Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and provides a communication method and apparatus. In the method, a network element of a network side, such as a first network element, can acquire network congestion information of a service flow to determine the possibility of congestion in the current network and perform policing. For example, when the network congestion level becomes high, when the possibility of network congestion has reached a point where an application side needs to adjust the transmission of a service flow to reduce the possibility, if the first network element determines, by monitoring the transmission of the service flow, that the application side has not adjusted the transmission of the service flow, the first network element can manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow, so as to ensure fairness between services while avoiding network congestion, thereby ensuring the use experience of users.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on November 3, 2023, with application number 202311463204.4 and application name “Communication Method and Device,” the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is discussing exposing network status information to applications in its Release 18 research. For example, radio access network (RAN) equipment or user plane function (UPF) network elements could share network congestion information about service flows with applications. Ideally, applications would use this information to detect the level of network congestion and adjust service flow transmission accordingly, such as by reducing the bitrate, to ensure a better user experience.

[0004] However, the current mechanism cannot guarantee that the application side will adjust the transmission of business flows according to network conditions (such as congestion information), resulting in the inability to actually guarantee the user experience.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus to ensure user experience when the application side needs to adjust the transmission of the service flow but has not actually adjusted it.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, this application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a first network element, including: the first network element obtains network congestion information of a service flow; the first network element determines, based on the network congestion information of the service flow, that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted; based on determining that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted, the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow.

[0009] Based on the above method, it can be seen that network elements on the network side, such as the first network element, can obtain network congestion information of the service flow to determine the possibility of congestion in the current network and perform supervision. For example, after the network congestion level becomes high, if the possibility of network congestion has reached a point where the application side needs to reduce the possibility by adjusting the transmission of the service flow, if the first network element determines that the application side has not adjusted the transmission of the service flow by monitoring the transmission of the service flow, it can manage and / or control its transmission to avoid network congestion while ensuring fairness between services, thereby protecting the user experience.

[0010] In one possible design scheme, the method further includes: obtaining configuration information of the service flow, the configuration information being used to instruct the first network element to determine whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the service flow, and managing and / or controlling the transmission of the service flow when the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted.

[0011] In response to the configuration information, the first network element determines that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted based on the network congestion information of the service flow. Based on determining that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted, the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow.

[0012] For example, the configuration information can be used to instruct the first network element to determine whether the transmission of a service flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the service flow, and to manage and control the transmission of the service flow if the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted. In other words, the first network element's supervision of the service flow can be triggered by the configuration information issued by the network, thereby implementing on-demand supervision and avoiding resource waste.

[0013] Optionally, the configuration information includes regulatory indication information. Optionally, it may also include information for indicating a service flow, such as flow description information of the service flow, specifically information such as an IP triplet, an IP quintuple, or an identifier of a QoS flow corresponding to the service flow, such as a QFI, or regulatory indication information. Among them, the regulatory indication information can be used to indicate whether the transmission needs to be adjusted based on the degree of congestion, and to manage and / or control the transmission when the transmission needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted. That is, the information for indicating the service flow and the regulatory indication information can be decoupled, and the two can be combined to indicate the function of the above-mentioned configuration information, and the indication method is more flexible.

[0014] It is understood that the configuration information may not include information indicating a service flow. For example, if the service flow is pre-aligned between the first network element and the network, the first network element may perform a regulatory operation on the service flow by default based on the regulatory indication information. Alternatively, the configuration information may be sent to the first network element together with information indicating the service flow, thereby ensuring that the first network element can perform the regulatory operation indicated by the configuration information on the service flow. Alternatively, the configuration information may not include regulatory indication information. For example, the configuration information may be a new information type that implicitly indicates the aforementioned regulatory operation.

[0015] Furthermore, the configuration information may also be used to indicate a monitoring period. This monitoring period is a period used to monitor whether the transmission of the service flow requires adjustment. In response to the configuration information, the first network element determines, based on network congestion information about the service flow, that the transmission of the service flow requires adjustment but has not been adjusted within the monitoring period. Based on the determination that the transmission of the service flow requires adjustment but has not been adjusted within the monitoring period, the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow. In other words, the first network element can implement on-time supervision based on the monitoring period, while also avoiding resource waste.

