Communication method, apparatus and system

Abstract

The present application relates to a communication method, apparatus and system. The method comprises: on the basis of first information, a first core network element determining that a service corresponding to a terminal device is to be locally processed, wherein control-plane signaling corresponding to the service to be locally processed is forwarded by a first network element to a local functional network element and does not pass through the first core network element, and the first information comprises one or more pieces of the following: information of the terminal device, information of the first network element, or information of at least one core network element; and the first core network element sending indication information to the first network element, so as to indicate that the service corresponding to the terminal device is to be locally processed or indicates information of the service for the terminal device that is to be locally processed. On the basis of first information, a first core network element can determine whether a service corresponding to a terminal device is to be locally processed, that is, a method for determining whether the service for the terminal device can be locally processed is provided, such that the service for the terminal device can be locally processed.

Description

Communication method, device and system

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on October 31, 2023, with application number 202311434366.5 and application name “A Communication Method, Device and System”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] In the 5th generation (5G) system, the user equipment (UE) maintains a non-access stratum (NAS) connection with the access and mobility management function (AMF) and transmits mobility management (MM) NAS messages. The (radio) access network (R)AN forwards MM NAS messages between the UE and the AMF. If the UE has other types of NAS requests, such as NAS-session management (SM), short messaging service (SMS), UE policy, or location services (LCS), the UE places the corresponding request in the MM NAS message. After receiving the MM NAS message, the AMF parses the corresponding request and sends the request to the corresponding network function (NF).

[0005] The above description covers public network communication scenarios. However, in private network or campus scenarios, some NFs may be deployed in the private network or campus, and UE services can be processed in the private network or campus. However, it is currently uncertain whether a particular UE's services can be processed locally.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, apparatus, and system for providing a mechanism for locally processing services of terminal devices.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a core network element, or by other devices including core network element functions, or by a system-on-chip (or chip) or other functional module. The system-on-chip or functional module can implement the functions of the core network element. The system-on-chip or functional module is, for example, disposed in the core network element. The core network element is, for example, a first core network element. In the following description, the method is performed by the first core network element as an example. Optionally, the first core network element is, for example, an AMF, or other core network element capable of implementing similar functions. The method includes: determining, based on first information, that a service corresponding to a terminal device is processed locally, wherein control plane signaling corresponding to the locally processed service is forwarded by the first network element to a local functional network element without passing through the first core network element, and the first information includes one or more of the following: information about the terminal device, information about the first network element, or information about at least one core network element; and sending indication information to the first network element, the indication information being used to indicate that the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally, or information indicating the service being processed locally by the terminal device.

[0009] In the embodiment of the present application, the first core network element can determine whether the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally based on the first information. That is, a method for determining whether the service of the terminal device can be processed locally is provided, so that the service of the terminal device can be processed locally. In addition, if the service of the terminal device is processed locally, the first core network element can also send indication information to the first network element, so that the first network element can process the service of the terminal device according to the local processing mechanism, thereby implementing the local processing mechanism.

[0010] In an optional implementation, the control plane signaling is not an MM NAS message. For example, the control plane signaling is signaling corresponding to a corresponding service, and may be signaling newly defined in the embodiment of the present application, or may be traditional signaling. Thus, the control plane signaling in the embodiment of the present application is not an MM NAS message and does not need to pass through the first core network element. Instead, it is directly forwarded by the first network element to the local functional network element, thereby shortening the transmission path of the control plane signaling and reducing transmission latency.

[0011] In an optional embodiment, the services corresponding to the terminal device include all or part of the services of the terminal device; or, upon receiving a service request from the terminal device, the services corresponding to the terminal device are the services indicated by the service request. For example, the first core network element may uniformly determine the services that the terminal device can process locally, or the first core network element may determine whether the services indicated by the service request can be processed locally after receiving the service request from the terminal device, without prior determination, thereby providing a more flexible approach.

[0012] In an optional embodiment, the information of the terminal device includes one or more of the following: information about the terminal device's ability to support local processing of services; the PLMN and / or NID to which the terminal device accesses; or information about services that the terminal device is allowed to process locally, or information about all services that the terminal device is allowed to process locally. The information about the terminal device's ability to support local processing of services indicates whether the terminal device is capable of processing services locally. For example, if the first core network element is pre-configured with a PLMN ID that allows local processing of services, the first core network element can determine whether the ID of the PLMN to which the terminal device accesses is included in the PLMN ID pre-configured by the first core network element. If the ID of the PLMN to which the terminal device accesses is included in the PLMN ID pre-configured by the first core network element, it indicates that the services of the terminal device can be processed locally; otherwise, it indicates that the services of the terminal device cannot be processed locally.

[0013] In an optional embodiment, the information of the first network element includes information about whether the first network element supports forwarding messages to a local functional network element. If the first network element supports forwarding messages (e.g., control plane signaling corresponding to a service) to a local functional network element, the service of the terminal device served by the first network element may be processed locally; if the first network element does not support forwarding messages (e.g., control plane signaling corresponding to a service) to a local functional network element, the service of the terminal device served by the first network element may not be processed locally.

[0014] In an optional embodiment, determining, based on the first information, that a service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally includes: sending part or all of the first information to a second core network element; and receiving the indication information from the second core network element. The first core network element may independently determine, based on the first information, whether the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally. Alternatively, the first core network element may determine, with the assistance of other core network elements, whether the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally.

[0015] In an optional embodiment, the indication information is further used to indicate a functional network element for processing the locally processed service and / or to indicate an area to which the indication information applies. In order for the first network element to forward control plane signaling to a local functional network element, it is necessary to first determine the functional network element corresponding to the service. The indication information can indicate the functional network element corresponding to the service, thereby enabling the first network element to forward control plane signaling.

[0016] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: sending policy information to the terminal device, the policy information being used to indicate that a service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally, or indicating information about a service processed locally by the terminal device. The first core network element may further send policy information to the terminal device so that the terminal device can process the corresponding service according to the local processing mechanism.

[0017] In an optional embodiment, the policy information further includes information about a functional network element for processing a service locally processed by the terminal device, and / or information about the region to which the policy information applies. For example, when the terminal device sends control plane signaling to the first network element, it can also indicate the functional network element for processing the service, so that the first network element does not need to determine the functional network element, thereby simplifying the processing process of the first network element.

[0018] In an optional embodiment, the policy information is generated by the first core network element; or, the policy information comes from the second core network element. For example, the first core network element determines whether the terminal device's service is processed locally based on the first information, and the first core network element may also generate the policy information based on the first information. For another example, the first core network element determines whether the terminal device's service is processed locally with the help of the second core network element, and the second core network element may generate the policy information and send it to the first core network element. Optionally, the indication information sent by the first core network element to the first network element may also be generated by the first core network element, or come from the second core network element.

[0019] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: sending information of the first network element and / or information of the at least one core network element to the terminal device, wherein the information of the first network element and / or information of the at least one core network element is used by the terminal device to determine whether the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally. For example, the first core network element may not uniformly determine whether the service of the terminal device is processed locally, but may send information of the corresponding network element to the terminal device, so that the terminal device first determines whether the service is processed locally when initiating the service. This method reduces the execution steps of the first core network element.

[0020] On the second aspect, another communication method is provided, which can be executed by a first network element, or by other devices including the functions of the first network element, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional module, which can realize the functions of the first network element, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, arranged in the first network element. In the following description, the method is taken as an example of being executed by the first network element. The method includes: receiving a first indication information from a first core network network element, the first indication information being used to indicate that the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally, or indicating information about the service processed locally by the terminal device; receiving a message from the terminal device, the message including control plane signaling; sending the control plane signaling to the local functional network element according to the first indication information, and the control plane signaling does not pass through the first core network network element, wherein the control plane signaling corresponds to the service processed locally.

[0021] In an optional embodiment, the message includes second indication information, where the second indication information is information indicating a service requested by the control plane signaling, or information indicating a type of the control plane signaling, or information indicating a local service. For example, the first network element may query the first indication information (indication information from the first core network element) based on the second indication information to thereby determine how to forward the control plane signaling.

[0022] In an optional implementation, the first indication information is further used to indicate a functional network element used to process the locally processed service, and / or to indicate an area to which the first indication information is applicable.

[0023] In an optional embodiment, the local functional network element is determined based on the information of the local functional network element included in the message; or, the local functional network element is determined based on the first indication information, and the first indication information is also used to indicate the information of the functional network element used to process the locally processed service.

[0024] Regarding the technical effects brought about by the second aspect or various optional implementations, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0025] On the third aspect, another communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by other devices including the functions of the terminal device, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional module, which can realize the functions of the terminal device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the terminal device. In the following introduction, the method is performed by the terminal device as an example. The method includes: sending a message to a first network element, the message including control plane signaling, wherein the message includes indication information, and the indication information is information for indicating the service requested by the control plane signaling, or information for indicating the type of the control plane signaling, or information for indicating local services.

[0026] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: receiving policy information from the first core network element, the policy information being used to indicate that the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally, or indicating information about the service processed locally by the terminal device.

[0027] In an optional implementation, sending a message to the first network element includes: when it is determined according to the policy information that the service requested by the control plane signaling is processed locally, sending the message.

[0028] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: when it is determined according to the policy information that the first service is not to be processed locally, sending an MM NAS message to the first network element, where the MM NAS message includes a service request for the first service.

[0029] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: sending a service request to the first network element, the service request being used to request local processing of the service requested by the control plane signaling; and receiving response information, the response information being used to indicate that the service requested by the control plane signaling is processed locally.

[0030] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: receiving information of a first network element and / or information of at least one core network element from a first core network element, wherein the information of the first network element and / or the information of the at least one core network element is used by the terminal device to determine whether the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally.

[0031] In an optional implementation, sending the service request to the first network element includes: sending the service request to the first network element based on information of the first network element and / or information of the at least one core network element.

[0032] In an optional implementation, the policy information is further used to indicate a local functional network element for processing the first service, and the message further includes a function for indicating a local functional network element for processing the first service.

[0033] In an optional implementation, the policy information is further used to indicate an area to which the policy information applies, wherein sending a message to the first network element includes: when the terminal device is in the area, sending the message to the first network element.

[0034] Regarding the technical effects brought about by the third aspect or various optional implementations, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the first aspect or the corresponding implementations, and / or reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the second aspect or the corresponding implementations.

[0035] In a fourth aspect, a communications device is provided. The communications device may be the first core network element described in any one of the first to third aspects. The communications device possesses the functions of the first core network element. The communications device may be, for example, the first core network element, or a larger device including the first core network element, or a functional module within the first core network element, such as a baseband device or a system-on-chip. In one optional implementation, the communications device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communications device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module). The transceiver unit is capable of performing both transmitting and receiving functions. When the transceiver unit performs the transmitting function, it may be referred to as a transmitting unit (sometimes also referred to as a transmitting module); when the transceiver unit performs the receiving function, it may be referred to as a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be the same functional module, referred to as the transceiver unit, which is capable of both transmitting and receiving functions. Alternatively, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be different functional modules, with the transceiver unit being a collective term for these functional modules.

[0036] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit is used to perform channel access on an unlicensed frequency band; the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is used to send SCI, and the SCI includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate that at least one of the M bits in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit, and the M bits are bits used to carry channel occupancy time sharing information COT-SI, and M is a positive integer.

[0037] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit is used to determine that the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally based on the first information, wherein the control plane signaling corresponding to the locally processed service is forwarded by the first network element to the local functional network element without passing through the first core network network element, and the first information includes one or more of the following: information about the terminal device, information about the first network element, or information about at least one core network network element; the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is used to send indication information to the first network element, and the indication information is used to indicate that the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally, or to indicate information about the service processed locally by the terminal device.

[0038] In an optional embodiment, the communication device also includes a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is used to couple with the storage unit and execute the program or instructions in the storage unit, enabling the communication device to perform the functions of the first core network network element described in any one of the first to third aspects above.

[0039] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the first network element described in any one of the first to third aspects above. The communication device has the functions of the first network element above. The communication device is, for example, the first network element, or a larger device including the first network element, or a functional module in the first network element, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module). For the implementation of the transceiver unit, please refer to the introduction of the fourth aspect.

[0040] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the receiving unit) is used to receive first indication information from a first core network network element, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that a service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally, or to indicate information about a service processed locally by the terminal device; the transceiver unit (or, the receiving unit) is also used to receive a message from the terminal device, wherein the message includes control plane signaling; the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is used to send the control plane signaling to a local functional network element according to the first indication information, and the control plane signaling does not pass through the first core network network element, wherein the control plane signaling corresponds to a service processed locally.

[0041] In an optional embodiment, the communication device also includes a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is used to couple with the storage unit and execute the program or instructions in the storage unit, enabling the communication device to perform the function of the first network element described in any one of the first to third aspects above.

[0042] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the first terminal device described in any one of the first to third aspects above. The communication device has the functions of the first terminal device above. The communication device is, for example, a first terminal device, or a larger device including the first terminal device, or a functional module in the first terminal device, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module). For the implementation of the transceiver unit, please refer to the introduction of the fourth aspect.

[0043] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is used to send a message to the first network element, the message including control plane signaling, wherein the message includes indication information, and the indication information is information used to indicate the service requested by the control plane signaling, or information used to indicate the type of the control plane signaling, or information used to indicate local service.

[0044] In an optional embodiment, the communication device also includes a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is used to couple with the storage unit and execute the program or instructions in the storage unit, enabling the communication device to perform the function of the first terminal device described in any one of the first to third aspects above.

[0045] In a seventh aspect, a communications device is provided. The communications device may be a first core network element, or a chip or chip system used in the first core network element. The communications device includes a communications interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program. The processor is coupled to the memory and the communications interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions, the communications device executes the method performed by the first core network element in each of the aforementioned aspects.

[0046] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a first network element, or a chip or chip system used in the first network element. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program. The processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions, the communication device executes the method performed by the first network element in each of the above aspects.

[0047] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a first terminal device, or a chip or chip system used in the first terminal device. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program. The processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions, the communication device executes the method performed by the first terminal device in the above aspects.

[0048] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a first terminal device and a first network element, wherein the first terminal device is configured to execute the method performed by the first terminal device as described in any one of the first to third aspects above, and the first network element is configured to execute the method performed by the first network element as described in any one of the first to third aspects above. For example, the first terminal device may be implemented by the communication apparatus described in the sixth or ninth aspect; and the first network element may be implemented by the communication apparatus described in the fifth or eighth aspect.

[0049] Optionally, the communication system further includes a first core network element, which is configured to execute the method performed by the first core network element as described in any one of the first to third aspects. For example, the first core network element can be implemented by the communication device described in the fourth or seventh aspect.

[0050] In an eleventh aspect, another communication system is provided, comprising a first core network element and a first network element, wherein the first core network element is configured to execute the method performed by the first core network element as described in any one of the first to third aspects, and the first network element is configured to execute the method performed by the first network element as described in any one of the first to third aspects. For example, the first core network element may be implemented by the communication apparatus described in the fourth or seventh aspect; and the first network element may be implemented by the communication apparatus described in the fifth or eighth aspect.

