocessing, data analysis, etc.), cloud phone services, etc.

[0022] In this embodiment of the application, the first terminal device is connected to the first access network device before the switchover, and is connected to the second access network device after the switchover.

[0023] In this application, the second access network device receives a handover request from the first access network device to request the first terminal device to switch to the second access network device. The handover request carries indication information of the first service of the first terminal device. After the second access network device confirms that the first terminal device is allowed to access, it sends a handover confirmation to the first access network device. The handover confirmation carries the address information of the first service. After receiving the handover confirmation, the first access network device sends the address information of the first service to the first terminal device, so that the terminal device can switch to the second access network device based on the address information of the first service provided by the second access network device. This ensures that the first service of the terminal device can continue, thus guaranteeing the continuity of the first service of the terminal device.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the address information of the first service includes the ID / address of the service compute execution function (CE) corresponding to at least one target node; the at least one target node is a node that provides the first service; wherein the at least one target node includes the second access network device and / or at least one adjacent node; any one of the target nodes meets a preset condition, the preset condition including: the node has deployed the first service, and the load corresponding to the first service provided by the node is lower than a preset threshold value.

[0025] Through this implementation, the address information of the first service provided by the second access network device to the terminal device is a CE that can effectively provide the first service, and the load of these CE nodes will not be too heavy when providing the first service.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the first switching request information further includes status indication information, which is used to indicate the service status of the first service.

[0027] Through this implementation method, the second access network device learns the service status of the first service of the first terminal device, so as to provide more accurate service address information for the first service in the future.

[0028] In one possible implementation, the second access network device determines the address information of the first service based on the indication information of the first service, including: firstly obtaining first information of at least one node providing the first service and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one node; the first information of each node includes deployment information and load information, as well as the ID and / or address of the node; then, based on the deployment information and load information corresponding to the at least one node, determining at least one target node from the at least one node, and determining the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one target node.

[0029] This implementation method can effectively obtain address information that can provide the first service, that is, the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to at least one target node that can provide the first service.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the second access network device obtains first information of at least one node providing the first service and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one node, which may include, but is not limited to, the following methods:

[0031] Method 1: The second access network device determines the first information of at least one node and the ID / address of the corresponding service CE from the first information of multiple nodes and the ID / address of the corresponding service CE provided by the Computing Management Function (CMF).

[0032] Method 2: The second access network device sends a node information request message to the Computing Management Function (CMF). The node information request message includes the indication information of the first service, the information of the adjacent nodes, and the policy information of the first service. Then, it receives a node information response message from the CMF. The node information response message includes the first information of the at least one node and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one node.

[0033] In the second method described above, the policy information for the first service can be selected based on the number of neighboring nodes, the number of neighboring hops, and the neighboring service latency threshold of the second access network device (e.g., xNB), to select a suitable node capable of providing the first service. For example, the CMF receives a request message for node information (including the ID of the first service and the policy information for the first service) from the second access network device. Based on the policy information for the first service, the CMF obtains information on the past N neighboring nodes that provided the first service, or information on neighboring nodes that provided the first service within N hops, or information on N neighboring nodes that provided the first service with latency within a certain threshold; N is an integer greater than 0. The CMF then carries this information in the node information request message and returns it to the second access network device.

[0034] As described above, the Computation Management Function (CMF) can manage and maintain, but is not limited to, the address / ID information of all nodes in the current network, as well as the address / ID information of each node corresponding to the Computation Execution (CE) function. Furthermore, the devices corresponding to these nodes can be, but are not limited to, one or more of terminal devices, access network devices, and core network devices.

[0035] The above method can effectively obtain the first information of at least one node that can provide the first service (the first information includes deployment information, load information, and the node's ID and / or address) and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to each node.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the second access network device establishing a communication tunnel corresponding to the first service based on the ID / address of the at least one target node.

[0037] This implementation method ensures that the second access network device can communicate effectively with each target node.

[0038] In one possible implementation, if the ID / address of the at least one target node does not include the ID / address of the second access network device, the second access network device establishes a communication tunnel corresponding to the first service based on the ID / address of the at least one target node. This may include: the second access network device sending a first request message to the service CE corresponding to each target node based on the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to each target node, the first request message including downlink tunnel endpoint information; then receiving a first response message from the service CE corresponding to each target node, the first response message including uplink tunnel endpoint information; furthermore, the second access network device establishes a corresponding communication tunnel based on the downlink tunnel endpoint information and the uplink tunnel endpoint information corresponding to each service CE.

[0039] In this embodiment, the CE corresponding to the target node actually provides the first service. Therefore, the communication tunnel established for the first target node can actually be a communication tunnel between the second access network device and the service CEs corresponding to each target node. For example, if base station 2 is the target node, and the CE2 that can provide the first service is CE2, and the device where CE2 is located is UE2; then the second access network device can establish a communication tunnel for the target node 1 by establishing a communication tunnel between the second access network device and UE2 based on the ID / address of CE2.

[0040] This implementation method can effectively establish communication tunnels between the second access network device and each target node.

[0041] In another possible implementation, a communication tunnel corresponding to the first service has been established. This communication tunnel is a service-level tunnel and corresponds to a terminal list, which includes the ID / address of at least one terminal device. The method further includes: if the terminal list does not include the ID / address of the first terminal device, the second access network device adds the ID / address of the first terminal device to the terminal device list to obtain an updated terminal list; and maintaining the correspondence between the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service and the updated terminal list.

[0042] In this embodiment, the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service is a service-level tunnel, and each terminal device in the terminal list can use the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service. If the terminal list includes the ID / address of the first terminal device, the second access network device does not need to update the terminal list, but instead chooses to continue maintaining the correspondence between the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service and the terminal list.

[0043] This implementation method ensures that the second access network device can communicate effectively with each target node.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the second access network device receiving a first message from the first terminal device, the first message including indication information of the first service; determining a target communication tunnel from the communication tunnels corresponding to the first service based on the indication information of the first service and the policy information of the first service; and sending the first message through the target communication tunnel; or

[0045] In another possible implementation, the method further includes: the second access network device receiving a first message from the first terminal device, the first message including the ID / address information of the target service CE; determining the target communication tunnel corresponding to the target service CE from the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service based on the ID / address of the target service CE; and sending the first message through the target communication tunnel.

[0046] The policy information for this first service may include the load status of the tunnel / node's computational execution CE function, communication quality, service latency threshold, etc.

[0047] In this implementation, after receiving the first message from the first terminal device, the second access network device can select a suitable communication tunnel (i.e., the target communication tunnel) from the communication tunnels corresponding to the at least one target node based on the indication information of the first service carried in the first message or the ID / address information of the first service CE corresponding to the first service, and then transmit the first message to the destination through the communication tunnel.

[0048] Thirdly, this application provides a method for determining service address information. This method can be executed by a first terminal device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the first terminal device, without limitation. Taking the first terminal device as an example, the method specifically includes: the first terminal device receiving handover instruction information from a first access network device, the first handover instruction information including the address information of the first service, the handover instruction information being used to instruct the first terminal device to handover to a second access network device based on the address information of the first service, the address information of the first service being determined by the second access network device based on the instruction information of the first service; and then the first terminal device handing over to the second access network device based on the address information of the first service.

[0049] In this application, the first terminal device receives a handover instruction from the first access network device. The first handover instruction includes the address information of the first service. The handover instruction is used to instruct the first terminal device to switch to the second access network device based on the address information of the first service. The address information of the first service is determined by the second access network device based on the instruction information of the first service. In this way, after the terminal device switches to the second access network device, it can continue its first service before the switch based on the address information of the first service provided by the second access network device. Thus, this method can effectively ensure the continuity of the first service of the terminal device.

[0050] In one possible implementation, the address information of the first service includes the ID / address of the service compute execution function (CE) corresponding to at least one target node; the at least one target node is a node that provides the first service; wherein, the at least one target node includes the second access network device and / or at least one adjacent node; any one of the target nodes meets a preset condition, the preset condition including: the node has deployed the first service, and the load corresponding to the first service provided by the node is lower than a preset threshold value.

[0051] Through this implementation method, the first terminal device can effectively obtain information about the target node that can provide the first service and / or the CE that can provide the first service. This facilitates the selection of a suitable target node's CE to continue providing the first service to the first terminal device when the first terminal device performs a handover.

[0052] In one possible implementation, before the first terminal device receives handover indication information from the first access network device, the method further includes: sending first measurement information to the first access network device, the first measurement information including measurement events, the first measurement information being used to indicate, based on the measurement events, the signal quality of neighboring cells of the cell where the first terminal device is currently located and the signal quality of the cell where the first terminal device is currently located. This implementation allows the first access network device to effectively determine whether the first terminal device should perform a cell handover based on the measurement events.

[0053] In one possible implementation, the handover indication information may further include one or more of the following: indication information for the first service, identification information of the target cell, dedicated random access channel (RACH) resources, system information of the second access network device, and association information between the RACH and the synchronization signal block (SSB). In this embodiment, the target cell may be a cell served / managed by the second access network device.

[0054] Through this implementation method, the first terminal device can obtain the information required for handover, thereby enabling it to effectively perform cell handover.

[0055] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the first terminal device sending a first message to the second access network device, the first message including indication information of the first service.

[0056] This implementation allows the second access network device to select a suitable communication tunnel for the message of the first service based on the indication information of the first service, so as to transmit the first message to the destination.

[0057] In another possible implementation, the method further includes: the first terminal device determining a target service CE from the service CEs corresponding to the at least one target node according to the policy information of the first service; the first terminal device sending a first message to the second access network device, the first message including the ID / address of the target service CE.

[0058] Through this implementation, the first terminal device can select a suitable CE from multiple serving CEs to provide the first service, and carry the ID / address of the selected CE in the first message and send it to the second access network device, so that the second access network device can directly send the first message through the communication tunnel corresponding to the CE based on the ID / address of the CE in the message.

[0059] Fourthly, embodiments of this application also provide a communication device that can be used to perform the method of the first aspect. The device can be a first access network device, or the device can be a component (e.g., a chip, a chip system, or a circuit) in the first access network device, or it can be a device that can be used in conjunction with the first access network device.

[0060] In one possible implementation, the apparatus may include modules or units corresponding to the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the first aspect. These modules or units may be hardware circuits, software, or a combination of hardware circuits and software. In another possible implementation, the apparatus may include a processing unit (also called a processing module) and a communication unit (also called a communication module). The communication unit may be used to perform receiving and / or transmitting functions, and the processing unit may be used to perform the methods described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0061] Fifthly, embodiments of this application also provide a communication device that can be used to perform the method of the second aspect. The device can be a second access network device, or it can be a component (e.g., a chip, a chip system, or a circuit) in the second access network device, or it can be a device that can be used in conjunction with the second access network device.