[0016] In one possible design scheme, the first network element determines that the transmission of the service flow has not been adjusted, including: the first network element determines that the transmission of the service flow is at least one of the following: the transmission rate has not decreased, the reduction in the transmission rate is less than the amplitude threshold, or the transmission rate has increased, so as to achieve more comprehensive transmission monitoring and avoid monitoring loopholes.

[0017] Optionally, the first network element determines, based on the network congestion information of the service flow, that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted, including: the first network element may determine, based on the network congestion information of the service flow, that the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to a congestion level threshold; or the first network element may determine, based on the network congestion information of the service flow, that an increase in the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to an increase threshold. In other words, if the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to the congestion level threshold, or if the increase in the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to the increase threshold, both indicate that the transmission of the service flow is likely to cause network congestion. In this way, the first network element can effectively avoid network congestion by monitoring the service flow accordingly.

[0018] In one possible design scheme, the first network element is an access network device, the service flow is carried by the QoS flow, the network congestion information of the service flow is the network congestion information of the QoS flow, and the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow, including: the access network device performs at least one of the following on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element or the user plane network element, discarding the data packets carried in the QoS flow, reducing the transmission priority of the data radio bearer DRB mapped by the QoS flow, mapping the QoS flow to a new DRB, or increasing the congestion level of the QoS flow when opening the new network congestion information of the QoS flow. The proportion value represented by the new network congestion information is the sum of the proportion value represented by the network congestion information of the QoS flow and the preset incremental proportion value.

[0019] For example, the session management network element and the user plane network element may be the network elements corresponding to the QoS flow. The exception report may be used to indicate a transmission anomaly of data packets carried in the QoS flow, thereby triggering the policy control network element through the session management network element to control and process the QoS flow, such as downgrading it. Specifically, this may involve reducing QoS guarantees, implementing transmission rate limits, and avoiding network congestion and transmission fairness issues. Alternatively, the policy control network element may be triggered to notify the application side and issue an alarm. If the access network device discards the data packets carried in the QoS flow or reduces the transmission priority of the DRB mapped to the QoS flow, the transmission rate of the QoS flow can be limited locally on the access network device to avoid network congestion and transmission fairness issues caused by malicious competition among the service flows corresponding to the QoS flow. If the access network device maps the QoS flow to a new DRB, the QoS flow can be decoupled from other QoS flows that previously shared the DRB, avoiding transmission fairness issues caused by the QoS flow preempting the DRB resources of other QoS flows. If the access network device opens new network congestion information for the QoS flow, the application side adjusts the transmission based on the higher congestion level, such as reducing the bit rate, to avoid network congestion and transmission fairness issues.

[0020] Optionally, the exception report may include the identifier of the QoS flow and / or information indicating a packet transmission anomaly. As can be seen, the identifier of the QoS flow and the information indicating a packet transmission anomaly can be decoupled and combined to indicate the above-mentioned exception reporting function, providing a more flexible indication method.

[0021] It is understood that an exception report may not include an identifier for a QoS flow. For example, if a QoS flow is pre-aligned between an access network device and a session management network element / user plane network element, the session management network element / user plane network element may, based on the exception report, default to a transmission anomaly for packets carried in the QoS flow. Alternatively, an exception report may not include information indicating a packet transmission anomaly. For example, an exception report may be a new report type that implicitly indicates a transmission anomaly.

[0022] In one possible design, the first network element is a user-plane network element, the service flow is carried by a QoS flow, and the network congestion information of the service flow is the network congestion information of the QoS flow. The first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow, including: the user-plane network element performs at least one of the following on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, discarding data packets carried in the QoS flow, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, or opening new network congestion information of the QoS flow. The proportion value representing the new network congestion information is the sum of the proportion value representing the network congestion information of the QoS flow and a preset incremental proportion value.