[0051] Optionally, the communication system further includes a first terminal device, the first terminal device being configured to execute the method performed by the first terminal device as described in any one of the first to third aspects. For example, the first terminal device may be implemented by the communication apparatus described in the sixth or ninth aspect.

[0052] In the twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which is used to store computer programs or instructions. When the computer-readable storage medium is executed, the method executed by the first core network element or the first network element or the first terminal device in the above aspects is implemented.

[0053] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a computer, enables the methods described in the above aspects to be implemented.

[0054] In a fourteenth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor and an interface, wherein the processor is used to call and execute instructions from the interface so that the chip system implements the methods in the above aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0055] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture;

[0056] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of AMF forwarding messages between UE and NF;

[0057] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Figures 4, 6, and 7 are flowcharts of three communication methods provided in embodiments of the present application;

[0059] 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams of two implementations of the second indication information in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG5C is a schematic diagram of forwarding an MM NAS message;

[0061] FIG5D is a schematic diagram of forwarding a new type of message provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of another device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0065] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "plural" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A or B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B means: A or B. "At least one of the following items" or "one or more of them" and other similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c, or one or more of a, b, or c, means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c. Each of a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0066] The ordinal numbers "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority, or importance of multiple objects. In addition, the numbering of the steps in the various embodiments introduced in the embodiments of this application is only to distinguish different steps and is not used to define the order between the steps. For example, S401 can occur before S402, or after S402, or at the same time as S402.

[0067] Below, some terms or concepts in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0068] (1) In the embodiments of the present application, a terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver functions, which can be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (such as a mobile phone), a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless device built into the above-mentioned device (such as a communication module, a modem, or a chip system, etc.). The terminal device is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, such as but not limited to the following scenarios: cellular communication, device-to-device communication (D2D), V2X, machine-to-machine / machine-type communication (M2M / MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drone, robot and other scenarios. The terminal device can sometimes be referred to as UE, terminal, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication equipment, or user device, etc.

[0069] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device for implementing the terminal device function may be a terminal device, or may be a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the terminal device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described by taking the terminal device as an example in which the device for implementing the terminal device function is a terminal device. In addition, for ease of description, the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application is described by taking a UE as an example.

[0070] (2) The network devices in the embodiments of the present application include, for example, access network devices and / or core network devices. The access network device is a device with wireless transceiver functions, which is used to communicate with the terminal device. The access network device includes but is not limited to base stations (base transceiver station (BTS), Node B, eNodeB / eNB, or gNodeB / gNB), transmission reception points (TRP), base stations subsequently evolved from the third generation partnership project (3GPP), access nodes in wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) systems, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, etc. The base station can be: a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a small station, a relay station, etc. Multiple base stations can support networks with the same access technology, or they can support networks with different access technologies. The base station can include one or more co-station or non-co-station transmission and reception points. The access network device may also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (CU), and / or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The access network device may also be a server, etc. For example, the network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU). The following describes the access network device using a base station as an example. The base station can communicate with the terminal device, or it can communicate with the terminal device through a relay station. The terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies. The core network device is used to implement functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The names of the devices that implement core network functions in systems with different access technologies may be different, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.Taking the 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system as an example, the core network equipment includes: AMF, session management function (SMF), location management function (LMF), unified data management (UDM), policy control function (PCF), short message service function (SMSF) or user plane function (UPF), etc.

[0071] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device for implementing the network device function may be a network device, or may be a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the network device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described by taking the network device as an example of the device for implementing the network device function being a network device.

[0072] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture, which is also a network architecture used in the embodiments of the present application. Figure 1 shows the interaction relationship between network functions and entities and the corresponding interfaces. For example, the UE and AMF can interact through the N1 interface, and the interaction message is called an N1 message. Some of the interfaces in Figure 1 can be implemented as service-oriented interfaces.

[0073] The UE, (R)AN, UPF, and data network (DN) in Figure 1 are generally referred to as data plane network functions and entities. User data traffic can be transmitted through the protocol data unit (PDU) session established between the UE and DN, and the transmission will pass through the (R)AN and UPF network function entities. The other parts in Figure 1 are called control plane network functions and entities, which are mainly responsible for functions such as authentication and authorization, registration management, session management, mobility management, and policy control, thereby ensuring reliable and stable transmission of user-layer traffic. Among them, the user plane is used to carry service data, and the control plane is used to carry signaling messages.

[0074] Access network elements, such as (R)ANs, are primarily responsible for air interface functions such as radio resource management, quality of service management, data compression, and encryption. These access network devices can include various base stations, such as macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, and access points. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of devices with base station functionality may vary. For example, in 5G systems, they are referred to as gNBs.

[0075] The AMF, a core network element, is primarily responsible for signaling processing, such as access control, mobility management, registration and deregistration, and gateway selection. When the AMF provides services for a UE session, it provides control plane storage resources for the session to store the session identifier and the SMF network element identifier associated with the session identifier.

[0076] The SMF is responsible for user plane network element selection, user plane network element redirection, Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation, bearer establishment, modification and release, and quality of service (QoS) control.

[0077] LMF is used to provide positioning functions, such as calculation and feedback of location information, positioning process management, UE capability acquisition, auxiliary data provision, and UE position estimation.

[0078] SMSF can provide short message function processing, including short message registration, relay, cache, routing and other processing.

[0079] The UPF is responsible for forwarding and receiving user data from the UE. It receives user data from the DN and transmits it to the UE via the access network element. The UPF also receives user data from the UE via the access network element and forwards it to the DN. The SMF manages and controls the transmission resources and scheduling functions that the UPF provides to the UE.

[0080] The network exposure function (NEF) mainly supports the secure interaction between the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network and third-party applications.

[0081] Application function (AF) mainly supports interaction with the 3GPP core network to provide services, such as influencing data routing decisions, policy control functions, or providing some third-party services to the network side.

[0082] PCF is responsible for policy control decisions, providing policy rules for control plane functions, and flow-based charging control functions.

[0083] The network slice selection function (NSSF) is mainly responsible for network slice selection and determines the network slice instance that the UE is allowed to access based on the UE's slice selection auxiliary information, subscription information, etc.

[0084] UDM is mainly responsible for UE subscription data management, including storage and management of UE identification, UE access authorization, etc.

[0085] The authentication server function (AUSF) supports 3GPP and non-3GPP access authentication.

[0086] Network repository function (NRF), which supports registration and discovery of network functions.

[0087] The relevant interfaces between network element functions involved in the embodiments of this application include:

[0088] N1: Interface between UE and core network control plane.

[0089] N2: Communication interface between (R)AN and core network control plane.

[0090] N3: Communication interface between (R)AN and UPF, used to transmit user plane data.

[0091] N4: Communication interface between SMF and UPF, used by SMF to configure policies for UPF, etc.

[0092] N6: Communication port between UPF and DN.

[0093] Figure 1 can be regarded as the architecture of the public network. In the 5G system, the UE and AMF maintain a NAS connection through the (R)AN and transmit MM NAS messages. The (R)AN forwards the MM NAS messages between the UE and the AMF. Among them, the N1 interface between the UE and the AMF (as shown in Figure 1) refers to a logical interface, not an actual connection interface. The N1 interface is used to transmit NAS messages, and the NAS messages are forwarded through the (R)AN. If the UE has other types of NAS requests, such as NAS-SM, SMS, UE policy or LCS, the UE puts the corresponding request in the MM NAS message and sends it to the (R)AN. The (R)AN sends the MM NAS message to the AMF. After receiving the MM NAS message, the AMF parses the corresponding request and then sends the request to the corresponding NF. Please refer to Figure 2. The lower layer in Figure 2 includes, for example, the physical layer. Among them, NAS-SM is the information / message between UE and SMF, which is related to PDU session management. If the NAS-SM is obtained after AMF parses the MM NAS message, AMF can send the NAS-SM to SMF, for example, AMF sends it to SMF through the N11 interface or service interface Nsmf between AMF and SMF; SMS is the information / message between UE and SMSF, which is used for short message delivery. If the SMS is obtained after AMF parses the MM NAS message, AMF can send the SMS to SMSF, for example, AMF sends it to SMSF through the N20 interface or service interface Nsmsf between AMF and SMSF; UE Policy is the information / message between UE and PCF, which is used for UE policy delivery. If the UE Policy is obtained after AMF parses the MM NAS message, AMF can send the UE Policy to PCF, for example, AMF sends it to PCF through the N15 interface or service interface Npcf between AMF and PCF; LCS is the information / message between UE and LMF, which is used for UE positioning management. If AMF parses MM If the LCS is obtained after the NAS message, the AMF can send the LCS to the LMF, for example, through the NL1 interface between the AMF and LMF or the service-oriented interface Nlmf. Requests such as NAS-SM, SMS, UE Policy, or LCS are placed in MM NAS messages and are invisible to the (R)AN. The (R)AN only forwards MM NAS messages between the UE and the AMF.

[0094] For example, if the UE initiates a positioning service, the UE places an LCS request (e.g., a mobile originated location request (MO-LR Request)) in an MM NAS message and sends it to the (R)AN. The (R)AN forwards the MM NAS message to the AMF by default. After the AMF parses the MM NAS message, it selects the LMF and then initiates a determine location request (determine location request) to the LMF. The determine location request includes the information in the MO-LR Request.

[0095] For another example, if the UE initiates a session service, the UE places the session request (e.g., PDU session establishment request) as an N1 SM container in an MM NAS message and sends it to the (R)AN. The (R)AN forwards the MM NAS message to the AMF by default. After the AMF parses the MM NAS message, it selects the SMF and then initiates a create SM context request to the SMF. The create SM context request includes the information in the PDU session establishment request.

[0096] In addition to public networks, private network communication scenarios are also available. For example, a work campus can be considered a private network. In private network scenarios, some NFs may be deployed in the private network, and UE services can be processed in the private network. Figure 3 shows an architecture diagram of a private network. The "core network" in Figure 3 can be a public network or a "centralized core network," and the "campus core network" can be a private network. The network elements included in the public and private networks can be completely different, or they can include network elements that implement similar functions. As shown in Figure 3, the public network includes network elements such as the AMF and UDM, while the private network includes NFs such as the LMF, sensing function (SF), passive IoT (PIoT), and UDM. The LMF is responsible for managing positioning services, and the SF is responsible for managing sensing services. As can be seen, both public and private networks include UDMs, and the functions of the UDMs in the public and private networks are similar. For example, both are used to store the UE's subscription information, and the information stored in the two UDMs (such as the UE's subscription information) is synchronized. If the UE's request is transmitted to the UDM in the public network, it will be processed by the UDM in the public network; if the UE's request is transmitted to the UDM in the private network, it will be processed by the UDM in the private network. In addition, which network elements are deployed in the private network may depend on which services the private network needs to use. For example, if a factory needs to locate its UE, LMF can be deployed in the factory's private network; for example, if the factory wants to perceive its industrial park, SF can be deployed in the industrial park (private network). Currently, the interaction between the UE and the NF in the private network needs to be forwarded through the AMF. Whether a certain UE's service can be processed in the private network, or which UE services can be processed in the private network, is currently uncertain.

[0097] In view of this, the first core network network element in the embodiment of the present application can determine whether the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally based on the first information, that is, a method for determining whether the UE's service can be processed locally is provided, so that the UE's service can be processed locally. In addition, if the UE's service is processed locally, the first core network network element can also send indication information to the first network element, so that the first network element can process the UE's service according to the local processing mechanism, thereby realizing the local processing mechanism. Taking Figure 3 as an example, for example, if the first core network network element is the AMF in Figure 3, the AMF can send the indication information to the first network element in Figure 3. After receiving the indication information, the first network element can process the UE's service according to the local processing mechanism. For example, for a service request from the UE (such as a positioning request, etc.), the first network element does not need to send it to the AMF in the public network, but can directly forward it to the corresponding functional network element in the private network, for example, sending the positioning request to the LMF, etc. This reduces the signaling transmission process and reduces the transmission delay.

[0098] The method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the various embodiments of this document, concepts such as "local", "local network", "private network", and "campus core network" have the same meaning and can be replaced with each other. In the various embodiments of this document, the first network element can be an independent network element, arranged between the access network element (such as (R)AN) and the core network element (such as AMF); or, the first network element can also include one or more functional modules (such as modules for implementing the control plane signaling forwarding function), and the one or more functional modules can be arranged in the access network element (such as (R)AN) or in the core network element (such as AMF); or, the first network element is the access network element (such as (R)AN) or the core network element (such as AMF and / or control plane signaling forwarding function network element, etc.). Among them, if the first network element is not (R)AN and is not set in (R)AN, then during the uplink communication process, the UE's message (such as control plane signaling) can be sent to (R)AN first, and then forwarded to the first network element by (R)AN, and then sent to AMF or other NF (such as LMF or SMF, etc.); during the downlink communication process, the core network (such as AMF or other NF)'s message (such as control plane signaling) can reach the first network element, and the first network element must forward the corresponding message to the UE through (R)AN.

[0099] The various embodiments of this document involve a first core network network element and a second core network network element. The first core network network element is, for example, a network element in the public network for processing service requests (such as positioning requests or session requests, etc.) from UEs. The first core network network element is responsible for forwarding service requests from UEs to corresponding functional network elements in the public network, such as forwarding positioning requests to LMFs, etc. Optionally, the first core network network element is, for example, an AMF, or may be other network elements that can implement similar functions. The second core network network element includes, for example, a network element in the public network for storing UE subscription information or registration information, or includes a network element in the public network responsible for policy control. Optionally, the second core network network element is, for example, a UDM, or a PCF, or may be other network elements that can implement similar functions. In the introduction to the various embodiments below, it is taken as an example that the first core network network element is an AMF and the second core network element is a PCF or UDM.

[0100] The various embodiments herein may be applied to the network architecture shown in FIG1 or FIG3. For example, the first network element described in the various embodiments herein may be the first network element in FIG3, or the (R)AN in FIG1, or a network element disposed between the (R)AN and the AMF in FIG1; the UE described in the various embodiments herein may be the UE in FIG1 or FIG3; the AMF described in the various embodiments herein may be the AMF in FIG1 or FIG3; the PCF described in the various embodiments herein may be the PCF in FIG1 or FIG3; the UDM described in the various embodiments herein may be the UDM in FIG1 or FIG3, wherein, if the UDM described in the various embodiments herein is the UDM in FIG3, it may be the UDM in the public network or centralized core network shown in FIG3, or it may be the UDM in the private network shown in FIG3; the second network element described in the various embodiments herein may be any NF in FIG1, such as the SMF, or it may be an NF not shown in FIG1, such as the LMF; the third network element described in the various embodiments herein may be any NF in FIG3, such as the sensing, LMF, or SMF. In the drawings corresponding to the various embodiments of the present application, all steps indicated by dotted lines are optional steps.

[0101] An embodiment of the present application provides a first communication method. Please refer to Figure 4, which is a flowchart of the method.

[0102] S401: A UE sends a message 1 to a first network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the message 1 from the UE.

[0103] Message 1 is, for example, an access network (AN) message. For example, S401 occurs during a UE registration process. When the UE requests registration, Message 1 may be sent to the first network element. Message 1 may include, for example, a registration request and may also include an identifier (ID) of the public land mobile network (PLMN) where the UE is located and / or a network identification code (NID) of the network where the UE is located.