[0062] In one possible implementation, the apparatus may include modules or units corresponding to the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the second aspect. These modules or units may be hardware circuits, software, or a combination of hardware circuits and software. In another possible implementation, the apparatus may include a processing unit (also called a processing module) and a communication unit (also called a communication module). The communication unit may be used to perform receiving and / or transmitting functions, and the processing unit may be used to perform the methods described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0063] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this application also provide a communication device that can be used to perform the method of the third aspect. The device can be a first terminal device, or the device can be a component (e.g., a chip, a chip system, or a circuit) in the first terminal device, or it can be a device that can be used in conjunction with the first terminal device.

[0064] In one possible implementation, the apparatus may include modules or units corresponding to the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the third aspect. These modules or units may be hardware circuits, software, or a combination of hardware circuits and software. In another possible implementation, the apparatus may include a processing unit (also called a processing module) and a communication unit (also called a communication module). The communication unit may be used to perform receiving and / or transmitting functions, and the processing unit may be used to perform the methods described in the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0065] In a seventh aspect, an apparatus is provided in the embodiments of this application, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor and a communication interface; wherein the communication interface is used to communicate with other apparatus; the processor is used to run a set of programs to cause the apparatus to implement the method provided in the first aspect or any of the possible embodiments described above, or to cause the apparatus to implement the method provided in the second aspect or any of the possible embodiments described above, or to cause the apparatus to implement the method provided in the third aspect or any of the possible embodiments described above.

[0066] Eighthly, embodiments of this application also provide a computer storage medium storing a software program that, when read and executed by one or more processors, can implement the method provided in the first aspect or any of the possible implementations described above, or implement the method provided in the second aspect or any of the possible implementations described above, or implement the method provided in the third aspect or any of the possible implementations described above.

[0067] Ninthly, embodiments of this application also provide a computer program product containing instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the method provided in the first aspect or any of the possible embodiments described above to be executed, or cause the method provided in the second aspect or any of the possible embodiments described above to be executed, or cause the method provided in the third aspect or any of the possible embodiments described above to be executed.

[0068] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication system, including a first access network device capable of implementing the method provided in the first aspect, a second access network device capable of implementing the method provided in the first aspect, and a first terminal device capable of implementing the method provided in the third aspect.

[0069] Eleventhly, embodiments of this application also provide a chip system, the chip system including a processor, for supporting a first access network device to implement the functions involved in the first aspect above; or for supporting a second access network device to implement the functions involved in the second aspect above; or for supporting a first terminal device to implement the functions involved in the third aspect above.

[0070] In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data to be executed by the loading device. The chip system may consist of chips or may include chips and other discrete components.

[0071] It should be noted that the technical effects that can be achieved by any of the fourth to eleventh aspects or any of the fourth to eleventh aspects can be referred to the description of the technical effects that can be achieved by any of the first to third aspects or any of the first to third aspects; these will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0072] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of a currently defined converged architecture for network and mobile / multi-access edge computing (MEC).

[0073] Figure 1B is a schematic diagram of the distribution of a proposed mobile / multi-access edge computing (MEC).

[0074] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a proposed computing node monitoring service and endpoint changes;

[0075] Figure 3 shows a communication system architecture that can be applied to an embodiment of this application;

[0076] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a computing network provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0077] Figure 5 is a flowchart of a method for determining service address information provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0078] Figure 6 is a detailed flowchart of the first embodiment provided in this application;

[0079] Figure 7 is a detailed flowchart of the second embodiment provided in this application;

[0080] Figure 8 is a detailed flowchart of the third embodiment provided in this application;

[0081] Figure 9 is a detailed flowchart of the fourth embodiment provided in this application;

[0082] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0083] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0084] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0085] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The terminology used in the following embodiments is for the purpose of describing specific embodiments only and is not intended to be a limitation of this application. As used in the specification and appended claims of this application, the singular expressions "a," "an," "the," "the," and "the" are intended to include expressions such as "one or more," unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of this application, "one or more" refers to one, two, or more; "and / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships may exist; for example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0086] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" as described in this specification mean that one or more embodiments of this application include a specific feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment. The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and variations thereof used in this application mean "including but not limited to," unless otherwise specifically emphasized. Words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions, and any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. The use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner for ease of understanding.

[0087] The "multiple" mentioned in the embodiments of this application refers to two or more. It should be noted that in the description of the embodiments of this application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used only for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance, nor as indicating or implying order. Furthermore, the term "used for indicating" mentioned in the description of the embodiments of this application can include both direct and indirect indication. When describing an indication as being used to indicate A, it can include whether the indication directly or indirectly indicates A, but does not necessarily mean that the indication necessarily contains A.

[0088] To better understand the solutions provided in the embodiments of this application, the terms and concepts involved in the embodiments of this application will be explained below. It should be noted that these explanations are for the purpose of making the embodiments of this application easier to understand, and should not be regarded as a limitation on the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0089] I. Convergence of Mobile / Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) with Networks:

[0090] Mobile edge computing, proposed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), mainly refers to providing an IT service environment and cloud computing capabilities by deploying general-purpose servers close to the network access side. It aims to further reduce latency, improve network operation efficiency, enhance service distribution and transmission capabilities, and optimize and improve the end-user experience.

[0091] Figure 1A illustrates the 5G architecture defined by the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) (TS.23501 System architecture for the 5G System standard document). The MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing) is typically deployed in the wireless network at the local user plane function (UPF) of the 5G core network (UPF marked with a bold box in Figure 1A). The local UPF connects to the local data network (DN) via the N6 interface to achieve local offloading and traffic distribution of services, thereby enabling localized processing and accelerating service delivery. As shown in Figure 1A, the 3GPP 5G system architecture is an invisible network element within the 3GPP system architecture and does not fall within the scope of the 3GPP-defined network architecture; therefore, it has no direct impact on the 3GPP system architecture.

[0092] The application of MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing) combines the existing 3GPP core network data local offloading mechanism to offload the processing location of service data from the remote data network (usually the public cloud) to the local MEC, thereby accelerating services. This involves pushing applications that process service data closer to the core network of the wireless network in terms of physical deployment, co-located with the core network element UPF (as shown in the right figure of Figure 1B); or further down to the vicinity of the base station, co-located with the base station on physical nodes (as shown in the left figure of Figure 1B). While MEC deployment meets the industry's requirements for real-time performance and data security to a certain extent, there is still room for optimization in terms of the 3GPP logical architecture and data protocol processing flow. Since communication network capabilities are open to the network management platform, distributed external computing power is also presented on the network management platform; therefore, AI applications and other service providers can comprehensively consider network information and distributed computing resources to optimize and adjust service deployments. However, the deployment of AI and other services on this computing power is achieved through the management plane, which is not very dynamic and cannot achieve the unification of network and computing power on the control plane. It cannot respond to user movement and network changes in a timely manner. Network connection and service connection are relatively independent and belong to the superposition model. Therefore, the use of resources is sometimes not optimal.

[0093] The following is a description of the architecture shown in Figure 1A above:

[0094] Figure 1A illustrates some entities in the MEC architecture. The mobile edge (ME) application (ME APP) is a virtual machine instance running on the ME virtualization infrastructure and can communicate with the mobile edge platform (MEP) through the MP1 reference point. The MEP provides ME Services to the ME APP, including service registration, service discovery, status monitoring, traffic rules control, DNS handling, a Local API gateway, load balancer, firewall, and a series of wireless network capabilities such as wireless network information services, location information services, and bandwidth management services. It receives application rule configurations from the ME platform manager (MEPM) or the ME APP.

[0095] In the 5G network shown in Figure 1A, terminal devices can communicate with the core network through the access network (AN) 202. Terminal devices can refer to user equipment (UE), access terminals, user units, user stations, mobile stations, mobile stations, remote stations, remote terminals, mobile devices, user terminals, terminals, wireless communication equipment, user agents, or user devices. Access terminals can be 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 a wireless modem, in-vehicle equipment, wearable devices, and other terminals in future 5G networks.

[0096] The Network Exposure Function (NEF) primarily manages the network data exposed to the outside world. All external applications must go through the NEF entity to access the internal data of the 5G core network.

[0097] The Network Repository Function (NRF) entity is used to register, manage, and monitor the status of Network Modules (NFs). Each NF must register with the NRF network element before it can be provided with services.

[0098] Application function (AF) network elements interact with the 5G core network to provide services, such as supporting functions like: impacting service routing, exposing network access capabilities, and interacting with policy decision-making network elements for policy control. Application server (AS) network elements can be deployed alongside AFs, interact with the UPF, and are responsible for sending, receiving, and processing user plane uplink and downlink packets.

[0099] The radio access network (RAN) is primarily responsible for providing wireless connectivity to terminal devices and ensuring reliable uplink and downlink data transmission. RAN entities can be gNBs (generation Node Bs) in 5G systems, or evolved Node Bs (eNBs or eNodeBs) in long-term evolution (LTE) systems.

[0100] The session management function (SMF) is primarily responsible for establishing and managing sessions for terminal devices. It can select a suitable UPF for a terminal device based on its location information.

[0101] User plane functions (UPFs) are functional network elements on the user plane of terminal equipment. Their main functions include packet routing and forwarding, and quality of service (QoS) processing for user plane data. In 5G systems, multiple session anchor UPFs can be inserted into the user plane path of a protocol data unit (PDU) session to support connections to the local data network (DN), allowing terminal equipment to access applications in the local DN from the nearest available network. Specifically, multiple UPFs can exist between the terminal equipment and the DN. Some UPFs can act as uplink classifiers (ULCLs) or branching points (BPs); others can act as PDU session anchors (PSAs).

[0102] Access and mobility management (AMF) functions primarily include being the endpoint of the radio access network control plane, the endpoint of non-access signaling, mobility management, lawful interception, and access authorization or authentication. Policy control function (PCF) is primarily responsible for establishing, releasing, and modifying user plane transmission paths. Authentication server function (AUSF) primarily includes user authentication. User data management (UDM) is primarily responsible for managing user subscription data. Data network (DN) can refer to the network that provides services to terminal devices. Application server (AS) provides data services to applications within terminal devices.

[0103] The solution of this application embodiment can be applied to the architecture shown in Figure 1A. Figure 1A also illustrates possible implementations of the interfaces in each entity. As shown in Figure 1A, Nudm, Nnrf, Nnef, Nausf, Namf, Nsmf, Npcf, and Naf correspond to the service interfaces provided by UDM, NRF, NEF, AUSF, AMF, SMF, PCF, and AF, respectively, used to call the corresponding service operations. N1, N2, N3, N4, N6, and N9 are interface sequence numbers, and the meanings of these interface sequence numbers are as follows:

[0104] 1) N1: The interface between the AMF and the terminal device, which can be used to transmit non-access stratum (NAS) signaling (such as QoS rules from the AMF) to the terminal device.