[0023] For example, the session management network element may be the network element corresponding to a QoS flow. The exception report may indicate a transmission anomaly of data packets carried in the QoS flow, thereby triggering the policy control network element to control the QoS flow, such as downgrading it. Specifically, this may involve reducing QoS guarantees, implementing transmission rate limits, and avoiding network congestion and transmission fairness issues. Alternatively, the policy control network element may be triggered to notify the application side and issue an alarm. If the user-plane network element discards data packets carried in the QoS flow, the transmission rate of the QoS flow can be limited locally in the user-plane network element to avoid network congestion and transmission fairness issues. The application function network element may be the network element corresponding to a service flow. The alarm notification may indicate a transmission anomaly of data packets for the service corresponding to the service flow. If the user-plane network element sends an alarm notification or new network congestion information for an open QoS flow to the application function network element, the application side may adjust transmission based on the higher congestion level or the alarm transmission anomaly to avoid network congestion and transmission fairness issues. It should be understood that the aforementioned service flow may also be replaced with the QoS flow that transmits the service flow.

[0024] Optionally, the exception report may include the identifier of the QoS flow and / or information indicating a packet transmission anomaly, where the identifier of the QoS flow may be the QoS flow identifier (QFI). The alarm notification may include the identifier of the service and / or information indicating a packet transmission anomaly. For specific implementation, please refer to the relevant description above and will not be repeated here.

[0025] In one possible design, the first network element is a user plane network element, and the first network element manages and / or controls transmission of a service flow, including: the user plane network element performing at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, discarding a data packet in the service flow, or opening new network congestion information for the service flow;

[0026] For example, a session management network element or an application function network element is a network element corresponding to a service flow, and an exception report or alarm notification is used to indicate an anomaly in the data packet transmission of the service corresponding to the service flow. If the user plane network sends an exception report to the session management network element, the policy control network element triggered by the session management network element can downgrade the guarantee of the service flow, implement transmission rate limiting, and avoid network congestion and transmission fairness issues between multiple service flows. If the user plane network element discards the data packets in the service flow, the transmission rate of the service flow can be limited locally in the user plane network element to avoid network congestion and transmission fairness issues between multiple service flows. If the user plane network element sends an alarm notification to the application function network element, or opens new network congestion information for a service flow, the application side adjusts transmission based on the higher congestion level or the alarm transmission anomaly to avoid network congestion and transmission fairness issues between multiple service flows.

[0027] Optionally, the exception report or alarm notification includes an identifier of the service flow and / or information used to indicate an abnormality in data packet transmission. The identifier of the service flow may be flow description information corresponding to the service flow, such as IP five-tuple, IP three-tuple information, etc. For specific implementation, please refer to the above-mentioned related introduction and will not be repeated here.

[0028] Optionally, the configuration information may include at least the following executions: a supervision policy, a judgment policy, or a control policy.

[0029] Among them, the supervision strategy is used to indicate whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the business flow, and to control the transmission of the business flow when the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted (such as not adjusted within the monitoring time period).

[0030] The judgment strategy is used to indicate whether it is necessary to determine whether the transmission of the service flow (such as within the monitoring time period) is at least one of the following: the transmission rate does not decrease, the reduction amplitude of the transmission rate is less than the amplitude threshold, or the transmission rate increases.

[0031] In the case where the first network element is an access network device, the management and control policy is used to indicate the need to manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow (i.e., the QoS flow carrying the service flow), specifically including performing at least one of the following on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element or the user plane network element, discarding the data packets carried in the QoS flow, reducing the transmission priority of the data radio bearer DRB mapped by the QoS flow, mapping the QoS flow to a new DRB, or opening new network congestion information for the QoS flow.

[0032] When the first network element is a user-plane network element, the management and control policy indicates that management and / or control of service flow transmission is required. Specifically, the management and control policy includes performing at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, or releasing new network congestion information for the service flow. Alternatively, the management and control policy includes performing at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, or releasing new network congestion information for the service flow. The service flow being managed and / or controlled may also be the QoS flow carrying the service flow.