[0104] Optionally, Message 1 may further include capability information of the UE, which may indicate whether the UE supports local service processing. This capability information may be included, for example, in the registration request, or the capability information may be included in Message 1 but not in the registration request. For example, this capability information may also be referred to as the UE's distributed processing capability, distributed NAS capability, distributed control plane signaling generation capability, or distributed NAS message construction capability, etc., without limitation to the name.

[0105] Optionally, the first network element is an access network element or a control plane signaling forwarding function network element, wherein the control plane signaling forwarding function network element can implement a control plane signaling forwarding function.

[0106] S402: The first network element sends Message 2 to the AMF. Accordingly, the AMF receives Message 2 from the first network element. For example, if the first network element is a (R)AN, Message 2 may be an N2 message.

[0107] Message 2 may include one or more of the following: user location information, the PLMN ID of the UE, the NID of the UE, or a registration request of the UE.

[0108] S403. The AMF obtains the subscription information or policy information of the UE. For example, the AMF may request the PCF to obtain the subscription information or policy information of the UE, or may request the UDM to obtain the subscription information or policy information of the UE. To distinguish it from the policy information to be introduced later, the policy information here may be referred to as first policy information.

[0109] The subscription information or first policy information of the UE may include information about services that the UE is allowed to process locally, wherein the information about a service may include one or more of the information such as the identifier of the service, the type information of the service, or the type information of the message corresponding to the service. For example, for a positioning service, the information about the positioning service may include one or more of the identifier of the positioning service, the positioning type information (i.e., the type information of the positioning service), or the positioning message (i.e., the type information of the message corresponding to the positioning service). Alternatively, the subscription information or first policy information of the UE may include a first local processing service indication corresponding to the UE, and the first local processing service indication may indicate that the UE is allowed to process services locally, or indicate that the UE is allowed to process all services locally. If the subscription information or first policy information includes information about services that the UE is allowed to process locally, the services indicated by the subscription information or the first policy information are the services that the UE is allowed to process locally, and the services not indicated by the subscription information or the first policy information are not allowed to be processed locally. Alternatively, if the subscription information or the first policy information includes the first local processing service indication corresponding to the UE, it means that all services of the UE are allowed to be processed locally.

[0110] In an embodiment of the present application, if a service is processed locally, then when processing the service, the control plane signaling (for example, NAS message) corresponding to the service can be forwarded by the first network element to a locally deployed functional network element (that is, a functional network element for processing the first service), and the control plane signaling does not pass through the AMF. The locally deployed functional network element is, for example, a network element deployed in a campus or a private network. That is, according to the existing method, the control plane signaling corresponding to the service is forwarded by the (R)AN to the AMF, and then forwarded by the AMF to the corresponding functional network element; while in an embodiment of the present application, the control plane signaling corresponding to the locally processed service can be forwarded directly by the first network element to the functional network element without passing through the AMF, thereby reducing the circuitous transmission process of the control plane signaling and reducing the transmission delay.

[0111] Optionally, the subscription information or first policy information may further include one or more PLMN IDs and / or one or more NIDs. For example, the one or more PLMN IDs indicate that when the UE accesses a PLMN indicated by any one of the one or more PLMN IDs, the services permitted to be processed locally by the UE as described above will take effect, i.e., the services permitted to be processed locally as described above will be processed locally. However, when the PLMN accessed by the UE is not the PLMN indicated by the one or more PLMN IDs, the services permitted to be processed locally as described above cannot be processed locally. The functions of the one or more NIDs are similar.

[0112] S404. The AMF determines, based on the first information, that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally. In this embodiment of the present application, the service corresponding to the UE may include all or part of the services supported by the UE.

[0113] The first information may include one or more of the following: information about the UE, information about the first network element, or information about at least one core network element. For example, the AMF may obtain the first information through one or more steps in S401 to S403, or may obtain the first information through other means. Therefore, S401 to S403 are optional steps.

[0114] The information of the UE may include one or more of the following: capability information of the UE, subscription information or first policy information of the UE, location information of the UE, the PLMN accessed by the UE, or the NID accessed by the UE.

[0115] Optionally, the AMF may obtain the capability information of the UE from the registration request of the UE. The capability information of the UE may indicate whether the UE supports distributed processing capability, or may also indicate other capabilities of the UE. The distributed processing capability may also be referred to as distributed NAS capability, the capability to generate distributed control plane signaling, or the capability to construct distributed NAS messages, etc., without limitation to the name. Taking the distributed NAS capability of the UE indicated by the capability information of the UE as an example, if the UE supports distributed NAS capability, it indicates that the service corresponding to the UE (e.g., part or all of the services corresponding to the UE) can be processed locally; and if the UE does not support distributed NAS capability, it indicates that the service corresponding to the UE (e.g., part or all of the services corresponding to the UE) cannot be processed locally. For example, if the capability information of the UE indicates that the UE does not support distributed NAS capability, the AMF may determine that all services corresponding to the UE cannot be processed locally; or, if the capability information of the UE indicates that the UE supports distributed NAS capability, the AMF may determine that all services corresponding to the UE can be processed locally, or the AMF may further determine whether the service corresponding to the UE can be processed locally in combination with other information included in the first information.

[0116] The UE information includes information indicating that the UE is permitted to process all services locally or information indicating that the UE is permitted to process services locally. For example, in one implementation, the UE information includes a second local service processing indication, which may indicate that the UE is permitted to process services locally or that the UE is permitted to process all services locally. If the UE information includes information about services that the UE is permitted to process locally, the services indicated by the UE information are services that the UE is permitted to process locally. The AMF may determine that these services can be processed locally, or may further determine whether these services can be processed locally based on other information included in the first information. Services not indicated by the UE information are not permitted to be processed locally, and the AMF may determine that these services cannot be processed locally. Alternatively, if the UE information includes the second local service processing indication corresponding to the UE, it indicates that all services of the UE are permitted to be processed locally. The AMF may determine that all services of the UE can be processed locally, or may further determine which services of the UE can be processed locally based on other information included in the first information, or may determine whether these services of the UE can be processed locally.

[0117] The information of the UE may include the location information of the UE, for example, the location information of the UE includes the identifier of the cell in which the UE resides or accesses and / or the identifier of the tracking area (TA) in which the UE resides. Optionally, if the location corresponding to the location information of the UE allows the service to be processed locally (for example, the location of the UE is within the campus), the AMF may determine that the service of the UE can be processed locally when the UE is located at the location; and if the location corresponding to the location information of the UE does not allow the service to be processed locally (for example, the location of the UE is outside the campus), the AMF may determine that the service of the UE cannot be processed locally when the UE is located at the location.

[0118] If the first information includes the subscription information or first policy information of the UE, the AMF may determine whether the services of the UE can be processed locally in combination with the subscription information or the first policy information. For example, if the subscription information or the first policy information indicates that the UE is allowed to process services locally, the AMF may determine that all services of the UE can be processed locally, or the AMF may further determine whether the services corresponding to the UE can be processed locally in combination with other information included in the first information, or determine which services corresponding to the UE can be processed locally. For another example, if the subscription information or the first policy information indicates information about services that the UE is allowed to process locally, the AMF may determine that these services of the UE can be processed locally, or the AMF may further determine whether these services corresponding to the UE can be processed locally in combination with other information included in the first information.

[0119] If the first information includes the ID of the PLMN to which the UE is connected, the AMF may determine, in combination with the PLMN ID, whether the UE's service can be processed locally. For example, if the UE's subscription information or first policy information includes one or more PLMN IDs, or the AMF has locally preconfigured one or more PLMN IDs that allow local processing of services, then if the ID of the PLMN to which the UE is connected is included in these one or more PLMN IDs, or the PLMN to which the AMF belongs allows local processing of services, the AMF may determine that the UE's service can be processed locally, or the AMF may further determine, in combination with other information included in the first information, whether the UE's service can be processed locally; or, if the ID of the PLMN to which the UE is connected is not included in these one or more PLMN IDs, the AMF may determine that the UE's service cannot be processed locally.

[0120] Alternatively, the AMF locally pre-configures the PLMN to which the AMF belongs to allow local processing of services. If the PLMN accessed by the UE is the PLMN to which the AMF belongs, the AMF may determine that the UE's service can be processed locally, or the AMF may further determine whether the UE's service can be processed locally in combination with other information included in the first information; alternatively, if the PLMN accessed by the UE is not the PLMN to which the AMF belongs, the AMF may determine that the UE's service cannot be processed locally.

[0121] For the NID accessed by the UE included in the first information, the AMF applies it in a similar way to the PLMN ID.

[0122] The information of the first network element may include, for example, whether the first network element supports forwarding messages (e.g., control plane signaling from the UE, corresponding to a corresponding service) to a local functional network element, or whether the first network element supports distributed forwarding of NAS messages, or whether the first network element supports distributed forwarding of control plane signaling. For example, if a local processing mechanism is adopted for a service, the control plane signaling corresponding to the service will be forwarded to the corresponding functional network element (e.g., a core network element among at least one core network element) via the first network element, and will not be forwarded to the functional network element via the AMF. Therefore, the first network element must support forwarding the control plane signaling corresponding to the service to the local functional network element to implement the local processing mechanism. For example, if the information of the first network element indicates that the first network element supports forwarding messages to the local functional network element, the AMF may determine that the UE's service can be processed locally, or may further determine whether the UE's service can be processed locally based on other information included in the first information. Alternatively, if the information of the first network element indicates that the first network element does not support forwarding messages to the local functional network element, the AMF may determine that the UE's service cannot be processed locally.

[0123] The at least one core network element, for example, includes a local functional network element for processing services, such as a local LMF, SMF, or perception function. For example, information about a core network element may include an identifier of the core network element and capability information about the core network element. The capability information of a core network element may indicate whether the core network element supports a local processing mechanism, or whether the core network element supports receiving control plane signaling from a first network element, or whether the core network element supports local service processing. For example, if a local processing mechanism is adopted for a service, the control plane signaling corresponding to the service will be forwarded to a local functional network element (e.g., a core network element among the at least one core network element, or a functional network element deployed in the campus for processing services) via the first network element, and will not be forwarded to the functional network element via the AMF. Therefore, the information about the functional network element may indicate whether the functional network element supports receiving control plane signaling from the first network element, or whether the functional network element supports a local processing mechanism, or whether the functional network element supports local service processing. Optionally, the information of a core network element may further indicate whether the core network element is deployed in a specific area, or indicate the deployment location of the core network element. For example, for core network element A used to process service A, if the information of the core network element indicates that the core network element A is deployed in the area corresponding to the UE's location information (e.g., a cell or tracking area), the AMF determines that service A corresponding to the UE can be processed locally; alternatively, if the information of the core network element indicates that the core network element A is not deployed in the area corresponding to the UE's location information (e.g., a cell or tracking area), the AMF may determine that service A corresponding to the UE cannot be processed locally. Optionally, the information of at least one core network element may be replaced with core network capability information. The core network capability information may indicate whether the core network supports a local processing mechanism, whether it supports distributed NAS message processing, or whether it supports distributed control plane signaling processing, etc. Alternatively, the core network capability information may indicate which services the core network supports for local processing mechanisms, which services it supports for distributed NAS message processing, or which services it supports for distributed control plane signaling processing, etc. Among them, if the core network supports the local processing mechanism, or supports distributed NAS message processing, or supports distributed control plane signaling processing, it indicates that the core network supports local processing for various services (for example, some or all of all services supported by the core network). For example, if the core network supports the local processing mechanism or the core network supports the local processing mechanism for positioning services, the AMF can determine that the positioning service corresponding to the UE is processed locally; or, if the core network does not support the local processing mechanism or the core does not support the local processing mechanism for positioning services, the AMF can determine that the positioning service corresponding to the UE cannot be processed locally.

[0124] For example, the UE's subscription information indicates that the UE is allowed to process services locally, the UE's capability information indicates the information of services supported by the UE for local processing (including service A and service B), the information of the first network element indicates that the first network element supports forwarding messages to local functional network elements, and the core network capability information indicates that the core network supports local processing of service A but does not support local processing of service B. Then, the AMF can determine, based on the above information, that the UE's service A can be processed locally, but service B cannot be processed locally.

[0125] Optionally, the AMF may execute S404 on its own, that is, the AMF may determine on its own based on the first information whether part or all of the services corresponding to the UE are processed locally, or determine that all of the services of the UE cannot be processed locally, thereby reducing the interaction process between network elements; or, the AMF may also execute S404 with the help of other network elements. For example, the AMF may send part or all of the information in the first information to the PCF. After the PCF receives part or all of the information in the first information, it may determine on its own based on part or all of the information in the first information whether part or all of the services corresponding to the UE are processed locally, or determine that all of the services of the UE cannot be processed locally. The PCF may obtain the first indication information to be introduced in S405 below based on the determination process (the determination process may be similar to the determination process of the AMF), and send the first indication information to the AMF. Then the AMF does not have to determine on its own whether the services corresponding to the UE are processed locally, which can simplify the implementation of the AMF.

[0126] If the AMF determines with the help of the PCF whether the UE's service is processed locally, S403 does not need to be executed. The information sent by the AMF to the PCF may not include the UE's subscription information or the first policy information, because the PCF already has this information. In addition, if the first information also includes information obtained by the AMF from the PCF, the AMF does not need to obtain this information from the PCF, and thus does not need to send this information to the PCF. For example, the AMF may send the information obtained by the AMF (such as part or all of the information in the first information) to the PCF, and the PCF can determine whether the UE's service is processed locally.

[0127] In S404, the AMF may determine, based on the first information, that part or all of the services corresponding to the UE are processed locally, or may also determine that all of the services of the UE cannot be processed locally. The embodiments of the present application mainly discuss the situation where part or all of the services corresponding to the UE are processed locally.

[0128] If all the services of the UE can be processed locally, or part of the services corresponding to the UE can be processed locally, optionally, the AMF can also determine the functional network element used to process the services locally, and the functional network element refers to the local functional network element. For example, the AMF can determine the functional network element corresponding to the location information of the UE based on the location information of the UE, such as the cell identifier of the cell where the UE resides or accesses and / or the tracking area identifier of the UE resides, that is, determine the functional network element that can process the services of the UE with the location information. Among them, the correspondence between the location information and the functional network element can be pre-configured in the AMF; or, the AMF can query other network elements (such as NRF) for the corresponding functional network element. For example, the AMF sends the location information of the UE to the NRF, and the NRF can return the functional network element corresponding to the location information to the AMF.

[0129] S405. The AMF sends indication information to the first network element. Accordingly, the first network element receives the indication information from the AMF. This indication information may also be referred to as second information, or as a forwarding rule, or as a local processing rule, or as a NAS forwarding rule, or as a control plane signaling forwarding rule, or may have other names. To distinguish it from other indication information described below, the indication information herein is referred to as first indication information.