[0105] 2) N2: The interface between the AMF and the access network equipment, which can be used to transmit radio bearer control information from the core network side to the access network equipment.

[0106] 3) N3: The interface between the access network device and the UPF, mainly used to transmit uplink and downlink user plane data between the access network device and the UPF.

[0107] 4) N4: The interface between SMF and UPF, which can be used to transmit information between the control plane and the user plane, including the distribution of forwarding rules, QoS rules, traffic statistics rules, etc. from the control plane to the user plane, as well as the reporting of information from the user plane.

[0108] 5) N6: The interface between UPF and DN, used to transmit uplink and downlink user data streams between UPF and DN.

[0109] 6) N9: User plane interface between UPFs, used to transmit uplink and downlink user data streams between UPFs.

[0110] The network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0111] In this application, some scenarios are illustrated using NR networks in wireless communication networks as examples. It should be noted that the solutions in this application can also be applied to other wireless communication networks, and the corresponding names can be replaced by the names of the corresponding functions in other wireless communication networks.

[0112] II. Integration of Computing Power and Networks:

[0113] A computing force network (CPN) is a computing force network platform that interconnects multiple computing nodes through a certain protocol to form a large virtual cluster and provides a unified user interface to the outside world.

[0114] In the new computing network architecture, each network element not only has control and forwarding capabilities but also computing power. In addition to network elements, computing nodes are also deployed in the network. The computing power generated by this integrated computing and network model is called network native computing resources. From the initial network design stage, computing power is considered a fundamental element of the network. Computing power is distributed throughout the network, meaning it is widely distributed across cloud, edge, terminal, and intermediate network elements, and is integrated into the network. Computing power services, connectivity services, and services that comprehensively consider both computing power and connectivity are all basic services that the network can provide externally. Network native computing power can promote the development and deployment of intrinsic intelligence, better support ubiquitous base stations and terminals with sensing, communication, and computing capabilities, realize large-scale intelligent distributed collaborative services, maximize the utility of communication and computing power in the network, adapt to the distribution of data, and protect data privacy. In the new network architecture, the control plane of network elements and computing nodes is integrated, which can compensate for the shortcomings of computing power integration and enable timely responses to changes in mobility and the network. Network-native computing power can promote the emergence and development of future intelligent applications, such as immersive cloud extended reality (XR), holographic communication, sensory interconnection, intelligent interaction, communication sensing, and digital twins.

[0115] Currently, 5G has introduced computing capabilities, but further research has been lacking. It retains the scope and global architectural characteristics of the previous generation, focusing instead on the decentralization of computing power. The network and computing components are relatively loosely coupled, meaning they are not native to the architecture. Therefore, there is room for improvement in efficiency, deployment costs, security, and privacy protection. In 5G MEC solutions, the core network user plane element UPF can be co-located with the MEC; the MEC and UPF can even be decentralized to the base station and co-located with it. However, at the logical architecture level and in terms of control and management mechanisms, the network and computing power remain two relatively independent systems. This leads to: significant adjustment latency (e.g., minutes) when computing power changes and connection strategies or connections change and computing power needs adjustment; large data transmission latency during computation, requiring local UPF routing to the MEC for recomputation migration; and the distributed and multi-type nature of AI heterogeneous resources, which is completely different from the resource distribution and types of Cloud AI. Integrated management and control of connectivity and computing power at the management plane is no longer applicable. Therefore, managing connectivity and computing power in a single management plane is insufficient to support the inclusive services that require deep coupling between native computing and communication, such as inherent intelligence and inherent perception in future 6G.

[0116] Based on the above, in a computing network, when a UE (User Equipment) hands over between a newly deployed service cell and a regular connected cell, or between different pre-deployed service cells, the cell handover process mainly includes: 1) Measurement control issuance; 2) Test report upload; 3) Handover decision; 4) Resource preparation; 5) Handover execution; and 6) Release of existing resources. During the measurement phase, the UE performs relevant measurements according to the measurement configuration message issued by the source base station (source gNB, S-gNB) and reports the measurement results to the source base station. During the handover decision phase, the source base station evaluates the measurement results reported by the UE and decides whether to execute the handover. During the execution phase, the source base station controls the UE to hand over to the target cell based on the decision result. Figure 2 illustrates the specific process of performing a cell handover, including: S201: The S-gNB sends a handover request to the T-gNB; S202: The T-gNB performs Admission Control; S203: The T-gNB sends a handover request acknowledgement to the S-gNB; S204: The S-gNB sends RRC configuration to the UE; S205: The UE hands over to the target cell; S206: The UE sends a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration completion message to the T-gNB. The handover request only includes connection-related control information, such as the target cell's global ID, the globally unified AMF ID, and UE context information (UE security capabilities, frequency selection priority, UE maximum aggregation rate, PDU session resource information to be established, radio resource control (RRC) context, mobility restrictions, UE historical information, etc.). It is evident that current cell handover technology does not take into account the impact of computing tasks on handover demand control signaling, thus failing to guarantee the continuity of UE services when switching cells.

[0117] In view of the above problems, this application proposes a method for determining service address information, which can effectively ensure the continuity of service when a terminal device switches cells.

[0118] The method provided in this application can be applied to fourth-generation (4G) communication systems, such as long-term evolution (LTE) systems, as well as fifth-generation (5G) communication systems, such as 5G new radio (NR) systems, or to various future communication systems, such as sixth-generation (6G) systems. The method provided in this application can also be applied to narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) systems. Furthermore, the method provided in this application can be applied to satellite communication systems, wherein the satellite communication system can be integrated with the aforementioned communication systems.

[0119] Figure 3 illustrates a possible, non-limiting communication system architecture applicable to embodiments of this application. As shown in Figure 3, the communication system 3000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 3000 may also include an Internet 300. RAN 100 includes at least one access network device (110a and 110b in Figure 3, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal device (120a-120j in Figure 3, collectively referred to as 120). RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 3). Terminal device 120 is wirelessly connected to the access network device. The access network device is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the core network 200. The core network device and the access network device in the core network 200 may be different physical devices, or they may be the same physical device integrating core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions.

[0120] RAN 100 can be a 3GPP-related cellular system, such as a 4G, 5G mobile communication system, or an evolutionary system beyond 5G (e.g., a 6G mobile communication system). RAN 100 can also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN, or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a WiFi system. RAN 100 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0121] It is understood that Figure 3 only shows one possible communication system architecture that can be applied to the embodiments of this application, and other devices may also be included in the communication system architecture in other possible scenarios.

[0122] Access network equipment refers to nodes in a radio access network (RAN), also known as access network devices or RAN nodes (or devices). Access network equipment assists terminal devices in achieving wireless access. Multiple access network devices in the communication system 3000 can be nodes of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of access network equipment and terminal devices 120 are relative. For example, in Figure 3, network element 120i can be a helicopter or drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal devices 120j accessing RAN 100 through network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal device. Access network equipment and terminal devices 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices. For example, in Figure 3, network elements 110a and 110b can be understood as communication devices with base station functions, and network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal device functions.

[0123] In one possible scenario, access network equipment can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmitting and receiving point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a next-generation base station in a 6th-generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, an access point (AP) in a satellite or WiFi system, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, or an access network device in a mobile switching center non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication system, i.e., it can be deployed on a high-altitude platform or satellite, etc. Access network equipment can be a macro base station (as shown in Figure 3, 110a), a micro base station or indoor station (as shown in Figure 3, 110b), a relay node or donor node, or a radio controller in a CRAN scenario. Access network equipment can also act as a base station in device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, drone communication, and machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. Optionally, the access network equipment can also be a server, wearable device, vehicle, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, the access network equipment in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU).

[0124] In another possible scenario, multiple access network devices collaborate to assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, with each access network device implementing a portion of the base station's functions. For example, access network devices can be central units (CUs), distributed units (DUs), CU-control plane (CPs), CU-user plane (UPs), or radio units (RUs), etc. CUs and DUs can be set up separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio equipment or radio units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs). It is understood that access network devices can be CU nodes, DU nodes, or devices including both CU and DU nodes. Furthermore, CUs can be classified as access network devices within the RAN (RAN) or the CN (CN), without limitation.

[0125] It should be noted that CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP) or DU may have different names in different systems, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an open radio access network (O-RAN) system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application may be implemented through a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0126] In this embodiment, the form of the access network device is not limited. The device used to implement the function of the access network device can be the access network device itself; or it can be a device that supports the access network device in implementing the function, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the access network device or used in conjunction with the access network device.

[0127] Terminal equipment 120, also known as terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc., is a device used to provide voice or data connectivity to users, and can also be an Internet of Things (IoT) device. For example, terminal equipment includes handheld devices with wireless connectivity, vehicle-mounted devices, etc. Currently, terminal devices can include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices (such as smartwatches, smart bracelets, pedometers, etc.), in-vehicle equipment (such as cars, bicycles, electric vehicles, airplanes, ships, trains, high-speed trains, etc.), satellite terminals, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, smart point-of-sale (POS) machines, customer-premises equipment (CPE), wireless terminals in industrial control, smart home devices (such as refrigerators, televisions, air conditioners, electricity meters, etc.), smart robots, robotic arms, workshop equipment, wireless terminals in autonomous driving, wireless terminals in telemedicine, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, or wireless terminals in smart homes, and flying equipment (such as smart robots, hot air balloons, drones, airplanes), etc. Terminal devices can also be other devices with terminal functions; for example, a terminal device can also be a device that performs terminal functions in D2D communication.

[0128] Access network equipment and terminal equipment can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons, and artificial satellites—this application embodiment is not limited in this regard. Furthermore, communication between access network equipment and terminal equipment, between access network equipment and other access network equipment, and between terminal equipment and other terminal equipment can be conducted via licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously; communication can be conducted via spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), or via spectrum above 6 GHz, or simultaneously using both spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. This application embodiment does not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0129] In the embodiments of this application, the functions of the access network device can be executed by modules (such as chips) within the access network device, or by a control subsystem that includes the functions of the access network device. This control subsystem, including the functions of the access network device, can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Similarly, the functions of the terminal device can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal device, or by a device that includes the functions of the terminal device.

[0130] This application embodiment can be applied to scenarios where computing power and networks converge. Figure 4 illustrates a computing power network architecture that can be applied to this application embodiment. This computing power network architecture can be a convergence of computing power and the communication system shown in Figure 3 above. In this computing power network architecture, computing resource control (CRC) / radio resource control (RRC) can be integrated with RAN computing control, applied to the computing session between the computing executor (CE) function of the terminal UE and the CE of the radio access network RAN. Computing management function (CMF) / session management function (SMF) can be integrated with core network computing control, applied to the computing session between the CE of the radio access network RAN ​​and the CE of the mobile edge computing MEC / cloud / core network CN.