[0033] Optionally, the configuration information may further include information indicating that the first network element that supervises the transmission is the above-mentioned access network device or user plane network element.

[0034] A second aspect provides a communication method for an application function network element, comprising: the application function network element sending demand information. The demand information indicates whether the transmission of a service flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the service flow, and managing and / or controlling the transmission of the service flow if the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted.

[0035] It can be understood that the demand information can be converted into the above-mentioned configuration information on the network side, and finally configured to the above-mentioned first network element.

[0036] In one possible design, the demand information may include regulatory indication information and, optionally, information indicating a service flow. The information indicating a service flow may be flow description information, specifically, information such as an IP quintuple or IP triplet of the service flow. The regulatory indication information indicates whether transmission needs to be adjusted based on the level of congestion, and manages and / or controls transmission if adjustment is required but not performed.

[0037] Optionally, the demand information is specifically used to indicate whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the business flow, and to control the transmission of the business flow if the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted within the monitoring time period.

[0038] Furthermore, the demand information may also include a monitoring time period.

[0039] Optionally, the demand information may include at least the following executions: a supervision strategy, a judgment strategy, or a control strategy.

[0040] Among them, the supervision policy is used to indicate whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the business flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the business flow when the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted (such as not adjusted within the monitoring time period).

[0041] The judgment strategy is used to indicate whether it is necessary to determine whether the transmission of the service flow (within the monitoring period) is at least one of the following: the transmission rate is not reduced, the reduction amplitude of the transmission rate is less than the amplitude threshold, or the transmission rate increases.

[0042] In the case where the first network element is an access network device, the management and control policy is used to indicate the need to manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow (i.e., the QoS flow carrying the service flow), specifically including performing at least one of the following on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element or the user plane network element, discarding the data packets carried in the QoS flow, reducing the transmission priority of the data radio bearer DRB mapped by the QoS flow, mapping the QoS flow to a new DRB, or opening new network congestion information for the QoS flow.

[0043] When the first network element is a user-plane network element, the management and control policy indicates that management and / or control of service flow transmission is required. Specifically, the management and control policy includes performing at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, or releasing new network congestion information for the service flow. Alternatively, the management and control policy includes performing at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, or releasing new network congestion information for the service flow. The service flow being managed and / or controlled may also be the QoS flow carrying the service flow.

[0044] Optionally, the requirement information may further include information indicating that the first network element that supervises the transmission is the above-mentioned access network device or user plane network element.

[0045] In one possible design, the application function network element sends demand information, including: the application function network element sends an application function network element request message to the policy control network element corresponding to the service flow, wherein the application function network element request message includes the demand information, which is used to reuse existing signaling to reduce implementation difficulty, or new signaling can be used to achieve decoupling from existing signaling and more flexible information transmission. Specifically, the application function network element can directly send the request information carrying the demand information to the policy control network element, or the application function network element can send the request information carrying the demand information to the policy control network element through the network open network element.

[0046] In addition, the effects of the method described in the second aspect can also refer to the relevant introduction of the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0047] According to a third aspect, a communication method is provided for use with a policy control network element, comprising: the policy control network element determining policy information for service flow transmission and sending the policy information to a session management network element corresponding to the service flow. The policy information indicates whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the service flow, and managing and / or controlling the transmission of the service flow if the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted.

[0048] It can be understood that the policy information can be converted into the above-mentioned configuration information by the session management network element, and finally configured to the above-mentioned first network element.

[0049] In one possible design, the policy information may include regulatory indication information and, optionally, information indicating a service flow. The information indicating a service flow may be flow description information, specifically, information such as an IP quintuple or IP triplet of the service flow. The regulatory indication information indicates whether transmission needs to be adjusted based on the level of congestion, and manages and / or controls transmission when adjustment is required but not performed.

[0050] Optionally, the policy information is specifically used to indicate whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the business flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the business flow when the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted within the monitoring time period.

[0051] Furthermore, the policy information may also include a monitoring time period.

[0052] Optionally, the policy information may include at least one of the following: a supervision policy, a judgment policy, or a control policy.