[0130] The first indication information may indicate that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicate that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), or indicate information about the service processed locally by the UE, or indicate that the control plane signaling of the service corresponding to the UE is forwarded by the first network element to the local functional network element, or indicate that the control plane signaling of all services corresponding to the UE is forwarded by the first network element to the local functional network element, or indicate that the information about the service corresponding to the UE and the control plane signaling of the service are forwarded by the first network element to the local functional network element. In the following introduction, the first indication information indicating that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), or indicating information about the service processed locally by the UE is taken as an example. If the first indication information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), then one indication method is, for example, that the first indication information includes a third local service processing indication, and the third local service processing indication may indicate that the UE is allowed to process services locally, or indicates that the UE is allowed to process all services locally. Alternatively, if the first indication information indicates information about the service that the UE processes locally, one indication method is that the first indication information may include information about the service that the UE is allowed to process locally. For the content of the service information, please refer to the previous introduction.

[0131] For example, the first indication information may include a mapping relationship between the UE identifier and the forwarding rule corresponding to the UE. The forwarding rule may indicate that the service is processed locally (or that all services are processed locally), or indicate information about the service processed locally. The UE identifier may indicate the UE, so that the mapping relationship is equivalent to indicating that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), or indicates information about the service processed locally by the UE. The UE identifier is, for example, the UE ID. The UE identifier may be a temporary identifier assigned to the UE by the AMF or the first network element, such as an AMF UE next generation application protocol (NGAP) ID or a RAN UE NGAP ID. For example, refer to Table 1a or Table 1b for two examples of the first indication information.

[0132] Table 1a

[0133] Table 1b

[0134] Table 1a does not include the "Whether the service is processed locally" option, indicating that all services in Table 1a support local processing. Therefore, according to the first indication information shown in Table 1a, UE1's positioning service, perception service, and specific slice or specific DNN service can be processed locally. If UE1 also responds to other services in addition to positioning service, perception service, and specific slice or specific DNN service, these other services cannot be processed locally.

[0135] Table 1b includes the option of "whether the service is processed locally". According to the first indication information shown in Table 1b, UE1's positioning service and perception service can be processed locally, while UE1's specific slice or specific DNN service cannot be processed locally.

[0136] Optionally, the first indication information may include a set of mapping relationships, where the set of mapping relationships is a mapping relationship between an identifier of a UE and a forwarding rule corresponding to the UE; or, the first indication information may also include multiple sets of mapping relationships, where each set of mapping relationships is a mapping relationship between a UE and a forwarding rule corresponding to the UE, which is equivalent to indicating the forwarding rules of multiple UEs through one first indication information, and there is no limitation on this. For example, the embodiment of the present application takes the registration process of the UE as an example, but it is also possible that the AMF does not execute the aforementioned steps S403, S404, S405, etc. because of the registration of the UE. For example, the AMF may also actively execute the aforementioned steps S403, S404, S405, etc. for one or more UEs that have registered with the AMF. In this scenario, the first indication information may indicate the forwarding rules of one or more UEs. For example, if the subscription information of multiple UEs registered with the AMF has changed, for example, the services corresponding to the multiple UEs have changed from not allowing local processing to allowing local processing, then the AMF can actively execute the aforementioned steps S403, S404, S405, etc. At this time, the first indication information can indicate the forwarding rules of the multiple UEs. The embodiment of the present application is introduced as an example in which the mapping relationship includes a group of mapping relationships.

[0137] Optionally, the AMF sends the first indication information to the first network element through an N2 message. The N2 message may include the identifier of the UE and the first indication information. The identifier of the UE may be a temporary identifier allocated to the UE by the AMF or the first network element, such as an AMF UE NGAP ID or a RAN UE NGAP ID. The N2 message is, for example, an initial context setup request message. For example, referring to Table 1c or Table 1d, there are two other examples of the first indication information. In these two examples, the UE identifier is included in the N2 message but not included in the first indication information. Therefore, unlike Table 1a and Table 1b, the first indication information shown in Table 1c and Table 1d does not include the UE identifier.

[0138] Table 1c

[0139] Table 1d

[0140] Table 1c does not include the option "Whether the service is processed locally," indicating that all services in Table 1c support local processing. Based on the first indication information shown in Table 1c, it can be seen that UE1's positioning services, perception services, and specific slices or specific DNN services can all be processed locally. If UE1 responds to other services in addition to positioning services, perception services, and specific slices or specific DNN services, these other services cannot be processed locally.

[0141] Table 1d includes the option of "whether the service is processed locally". According to the first indication information shown in Table 1d, UE1's positioning service and perception service can be processed locally, while UE1's specific slice or specific DNN service cannot be processed locally.

[0142] If the AMF also determines a functional network element for locally processing services, the first indication information may optionally further indicate the functional network element for locally processing services and / or indicate the area to which the first indication information applies. For example, the first indication information may include information indicating the functional network element for locally processing services, which may indicate the functional network element for locally processing services; and / or the first indication information may include area information to which the first indication information applies, which may indicate the area to which the first indication information applies. The first indication information may indicate the applicable area, for example, by indicating the coordinates of the area, or the network in which the area is located, or by indicating the identifier of the area (e.g., a cell identifier and / or a tracking area (TA) identifier). For example, if the first indication information includes a mapping between a UE identifier and a forwarding rule corresponding to the UE, or includes a forwarding rule corresponding to the UE, the information indicating the functional network element for locally processing services and / or the area information to which the first indication information applies, included in the first indication information, may be included in the forwarding rule. Among them, the functional network element used to process the service corresponds to the corresponding service, but may not correspond to the UE. For example, no matter which UE, as long as the corresponding service is the same, the functional network element used to process the service may be the same functional network element.

[0143] For example, if the first indication information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally, or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally, the first indication information may indicate the functional network element used to process each service among all services corresponding to the UE; or, if the first indication information indicates information about the service processed locally by the UE, the first indication information may indicate the functional network element used to process the service processed locally by the UE. The first indication information indicates the functional network element, for example, one indication manner is that the first indication information includes information about the functional network element, and the information about the functional network element may include an identifier of the functional network element, and the identifier of the functional network element may include, for example, Internet Protocol (IP) address information or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) information of the functional network element. If the first indication information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally, or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally, the AMF may determine all services corresponding to the UE, for example, the AMF may determine all services corresponding to the UE based on the subscription information of the UE or the first policy information.

[0144] In one implementation, the first indication information may be applicable to any area. In this case, the first indication information may not necessarily indicate the area to which the first indication information applies. Alternatively, in another implementation, the area to which the first indication information applies is limited, and the first indication information may indicate the area to which the first indication information applies. For example, the area to which the first indication information applies is an industrial park, or a commercial building, etc. The first indication information indicates the applicable area. When the UE is in the area, the first indication information may be applied, that is, the UE's service may be locally processed according to the first indication information. If the UE is not in the area, the first indication information cannot be applied, that is, the UE's service cannot determine whether to perform local processing according to the first indication information, or the UE's service cannot be locally processed.

[0145] For example, the first indication information includes a mapping relationship between forwarding rules corresponding to the UE, and the forwarding rule includes type information of services processed locally, information for indicating functional network elements used to process services processed locally, and area information to which the first indication information applies. Please refer to Table 2a, Table 2b, and Table 2c for three examples of the first indication information. Table 2a, Table 2b, and Table 2c all take the example that the first indication information does not include the UE identifier. Optionally, the first indication information may include one or more items in Table 2a (one row of Table 2a is regarded as one item), and / or include Table 2b. Optionally, the first indication information may include one or more items in Table 2a (one row of Table 2a is regarded as one item), and / or include one or more items in Table 2c (one row of Table 2c is regarded as one item).

[0146] Table 2a

[0147] Table 2b

[0148] According to the first indication information shown in Table 2a or Table 2b, it can be known that the positioning service and perception service of UE1 can be processed locally. If UE1 also corresponds to other services in addition to the positioning service and perception service, the other services cannot be processed locally. According to the first indication information shown in Table 2a, it can be known that the functional network element for processing the positioning service is LMF 1, and the functional network element for processing the perception service is perception function 1. Among them, LMF 1 is an LMF that can process the positioning service, and perception function 1 is a perception function network element that can process the perception service. According to the first indication information shown in Table 2b, it can be known that the area to which the first indication information applies is area A, or the area to which the services that can be processed locally apply is area A, that is, when UE1 is in area A, the positioning service and perception service of UE can be processed locally.

[0149] Optionally, the first indication information may include region information indicating the region corresponding to the locally processed service, where different services may correspond to the same region or different regions. For example, in Table 2c below, region B and region C may be the same region or different regions.

[0150] Table 2c

[0151] According to the first indication information shown in Table 2c, when UE1 is in area B, the positioning service of UE1 can be processed locally; when UE1 is in area C, the perception service of UE1 can be processed locally.

[0152] Optionally, the method may further include S406: the AMF sends policy information to the UE. Accordingly, the UE receives the policy information from the AMF. To distinguish it from the first policy information described above, the policy information herein is referred to as second policy information. The second policy information may also be referred to as a generation rule, or as a NAS generation rule, or as a local processing rule, or as a control plane signaling generation rule, or may have other names.

[0153] The second policy information may indicate that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicate that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), or indicate information about the service processed locally by the UE, or indicate that the control plane signaling of the service corresponding to the UE is forwarded by the first network element, or indicate that the control plane signaling of all services corresponding to the UE is forwarded by the first network element, or indicate that the information about the service corresponding to the UE and the control plane signaling of the service are forwarded by the first network element, or indicate that the service corresponding to the UE adopts a distributed NAS method, or indicate that the service corresponding to the UE adopts a distributed control plane signaling method, or indicate information about the service using a distributed NAS method for the UE, or indicate information about the service using a distributed control plane signaling method for the UE. In the following description, the second policy information indicating that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicating that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), or indicating information about the service processed locally by the UE is taken as an example. If the second policy information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), one indication method is, for example, that the second policy information includes a fourth local service processing indication, and the fourth local service processing indication may indicate that the UE is allowed to process the service locally, or indicate that the UE is allowed to process all services locally. Alternatively, if the second policy information indicates information about the service processed locally by the UE, one indication method is that the second policy information may include information about the service that the UE is allowed to process locally. For the content of the service information, please refer to the previous introduction.

[0154] For example, the second policy information may include a mapping relationship between the UE's identifier and the processing rule corresponding to the UE, the processing rule may indicate that the service is processed locally (or that all services are processed locally), or indicate information about the service processed locally, and the UE's identifier may indicate the UE, so that the mapping relationship is equivalent to indicating that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), or indicating information about the service processed locally by the UE. The UE identifier is, for example, the UE's ID, such as a 5G-globally unique temporary identifier (GUTI) or a 6G-GUTI. Alternatively, since the second policy information is sent to the UE, the second policy information may not include the UE's identifier, but may include the processing rule corresponding to the UE.

[0155] For another example, the AMF sends a NAS message (or MM NAS message) to the UE, where the NAS message includes the second policy information. The NAS message is, for example, a registration accept message.

[0156] Optionally, if the first indication information does not indicate that the first service can be processed locally, the AMF may send information about a functional network element deployed in a public network or a centralized core network for processing the first service to the UE, where the functional network element is, for example, a third network element. For example, the AMF may determine whether to send information about a functional network element deployed in a public network (or a centralized core network) or a private network for processing the first service to the UE based on whether the first service can be processed locally. The AMF may be pre-configured with deployment location information of the functional network element for processing the first service, where the deployment location is, for example, a private network (e.g., a campus private network), or a public network or a centralized core network. For example, if the first service can be processed locally, the AMF may send information about the functional network element deployed in the private network for processing the first service to the UE; or, if the first service cannot be processed locally, the AMF may send information about the functional network element deployed in the public network or the centralized core network for processing the first service to the UE.

[0157] Optionally, the second policy information may further indicate a functional network element for processing locally processed services and / or indicate an area to which the second policy information applies. For example, the second policy information may include information indicating a functional network element for processing locally processed services, which information may indicate a functional network element for processing locally processed services; and / or, the second policy information may include area information to which the second policy information applies, which area information may indicate an area to which the second policy information applies. For more information on this part, as well as examples of the second policy information, please refer to the introduction to the first indication information in S405.

[0158] Through the above steps, the first network element and the UE both obtain the corresponding rules, and the UE can execute according to the obtained rules when initiating a service. In order to introduce the process of the UE initiating a service, or to introduce the process of using the first indication information and the second policy information as described above, the embodiment of the present application may further include S407 to S408.

[0159] For example, if the UE can construct both traditional NAS messages (e.g., the transmission method shown in FIG. 5C ), such as an MM NAS message, and can also construct the new control plane signaling defined in the embodiment of the present application (to be described later, for example, the transmission method shown in FIG. 5D . FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D will also be described later), then S406 can be executed. Alternatively, if the UE can construct the new control plane signaling defined in the embodiment of the present application but cannot construct traditional NAS messages, such as an MM NAS message, then S406 does not need to be executed because, in this case, regardless of whether the service can be processed locally, the UE can only send the new control plane signaling defined in the embodiment of the present application, and therefore, it is not necessary to indicate the corresponding policy to the UE.

[0160] S407: The UE sends a message to the first network element. Accordingly, the first network element receives the message from the UE. The message is, for example, message 3. The message may include control plane signaling, such as requesting the first service, or corresponding to the first service.

[0161] The control plane signaling is, for example, determined by the UE based on the second policy information. For example, if the UE wants to initiate a first service, the UE can determine whether the first service can be processed locally based on the second policy information. For example, the second policy information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), then the UE determines that the first service can be processed locally. Alternatively, if the second policy information includes more content, the UE can also determine whether the first service can be processed locally in combination with other information included in the second policy information. For example, the second policy information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), and the second policy information also includes the area information to which the second policy information applies. Then, if the UE is currently in the area indicated by the area information, the UE determines that the first service can be processed locally; and if the UE is not currently in the area indicated by the area information, the UE determines that the first service cannot be processed locally.

[0162] For another example, if the second policy information indicates information about services processed locally by the UE, such as if the second policy information includes an identifier or type information of the services processed locally by the UE, the UE can determine whether the identifier or type information of the first service is included in the second policy information. If the identifier or type information of the first service is included in the second policy information, the first service can be processed locally. Alternatively, if the information of the first service (e.g., the identifier or type information of the first service) is not included in the second policy information, the first service cannot be processed locally. Alternatively, if the second policy information includes more content, the UE can further determine whether the first service can be processed locally based on other information included in the second policy information. For example, if the second policy information includes information about services processed locally by the UE and also includes information about the area to which the second policy information applies, then if the UE is currently in the area indicated by the area information and information about the first service is included in the second policy information, the first service can be processed locally. However, if the UE is not currently in the area indicated by the area information and / or information about the first service is not included in the second policy information, the first service cannot be processed locally.

[0163] If the second policy information further includes more content, the UE may further determine whether the first service can be processed locally based on the more content, which will not be elaborated further.

[0164] If the first service cannot be processed locally, the message 3 is, for example, an access stratum (AS) message, and the control plane signaling is a NAS message, for example, an MM NAS message, and the MM NAS message includes, for example, a service request corresponding to the first service. For example, the UE may place the service request in an N1 SM container, and place the N1 SM container in the MM NAS message.