[0131] Computation Management Function (CMF): Used for execution control of computing tasks and awareness management of computing resources, including computing task control, computing execution control, computing resource awareness, and computing resource management functional units.

[0132] The system comprises several key components: **Computation Task Control:** This includes analysis of computation tasks, allocation and scheduling of computational resources, and fine-grained task orchestration optimization. **Computation Execution (CE):** This controls the real-time perception of computational resource status, allocates resources used by nodes for computational execution, controls the amount of computational operations performed, controls computational quality, and supports terminal mobility. **Computational Resource Awareness:** This involves sensing computational resources, including their measurement information, usage status information, and topology information. This information serves as a crucial basis for computational task orchestration and scheduling. Measuring computational resources requires a unified abstraction and modeling of the computational capabilities of heterogeneous resources. The measurement and status information acquisition methods can be based on control signaling or data channels. Control signaling ensures real-time status information perception, while data channels reduce the overhead of control signaling. **Computational Resource Management:** This involves maintaining the network's overall computational resources to facilitate the scheduling of computational tasks to appropriate computational resources for execution by computation task control.

[0133] The technical solution of this application is described below with reference to specific embodiments.

[0134] This application provides a method for determining service address information, which is applicable to, but not limited to, the computing network architecture shown in Figure 4. This method can be executed by a first access network device, a second access network device, and a first terminal device; or it can be executed by components (modules, chips, etc.) corresponding to the first access network device, the second access network device, and the first terminal device; or it can be executed by entities / network elements that correspond to and are used with the first access network device, the second access network device, and the first terminal device. This application does not specifically limit the specific form and quantity of the first access network device, the second access network device, and the first terminal device. Please refer to Figure 5; the specific flow of this method is as follows:

[0135] S501: The first access network device sends a first handover request message to the second access network device. This first handover request message requests the first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device. The first handover request message includes indication information for the first service of the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the second access network device receives the first handover request message sent by the first access network device.

[0136] For example, the indication information of the first service is the identity (ID) of the first service. The indication information of the first service may also be the descriptor of the first service, or the corresponding serial number of the first service, etc. This application does not specifically limit the form of the indication information of the first service.

[0137] For example, the first service is artificial intelligence (AI) splitting and reasoning (part on the device side and part on the network side), data processing (data preprocessing, data analysis, etc.), cloud phone services, etc.

[0138] In one possible implementation, before executing S501, the first access network device further includes: the first access network device confirming the switching of the access cell of the first terminal device; wherein, the confirmation of the switching of the access cell of the first terminal device by the first access network device may include: the first terminal device sending first measurement information to the first access network device, the first measurement information including a measurement event; after receiving the first measurement information, the first access network device, based on the measurement event, measures the signal quality of the neighboring cells of the cell where the first terminal device is currently located, and if the signal quality is higher than that of the cell where the first terminal device is currently located, confirms the switching of the access cell of the first terminal device.

[0139] In one possible implementation, the first switching request information also includes status indication information, which is used to indicate the service status of the first service.

[0140] S502: The second access network device determines the address information of the first service based on the indication information of the first service.

[0141] In one possible implementation, the address information of the first service includes the ID / address of the service compute execution function (CE) corresponding to at least one target node; the at least one target node is a node that provides the first service; wherein, the at least one target node includes the second access network device and / or at least one adjacent node; any target node satisfies a preset condition, the preset condition including: the node has deployed the first service, and the load corresponding to the first service provided by the node is lower than a preset threshold value.

[0142] When the second access network device executes S502, it includes: firstly obtaining the first information of at least one node providing the first service and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one node; the first information of each node includes deployment information and load information, as well as the ID and / or address of the node; then, based on the deployment information and load information corresponding to the at least one node, determining at least one target node from the at least one node, and determining the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one target node.

[0143] In this embodiment of the application, the second access network device obtains the first information of at least one node providing the first service and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one node, which can be achieved in the following ways, but not limited to:

[0144] Method 1: The second access network device determines the first information of the at least one node and the ID / address of the corresponding service CE from the first information of multiple nodes and the ID / address of the corresponding service CE provided by the Computing Management Function (CMF).

[0145] In this embodiment, the Computation Management Function (CMF) described above can manage and maintain, but is not limited to, deployment information, load information, and ID / address information of all nodes in the current network, as well as the address / ID information of the Computation Execution Functions (CEs) in each node. The devices corresponding to these nodes may include, but are not limited to, one or more terminal devices, access network devices, and core network devices. Generally, when a node acts as a service node, it can provide at least one service. When a node provides a certain service, it is specifically implemented by one of its Computation Execution Functions (CEs). Therefore, a node may correspond to at least one CE (these CEs can also be called service CEs). Thus, the Computation Management Function (CMF) in this embodiment can also obtain the service capabilities of each node in the current network (i.e., the services that the node can provide), and manage and maintain (monitor) the mapping relationship between services and corresponding nodes and / or CEs within the nodes.

[0146] Method 2: The second access network device sends a node information request message to the Computing Management Function (CMF). The node information request message includes the indication information of the first service, the information of the adjacent node providing the first service (e.g., the ID / address of the adjacent node), and the policy information (or quality of service (QoS) requirement information) of the first service. The device receives a node information response message from the CMF. The node information response message includes the first information of the at least one node and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one node.

[0147] In the second method described above, the strategy information for the first service can be based on factors such as the number of neighboring nodes, the number of neighboring hops, and a neighboring service latency threshold, selecting a suitable node capable of providing the first service. For example, after receiving a request message for node information from the second access network device, the CMF, based on the strategy information for the first service in the request message, selects either the information of the past N neighboring nodes that provide the first service, or the information of neighboring nodes that provide the first service within N hops, or the information of neighboring nodes that provide the first service and whose latency is within a certain threshold; N is an integer greater than 0.

[0148] In one possible implementation, the second access network device further establishes a communication tunnel corresponding to the first service based on the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one target node.

[0149] If the at least one target node does not include the second access network device, then the second access network device establishes a communication tunnel corresponding to the first service based on the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one target node. Specifically, this may include: sending a first request message (e.g., load balancing request message) to the service CE corresponding to each target node based on the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to each target node. The first request message includes downlink tunnel endpoint information. Optionally, the first request message also includes indication information of the first service and / or identification information of the second access network device. Correspondingly, after receiving the first request message, the service CE corresponding to each target node sends a first response message to the second access network device. The first response message includes uplink tunnel endpoint information. Optionally, the first response message also includes indication information of the first service and / or identification information of the target node. Correspondingly, after receiving the first response message from the service CE corresponding to each target node, the second access network device establishes a corresponding communication tunnel based on the downlink tunnel endpoint information and the uplink tunnel endpoint information corresponding to each service CE.

[0150] In this embodiment, the CE corresponding to the target node actually provides the first service. Therefore, the communication tunnel established for the first target node is actually a communication tunnel between the second access network device and the service CEs corresponding to each target node. For example, if base station 2 is the target node, and the CE2 that can provide the first service is CE2, and the device where CE2 is located is UE2, then the second access network device can establish a communication tunnel for the target node 1 by establishing a communication tunnel between the second access network device and UE2 based on the ID / address of CE2.

[0151] In another possible implementation, a communication tunnel corresponding to the first service has been established. This communication tunnel is a service-level tunnel and corresponds to a terminal list, which includes the ID / address of at least one terminal device. If the terminal list does not include the ID / address of the first terminal device, the second access network device adds the ID / address of the first terminal device to the terminal device list to obtain an updated terminal list. The correspondence between the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service and the updated terminal list is maintained.

[0152] In this embodiment, the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service is a service-level tunnel, and each terminal device in the terminal list can use the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service. If the terminal list includes the ID / address of the first terminal device, then the second access network device does not need to update the terminal list as described above, but instead chooses to continue maintaining the correspondence between the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service and the terminal list.

[0153] S503: The second access network device sends a first handover confirmation message to the first access network device, the first handover confirmation message including the address information of the first service.

[0154] That is, the address information of the first service includes the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one target node.

[0155] S504: The first access network device sends a handover instruction to the first terminal device. The handover instruction is used to instruct the first terminal device to switch to the second access network device according to the address information of the first service. The handover instruction includes the address information of the first service.

[0156] In one possible implementation, the handover indication information may include, but is not limited to: indication information for the first service, identification information of the target cell, dedicated random access channel (RACH) resources, system information of the second access network device, and association information between the RACH and the synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB). The target cell may be a cell managed by the second access network device.

[0157] S505: The first terminal device switches to the second access network device based on the address information of the first service.

[0158] For example, the first terminal device can perform the handover process based on the information in the handover instruction information mentioned above. The specific handover process can be implemented with reference to the existing handover process, which will not be described in detail here.

[0159] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the first terminal device sending a first message to the second access network device, the first message including indication information of the first service; after receiving the first message, the second access network device selecting a target communication tunnel from the communication tunnels corresponding to the first service according to the indication information and policy information of the first service; and then sending the first message through the target communication tunnel. Through this implementation, after receiving the first message carrying the indication information of the first service, the first access network device can determine which other nodes' corresponding CEs can meet the service's quality of service (QoS) requirements based on the policy information of the first service (e.g., the load of the tunnel / node's computational execution of the CE function, communication quality, etc.), and then select a suitable communication tunnel corresponding to the service CE to transmit the first message.

[0160] In another possible implementation, the method further includes: the first terminal device determining a target service CE from multiple target node service CEs based on the policy information of the first service (e.g., the load status and communication quality of the service CE function of the tunnel / node); then sending a first message to the second access network device, the first message including the ID / address of the target service CE; after receiving the first message, the second access network device determining the target communication tunnel corresponding to the target service CE from the communication tunnels corresponding to the first service based on the ID / address of the target service CE; and then sending the first message through the target communication tunnel. Through this implementation, the first terminal device selects a suitable target service CE based on the policy information of the first service, carries the ID / address of the target service CE in the first message, and sends it to the first access network device. Therefore, after receiving the first message, the first access network device can quickly determine the communication tunnel corresponding to the target service CE for transmitting the first message.

[0161] In summary, this application provides a method for determining a service address. The method includes: a first access network device sending a first handover request to a second access network device, the first handover request request requesting a first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device, the first handover request including indication information of a first service of the first terminal device; the first access network device receiving first handover confirmation information from the second access network device, the first handover confirmation including address information of the first service, the address information of the first service being determined by the second access network device based on the indication information of the first service; and then sending handover indication information to the first terminal device, the first handover indication including the address information of the first service, the handover indication instructing the first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device according to the address information of the first service. In this method, when the first access network device requests the first terminal device to access the second access network device, the second access network device can determine new address information for the service of the first terminal device to ensure that the service of the first terminal device can continue after the handover is completed.