[0053] Among them, the supervision policy is used to indicate whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the business flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the business flow when the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted (such as not adjusted within the monitoring time period).

[0054] The judgment strategy is used to indicate whether it is necessary to determine whether the transmission of the service flow (within the monitoring period) is at least one of the following: the transmission rate is not reduced, the reduction amplitude of the transmission rate is less than the amplitude threshold, or the transmission rate increases.

[0055] In the case where the first network element is an access network device, the management and control policy is used to indicate the need to manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow (i.e., the QoS flow carrying the service flow), specifically including performing at least one of the following on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element or the user plane network element, discarding the data packets carried in the QoS flow, reducing the transmission priority of the data radio bearer DRB mapped by the QoS flow, mapping the QoS flow to a new DRB, or opening new network congestion information for the QoS flow.

[0056] When the first network element is a user-plane network element, the management and control policy indicates that management and / or control of service flow transmission is required. Specifically, the management and control policy includes performing at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, or releasing new network congestion information for the service flow. Alternatively, the management and control policy includes performing at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, or releasing new network congestion information for the service flow. The service flow being managed and / or controlled may also be the QoS flow carrying the service flow.

[0057] Optionally, the policy information may further include information indicating that the first network element that supervises transmission is the above-mentioned access network device or user plane network element.

[0058] In one possible design, the policy control network element determines policy information, including: the policy control network element receiving service flow transmission requirement information from an application function network element of the service flow, and determining policy information based on the requirement information. The requirement information indicates whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the service flow, and managing and / or controlling the transmission of the service flow if the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted.

[0059] In one possible design, the demand information may include regulatory indication information and, optionally, information indicating a service flow. The information indicating a service flow may be flow description information, specifically, information such as an IP quintuple or IP triplet of the service flow. The regulatory indication information indicates whether transmission needs to be adjusted based on the level of congestion, and manages and / or controls transmission if adjustment is required but not performed.

[0060] Optionally, the demand information is specifically used to indicate whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the business flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the business flow if the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted within the monitoring time period.

[0061] Furthermore, the demand information may also include a monitoring time period.

[0062] Optionally, the demand information may include at least the following executions: a supervision strategy, a judgment strategy, or a control strategy.

[0063] Among them, the supervision policy is used to indicate whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the business flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the business flow when the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted (such as not adjusted within the monitoring time period).

[0064] The judgment strategy is used to indicate whether it is necessary to determine whether the transmission of the service flow (such as within the monitoring time period) is at least one of the following: the transmission rate does not decrease, the reduction amplitude of the transmission rate is less than the amplitude threshold, or the transmission rate increases.

[0065] In the case where the first network element is an access network device, the management and control policy is used to indicate the need to manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow (i.e., the QoS flow carrying the service flow), specifically including performing at least one of the following on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element or the user plane network element, discarding the data packets carried in the QoS flow, reducing the transmission priority of the data radio bearer DRB mapped by the QoS flow, mapping the QoS flow to a new DRB, or opening new network congestion information for the QoS flow.

[0066] When the first network element is a user-plane network element, the management and control policy indicates that management and / or control of service flow transmission is required. Specifically, the management and control policy includes performing at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, or releasing new network congestion information for the service flow. Alternatively, the management and control policy includes performing at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, or releasing new network congestion information for the service flow. The service flow being managed and / or controlled may also be the QoS flow carrying the service flow.

[0067] Optionally, the requirement information may further include information indicating that the first network element that supervises the transmission is the above-mentioned access network device or user plane network element.

[0068] In one possible design, after the policy control network element sends policy information to the session management network element corresponding to the service flow, the method according to the third aspect may further include: the policy control network element receiving indication information from the session management network element, and lowering the quality of service (QoS) level of the PCC rule based on the indication information. The indication information is used to indicate a transmission anomaly of the service flow corresponding to the control policy and charging PCC rule.