[0165] Alternatively, if the first service can be processed locally, the message 3 is, for example, an AS message, and the control plane signaling is a NAS message, for example, the control plane signaling is an MM NAS message, and the MM NAS message includes, for example, a service request corresponding to the first service (for example, the first service is a positioning service, and the service request is, for example, an MO-LR request; for another example, the first service is a session service, and the service request is, for example, a protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment request). Optionally, in this case, the message 3 may include indication information, which is, for example, called second indication information, for example, the second indication information is included in the message 3 but not included in the control plane signaling. The second indication information may indicate the service requested by the control plane signaling, for example, indicating the first service, or the second indication information may indicate a local service, or indicate that the service requested by the control plane signaling is processed locally. The second indication information indicates the service requested by the control plane signaling, for example, one indication method is that the second indication information includes information about the service, and for information about the service, please refer to the previous introduction. The second indication information indicates a local service, or indicates that the service requested by the control plane signaling is processed locally. For example, one indication method is that the second indication information may include one or more bits. When the value of the one or more bits is a first value, it indicates a local service, that is, it is equivalent to indicating that the service requested by the control plane signaling is a local service.

[0166] Alternatively, if the first service can be processed locally, the message 3 is, for example, an AS message, and the control plane signaling is a NAS message; alternatively, the control plane signaling may be a message other than a NAS message, or the control plane signaling is not called a "NAS message" but has another name, and there is no restriction on this. However, the control plane signaling is not an MM NAS message. For example, the control plane signaling in this case may be a signaling newly defined in an embodiment of the present application. The control plane signaling, for example, includes a service request corresponding to the first service. If the control plane signaling is an MM NAS message (and message 3 does not include a corresponding indication, for example, does not include the second indication information), the first network element may not perceive information such as the type of the control plane signaling, but directly forwards the control plane signaling to the AMF. However, if the control plane signaling is a signaling newly defined in an embodiment of the present application, the first network element can determine the type of the control plane signaling.

[0167] Optionally, message 3 may include second indication information. In this embodiment, the second indication information may indicate the type of the control plane signaling. For example, the second indication information may be included in the control plane signaling. Please refer to Figure 5A. The control plane signaling includes a message header and a message body, and the second indication information may be included in the message header. For example, the message header includes a type field, and the type field may be used to carry the second indication information. For example, if the control plane signaling is a newly defined signaling in an embodiment of the present application, the second indication information may be included in the control plane signaling. Alternatively, the second indication information may be included in message 3 and not included in the control plane signaling. Please refer to Figure 5B. For example, if the control plane signaling is a newly defined signaling in an embodiment of the present application, or the control plane signaling is an MM NAS message, the second indication information may be included in the control plane signaling. For the first network element, the type of the control plane signaling can be determined based on the second indication information in message 3. The type of the control plane signaling may correspond to the service type, so that the first network element can determine the type of service requested by the control plane signaling according to the type of the control plane signaling; or, the type of the control plane signaling may be the service type.

[0168] For example, if the first service is a perception service, the type of the control plane signaling may be a perception type; or, if the first service is a session service, the type of the control plane signaling may be a session type (in this case, for example, the control plane signaling is referred to as an SM NAS message, and optionally, message 3 may also include network slicing information or DNN, etc.); or, if the first service is a positioning service, the type of the control plane signaling may be a positioning type (in this case, for example, the control plane signaling is referred to as a location NAS message, and optionally, the control plane signaling may include positioning requirement information, etc.). It can be seen that the embodiments of the present application define different types of control plane signaling, so that the first network element can identify the type of control plane signaling, or identify the type of service requested by the control plane signaling.

[0169] That is, when the UE is able to receive the second policy information, the UE can generate message 3 of different formats / contents depending on whether the first service can be processed locally. The following, in conjunction with Figures 5C and 5D , describes the difference between message 3 in this scenario (e.g., Figure 5D ) and the traditional transmission method (e.g., Figure 5C ) when the first service can be processed locally.

[0170] Please refer to Figures 5C and 5D. Figure 5C shows the transmission method of the MM NAS message, and Figure 5D shows the transmission method of the control plane signaling newly defined in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 5C takes two services as an example to introduce, and these two services are positioning service and session service; Figure 5D takes three services as an example to introduce, and these three services are positioning service, session service and mobility management service. According to Figure 5C, no matter what kind of service, the UE puts the service request corresponding to the service (such as LCS NAS corresponding to the positioning service or SM NAS corresponding to the session service) in the MM NAS message; after receiving the MM NAS message, the AMF sends the service request included in the MM NAS message to the corresponding functional network element, such as sending LCS NAS to LMF, or sending SM NAS to SMF.

[0171] As shown in Figure 5D, for different services, the UE will generate a NAS message corresponding to the service, and the NAS message includes the service request corresponding to the service. For example, for positioning services, the UE can generate an LCS NAS message; for session services, the UE can generate an SM NAS message; for mobility management services, the UE can generate an MM NAS message. The UE does not place the NAS messages for different services in the MM NAS message, but directly sends the generated NAS messages corresponding to different services. After receiving the NAS message from the UE, the first network element can send the received NAS message to the corresponding functional network element, for example, sending the LCS NAS message to the LMF, or sending the SM NAS message to the SMF, or sending the MM NAS message to the AMF.

[0172] For example, the second policy information may indicate that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally. Based on the second policy information, the UE may construct a message as shown in Figure 5C or Figure 5D. For example, if the second policy information indicates that the positioning service is processed locally, the UE generates an LCS NAS message as shown in Figure 5D. For another example, if the second policy information does not indicate that the positioning service is processed locally, the UE generates an MM NAS message as shown in Figure 5C. The MM NAS message includes a positioning service request, such as an MO-LR request.

[0173] For another example, the second policy information may indicate that the service corresponding to the UE adopts a distributed NAS mode, or indicate that the service corresponding to the UE adopts a distributed control plane signaling mode, or indicate information about the service that the UE adopts a distributed NAS mode, or indicate information about the service that the UE adopts a distributed control plane signaling mode. The UE constructs a message according to the second policy information in accordance with the method of Figure 5C or Figure 5D. For example, if the second policy information indicates that the positioning service adopts a distributed NAS mode or a distributed control plane signaling mode, the UE generates an LCS NAS message according to Figure 5D. For another example, if the second policy information does not indicate that the positioning service adopts a distributed NAS mode or a distributed control plane signaling mode, the UE generates an MM NAS message according to Figure 5C, and the MM NAS message includes a positioning service request, such as an MO-LR request.

[0174] In the above content of S407, the UE is taken as an example to be able to construct different control plane signaling, for example, it can construct control plane signaling corresponding to local services and control plane signaling corresponding to non-local services, so as to facilitate the first network element to identify different services, thereby providing different processing mechanisms for different services.

[0175] In addition, the UE may be able to construct the new control plane signaling defined in the embodiments of the present application (e.g., the transmission method shown in FIG. 5C ), but unable to construct traditional NAS messages (e.g., the transmission method shown in FIG. 5D ), such as MM NAS messages. If this is the case, S406 may not be executed, i.e., the UE has not obtained the second policy information and does not have the ability to construct an MM NAS message. Therefore, when initiating a service (e.g., a first service), the UE does not need to determine whether the first service can be processed locally, i.e., whether the first service can be processed locally or not. Message 3 may be, for example, an AS message, while the control plane signaling is not an MM NAS message. For example, in this case, the control plane signaling may be the signaling newly defined in the embodiments of the present application. The control plane signaling may include, for example, a service request corresponding to the first service. Optionally, message 3 may include second indication information, which may indicate the type of the control plane signaling. The second indication information may be included in the control plane signaling, e.g., carried in a type field in the control plane signaling; or, the second indication information may be included in the AS message but not in the control plane signaling. For more information about the second instruction information, please refer to the previous text.

[0176] Optionally, message 3 may also include information about a second network element, which is a functional network element that is locally located or deployed in a campus and is used to process the first service. For example, the second policy information indicates a functional network element used to process services processed locally, and the services processed locally include the first service. That is, the second policy information indicates a functional network element used to process the first service, such as the second network element. The UE may then add the information about the second network element to message 3, so that the first network element no longer needs to perform the process of selecting a local functional network element, thereby simplifying the implementation of the first network element. For example, the information about the second network element may be included in message 3 and not included in the control plane signaling.

[0177] Optionally, message 3 may also include location information of the UE.

[0178] S408. The first network element sends the control plane signaling or sends a rejection message according to the first indication information. The control plane signaling is sent, for example, to the AMF, or to the second network element (these two cases are shown in S408 in Figure 4), or to the third network element. The second network element and the third network element are both functional network elements for processing the first service, but the second network element and the third network element are deployed in different locations. The second network element is located in a private network (or not in a public network or a centralized core network), and the third network element is located in a centralized core network or a public network, or not in a private network. The rejection message is sent, for example, to the UE to indicate a refusal to process the first service, or to indicate a failure of the first service.

[0179] Optionally, if the first network element does not receive the first indication information, or the first indication information does not indicate that the service corresponding to the control plane signaling can be processed locally, the first network element may send a rejection message to the UE. Optionally, the rejection message may indicate the rejection reason, such as indicating that local processing is not permitted or that the service cannot be identified. Alternatively, the first network element may not send a rejection message and instead send the control plane signaling to the AMF or a third network element. Because the first network element does not receive the first indication information, it does not determine whether to process the service locally. If the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the AMF, it is equivalent to the first network element processing the control plane signaling according to existing rules. Alternatively, because the first network element does not receive the first indication information, the first network element may send the control plane signaling to the third network element. In this manner, although the first network element does not receive the first indication information, it does not need to send the control plane signaling to the AMF. Instead, it may send the control plane signaling directly to the third network element in the public network. This means that although the control plane signaling is not processed locally, it can also be forwarded without passing through the AMF. Therefore, although the control plane signaling is not processed locally, this transmission mode can also shorten the transmission path of the control plane signaling, which is beneficial to reducing the transmission delay of the control plane signaling.

[0180] Alternatively, if the control plane signaling is an MM NAS message and Message 3 does not include corresponding indication information (e.g., second indication information), the first network element may send the control plane signaling to the AMF. It can be understood that, in this case, the first network element considers that the service requested by the control plane signaling is a service not processed locally, and therefore sends the control plane signaling to the AMF, which selects a corresponding functional network element to execute the service.

[0181] Alternatively, the control plane signaling is an MM NAS message, and message 3 includes second indication information, for example, the second indication information is included in message 3 but not included in the control plane signaling, and the first network element obtains the second indication information from message 3. If the second indication information indicates, for example, a first service, the first network element may determine whether the first service is processed locally based on the first indication information, or determine how to forward the control plane signaling based on the first indication information. For example, if the first indication information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), the first network element determines that the first service can be processed locally, or sends the control plane signaling to the second network element. Alternatively, if the first indication information includes more content, the first network element may also determine whether the first service can be processed locally, or determine how to forward the control plane signaling, based on other information included in the first indication information. For example, the first indication information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), and the first indication information also includes the area information to which the first indication information applies, then the first network element can determine the location of the UE (for example, the first network element can initiate positioning of the UE, or the first network element has obtained the location information of the UE in advance). If the UE is currently in the area indicated by the area information, the first network element determines that the first service can be processed locally, or sends the control plane signaling to the second network element; if the UE is not currently in the area indicated by the area information, the first network element determines that the first service cannot be processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the AMF or the third network element to execute the first service through the public network or the centralized core network, or the first network element sends a rejection message to the UE. Optionally, the rejection message may indicate the reason for the rejection, for example, indicating that local processing is not allowed.

[0182] Alternatively, the control plane signaling is not an MM NAS message, but a message newly defined in an embodiment of the present application, such as an SM NAS message, and message 3 includes second indication information. The first network element obtains the second indication information from message 3, and the second indication information, for example, indicates the type of the control plane signaling, such as a session type. The first network element can determine that the service corresponding to the control plane signaling is a first service, such as a session service, based on the type of the control plane signaling. The first network element can then further determine whether the service corresponding to the control plane signaling is processed locally based on the first indication information. For the relevant content of the first network element determining whether the service is processed locally based on the first indication information, please refer to the introduction in the previous paragraph. In this embodiment, if the second indication information is included in the control plane signaling (see Figure 5A), the first network element can parse the control plane signaling to obtain the second indication information. If, according to the existing method, the first network element receives the AS message, it will directly forward the MM NAS message included in the AS message without parsing the MM NAS message. However, if the embodiment of the present application adopts the method of including the second indication information in the control plane signaling, the first network element can parse the NAS message included in the AS message. For example, the first network element can parse the message header of the NAS message to determine the type of the NAS message. Alternatively, if the second indication information is included in message 3 and not included in the control plane signaling (see Figure 5B), the first network element does not need to parse the control plane signaling, but can obtain the second indication information from message 3.

[0183] In addition, optionally, in addition to the control plane signaling, message 3 may also include other information, such as first network slice information, indicating that the first service is the service of the network slice corresponding to the first network slice information, or the service corresponding to the first DNN. Then the first network element can determine the service corresponding to the control plane signaling based on the control plane signaling. Further, the first network element can determine whether the first service is processed locally based on the first indication information and the first network slice information or the first DNN. For example, message 3 includes the first network slice information. If the first indication information indicates that the service of the network slice corresponding to the first network slice information of the UE is processed locally, the first network element can determine that the first service is processed locally; or, if the first indication information indicates that the service of the network slice corresponding to the first network slice information of the UE is not processed locally, or the services that can be processed locally indicated by the first indication information do not include the services of the network slice corresponding to the first network slice information, the first network element can determine that the first service is not processed locally. If message 3 includes the first DNN, the processing method of the first network element is similar.

[0184] For another example, the first indication information indicates information about the service processed locally by the UE. For example, the first indication information includes information about the service processed locally by the UE. The first network element can determine whether the information about the first service is included in the first indication information. If the information about the first service is included in the first indication information, the first network element determines that the first service can be processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the second network element; or, if the information about the first service is not included in the first indication information, the first network element determines that the first service cannot be processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the AMF or a third network element, or sends a rejection message to the UE. Alternatively, if the first indication information includes more content, the first network element can also determine whether the first service can be processed locally, or determine how to forward the control plane signaling, in combination with other information included in the first indication information. For example, if the first indication information includes information about the service processed locally by the UE, and the first indication information also includes area information to which the first indication information applies, the first network element may determine the location of the UE (for example, the first network element may initiate positioning of the UE, or the first network element may have obtained the location information of the UE in advance, or the UE may carry the location information of the UE in a message sent to the first network element). If the UE is currently in the area indicated by the area information, and the information of the first service is included in the first indication information, the first network element may determine that the first service can be processed locally, or send the control plane signaling to the second network element; and if the UE is not currently in the area indicated by the area information, and / or the information of the first service is not included in the first indication information, the first network element may determine that the first service cannot be processed locally, or send the control plane signaling to the AMF or a third network element, or send a rejection message to the UE. Optionally, the rejection message may indicate the reason for the rejection, for example, indicating that local processing is not allowed.

[0185] If the first indication information further includes more content, the first network element may further determine whether the first service can be processed locally or how to forward the control plane signaling based on the more content, which will not be elaborated further.

[0186] Taking the first indication information as shown in Table 2b as an example, for example, the second indication information in message 3 indicates the type of the first service, such as a positioning service. The first network element determines that the type information of the first service is included in the first indication information, indicating that the first service can be processed locally. In addition, the first network element determines that the UE's current location is within area A. Therefore, the first network element can determine that the first service can be processed locally. In other words, both the type of the first service and the UE's current location indicate that the first service can be processed locally.