[0162] Based on the scheme described in Figure 5 above, the following detailed embodiments will further elaborate on the details.

[0163] Example 1:

[0164] In Example 1, taking UE1 as an example, in the scenario of UE switching base stations, UE1 switches from the source site (source xNB, hereinafter referred to as S-xNB) to the target site (target xNB, hereinafter referred to as T-xNB). The scheme described in Figure 5 above will be described in detail. Referring to Figure 6, the process of Example 1 is as follows:

[0165] S600a: The T-xNB sends a node information request to the Computational Management Function (CMF). This request includes the service ID, the base station xNB ID, and policy information. Correspondingly, the CMF receives the node information request from the T-xNB.

[0166] In the above, the strategy information can be determined based on the number of neighboring nodes of the T-xNB, the number of neighboring hops, the latency threshold of neighboring services, etc., to determine the node information that can provide the corresponding services.

[0167] S600b: The CMF sends a node information response to the T-xNB, which includes the service ID and the node ID / address. Correspondingly, the T-xNB receives this node information response from the CMF.

[0168] In addition, the node information response may also include the ID / address of the CE providing the service.

[0169] For example, when the CMF receives a node information request from the T-xNB, which includes the ID of service 1, the CMF can determine the information of the N neighboring nodes that provided service 1 in the past, or obtain the information of the neighboring nodes that provided service 1 within N hops, or obtain the information of the N neighboring nodes whose latency for providing service 1 is within a certain threshold; N is an integer greater than 0. The CMF then carries the information of these N neighboring nodes in a node information response and sends it to the T-xNB. Each neighboring node information in the node information response may include the ID / address of the neighboring node, and / or the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the neighboring node.

[0170] In the above, the T-xNB can periodically and event-wise maintain node information for new services provided by the target site T-xNB based on the service ID (including the ID of the first service of UE1 below) and the ID of the base station xNB that can provide the corresponding service. (Equivalently, the T-xNB requests information from the CMF, according to a preset period or for a certain event, about the neighboring nodes associated with the service ID and the base station xNB ID.) In this embodiment, the neighboring node can be a base station (xNB) or a computing node of the core network (CN), such as a computing data / processing function (CPF). The node information can be the node ID, the node address, etc.

[0171] The services in S600a and S600b described above may include, but are not limited to, services provided by the T-xNB, services provided by the UE managed by the T-xNB, and services provided by neighboring stations connected to the T-xNB. The base station xNB in ​​S600a may include the T-xNB and / or neighboring stations connected to the T-xNB.

[0172] The steps S600a and S600b described above are the specific execution process by which the target base station T-xNB requests the node information (such as node ID / address) corresponding to the service provided from the Computational Management Function (CMF). Through S600a-S600b, the T-xNB can effectively obtain the node information corresponding to its own service, as well as the node information (such as node ID / address) corresponding to the services of each UE managed by the T-xNB. Furthermore, the T-xNB can periodically or event-wise refer to the execution process of S600a-S600b to obtain at least one node information corresponding to a service from the CMF.

[0173] For example, the node request response includes: the ID of Service 1, the ID / address of the node capable of providing Service 1, and the ID / address of the CE capable of providing Service 1. The node capable of providing Service 1 may include, but is not limited to, the target base station T-xNB, adjacent stations connected to the T-xNB, and nodes in the core network (such as CPF).

[0174] S601: The S-xNB makes a handover decision based on the measurement events reported by UE1.

[0175] Based on the measurement events reported by UE1, the S-xNB measures the signal quality of the neighboring cells of the cell where UE1 is currently located. If the signal quality of the neighboring cells is higher than that of the cell where UE1 is currently located, and the signal quality of the neighboring cells is greater than a preset threshold, then the S-xNB determines that UE1 should perform base station handover (or serving cell handover).

[0176] S602: The S-xNB sends a handover (HO) request to the T-xNB. This handover request includes the ID / address of UE1's first service and status indication information. Accordingly, the T-xNB receives the handover (HO) request from the S-xNB.

[0177] In the above, the first service is an example of a service to be migrated for UE1. The status indication information is used to indicate whether the first service is a stateless service or a stateful service.

[0178] For stateless services: In stateful requests, all the data the server can process comes from the information carried in the request. Stateless services are single requests from the client, independent of other requests; all the information for processing a single request is contained within that request. For example, for a web server, each HTTP request is unrelated to previous requests; it simply retrieves the target Uniform Resource Locator (URL), i.e., the target website address. After obtaining the target URL, the content of this connection is deleted (or invalidated) without any trace, and the requested data is transmitted using a small text data cookie that stores a token.

[0179] For stateful services: In contrast to stateless services, stateful services store data related to the request context, and subsequent requests can be related. For example, in web applications, sessions are often used to maintain login context information. Although the protocol is stateless, sessions can transform HTTP services into stateful services. Stateful services require a large amount of information and state, and their performance is slightly inferior to stateless servers. Stateless services have advantages in handling simple services, as there is no correlation between services, making them easy to extend. However, when handling complex tasks, stateless services require additional components (implemented as stateful services) to assist.

[0180] S603: The T-xNB performs access control for connections and services based on the T-xNB's service deployment information.

[0181] T-xNB performs access control for connections: if the current connection load of T-xNB is not high, UE1 can be allowed to switch access; if the current connection load of T-xNB is high, UE1 can be denied to switch access.

[0182] T-xNB may perform service access control in the following ways:

[0183] Scenario 1: If the T-xNB has deployed the first service in the HO request information (equivalent to the new service accessed by the T-xNB), and the load after the T-xNB admits the first service will be lower than the preset threshold; in this case, the T-xNB will perform handover admission for the first service (i.e., the T-xNB determines that it can provide the first service in the HO request information).

[0184] Scenario 2: If the T-xNB has not deployed the first service in the HO request information; or if the T-xNB has deployed the first service, and the load after granting access to the first service will be higher than the preset threshold, then a neighboring station or CN CPF can provide the first service and the load after granting access to the first service will be lower than the preset threshold; in this case, the T-xNB will perform handover access to the first service, but the T-xNB will not act as the provider of the first service.

[0185] Scenario 3: If the T-xNB has not deployed the first service in the HO request information; or if the T-xNB has deployed the first service, but the load after granting access to the first service will be higher than the preset threshold, then a neighboring station or CN CPF can provide the first service, but the load after granting access to the first service will be higher than the preset threshold; in this case, the T-xNB will refuse the handover of the first service, that is, refuse access to the first service in the HO request information.

[0186] Through S603, the T-xNB can determine a suitable service node that can provide the first service (i.e., the T-xNB and / or at least one adjacent node), and then obtain the ID / address of the service node and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the first service from the node ID / address and CE ID / address obtained from S600a and S600b above.

[0187] S604: The T-xNB sends a handover (HO) request confirmation message to the S-xNB, which includes a list of IDs / addresses of the first service. The S-xNB receives the handover (HO) request confirmation message accordingly.

[0188] In S602 above, if the status indication information in the HO request information is used to indicate that the first service is a stateless service, then the ID / address list of the first service includes the ID / address of one or more service computation execution functions (hereinafter referred to as CE). In this embodiment, service CE refers to CE that can provide the first service, and is therefore simply referred to as service CE.

[0189] [Correction 13.12.2023 according to Rule 91] If the list includes the ID / address of a service CE: the T-xNB performs a stateless service load balancing strategy for UE1, that is, in the subsequent step S608, the T-xNB determines the appropriate service CE that can provide the first service based on the ID / address of the service CE and the load balancing strategy.

[0190] If the list includes the IDs / addresses of multiple service CEs: UE1 implements a stateless service load balancing strategy, that is, in the subsequent step S608, UE1 determines the ID / address of the CE that can provide the first service based on the IDs / addresses of the multiple service CEs and the load balancing strategy.

[0191] In this embodiment of the application, the ID / address of the serving CE refers to the ID / address of the CE that can provide the first service to UE1.

[0192] S605: The handover process between S-xNB and UE1.

[0193] In one implementation, the handover process between the S-xNB and UE1 may include: the S-xNB sending a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to the UE, which triggers UE1 to perform a handover. The RRC message includes the cell ID of the target cell, the Dedicated Random Access Channel (RACH) resource, the system information of the target site, the association between the RACH and SSB, etc. After receiving the RRC message, UE1 initiates a non-contention-based random access on the T-xNB based on the information in the RRC message. The specific access procedure can be implemented with reference to the existing handover procedure, and will not be described in detail here.

[0194] In addition, the RRC message may also include the ID / address list of the first service mentioned above, which includes the ID / address of one or more service CEs.

[0195] S606a: The T-xNB sends a load balancing request to the neighboring node. This load balancing request includes a first service ID, the T-xNB's ID, and downlink TEID information. This load balancing request is used to request the neighboring node to provide the first service. Correspondingly, the neighboring node can receive this load balancing request from the T-xNB.

[0196] Step S606a in Figure 6 uses a neighboring node as an example.

[0197] Since the access control for connection and access control for service are performed by T-xNB in ​​the above S603, at least one service node that can provide the first service and whose load is not higher than a preset threshold is selected, namely T-xNB and / or at least one neighboring node (such as neighboring base station xNB or CPF, etc.).

[0198] If the at least one service node does not include a T-xNB, but includes at least one neighboring node, then in S606a, the T-xNB sends load balancing request information to the at least one neighboring node respectively. The load balancing request information includes the ID of the first service to be migrated, the ID / address of the T-xNB, and the downlink TEID information.

[0199] If the at least one service node includes a T-xNB and also includes at least one adjacent node, then in S606a, the T-xNB sends load balancing request information to the at least one adjacent node respectively. The load balancing request information includes the ID of the first service to be migrated, the ID / address of the T-xNB, and the downlink TEID information.

[0200] If the at least one service node includes a T-xNB but not a neighboring node, then steps S606a-S606b can be omitted.

[0201] Correspondingly, after receiving the load balancing request information, the neighboring node can establish a communication connection (or communication tunnel) with the T-xNB based on the first service ID, the T-xNB ID, and the downlink TEID information in the load balancing request information.

[0202] S606b: The neighboring node returns load balancing response information to the T-xNB. This load balancing response information includes the first service ID, the neighboring node's ID, and the uplink TEID information.

[0203] T-xNB can establish a communication connection (or communication tunnel) with the neighboring node based on the first service ID, the neighboring node ID, and the uplink TEID information in the load balancing response information.