[0069] In addition, the effects of the method described in the third aspect can also refer to the relevant introduction of the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0070] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, applied to a user-plane network element, comprising: when the user-plane network element discloses network congestion information for a Quality of Service (QoS) flow, the user-plane network element receives an exception report from an access network device corresponding to the QoS flow, wherein the exception report indicates a transmission anomaly of a data packet carried in the QoS flow. When the transmission anomaly of the data packet carried in the QoS flow occurs, the user-plane network element manages and / or controls transmission of the QoS flow.

[0071] Among them, the explanation of the abnormal report can refer to the relevant introduction of the first aspect above, which will not be repeated here.

[0072] In one possible design scheme, the user-plane network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the QoS flow, including: in response to configuration information, the user-plane network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the QoS flow, wherein the configuration information is used to indicate that when network congestion information of the open QoS flow is present but the transmission of data packets carried in the QoS flow is abnormal, the transmission of the QoS flow needs to be managed and / or controlled.

[0073] Optionally, the method described in the fourth aspect may further include: the user plane network element receiving configuration information from the session management network element corresponding to the QoS flow.

[0074] Furthermore, the user plane network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the QoS flow, including: the user plane network element performing at least one operation on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element, sending an alarm notification to the application function network element, discarding data packets carried in the QoS flow, or releasing new network congestion information for the QoS flow. The session management network element is the network element corresponding to the QoS flow, the exception report is used to indicate an abnormality in the transmission of data packets carried in the QoS flow, the application function network element is the network element corresponding to the service carried by the QoS flow, and the alarm notification is used to indicate an abnormality in the transmission of data packets of the service.

[0075] It is understandable that the user plane network element may also map the QoS flow to a corresponding service flow, such as a service flow carried by the QoS flow, and manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow.

[0076] In addition, the effects of the method described in the fourth aspect can also refer to the relevant introduction of the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0077] According to a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided, comprising: a policy control network element obtaining policy information for service flow transmission and sending the policy information to a session management network element. The session management network element sends configuration information for the service flow to a first network element based on the policy information. The first network element obtains network congestion information for the service flow and, in response to the configuration information, manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow if the first network element determines, based on the network congestion information for the service flow, that the transmission of the service flow requires adjustment but has not been adjusted.

[0078] The policy information indicates whether the transmission of a service flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the service flow, and manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow if the service flow transmission requires adjustment but has not been adjusted. The first network element is an access network device or a user plane network element. The configuration information indicates whether the transmission of a service flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the service flow, and manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow if the service flow transmission requires adjustment but has not been adjusted.

[0079] In one possible design, the policy information may include regulatory indication information and, optionally, information indicating a service flow. The regulatory indication information is used to indicate whether transmission needs to be adjusted based on a congestion level, and to manage and / or control transmission when adjustment is required but not yet made.

[0080] Optionally, the policy information is specifically used to indicate whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the business flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the business flow when the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted within the monitoring time period.

[0081] Furthermore, the policy information may also include a monitoring time period.

[0082] In one possible design, the policy control network element obtains policy information, including: the policy control network element receiving service flow transmission requirement information from an application function network element of the service flow, and determining policy information based on the requirement information. The requirement information indicates whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the service flow, and managing and / or controlling the transmission of the service flow if the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted.

[0083] In one possible design, the demand information may include regulatory indication information and, optionally, information indicating a service flow. The regulatory indication information indicates whether transmission needs to be adjusted based on a congestion level, and manages and / or controls transmission when adjustment is required but not made.

[0084] Optionally, the demand information is specifically used to indicate whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level of the business flow, and to control the transmission of the business flow if the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted within the monitoring time period.

[0085] Furthermore, the demand information may also include a monitoring time period.

[0086] In one possible design, after the policy control network element sends policy information to the session management network element corresponding to the service flow, the method according to aspect 5 may further include: the policy control network element receiving indication information from the session management network element, and lowering the quality of service (QoS) level of the PCC rule based on the indication information. The indication information is used to indicate a transmission anomaly of the service flow corresponding to the control policy and charging PCC rule.