[0187] Alternatively, the control plane signaling is not an MM NAS message, but a newly defined message according to an embodiment of the present application, and message 3 includes second indication information. For example, the second indication information indicates that the type of the control plane signaling is positioning. Based on this type, the first network element can determine that the service corresponding to the control plane signaling is a first service, such as a positioning service. Furthermore, based on the first indication information, the first network element can determine whether the first service is processed locally or how to forward the control plane signaling. For details on this, please refer to the above. In this embodiment, if the second indication information is included in the control plane signaling (see FIG. 5A ), the first network element can parse the control plane signaling to obtain the second indication information. According to existing methods, after receiving an AS message, the first network element directly forwards the MM NAS message included in the AS message without parsing the MM NAS message. However, if the embodiment of the present application includes the second indication information in the control plane signaling, the first network element can parse the NAS message included in the AS message. For example, the first network element can parse the message header of the NAS message to determine the type of the NAS message. Alternatively, if the second indication information is included in message 3 but not in the control plane signaling (see FIG. 5B ), the first network element may not need to parse the control plane signaling, but may obtain the second indication information from message 3.

[0188] If the first network element determines whether the first service can be processed locally, S408 may include steps a and b. Step a is that the first network element determines whether the first service is processed locally based on the first indication information; step b is that the first network element sends the control plane signaling (the control plane signaling is sent to the second network element, AMF, or third network element) or sends a rejection message (for example, to the UE) based on the determination result. Alternatively, if the first network element determines how to forward the first service, S408 can be considered to include only one step, which is that the first network element sends the control plane signaling or sends a rejection message based on the first indication information.

[0189] Optionally, Message 3 may also include information about the second network element, so the first network element does not need to perform the process of selecting a local function network element. For example, if the first service is a positioning service and Message 3 includes the LMF ID, the first network element may send the control plane signaling to the LMF. For another example, if the first service is a session service and Message 3 includes the SMF ID, the first network element may send the control plane signaling to the SMF.

[0190] Alternatively, if Message 3 does not include information about the second network element, and the first network element intends to send the control plane signaling to a local functional network element, the first network element may select a functional network element to process the first service. For example, the first network element may be locally preconfigured with information about the second network element; or, for example, the first indication information indicates a functional network element for processing a locally processed service, and the first indication information also indicates that the first service is a locally processed service. The first network element may then determine the functional network element, such as the second network element, to process the first service based on the preconfigured information or the first indication information.

[0191] Optionally, Message 3 may also include information about a third network element. Thus, even if the first service is not processed locally, the first network element does not need to perform the process of selecting a functional network element. Alternatively, if Message 3 does not include information about the third network element, the first network element may select a functional network element for processing the first service, which is located in a public network or a centralized core network.

[0192] Through the above steps, the first business is executed.

[0193] Optionally, S405 described above may not be performed. That is, the AMF may not need to send the first indication information to the first network element. In this case, the first network element may not perform S408 and may instead default to forwarding the control plane signaling from the UE according to the local processing mechanism. For example, after the first network element receives a message from the UE, if the message includes second indication information, the first network element does not need to determine whether the service requested by the control plane signaling included in the message can be processed locally. Instead, the first network element defaults to sending the control plane signaling to the local functional network element. In this embodiment, the local functional network element can obtain the corresponding rules. Taking the second network element as an example, the second network element may obtain indication information, such as third indication information. The third indication information may indicate whether local processing is allowed or whether control plane signaling corresponding to the service is allowed to be received from the first network element. Optionally, the second network element may request the third indication information from a network element such as the PCF or UDM, or may obtain the third indication information through other means. Different functional network elements may correspond to different services, and therefore the third indication information obtained by different functional network elements may be different. For example, if the second network element is an LMF, the third indication information obtained by the LMF may indicate whether local processing of positioning services is allowed (for example, the third indication information indicates that local positioning is allowed (local positioning allowed) or that local positioning is not allowed (local positioning not allowed)), or whether control plane signaling corresponding to the positioning service is allowed to be received from the first network element. For another example, if the second network element is an SMF, the third indication information obtained by the SMF may indicate whether local processing of session services is allowed (for example, the third indication information indicates that local session is allowed (local session allowed) or that local session is not allowed (local session not allowed)), or whether a specific network slice or DNN allows local processing of session services, or whether control plane signaling corresponding to the session service is allowed to be received from the first network element, etc.

[0194] The AMF in the embodiment of the present application can determine whether the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally based on the first information, that is, a method for determining whether the UE's service can be processed locally is provided, so that the UE's service can be processed locally. In addition, if the UE's service is processed locally, the AMF can also send corresponding indication information to the first network element and the UE, so that the first network element and the UE can process the UE's service according to the local processing mechanism, thereby realizing the local processing mechanism. Since the UE's service can be processed locally, the UE's control plane signaling can be sent to the local functional network element by the first network element without passing through the AMF during the processing process, thereby reducing the circuitous transmission process of the signaling and reducing the transmission delay.

[0195] This embodiment of the present application provides a second communication method. See Figure 6 for a flowchart of this method. Unlike the embodiment shown in Figure 4, in the embodiment shown in Figure 6, the AMF does not need to first determine the corresponding rules. Instead, it waits until the UE initiates a service before determining whether the service can be processed locally.

[0196] S601: A UE sends a message 1 to a first network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the message 1 from the UE.

[0197] For more details about S601 , please refer to S401 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 .

[0198] S602: The first network element sends message 2 to the AMF. Correspondingly, the AMF receives message 2 from the first network element.

[0199] For more details about S602 , please refer to S402 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 .

[0200] S603. AMF obtains the subscription information or policy information of the UE.

[0201] For more details about S603, please refer to S403 in the embodiment shown in Figure 4. S601 to S603 are optional steps.

[0202] S604: The AMF sends information A to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives information A from the AMF.

[0203] Information A, for example, includes information about the first network element and / or information about at least one core network element. The UE can determine whether the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally based on the information about the first network element and / or the information about at least one core network element. That is, the AMF in the embodiment of the present application does not need to first determine whether the UE's service can be processed locally, but rather the UE first determines whether the service can be processed locally when subsequently initiating the service. For an introduction to the information about the first network element and the information about at least one core network element, please refer to S404 in the embodiment shown in Figure 4.

[0204] S605. The UE sends a first request (service request) to the first network element. Accordingly, the first network element receives the first request from the UE. The first request may request local processing of the first service. Optionally, the first request may be, for example, a service request, or may be other types of information. In this document, the first request is taken as an example of a service request.

[0205] For example, if the UE wants to initiate a first service, it can first determine whether the first service can be processed locally. For example, the UE determines whether the first service can be processed locally based on the information of the first network element and / or the information of at least one core network element, or determines whether the first service can be processed locally based on one or more of the information of the UE, the information of the first network element, or the information of at least one core network element. For an introduction to the information of the UE, please refer to S404 of the embodiment shown in Figure 4. For the determination process of the UE, please refer to S404 of the embodiment shown in Figure 4, except that in the embodiment of the present application, the UE only needs to determine whether the first service is processed locally, and does not need to determine whether other services are processed locally.

[0206] For example, the UE's subscription information indicates that the UE allows local processing of services, the UE's capability information indicates that the UE supports information on services that can be processed locally (including the first service), the information on the first network element indicates that the first network element supports forwarding messages to local functional network elements, and the information on at least one core network element indicates that the functional network element corresponding to the first service supports the local processing mechanism. Then, the AMF can determine, based on the above information, that the UE's first service can be processed locally.

[0207] If the first service can be processed locally, the UE may execute S605. Alternatively, if the first service cannot be processed locally, the UE does not need to execute S605, but may instead send an AS message to the first network element. The AS message includes control plane signaling, which is a NAS message, such as an MM NAS message. The MM NAS message includes a service request corresponding to the first service. The first network element sends the MM NAS message to the AMF. After receiving the MM NAS message, the AMF sends the service request to the functional network element for processing the first service.

[0208] Optionally, the service request may indicate the type of the first service and / or indicate that the first service is a local service. For example, the service request includes service type information, and the service type information may indicate the type of the first service, such as a positioning service, a perception service, a session service, and a network slice or a DNN. The service request indicates that the first service is a local service. For example, one indication method is that the service request includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information may indicate a local service, or indicate that the first service is a local service. The fourth indication information may also be referred to as a local processing indication, etc., and there is no restriction on the name.

[0209] Optionally, in S605, the UE may send an AS message to the first network element, where the AS message may include the service request.

[0210] S606. The first network element sends the service request to the AMF. Correspondingly, the AMF receives the service request from the first network element.

[0211] The first network element has not yet obtained the corresponding local processing rules from the AMF, so the first network element can directly forward the service request to the AMF after receiving the service request.

[0212] S607. The AMF determines whether the first service is processed locally based on the first information.

[0213] For more details about S607, please refer to S404 of the embodiment shown in FIG4 , except that in the embodiment of the present application, the AMF only needs to determine whether the first service is processed locally, and does not need to determine whether other services of the UE are processed locally.

[0214] Optionally, the AMF may execute S607 on its own, that is, the AMF may determine whether the first service is processed locally based on the first information, thereby reducing the interaction process between network elements; alternatively, the AMF may execute S607 with the aid of other network elements, such as PCF. For an introduction to this, please refer to S404 of the embodiment shown in FIG4 .

[0215] Alternatively, since the UE has determined that the first service can be processed locally, the AMF does not need to make a judgment again, and S607 does not need to be executed.

[0216] S608. The AMF sends a response message to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the response message from the AMF.

[0217] If S607 is executed, the response information may indicate that the first service is allowed to be processed locally, or that the control plane signaling of the first service corresponding to the UE is forwarded by the first network element to the local function network element, or that the information of the first service corresponding to the UE and the control plane signaling of the first service are forwarded by the first network element to the local function network element; or, the response information may indicate that the first service is not allowed to be processed locally, or that the control plane signaling of the first service corresponding to the UE is not forwarded by the first network element to the local function network element, or that the information of the first service corresponding to the UE and the control plane signaling of the first service are not forwarded by the first network element to the local function network element, or that the control plane signaling of the first service corresponding to the UE is forwarded by the first network element to the AMF, or that the information of the first service corresponding to the UE and the control plane signaling of the first service are forwarded by the first network element to the AMF. The following text takes the response information indicating that the first service is allowed to be processed locally or indicating that the first service is not allowed to be processed locally as an example. If S607 is not executed, the response information may instruct the UE to process the first service. For example, the response information may be a response to the service request in S605. Alternatively, if S607 is not executed, the AMF may not send the response information to the UE, that is, S608 may not need to be executed.

[0218] Among them, if the response information indicates that the first service is allowed to be processed locally, the response information can also be called a distributed processing permission indication, a permission to generate distributed control plane signaling indication, a distributed NAS message construction indication, a distributed NAS permission indication or a service local processing permission indication, etc.; if the response information indicates that the first service is not allowed to be processed locally, the response information can also be called a distributed processing rejection indication, a rejection of generating distributed control plane signaling indication, a rejection of constructing distributed NAS message indication, a distributed NAS rejection indication or a service local processing rejection indication, etc., and there is no restriction on the name.

[0219] Optionally, if local processing of the first service is permitted, the response information may further indicate a functional network element configured locally for processing the first service, such as a second network element. For example, the response information includes information about the second network element. The information about the second network element may include an identifier of the second network element, such as the IP address or FQDN information of the second network element.

[0220] S609. The AMF sends a first indication message to the first network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the first indication message from the AMF.

[0221] In an embodiment of the present application, the first indication information may indicate that the first service is processed locally, or indicate that the control plane signaling of the first service corresponding to the UE is forwarded by the first network element to the local functional network element, or indicate that the information of the first service corresponding to the UE and the control plane signaling of the first service are forwarded by the first network element to the local functional network element. In the following introduction, the first indication information indicating that the first service is processed locally is taken as an example. Optionally, if S607 is executed, then if the first service is allowed to be processed locally, S609 may be executed; or, if the first service is not allowed to be processed locally, S609 does not need to be executed. Alternatively, if S607 is not executed, the AMF may send the first indication information to the first network element after receiving the service request from the first network element in S606.

[0222] For example, the first indication information may include a mapping relationship between the UE identifier and the forwarding rule corresponding to the UE. The forwarding rule may indicate that the first service is processed locally, and the UE identifier may indicate the UE, so that the mapping relationship is equivalent to indicating that the first service corresponding to the UE is processed locally. The UE identifier is, for example, the UE ID. The UE identifier may be a temporary identifier assigned to the UE by the AMF or the first network element, such as the AMF UE NGAP ID or the RAN UE NGAP ID. For example, the first indication information includes a mapping relationship between the UE identifier and the type information of the first service, so that the first network element can clearly understand that this type of service can be processed locally.

[0223] Optionally, the first indication information may further indicate a functional network element for processing the first service and / or indicate an area to which the first indication information is applicable. For an introduction to this, reference may be made to S405 of the embodiment shown in FIG4 .

[0224] For example, the first indication information includes a mapping relationship between the UE identifier and the forwarding rule corresponding to the UE, the forwarding rule includes type information of the first service, information for indicating a functional network element for processing the first service, and area information to which the first indication information applies. Please refer to Table 3a, which is an example of the first indication information. Table 3a takes the first service as a positioning service as an example.

[0225] Table 3a

[0226] The first indication indicates that UE1's positioning service can be processed locally. If UE1 also supports services other than positioning and sensing services, the first network element cannot determine whether these other services are processed locally. Furthermore, the first indication applies to area A, and the functional network element for processing positioning services is LMF 1, where LMF 1 is an LMF capable of processing positioning services.

[0227] Optionally, the AMF sends the first indication information to the first network element through an N2 message. The N2 message may include the identifier of the UE and the first indication information. The identifier of the UE may be a temporary identifier allocated to the UE by the AMF or the first network element, such as an AMF UE NGAP ID or a RAN UE NGAP ID. The N2 message is, for example, an initial context setup request message. For example, referring to Table 3b, which is another example of the first indication information, the example in which the identifier of the UE is included in the N2 message but not included in the first indication information is taken as an example. Therefore, unlike Table 3a, the first indication information shown in Table 3b does not include the identifier of the UE.

[0228] Table 3b

[0229] S610: The UE sends a message to the first network element. Accordingly, the first network element receives the message from the UE. The message is, for example, message 3. The message may include control plane signaling, such as requesting a first service, or corresponding to the first service.

[0230] For example, if the response information in S608 indicates that local processing of the first service is not permitted, the message 3 is, for example, an AS message, and the control plane signaling is a NAS message, for example, an MM NAS message. The MM NAS message includes, for example, a service request corresponding to the first service. For example, the UE may place the service request in an N1 SM container, and place the N1 SM container in the MM NAS message.