[0204] After UE1 completes the handover and accesses the T-xNB via the above S605, and the T-xNB establishes a communication connection with the neighboring node, the following steps can be performed:

[0205] S607: UE1 sends a message to the T-xNB, which includes the ID of the first service or the ID / address of the target CE. Correspondingly, the T-xNB receives the message sent by UE1.

[0206] Case 1: If, in S604 above, the ID / address list of the first service received by UE1 includes the ID / address of a service CE, then UE1 sends a message to T-xNB, which includes the ID of the first service.

[0207] Scenario 2: If, in the above S604, the ID / address list of the first service received by UE1 includes the IDs / addresses of multiple service CEs, UE1 can select a suitable target CE based on the load balancing strategy information (including the load information of each CE); furthermore, UE1 sends a message to T-xNB, which includes the ID / address of the target CE.

[0208] S608: The T-xNB sends this message to the device corresponding to the target CE. Accordingly, the device corresponding to the target CE receives the message sent by the T-xNB.

[0209] For case 1 in S607 above, the T-xNB determines a suitable adjacent node / target CE for the first service based on policy information (such as the load status of the tunnel / node / CE), and then sends the message to the device corresponding to the adjacent node / target CE through the corresponding tunnel.

[0210] In case 2 of S607 above, the T-xNB determines the tunnel corresponding to the target CE based on the ID / address of the target CE in the message, and then sends the message to the device corresponding to the target CE through the tunnel corresponding to the target CE.

[0211] In this first embodiment, the T-xNB and CMF can maintain neighboring node information for the services provided by the T-xNB to provide load balancing services for UE1 to be handed over. The T-xNB receives handover request information from UE1's S-xNB. This handover request information includes information about UE1's first service (i.e., the ID and status indication information of the first service). The T-xNB can then make load balancing decisions based on this first service information. If the first service is a stateless service, the T-xNB can pre-maintain neighboring nodes to provide information about at least one node corresponding to the first service. Furthermore, the T-xNB can make load balancing decisions and establish at least one corresponding load balancing tunnel based on the information of at least one node corresponding to the first service, thereby ensuring the continuity of UE1's first service after the handover.

[0212] Example 2:

[0213] Compared to Example 1, the difference in Example 2 is that the target site T-xNB requests information about adjacent nodes associated with the service ID and the xNB ID from the Computation Management Function (CMF) based on an event. Referring to Figure 7, the process of Example 2 is as follows:

[0214] S701: The S-xNB makes a handover decision based on the measurement events reported by UE1.

[0215] S702: The S-xNB sends a handover (HO) request to the T-xNB, which includes the ID / address of UE1's first service and status indication information.

[0216] The specific implementation methods of S701-S702 can be referred to one by one with the specific implementation methods of S601-S602 mentioned above, and will not be detailed here.

[0217] S703a: The T-xNB sends a node information request to the CMF, which includes the ID of the first service, the ID of the base station xNB, and policy information.

[0218] Accordingly, after receiving the node information request, the CMF can determine the ID / address of one or more adjacent nodes providing the first service based on the ID of the first service, the xNB ID, and the policy information (or the service quality QoS information).

[0219] S703b: The CMF sends a node information response to the T-xNB, which includes the ID of the first service and the ID / address of at least one neighboring node.

[0220] The node's information response may also include the ID / address of the CE providing the first service.

[0221] The specific implementation of S703a-S703b can be referred to the specific implementation of S600a-S600b above. However, unlike S600a-S600b, in S703a-S703b, the T-xNB and CMF request each other event-basedly to obtain information about the adjacent nodes associated with the ID of the first service and the ID of the xNB.

[0222] S704a: The T-xNB sends a load balancing request to the neighboring node. The load balancing request includes the first service ID, the T-xNB ID, and the downlink TEID information.

[0223] That is, the T-xNB sends load balancing request information to at least one neighboring node. Each load balancing request information includes the first service ID, the T-xNB ID, and downlink TEID information.

[0224] S704b: The neighboring node returns load balancing response information to the T-xNB. This load balancing response information includes the first service ID, the neighboring node's ID, and the uplink TEID information.

[0225] The specific implementation methods of S704a-S704b can be referred to the specific implementation methods of S606a-S606b mentioned above, and will not be detailed here.

[0226] S705: The T-xNB performs access control for connections and services based on the T-xNB's service deployment information.

[0227] The specific implementation of S705 can be referred to the specific implementation of S603 mentioned above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0228] In this embodiment, the process of T-xNB performing connection access control and service access control based on its service deployment information can be executed after T-xNB makes a load balancing decision (i.e., after S704a and S704b are completed, S705 is executed). In practice, the process of T-xNB performing connection access control and service access control based on its service deployment information can also be executed before T-xNB makes a load balancing decision (i.e., S705 can be executed before S704a and S704b), and this is not specifically limited.

[0229] S706: The T-xNB sends a handover (HO) request confirmation message to the S-xNB. The HO request confirmation message includes the ID of the first service and / or a list of addresses of the first service. The list of addresses of the first service includes the IDs / addresses of one or more service CEs.

[0230] The specific implementation of S706 can be referred to the specific implementation of S604 mentioned above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0231] S707: The handover process between S-xNB and UE.

[0232] The specific implementation of S707 can be referred to the specific implementation of S605 mentioned above, and will not be detailed here.

[0233] S708: UE1 sends a message to T-xNB, which includes the ID of the service or the ID / address of the target service CE.

[0234] S709: The T-xNB sends this message to the device corresponding to the adjacent node / target service CE.

[0235] The specific implementation methods of S708-S709 can be referred to one by one with the specific implementation methods of S607-S608 mentioned above, and will not be detailed here.

[0236] Compared to Embodiment 1 above, in Embodiment 2, the target site T-xNB requests information about neighboring nodes associated with the ID of UE1's first service and the ID of the xNB from the Computation Management Function (CMF) based on events, in order to provide load balancing services for UE1 to be handed over. The T-xNB can make load balancing decisions based on the information of UE1's first service (i.e., the ID of the first service and the status indication information of the first service). If the first service is a stateless service, the T-xNB can pre-maintain neighboring nodes to provide information about at least one node corresponding to the first service. Then, the T-xNB can make load balancing decisions based on the information of at least one node corresponding to the first service and establish at least one corresponding load-balancing tunnel to enable communication for UE1's first service, thereby ensuring the continuity of UE1's first service after the handover.

[0237] Example 3:

[0238] Compared to Embodiment 1, Embodiment 3 differs in that: a communication tunnel corresponding to the first service has already been established on the target site T-xNB side, and this communication tunnel is a service-level tunnel. This communication tunnel corresponds to a UE list, which includes the ID / address of at least one UE. Each UE in the UE list can use the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service. Therefore, for UE1's first service, the T-xNB does not need to create a new communication tunnel corresponding to the first service; instead, it can update the UE list corresponding to the existing communication tunnel to achieve subsequent forwarding. Referring to Figure 8, the process of Embodiment 3 is as follows:

[0239] S800a: The T-xNB sends a node information request to the CMF, which includes the service ID, the base station xNB ID, and policy information.

[0240] S800b: CMF sends a node information response to T-xNB, which includes the service ID and the node ID / address.

[0241] S801: The S-xNB makes a handover decision based on the measurement events reported by UE1.

[0242] S802: The S-xNB sends a handover (HO) request to the T-xNB. The handover request includes the ID / address of UE1's first service and status indication information.

[0243] S803: The T-xNB performs access control for connections and services based on the T-xNB's service deployment information.

[0244] S804: The T-xNB sends a handover (HO) request confirmation message to the S-xNB, which includes a list of IDs / addresses of the first service. The S-xNB receives this handover (HO) request confirmation message accordingly.

[0245] S805: The handover process between S-xNB and UE.

[0246] The specific implementation methods of S800a-S800b can be referred to the steps S600a-S600b above, and the specific implementation methods of S801 to S805 can be referred to the steps S601 to S605 above. They will not be described in detail here.

[0247] S806: T-xNB updates the UE list corresponding to the service-level tunnel of the first service and maintains the correspondence between the UE and the UE CE ID.

[0248] Unlike the method of T-xNB establishing a new tunnel corresponding to the first service in S606a-S606b above, in this S806, the T-xNB side has already established a service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service, wherein the number of tunnels can be one or more; and the T-xNB maintains a UE list, which includes the ID / address of at least one UE, and each UE in this UE list can use the service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service.

[0249] The T-xNB can check whether the UE list includes the ID / address of UE1. If the UE list does not include UE1, the T-xNB adds the ID / address of UE1 to the UE list to obtain an updated UE list. Then, the T-xNB maintains the correspondence between the updated UE list and the service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service; or maintains the correspondence between the ID / address of UE1 and the service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service.

[0250] If the UE list already includes the ID / address of UE1, then the T-xNB does not need to update the UE list. Instead, it maintains the correspondence between the UE list and the service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service; or it maintains the correspondence between the ID / address of UE1 and the service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service.

[0251] Since each tunnel in the service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service is established based on the ID / address of a CE that can provide the first service, there are also one or more CE IDs / addresses for the service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service. Therefore, the T-xNB may also choose to maintain the correspondence between the ID / address of UE1 and the ID / address of the one or more CEs. This application is not limited to this.

[0252] After UE1 completes the handover and accesses the T-xNB via the above S805, the following steps can be performed:

[0253] S807: UE1 sends a message to T-xNB, which includes the ID of the first service or the ID / address of the target CE.

[0254] S808: The T-xNB sends this message to the device corresponding to the adjacent node / target CE.

[0255] The specific implementation methods of S807-S808 can be referred to one by one with the specific implementation methods of S607-S608 mentioned above, and will not be detailed here.

[0256] In this third embodiment, the T-xNB and CMF can maintain the information of adjacent nodes for the services provided by the T-xNB to provide load balancing services for the UE to be handed over. The T-xNB receives handover request information from the S-xNB of UE1. This handover request information includes information about the first service of UE1 (such as the ID and status indication information of the first service). In this way, the T-xNB can make load balancing decisions based on the information of the first service. If the T-xNB has already established a service-level communication tunnel corresponding to the first service, the T-xNB can update the UE list corresponding to the service-level communication tunnel to ensure that the UE list contains UE1, and maintain the correspondence between the service-level communication tunnel corresponding to the first service and the updated UE list. In this way, in the future, for the first service of UE1, the T-xNB can use the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service to realize the communication of the first service of UE1, thereby ensuring the continuity of the first service of UE1 after the handover.

[0257] Example 4:

[0258] Compared to Embodiment 1, Embodiment 4 differs in that: when the target site T-xNB performs access control for the connection and access control for the service, it creates a new service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service and adds UE1 to the UE list corresponding to that service-level tunnel; furthermore, the T-xNB requests information about neighboring nodes associated with the service ID and the xNB ID from the Computation Management Function (CMF) based on events. Referring to Figure 9, the process of Embodiment 4 is as follows:

[0259] S901: The S-xNB makes a handover decision based on the measurement events reported by UE1.