[0231] Alternatively, if the response information in S608 indicates that the first service is allowed to be processed locally, or the response information in S608 indicates that the UE processes the first service (for example, S607 is not executed), or S608 is not executed (for example, S607 is not executed. Optionally, if S608 is not executed, the UE may start a timer when sending the first request in S605 is completed, and may send message 3 to the first network element when the timer expires), then the message 3 is, for example, an AS message, and the control plane signaling is a NAS message, for example, the control plane signaling is an MM NAS message, and the MM NAS message includes, for example, a service request corresponding to the first service. Optionally, in this case, message 3 may include second indication information, and the second indication information may indicate the service requested by the control plane signaling, for example, the first service, or the second indication information may indicate a local service, or the second indication information may indicate that the service requested by the control plane signaling is processed locally. For more information on this, please refer to S407 of the embodiment shown in Figure 4.

[0232] Alternatively, if the response information in S608 indicates that the first service is allowed to be processed locally, or the response information in S608 indicates that the UE processes the first service, or S608 is not executed, then the message 3 is, for example, an AS message, the control plane signaling is a NAS message, or the control plane signaling may be a message other than a NAS message, or the control plane signaling is not called a "NAS message" but has another name, without limitation, but the control plane signaling is not an MM NAS message. For example, the control plane signaling in this case may be the signaling newly defined in the embodiment of the present application. The control plane signaling, for example, includes a service request corresponding to the first service. Optionally, the message 3 may include second indication information. In this embodiment, the second indication information may indicate the type of the control plane signaling. For more information about the second indication information, please refer to S407 of the embodiment shown in Figure 4. For example, for the carrying method of the second indication information in message 3, please refer to Figure 5A or Figure 5B.

[0233] Optionally, message 3 may also include information about the second network element. For example, if the response information in S608 indicates that the functional network element for processing the first service processed locally is the second network element, the UE may add the information about the second network element to message 3, so that the first network element does not need to perform the process of selecting a local functional network element, thereby simplifying the implementation of the first network element.

[0234] S611. The first network element sends the control plane signaling or a rejection message based on the first indication information. The control plane signaling is sent, for example, to the AMF or to the second network element. The rejection message is sent, for example, to the UE to indicate a rejection of processing the first service or to indicate a failure of the first service.

[0235] For more details about S611 , please refer to S408 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 .

[0236] Optionally, S609 as above may not be executed, that is, the AMF may not need to send the first indication information to the first network element. In this case, the first network element may not execute S611, but may forward the control plane signaling from the UE according to the local processing mechanism by default. For example, after the first network element receives a message from the UE, if the message includes the second indication information, the first network element does not need to determine whether the service requested by the control plane signaling included in the message can be processed locally, but instead sends the control plane signaling to the local functional network element by default. Under this implementation, the local functional network element can obtain the corresponding rules. For an introduction to this, please refer to the last content of S408 in the embodiment shown in Figure 4.

[0237] The UE and AMF and other network elements in the embodiment of the present application can determine whether the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally, that is, a method for determining whether the UE's service can be processed locally is provided, so that the UE's service can be processed locally. In the embodiment of the present application, when the UE initiates a service, it is first determined whether the service is processed locally, so that the subsequent network elements such as AMF only need to determine whether the service is processed locally, and there is no need to determine too many services at one time, which can simplify the determination process. In addition, if the UE's service is processed locally, the AMF can also send corresponding indication information to the first network element, so that the first network element and the UE can process the UE's service according to the local processing mechanism, so that the local processing mechanism can be implemented. Since the UE's service can be processed locally, the UE's control plane signaling can be sent to the local functional network element by the first network element instead of passing through the AMF during the processing process, thereby reducing the circuitous transmission process of the signaling and reducing the transmission delay.

[0238] This embodiment of the present application provides a third communication method. See Figure 7 for a flowchart of this method. Unlike the previous embodiments, in the embodiment shown in Figure 7 , the UE does not send MM NAS messages, but only sends the new control plane signaling defined in this embodiment of the present application. For example, the UE may not be capable of sending MM NAS messages. This means that the embodiment shown in Figure 7 has lower UE capability requirements and is applicable to a wider range of UEs.

[0239] S701: A UE sends a message 1 to a first network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the message 1 from the UE.

[0240] For more details about S701 , please refer to S401 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 .

[0241] S702: The first network element sends message 2 to the AMF. Correspondingly, the AMF receives message 2 from the first network element.

[0242] For more details about S702 , please refer to S402 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 .

[0243] S703. AMF obtains the subscription information or policy information of the UE.

[0244] For more details about S703, please refer to S403 in the embodiment shown in Figure 4. S601 to S603 are optional steps.

[0245] S704: The AMF determines, based on the first information, whether the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally or not. Alternatively, S704: The AMF determines, based on the first information, which services corresponding to the UE are processed locally and / or which services are not processed locally.

[0246] For the AMF determination process, reference may be made to S404 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 .

[0247] In S704, the AMF may determine, based on the first information, that some or all of the services corresponding to the UE are processed locally, or may determine that all of the services corresponding to the UE cannot be processed locally. If some of the services corresponding to the UE are processed locally, the AMF may also determine that the remaining services corresponding to the UE are not processed locally.

[0248] S705. The AMF sends a first indication message to the first network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the first indication message from the AMF.

[0249] The first indication information may indicate that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicate that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), or indicate information about the service processed locally by the UE, or indicate that control plane signaling of the service corresponding to the UE is forwarded by the first network element to the local functional network element, or indicate that control plane signaling of all services corresponding to the UE is forwarded by the first network element to the local functional network element, or indicate that information about the service corresponding to the UE and control plane signaling of the service are forwarded by the first network element to the local functional network element. In the following description, the first indication information indicating that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally) or indicating information about the service processed locally by the UE is taken as an example. For example, if all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally, the AMF may send the first indication information, and the first indication information may indicate that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally); or, if part of the services corresponding to the UE are processed locally, the AMF may also send the first indication information, and the first indication information at this time may indicate information about the services processed locally by the UE, for example, the first indication information includes information about these services.

[0250] For example, the first indication information may include a mapping relationship between the UE identifier and the forwarding rule corresponding to the UE. The forwarding rule may indicate that the service is processed locally (or that all services are processed locally), or indicate information about the service processed locally. The UE identifier may indicate the UE, so that the mapping relationship is equivalent to indicating that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), or indicating information about the service processed locally by the UE. The UE identifier is, for example, the UE ID. The UE identifier may be a temporary identifier assigned to the UE by the AMF or the first network element, such as an AMF UE NGAP ID or a RAN UE NGAP ID.

[0251] Optionally, the first indication information may include a set of mapping relationships, where the set of mapping relationships is a mapping relationship between an identifier of a UE and a forwarding rule corresponding to the UE; or, the first indication information may also include multiple sets of mapping relationships, where each set of mapping relationships is a mapping relationship between a UE and a forwarding rule corresponding to the UE, which is equivalent to indicating forwarding rules for multiple UEs through one first indication information, and there is no limitation on this. The embodiment of the present application is introduced as an example in which the mapping relationship includes a set of mapping relationships.

[0252] Optionally, the AMF sends the first indication information to the first network element via an N2 message. The N2 message may include the UE identifier and the first indication information, that is, the UE identifier may be included in the N2 message but not included in the first indication information. The UE identifier may be a temporary identifier allocated to the UE by the AMF or the first network element, such as an AMF UE NGAP ID or a RAN UE NGAP ID.

[0253] Optionally, the first indication information may further indicate a functional network element for processing a locally processed service and / or indicate an area to which the first indication information applies. For more information on this, refer to S405 of the embodiment shown in FIG4 . For more information on the first indication information, refer to S405 of the embodiment shown in FIG4 .

[0254] If the first indication information indicates information about services that are processed locally for the UE, the AMF may optionally send fifth indication information to the first network element. The fifth indication information may indicate information about services that are not processed locally for the UE, for example, the fifth indication information includes information about these services. Alternatively, the AMF may not need to send the fifth indication information. The first network element may be able to determine, based on the first indication information, that services not indicated in the first indication information are services that are not processed locally.

[0255] Alternatively, if all services corresponding to the UE are not processed locally, the AMF does not need to execute S705. For example, the AMF may send a fifth indication message to the first network element. At this time, the fifth indication message may indicate that the service corresponding to the UE is not processed locally, or indicate that all services corresponding to the UE are not processed locally.

[0256] As mentioned above, the implementation manner of the fifth indication information may be similar to the implementation manner of the first indication information.

[0257] Optionally, the method may also include S706, the AMF sends information of at least one core network element to the UE, and accordingly, the UE receives the information of the at least one core network element. The at least one core network element is a functional network element that is set locally and is used to process the services corresponding to the UE that are allowed to be processed locally, such as local LMF, SMF or perception function elements. For example, the first indication information indicates that the services corresponding to the UE are processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), then the at least one core network element may include a functional network element for processing all or part of the services corresponding to the UE; for another example, the first indication information indicates information of the services corresponding to the UE that are allowed to be processed locally, and the at least one core network element may include a functional network element for processing all or part of the services corresponding to the UE that are allowed to be processed locally. For more introduction to the information of the at least one core network element, please refer to S404 of the embodiment shown in Figure 4.

[0258] S707: The UE sends a message to the first network element. Accordingly, the first network element receives the message from the UE. The message is, for example, message 3. The message may include control plane signaling, such as requesting the first service, or corresponding to the first service.

[0259] In the embodiment of the present application, the UE does not obtain the corresponding local processing rules and cannot construct an MM NAS message. Therefore, the UE does not determine the type of service to be initiated. That is, regardless of whether the first service can be processed locally or not, the message 3 is, for example, an AS message, the control plane signaling is a NAS message, or the control plane signaling can also be a message other than a NAS message, or the control plane signaling is not called a "NAS message" but has another name, without limitation, and the control plane signaling is not an MM NAS message. For example, the control plane signaling in this case can be the signaling newly defined in the embodiment of the present application. The control plane signaling, for example, includes a service request corresponding to the first service. Optionally, the message 3 can include second indication information, which can indicate the type of the control plane signaling. For more information about message 3, please refer to S407 of the embodiment shown in Figure 4. For example, for the carrying method of the second indication information in message 3, please refer to Figure 5A or Figure 5B.

[0260] Optionally, message 3 may also include information about a second network element, where the second network element is a functional network element set up locally for processing the first service. For example, if the UE obtains information about at least one core network element through S706, the UE may determine that the functional network element used to process the first service is, for example, the second network element. The UE may then add the information about the second network element to message 3, so that the first network element no longer needs to perform the process of selecting a local functional network element, thereby simplifying the implementation of the first network element. The information about the second network element may include an identifier of the second network element, such as the IP address information or FQDN information of the second network element.

[0261] S708. The first network element sends the control plane signaling or sends a rejection message according to the first indication information and / or the fifth indication information. The control plane signaling is sent, for example, to the AMF, or to the second network element, or to the third network element. The second network element and the third network element are both functional network elements for processing the first service, but the second network element and the third network element are deployed in different locations. The second network element is located in a private network (or not in a public network or a centralized core network), and the third network element is located in a centralized core network or a public network, or not in a private network. The rejection message is sent, for example, to the UE to indicate a refusal to process the first service, or to indicate a failure of the first service.

[0262] Optionally, if the first network element does not receive the local processing rules corresponding to the first service (for example, including the first indication information and / or the fifth indication information), the first network element may send a rejection message to the UE. Optionally, the rejection message may indicate the reason for the rejection, such as indicating that local processing is not allowed, or indicating that it cannot be identified. Alternatively, the first network element may not send a rejection message, but instead send the control plane signaling to the AMF. Because the first network element has not obtained the local processing rules corresponding to the first service, the first network element does not determine whether to process it locally. If the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the AMF, it is equivalent to the first network element processing the control plane signaling according to the existing rules. Alternatively, because the first network element has not obtained the local processing rules corresponding to the first service, the first network element may send the control plane signaling to the third network element.

[0263] Alternatively, optionally, the control plane signaling is not an MM NAS message, and the message 3 includes second indication information, for example, the second indication information indicates that the type of the control plane signaling is a positioning type. The first network element may determine whether the first service is processed locally, or determine how to forward the control plane signaling, based on the first indication information and / or the fifth indication information. The first network element may obtain the second indication information from the control plane signaling, or from message 3 (and not from the control plane signaling).

[0264] In addition, optionally, in addition to the control plane signaling, message 3 may also include other information, such as first network slice information or a first DNN, indicating that the first service is a service of the network slice corresponding to the first network slice information, or a service corresponding to the first DNN. The first network element can then determine the service corresponding to the control plane signaling based on the control plane signaling. Furthermore, the first network element can determine whether the first service is processed locally based on the first indication information and / or the fifth indication information, as well as the first network slice information or the first DNN. For example, if message 3 includes the first network slice information, and the first indication information indicates that the service of the network slice corresponding to the first network slice information of the UE is processed locally, the first network element can determine that the first service is processed locally; alternatively, if the first indication information indicates that the service of the network slice corresponding to the first network slice information of the UE is not processed locally, or the services that can be processed locally indicated by the first indication information do not include the services of the network slice corresponding to the first network slice information, or the fifth indication information indicates that the service of the network slice corresponding to the first network slice information of the UE is not processed locally, the first network element can determine that the first service is not processed locally. If message 3 includes the first DNN, the first network element processes the service in a similar manner.

[0265] For example, if the first network element receives the first indication information, and the first indication information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), the first network element determines that the first service can be processed locally, or sends the control plane signaling to the second network element. Alternatively, if the first indication information includes more content, the first network element may further determine whether the first service can be processed locally, or determine how to forward the control plane signaling, based on the other information included in the first indication information. For example, the first indication information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are processed locally), and the first indication information also includes the area information to which the first indication information applies, then the first network element can determine the location of the UE (for example, the first network element can initiate positioning of the UE, or the first network element has obtained the location information of the UE in advance). If the UE is currently in the area indicated by the area information, the first network element determines that the first service can be processed locally, or sends the control plane signaling to the second network element; if the UE is not currently in the area indicated by the area information, the first network element determines that the first service cannot be processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the AMF or the third network element to execute the first service through the public network or the centralized core network, or the first network element sends a rejection message to the UE. Optionally, the rejection message may indicate the reason for the rejection, for example, indicating that local processing is not allowed.

[0266] For another example, the first network element receives the first indication information, and the first indication information indicates the information of the service processed locally by the UE, for example, the first indication information includes the information of the service processed locally by the UE, then the first network element can determine whether the information of the first service is included in the first indication information. If the information of the first service is included in the first indication information, the first network element determines that the first service can be processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the second network element; or, if the information of the first service is not included in the first indication information, the first network element determines that the first service cannot be processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the AMF or a third network element. Alternatively, if the first indication information includes more content, the first network element can also determine whether the first service can be processed locally, or determine how to forward the control plane signaling, in combination with other information included in the first indication information. For example, the first indication information includes information about the service processed locally by the UE, and the first indication information also includes area information to which the first indication information applies. Then the first network element can determine the location of the UE. If the UE is currently in the area indicated by the area information, and the information of the first service is included in the first indication information, the first network element determines that the first service can be processed locally, or sends the control plane signaling to the second network element; if the UE is not currently in the area indicated by the area information, and / or the information of the first service is not included in the first indication information, the first network element determines that the first service cannot be processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the AMF or the third network element.

[0267] For another example, the first network element receives the first indication information and the fifth indication information, the first indication information indicates the information of the service processed locally by the UE, and the fifth indication information indicates the information of the service not processed locally by the UE, then the first network element can determine whether the information of the first service is included in the first indication information or the fifth indication information. If the information of the first service is included in the first indication information, the first network element determines that the first service can be processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the second network element; or, if the information of the first service is included in the fifth indication information, the first network element determines that the first service cannot be processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the AMF or the third network element. Alternatively, if the first indication information or the fifth indication information includes more content, the first network element can also determine whether the first service can be processed locally, or determine how to forward the control plane signaling, in combination with other information included in the first indication information or the fifth indication information. For example, the first indication information includes information about the service processed locally by the UE, and the first indication information also includes area information to which the first indication information applies. Then the first network element can determine the location of the UE. If the UE is currently in the area indicated by the area information, and the information of the first service is included in the first indication information, the first network element determines that the first service can be processed locally, or sends the control plane signaling to the second network element; if the UE is not currently in the area indicated by the area information, and / or the information of the first service is not included in the first indication information, the first network element determines that the first service cannot be processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the AMF or the third network element. For another example, the fifth indication information includes information about the service that the UE does not process locally, and the fifth indication information also includes area information to which the fifth indication information applies. In this case, the first network element can determine the location of the UE. If the UE is currently in the area indicated by the area information, and the information about the first service is included in the fifth indication information, the first network element determines that the first service cannot be processed locally, or sends the control plane signaling to the AMF or the third network element. If the UE is not currently in the area indicated by the area information, and / or the information about the first service is not included in the fifth indication information, the first network element determines that the first service can be processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the second network element, or the first network element cannot determine whether the first service can be processed locally, or the first network element sends a rejection message to the UE.

[0268] For another example, if the first network element receives the fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is not processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are not processed locally), the first network element determines that the first service cannot be processed locally, or sends the control plane signaling to the AMF or the third network element. Alternatively, if the first indication information includes more content, the first network element may also determine whether the first service cannot be processed locally, or determine how to forward the control plane signaling, based on other information included in the first indication information. For example, the fifth indication information indicates that the service corresponding to the UE is not processed locally (or indicates that all services corresponding to the UE are not processed locally), and the fifth indication information also includes area information to which the fifth indication information applies, then the first network element can determine the location of the UE. If the UE is currently in the area indicated by the area information, the first network element determines that the first service cannot be processed locally, or sends the control plane signaling to the AMF or the third network element; if the UE is not currently in the area indicated by the area information, the first network element determines that the first service is processed locally, or the first network element sends the control plane signaling to the second network element, or the first network element cannot determine whether the first service is processed locally, or the first network element sends a rejection message to the UE.

[0269] If the first indication information further includes more content, the first network element may further determine whether the first service can be processed locally or how to forward the control plane signaling based on the more content, which will not be elaborated further.

[0270] Among them, if the first network element is to determine whether the first service can be processed locally, or to determine whether the first service is processed locally or not, then S708 may include step a and step b. Step a is that the first network element determines whether the first service is processed locally, or determines whether the first service is processed locally or not, based on the first indication information; step b is that the first network element sends the control plane signaling (the control plane signaling is sent to the second network element, AMF, or third network element) or sends a rejection message (for example, to the UE) based on the determination result. Alternatively, if the first network element is to determine how to forward the first service, then S708 can be considered to include only one step, which is that the first network element sends the control plane signaling or sends a rejection message based on the first indication information and / or the fifth indication information.

[0271] Optionally, Message 3 may also include information about the second network element, so the first network element does not need to perform the process of selecting a local function network element. For example, if the first service is a positioning service and Message 3 includes the LMF ID, the first network element may send the control plane signaling to the LMF. For another example, if the first service is a session service and Message 3 includes the SMF ID, the first network element may send the control plane signaling to the SMF.

[0272] Alternatively, if message 3 does not include information about the second network element, and the first network element needs to send the control plane signaling to the local functional network element, the first network element can select the functional network element on its own. For example, if the first indication information indicates a functional network element for processing a service to be processed locally, and the first indication information also indicates that the first service is a service to be processed locally, the first network element can determine the functional network element for processing the first service based on the first indication information, such as the second network element.

[0273] Optionally, Message 3 may also include information about a third network element. Thus, even if the first service is not processed locally, the first network element does not need to perform the process of selecting a functional network element. Alternatively, if Message 3 does not include information about the third network element, the first network element may select a functional network element for processing the first service, which is located in a public network or a centralized core network.

[0274] The AMF in the embodiment of the present application can determine whether the service corresponding to the UE is processed locally based on the first information, that is, a method for determining whether the UE's service can be processed locally is provided, so that the UE's service can be processed locally. In addition, if the UE's service is processed locally, the AMF can also send corresponding indication information to the first network element, so that the first network element can process the UE's service according to the local processing mechanism, thereby realizing the local processing mechanism. Since the UE's service can be processed locally, the UE's control plane signaling can be sent to the local functional network element by the first network element instead of passing through the AMF during the processing process, thereby reducing the circuitous transmission process of the signaling and reducing the transmission delay. Moreover, the UE in the embodiment of the present application does not need to have a high capability, and the requirements for the UE are relatively low, which is conducive to expanding the application scope of the embodiment of the present application.

[0275] Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 800 may be the first UE or the circuit system of the first UE described in the embodiment shown in any one of Figures 4, 6 or 7, and is used to implement the method corresponding to the first UE in the above method embodiment. Alternatively, the communication device 800 may be the first network element or the circuit system of the first network element described in the embodiment shown in any one of Figures 4, 6 or 7, and is used to implement the method corresponding to the first network element in the above method embodiment. Alternatively, the communication device 800 may be the AMF or the circuit system of the AMF described in the embodiment shown in any one of Figures 4, 6 or 7, and is used to implement the method corresponding to the AMF in the above method embodiment. For example, a circuit system is a chip system.

[0276] The communication device 800 includes at least one processor 801. Processor 801 can be used for internal processing of the device to implement certain control processing functions. Optionally, processor 801 includes instructions. Optionally, processor 801 can store data. Optionally, different processors can be independent devices, located in different physical locations, or on different integrated circuits. Optionally, different processors can be integrated into one or more processors, for example, on one or more integrated circuits.

[0277] Optionally, the communication device 800 includes one or more memories 803 for storing instructions. Optionally, data may also be stored in the memories 803. The processor and memory may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0278] Optionally, the communication device 800 includes a communication line 802 and at least one communication interface 804. Since the memory 803, the communication line 802 and the communication interface 804 are all optional, they are indicated by dotted lines in FIG8 .

[0279] Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include a transceiver and / or an antenna. The transceiver may be used to send information to or receive information from other devices. The transceiver may be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, an input / output interface, etc., and is used to implement the transceiver function of the communication device 800 through the antenna. Optionally, the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver. For example, the transmitter may be used to generate a radio frequency signal from a baseband signal, and the receiver may be used to convert the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal.

[0280] The processor 801 may include a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present application.

[0281] The communication link 802 may include a pathway for transmitting information between the aforementioned components.

[0282] The communication interface 804 uses any transceiver or other device for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wired access network, etc.

[0283] The memory 803 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, an optical disc storage (including a compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 803 may exist independently and be connected to the processor 801 via the communication line 802. Alternatively, the memory 803 may be integrated with the processor 801.

[0284] The memory 803 is used to store computer-executable instructions for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 801. The processor 801 is used to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 803, thereby implementing the steps performed by the first UE or the first network element or the AMF in the embodiment shown in any one of Figures 4, 6, or 7.

[0285] Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application code, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0286] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 801 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG8 .

[0287] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 800 may include multiple processors, such as the processor 801 and the processor 805 in FIG8 . Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. The processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0288] When the device shown in FIG8 is a chip, for example, a chip of the first UE, a chip of the first network element, or a chip of the AMF, the chip includes a processor 801 (and may also include a processor 805), a communication circuit 802, and a communication interface 804. Optionally, the chip may include a memory 803. Specifically, the communication interface 804 may be an input interface, a pin, or a circuit. The memory 803 may be a register, a cache, or the like. The processor 801 and the processor 805 may be a general-purpose CPU, a microprocessor, an ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the communication method of any of the above embodiments.

[0289] In the embodiment of the present application, the functional modules of the device can be divided according to the above-mentioned method example. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, in the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of a device. The device 900 can be the first UE or the second UE involved in the above-mentioned method embodiments, or a chip in the first UE or a chip in the first network element or a chip in the AMF. The device 900 includes a processing unit 902 and a transceiver unit 901.

[0290] It should be understood that the device 900 can be used to implement the steps performed by the first UE or the first network element or the AMF in the communication method of the embodiment of the present application. The relevant features can refer to the embodiments shown in any of Figures 4, 6 or 7 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0291] Optionally, the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 901 and the processing unit 902 in FIG9 can be implemented by the processor 801 in FIG8 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 803. Alternatively, the functions / implementation processes of the processing unit 902 in FIG9 can be implemented by the processor 801 in FIG8 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 803, and the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 901 in FIG9 can be implemented by the communication interface 804 in FIG8.

[0292] Optionally, when the device 900 is a chip or circuit, the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 901 may also be implemented via pins or circuits. Optionally, the transceiver unit 901 may include a transmitting unit and / or a receiving unit, where the transmitting unit is configured to implement the transmitting function and the receiving unit is configured to implement the receiving function. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 901 may be an integral module capable of implementing the transmitting function and / or the receiving function. Optionally, the transceiver unit 901 may be implemented via a transceiver.

[0293] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method performed by the first UE or the first network element or the AMF in the above-mentioned method embodiment is implemented. In this way, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be essentially or in other words, the part that contributes or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. Storage media include: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks or optical disks.

[0294] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, which, when running on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method performed by the first UE or the first network element or the AMF in any of the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0295] An embodiment of the present application also provides a processing device, including a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the method executed by the first UE first network element or AMF involved in any of the above method embodiments.

[0296] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state drive (SSD)).

[0297] The various illustrative logic units and circuits described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or operated by a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, and optionally, the general-purpose processor can also be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller or state machine. The processor can also be implemented by a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

[0298] The steps of the methods or algorithms described in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embedded in hardware, software units executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software unit can be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or other storage media in any form known in the art. Exemplarily, the storage medium can be connected to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium can be provided in an ASIC, which can be provided in a terminal device. Alternatively, the processor and storage medium can also be provided in different components in the terminal device.

[0299] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0300] The contents of the various embodiments of this application can refer to each other. If there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their internal logical relationships.

[0301] It will be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the first UE and / or the first network element and / or the AMF perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are merely examples. In the embodiments of the present application, other operations or variations of various operations may also be performed. In addition, the steps may be performed in a different order than those presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it may not be necessary to perform all of the operations in the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a first core network element, the method includes: Determining, according to the first information, that a service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally, wherein control plane signaling corresponding to the locally processed service is forwarded by the first network element to a local functional network element without passing through the first core network element, and the first information includes one or more of the following: information of the terminal device, information of the first network element, or information of at least one core network element; Send indication information to the first network element, where the indication information is used to indicate that the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally, or to indicate information about the service processed locally by the terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The service corresponding to the terminal device includes all or part of the services of the terminal device; or, A service request is received from the terminal device, wherein the service corresponding to the terminal device is the service indicated by the service request.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The information of the terminal device includes one or more of the following: Capability information of the terminal device supporting local service processing; The location information of the terminal device; The public land mobile network PLMN and / or network identification code NID accessed by the terminal device; or The terminal device allows information about services that can be processed locally, or the terminal device allows information about all services that can be processed locally.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The information of the first network element includes information on whether the first network element supports forwarding messages to local functional network elements.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: Determining, according to the first information, that a service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally includes: Sending part or all of the first information to a second core network element; Receive the indication information from the second core network element.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The indication information is further used to indicate a functional network element used to process the locally processed service, and / or to indicate an area to which the indication information applies.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send policy information to the terminal device, where the policy information is used to indicate that a service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally, or to indicate information about a service processed locally by the terminal device.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The policy information also includes information about a functional network element used to process services processed locally by the terminal device, and / or includes information about the area to which the policy information applies.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The policy information is generated by the first core network element; or, The policy information comes from the second core network element.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The information of the first network element and / or the information of the at least one core network element is sent to the terminal device, and the information of the first network element and / or the information of the at least one core network element is used by the terminal device to determine whether the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a first network element, the method includes: Receiving first indication information from a first core network network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a service corresponding to a terminal device is processed locally, or to indicate information about a service processed locally by the terminal device; receiving a message from the terminal device, the message comprising control plane signaling; According to the first indication information, the control plane signaling is sent to a local functional network element, and the control plane signaling does not pass through the first core network element, wherein the control plane signaling corresponds to a service processed locally.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The message includes second indication information, where the second indication information is information used to indicate the service requested by the control plane signaling, or is information used to indicate the type of the control plane signaling, or is information used to indicate a local service.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that: The first indication information is further used to indicate a functional network element used to process the locally processed service, and / or to indicate an area to which the first indication information applies.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that: The local functional network element is determined according to the information of the local functional network element included in the message; or, The local functional network element is determined according to the first indication information, and the first indication information is also used to indicate information of the functional network element used to process the locally processed service.

15. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a terminal device, the method comprises: Sending a message to the first network element, the message including control plane signaling, wherein: The message includes indication information, where the indication information is information used to indicate the service requested by the control plane signaling, or is information used to indicate the type of the control plane signaling, or is information used to indicate a local service.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive policy information from the first core network network element, where the policy information is used to indicate that the service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally, or indicate information about the service processed locally by the terminal device.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that Sending a message to the first network element includes: When it is determined according to the policy information that the service requested by the control plane signaling is processed locally, the message is sent.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The method further comprises: When it is determined according to the policy information that the first service is not processed locally, an MM NAS message is sent to the first network element, where the MM NAS message includes a service request for the first service.

19. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending a service request to the first network element, where the service request is used to request local processing of the service requested by the control plane signaling; Receive response information, where the response information is used to indicate that the service requested by the control plane signaling is processed locally.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive information from a first core network element and / or information from at least one core network element, where the information from the first core network element and / or the information from at least one core network element is used by the terminal device to determine whether a service corresponding to the terminal device is processed locally.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that Sending a service request to the first network element includes: The service request is sent to the first network element according to the information of the first network element and / or the information of the at least one core network element.

22. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 21, characterized in that: The policy information is also used to indicate a local functional network element for processing the first service, The message also includes a function network element for indicating a local function for processing the first service.

23. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 22, characterized in that: The policy information is further used to indicate an area to which the policy information is applicable, wherein sending a message to the first network element includes: When the terminal device is in the area, the message is sent to the first network element.

24. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises a processing unit and a transceiver unit, wherein the processing unit is coupled to the transceiver unit to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, or the method according to any one of claims 15 to 23.

25. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processor and a memory, the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, or the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 15 to 23.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, or the computer executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 14, or the computer executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 23.

27. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or enables the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, or enables the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 23.

28. A chip system, characterized in that: The chip system comprises: A processor and an interface, wherein the processor is used to call and run instructions from the interface, and when the processor executes the instructions, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, or the method according to any one of claims 15 to 23.

29. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system includes a first core network element and a first network element, wherein: The first core network element is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10; The first network element is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 11 to 14.

30. The communication system according to claim 29, characterized in that The communication system further includes a terminal device, wherein: The terminal device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 23.

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