[0260] S902: The S-xNB sends a handover (HO) request to the T-xNB. The HO request includes the ID / address of UE1's first service and status indication information.

[0261] The specific implementation methods of S901-S902 can be referred to one by one with the specific implementation methods of S601-S602 mentioned above, and will not be detailed here.

[0262] S903: The T-xNB performs access control for the connection and access control for the service based on the service deployment information of the T-xNB, and also creates a new service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service, and adds UE1 to the corresponding UE list.

[0263] The specific implementation of S903 can refer to the specific implementation of S603 above. However, unlike S603, in S903, if the T-xNB has not yet deployed the first service in the HO request information, the T-xNB creates a service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service and adds UE1 to the UE list corresponding to the service-level tunnel.

[0264] Through access control of the connection and access control of the service, at least one service node that can provide the first service is selected, namely T-xNB and / or at least one neighboring node (such as neighboring base station xNB or CPF, etc.); then T-xNB can establish corresponding service-level tunnels based on the ID / address of these service nodes, and generate corresponding UE lists, and add UE1's information (such as ID / address) to the UE list to indicate that UE1 can use the newly established service-level tunnel of T-xNB.

[0265] S904a: The T-xNB sends a node information request to the CMF, which includes the ID of the first service, the ID of the base station xNB, and policy information.

[0266] Accordingly, after receiving the node information request, the CMF can determine the ID / address of one or more adjacent nodes providing the first service based on the ID of the first service, the xNB ID, and the policy information (or the service quality QoS information).

[0267] In the above, the base station xNB may refer to a T-xNB that can provide the first service and / or at least one neighboring node.

[0268] S904b: The CMF sends a node information response to the T-xNB, which includes the ID of the first service and the ID / address of the base station xNB.

[0269] The node information response may also include the ID / address of the CE that can provide the first service on the base station xNB side.

[0270] The specific implementation methods of S904a-S904b can be referred to one by one with the specific implementation methods of S600a-S600b mentioned above. However, unlike S600a-S600b, in S904a-S904b, the T-xNB and CMF request each other event-basedly to obtain information about the neighboring nodes associated with the ID of the first service and the ID of the base station xNB.

[0271] S905a: The T-xNB sends a load balancing request to at least one neighboring node. The load balancing request includes the ID of the first service, the ID of the T-xNB, and downlink TEID information.

[0272] S905b: The neighboring node returns load balancing response information to the T-xNB. This load balancing response information includes the ID of the first service, the ID of the neighboring node, and the uplink TEID information.

[0273] The specific implementation methods of S905a-S905b can be referred to one by one with the specific implementation methods of S606a-S606b mentioned above, and will not be detailed here; however, unlike the above S606a-S606b, after S905a-S905b, T-gNB does not need to build a new service-level communication tunnel corresponding to the first service, but instead selects the communication tunnel corresponding to the adjacent node after load balancing from the service-level communication tunnels already built in S903 mentioned above.

[0274] S906: The T-xNB sends a HO request confirmation message to the S-xNB, which includes the ID of the first service and / or a list of addresses for the first service. The list of addresses for the first service includes the IDs / addresses of one or more service CEs.

[0275] The specific implementation of S906 can be referred to the specific implementation of S604 mentioned above, and will not be detailed here.

[0276] S907: The handover process between S-xNB and UE.

[0277] The specific implementation of S907 described above can be referred to one by one with the specific implementation of S605 described above.

[0278] S908: UE1 sends a message to T-xNB, which includes the ID of the first service or the ID / address of the target CE.

[0279] S909: The T-xNB sends this message to the device corresponding to the adjacent node / target CE.

[0280] The specific implementation methods of S908 to S909 mentioned above can be referred to one by one with the specific implementation methods of S607 to S608 mentioned above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0281] In Example 4, the target site T-xNB requests information about neighboring nodes associated with the ID of UE1's first service and the ID of the xNB from the Computation Management Function (CMF) based on an event, in order to provide load-balanced services for UE1 to be handed over. The T-xNB can make load-balanced decisions based on the information of UE's first service (i.e., the ID of the first service and the status indication information of the first service). Furthermore, when performing access control for connections and services, the T-xNB creates a new service-level tunnel corresponding to the first service and adds UE1 to the UE list corresponding to that service-level tunnel. Subsequently, for UE1's first service, the T-xNB can select at least one load-balanced tunnel from the service-level tunnels corresponding to that first service to enable communication for UE1's first service, thereby ensuring the continuity of UE1's first service after the handover.

[0282] Regarding the above embodiments one to four, it should be noted that:

[0283] (1) Embodiments 1 to 4 described above can be implemented individually or in combination. For example, S603 in Embodiment 1 can be executed in the same manner as S903 in Embodiment 4, that is, the T-xNB establishes a communication tunnel corresponding to the first service when performing access control for connection and access control for service. This application does not make specific limitations in this regard.

[0284] (2) The above focuses on describing the differences between Embodiment 1 to Embodiment 4. Except for the differences, Embodiment 1 to Embodiment 4 can be referred to each other.

[0285] (3) The step numbers of the flowcharts described in Embodiments 1 to 4 are merely examples of the execution flow and do not constitute a restriction on the order of execution of the steps. There is no strict execution order between steps that do not have a temporal dependency relationship in the embodiments of this application. In addition, not all steps shown in the flowcharts are mandatory steps. Some steps can be added or deleted based on the actual needs of each flowchart.

[0286] In the embodiments provided above, the methods provided by the embodiments of this application are described from the perspective of interaction between various devices. To implement the functions of the methods provided in the embodiments of this application, the first access network device, the second access network device, or the first terminal device includes hardware structures and / or software modules, and implements the above functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules. Whether a particular function is executed in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0287] The module division in this embodiment is illustrative and represents only one logical functional division; in actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into a single processor, exist as separate physical entities, or be integrated into a single module. The integrated modules described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional modules.

[0288] Similar to the above concept, as shown in FIG10, this application embodiment also provides a communication device 1000 for implementing the functions of the first access network device, the second access network device, or the first terminal device in the above method. For example, the communication device 1000 can be a software module or a chip system. In this application embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips or can include chips and other discrete devices. The communication device 1000 may include: a communication unit 1001 and a processing unit 1002.

[0289] In this embodiment, the communication unit 1001, also referred to as the transceiver unit, may include a sending unit and / or a receiving unit, respectively used to execute the sending and receiving steps of the first access network device, the second access network device, or the first terminal device in the above method embodiments. The processing unit 1002 may be used to read instructions and / or data from the storage module so that the communication device 1000 implements the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0290] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a storage unit 1003, which is equivalent to a storage module and can be used to store instructions and / or data.

[0291] The communication device provided in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 10 and 11. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments. Therefore, for the content not described in detail, please refer to the method embodiments described in Figures 5 to 9 above. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0292] The communication unit 1001 can also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver device. The processing unit can also be referred to as a processor, processing board, processing module, or processing device. Optionally, the device in the communication unit 1001 used to implement the receiving function can be considered as a receiving unit, and the device in the communication unit 1001 used to implement the transmitting function can be considered as a transmitting unit; that is, the communication unit 1001 includes both a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The communication unit can sometimes also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver circuit, or transceiver unit. The receiving unit can sometimes be referred to as a receiver, receiver, or receiving circuit. The transmitting unit can sometimes be referred to as a transmitter, transmitter, or transmitting circuit.

[0293] When the communication device 1000 executes the process shown in Figure 5 of the above embodiment for the first access network device: the communication unit 1001 and the processing unit 1002 in the communication device 1000 are both located within the first access network device; or the communication unit 1001 is located within the DU of the first access network device, and the processing unit 1002 is located within the CU of the first access network device; or in the O-RAN architecture, the communication unit 1001 is located within the O-DU and / or O-RU of the first access network device, and the processing unit 1002 is located within the O-CU and / or O-DU of the first access network device.

[0294] The communication unit 1001 is configured to send a first handover request to the second access network device, the first handover request request requesting the first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device, the first handover request including indication information of a first service of the first terminal device; the communication unit 1001 is also configured to receive a first handover confirmation from the second access network device, the first handover confirmation including address information of the first service, the address information of the first service being determined by the second access network device based on the indication information of the first service; and to send a handover indication to the first terminal device, the first handover indication including address information of the first service, the handover indication instructing the first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device according to the address information of the first service. The processing unit 1002 is configured to process data and / or information and invoke the communication unit 1001 to execute corresponding steps, etc.

[0295] When the communication device 1000 executes the process shown in Figure 5 of the above embodiment for the second access network device: the communication unit 1001 and the processing unit 1002 in the communication device 1000 are both located within the second access network device; or the communication unit 1001 is located within the DU of the second access network device, and the processing unit 1002 is located within the CU of the second access network device; or in the O-RAN architecture, the communication unit 1001 is located within the O-DU and / or O-RU of the second access network device, and the processing unit 1002 is located within the O-CU and / or O-DU of the second access network device.

[0296] The communication unit 1001 is configured to receive a first handover request information from the first access network device, the first handover request information being used to request the first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device, the first handover request information including indication information of a first service of the first terminal device; the processing unit 1002 is configured to determine the address information of the first service based on the indication information of the first service; the communication unit 1001 is further configured to send a first handover confirmation information to the first access network device, the first handover confirmation information including the address information of the first service.

[0297] When the communication device 1000 executes the process shown in Figure 5 of the above embodiment, the communication unit 1001 is used to receive handover instruction information from the first access network device. The first handover instruction information includes the address information of the first service. The handover instruction information is used to instruct the first terminal device to switch to the second access network device according to the address information of the first service. The processing unit 1002 is used to switch to the second access network device based on the address information of the first service.

[0298] The above are just examples. The processing unit 1002 and the communication unit 1001 can also perform other functions. For a more detailed description, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in Figures 5 to 9, which will not be repeated here.

[0299] Figure 11 shows a communication device 1100 provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device shown in Figure 11 can be a hardware circuit implementation of the communication device shown in Figure 10. This communication device 1100 can be applied to the flowcharts shown above to perform the functions of the first access network device, the second access network device, or the first terminal device in the above method embodiments. For ease of explanation, Figure 11 only shows the main components of the communication device.

[0300] As shown in Figure 11, the communication device 1100 includes a communication interface 1101 and a processor 1102. The communication interface 1101 and the processor 1102 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the communication interface 1101 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface, or an interface circuit such as a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the communication device 1100 may further include a memory 1103 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1102, or storing input data required by the processor 1102 to execute instructions, or storing data generated after the processor 1102 executes instructions.

[0301] When the communication device 1100 is used to implement the method shown in Figures 5 to 9, the communication interface 1101 is used to implement the function of the communication unit 1001, and the processor 1102 is used to implement the function of the processing unit 1002.

[0302] This embodiment does not limit the specific connection medium between the communication interface 1101, processor 1102, and memory 1103. In Figure 11, the memory 1103, processor 1102, and communication interface 1101 are connected via a communication bus 1104, which is represented by a thick line. The connection methods between other components are merely illustrative and not intended to be limiting. The communication bus 1104 can be divided into an address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in Figure 11, but this does not indicate that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0303] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip, Figure 12 shows a simplified schematic diagram of the chip's device structure. The chip 1200 includes an interface circuit 1201 and one or more processors 1202. Optionally, the chip 1200 may also include a bus. The processor 1202 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In implementation, each step of the method for determining the service address information can be completed by the integrated logic circuitry in the hardware of the processor 1202 or by instructions in software form. The processor 1202 may 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 devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the methods and steps disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0304] The interface circuit 1201 can be used to send or receive data, instructions or information. The processor 1202 can use the data, instructions or other information received by the interface circuit 1201 to process the data, instructions or other information, and can send the processed information out through the interface circuit 1201.

[0305] Optionally, the chip also includes memory 1203, which may include read-only memory and random access memory, and provides operation instructions and data to the processor. A portion of memory 1203 may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).

[0306] Optionally, the memory stores executable software modules or data structures, and the processor can execute corresponding operations by calling the operation instructions stored in the memory (which may be stored in the operating system).

[0307] Optionally, the chip can be used in the first access network device, the second access network device, or the first terminal device involved in the embodiments of this application. Optionally, the interface circuit 1201 can be used to output the execution result of the processor 1202. For the methods of determining service address information provided in one or more embodiments of this application, please refer to the foregoing embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0308] It should be noted that the functions of the interface circuit 1201 and the processor 1202 can be implemented through hardware design, software design, or a combination of hardware and software; no restrictions are imposed here.

[0309] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions for implementing the methods executed by the first access network device, the second access network device, or the first terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0310] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, it enables the computer to implement the method performed by the first access network device, the second access network device, or the first terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0311] This application also provides a computer program product containing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement the method described above, which is executed by the first access network device, the second access network device, or the first terminal device.

[0312] This application also provides a chip, including a processor, for calling computer programs or computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the processor executes the service address information determination method of the embodiments shown in Figures 5 to 9 above.

[0313] In one possible implementation, the input of the chip corresponds to the receiving operation in the embodiments shown in Figures 5 to 9, and the output of the chip corresponds to the sending operation in the embodiments shown in Figures 5 to 9.

[0314] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0315] Optionally, the chip also includes a memory that stores computer programs or computer instructions.

[0316] The processor mentioned above can be a general-purpose central processing unit, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits used to control the execution of a program for determining service address information in the embodiments shown in Figures 5 to 9. The memory mentioned above can be read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices capable of storing static information and instructions, such as random access memory (RAM).

[0317] It should be noted that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the explanations and beneficial effects of the relevant content in any of the communication devices provided above can be referred to the corresponding service address information determination method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0318] In this application, the communication devices may further include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer may include hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory). The operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as Linux, Unix, Android, iOS, or Windows. The application layer may include applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

[0319] The module division in this embodiment is illustrative and represents only one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in each embodiment of this application can be integrated into a single processor, exist as separate physical entities, or be integrated into a single module. The integrated modules described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional modules.

[0320] Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, the above functions can be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, wherein communication media include any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available medium accessible to a computer. For example, but not limited to, computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, magnetic disk storage media, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible to a computer. Furthermore, any connection can suitably be a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium. As used in embodiments of this application, disks and discs include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital video discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, wherein disks typically magnetically copy data, while discs optically copy data using lasers. The combinations above should also be included within the scope of protection for computer-readable media.

[0321] In summary, the above descriptions are merely embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made based on the disclosure of this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A method for determining service address information, characterized in that, The method is applied to a first access network device, including: Send a first handover request message to the second access network device. The first handover request message is used to request the first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device. The first handover request message includes indication information of the first service of the first terminal device. The second access network device receives a first handover confirmation message, which includes the address information of the first service. The address information of the first service is determined by the second access network device based on the indication information of the first service. A handover instruction is sent to the first terminal device. The first handover instruction includes the address information of the first service. The handover instruction is used to instruct the first terminal device to switch to the second access network device according to the address information of the first service.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The address information of the first service includes the ID / address of the service compute execution function (CE) corresponding to at least one target node; the at least one target node is a node that provides the first service; wherein, the at least one target node includes the second access network device and / or at least one adjacent node; any one of the target nodes meets a preset condition, the preset condition including: the node has deployed the first service, and the load corresponding to the first service provided by the node is lower than a preset threshold value.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before sending the first handover request information to the second access network device, the method further includes: Confirm that the first terminal device has switched to the new cell.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The confirmation that the first terminal device has switched access to the cell includes: Receive first measurement information from the first terminal device, wherein the first measurement information includes a measurement event; Based on the measurement event, when it is determined that the signal quality of the neighboring cell of the cell where the first terminal device is currently located is higher than the signal quality of the cell where the first terminal device is currently located, the first terminal device is confirmed to switch to the access cell.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first switching request information also includes status indication information, which is used to indicate the service status of the first service.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The switching indication information also includes one or more of the following: The first service's indication information, the target cell's identification information, the dedicated random access channel (RACH) resource, the second access network device's system information, and the association information between the RACH and the synchronization signal block (SSB).

7. A method for determining service address information, characterized in that, The method is applied to a second access network device, including: The first handover request information is received from the first access network device. The first handover request information is used to request the first terminal device to hand over to the second access network device. The first handover request information includes the indication information of the first service of the first terminal device. Based on the indication information of the first service, determine the address information of the first service; Send a first handover confirmation message to the first access network device, the first handover confirmation message including the address information of the first service.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The address information of the first service includes the ID / address of the service compute execution function (CE) corresponding to at least one target node; the at least one target node is a node that provides the first service; wherein, the at least one target node includes the second access network device and / or at least one adjacent node; any one of the target nodes meets a preset condition, the preset condition including: the node has deployed the first service, and the load corresponding to the first service provided by the node is lower than a preset threshold value.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The first switching request information also includes status indication information, which is used to indicate the service status of the first service.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, Determining the address information of the first service based on the indication information of the first service includes: Obtain first information of at least one node providing the first service and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one node; the first information of each node includes deployment information, load information, and the ID and / or address of the node; Based on the deployment information and load information corresponding to the at least one node, at least one target node is determined from the at least one node, and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one target node is determined.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The step of obtaining the first information of at least one node providing the first service and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one node includes: From the first information of multiple nodes and the ID / address of the corresponding service CE provided by the Computation Management Function (CMF), determine the first information of the at least one node and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one node; or Send a request message for node information to the Computation Management Function (CMF), the request message for node information including indication information of the first service, adjacent node information, and policy information of the first service; receive a response message for node information from the CMF, the response message for node information including first information of the at least one node and the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one node.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The method further includes: A communication tunnel corresponding to the first service is established based on the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one target node.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, If the at least one target node does not include the second access network device; the step of establishing a communication tunnel corresponding to the first service based on the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to the at least one target node includes: Based on the ID / address of the service CE corresponding to each target node, a first request message is sent to the service CE corresponding to each target node, the first request message including downlink tunnel endpoint information; Receive first response information from the service CE corresponding to each target node, the first response information including uplink tunnel endpoint information; Based on the downlink tunnel endpoint information and the uplink tunnel endpoint information, a corresponding communication tunnel is established.

14. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The communication tunnel corresponding to the first service has been established. This communication tunnel is a service-level tunnel and corresponds to a terminal list, which includes the ID / address of at least one terminal device. The method further includes: If the ID / address of the first terminal device is not included in the terminal list, the ID / address of the first terminal device is added to the terminal device list to obtain an updated terminal list. Maintain the correspondence between the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service and the updated terminal list.

15. The method according to claim 12 or 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a first message from the first terminal device, the first message including indication information of the first service; determine a target communication tunnel from the communication tunnels corresponding to the first service based on the indication information and policy information of the first service; send the first message through the target communication tunnel; or The device receives a first message from the first terminal device, the first message including the ID / address information of the target service CE; based on the ID / address of the target service CE, it determines the target communication tunnel corresponding to the target service CE from the communication tunnel corresponding to the first service; and sends the first message through the target communication tunnel.

16. A method for determining service address information, characterized in that, The method is applied to a first terminal device, which performs a first service, including: The first terminal device receives a handover instruction information from the first access network device. The first handover instruction information includes the address information of the first service. The handover instruction information is used to instruct the first terminal device to switch to the second access network device according to the address information of the first service. Based on the address information of the first service, switch to the second access network device.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The address information of the first service includes the ID / address of the service compute execution function (CE) corresponding to at least one target node; the at least one target node is a node that provides the first service; wherein, the at least one target node includes the second access network device and / or at least one adjacent node; any one of the target nodes meets a preset condition, the preset condition including: the node has deployed the first service, and the load corresponding to the first service provided by the node is lower than a preset threshold value.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, Before receiving the handover indication information from the first access network device, the method further includes: Send first measurement information to the first access network device. The first measurement information includes a measurement event. The first measurement information is used to instruct the measurement of the signal quality of the neighboring cells of the cell where the first terminal device is currently located and the signal quality of the cell where the first terminal device is currently located, based on the measurement event.

19. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The switching indication information also includes one or more of the following: The first service's indication information, the target cell's identification information, the dedicated random access channel (RACH) resource, the second access network device's system information, and the association information between the RACH and the synchronization signal block (SSB).

20. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a first message to the second access network device, the first message including indication information of the first service.

21. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the policy information of the first service, the target service CE is determined from the service CEs corresponding to the at least one target node; Send a first message to the second access network device, the first message including the ID / address of the target service CE.

22. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes modules or units for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, or modules or units for performing the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 15, or modules or units for performing the method as described in any one of claims 16 to 21.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices besides the communication device and transmit them to the processor, or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices besides the communication device. The processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6 through logic circuits or executable code instructions; or the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 15 through logic circuits or executable code instructions; or the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 16 to 21 through logic circuits or executable code instructions.

24. A communication system, characterized in that, include: A first access network device for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, a second access network device for performing the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 15, and a first terminal device for performing the method as described in any one of claims 16 to 21.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 21.

26. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product stores computer-readable instructions, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed, the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 21 is performed.

27. A chip, characterized in that, The chip includes at least one processor, which is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 21.

Images