[0087] Optionally, the configuration information includes regulatory indication information and may further include information indicating a service flow. The regulatory indication information may be used to indicate whether transmission needs to be adjusted based on the degree of congestion, and to manage and / or control transmission if adjustment is required but not yet made.

[0088] Furthermore, the configuration information may be used to indicate a monitoring time period. In response to the configuration information, if the first network element determines, based on network congestion information of the service flow, that transmission of the service flow requires adjustment but has not been adjusted, then the first network element manages and / or controls transmission of the service flow, including: In response to the configuration information, if the first network element determines, based on network congestion information of the service flow, that transmission of the service flow requires adjustment but has not been adjusted within the monitoring time period, then the first network element manages and / or controls transmission of the service flow.

[0089] In one possible design scheme, the first network element determines that the transmission of the service flow has not been adjusted, including: the first network element determines that the transmission of the service flow is at least one of the following: the transmission rate has not decreased, the reduction in the transmission rate is less than the amplitude threshold, or the transmission rate has increased.

[0090] Optionally, the first network element determines that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted based on the network congestion information of the service flow, including: the first network element may determine that the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to a congestion level threshold based on the network congestion information of the service flow; or, the first network element may determine that the increase in the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to an increase threshold based on the network congestion information of the service flow.

[0091] In one possible design scheme, the first network element is an access network device, the service flow is carried by the QoS flow, the network congestion information of the service flow is the network congestion information of the QoS flow, and the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow, including: the access network device performs at least one of the following on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element or the user plane network element, discarding the data packets carried in the QoS flow, reducing the transmission priority of the data radio bearer DRB mapped by the QoS flow, mapping the QoS flow to a new DRB, or opening a new network congestion information for the QoS flow.

[0092] For example, the session management network element and the user plane network element may be network elements corresponding to the QoS flow, and the exception report may be used to indicate a transmission anomaly of a data packet carried in the QoS flow. The new ratio value of the network congestion information representation is the sum of the ratio value of the network congestion information representation of the QoS flow and the preset incremental ratio value.

[0093] Optionally, the exception report may include an identifier of the QoS flow and / or information indicating an exception in data packet transmission.

[0094] In one possible design scheme, the first network element is a user-plane network element, the service flow is carried by the QoS flow, the network congestion information of the service flow is the network congestion information of the QoS flow, and the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow, including: the user-plane network element performs at least one of the following on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element, discarding the data packets carried in the QoS flow, sending an alarm notification to the application function network element, or opening new network congestion information of the QoS flow.

[0095] For example, if the session management network element is the network element corresponding to a QoS flow, the exception report can be used to indicate a transmission anomaly of data packets carried in the QoS flow. The application function network element can be the network element corresponding to a service flow, and the alarm notification can be used to indicate a transmission anomaly of data packets for the service corresponding to the service flow. The new ratio value of the network congestion information representation is the sum of the ratio value of the network congestion information representation of the QoS flow and the preset incremental ratio value.

[0096] Optionally, the exception report may include an identifier of the QoS flow and / or information indicating abnormality in data packet transmission, and the alarm notification may include an identifier of the service and / or information indicating abnormality in data packet transmission.

[0097] In one possible design scheme, the first network element is a user plane network element, and the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow, including: the user plane network element performs at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element, sending an alarm notification to the application function network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, or opening new network congestion information for the service flow.

[0098] For example, a session management network element or an application function network element is a network element corresponding to a service flow, and an exception report or alarm notification is used to indicate a packet transmission anomaly for the service corresponding to the service flow. The new ratio value of the network congestion information representation is the sum of the ratio value of the network congestion information representation of the service flow and the preset incremental ratio value.

[0099] Optionally, the abnormality report or alarm notification includes an identifier of the service flow and / or information indicating abnormality in data packet transmission.

[0100] In addition, the effects of the method described in the fifth aspect can also refer to the relevant introduction of the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0101] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: a module for executing the method described in any one of aspects 1 to 5, such as a transceiver module and a processing module. For example, the transceiver module is configured to indicate the transceiver function of the communication device, and the processing module is configured to perform functions of the communication device other than the transceiver function.

[0102] Optionally, the transceiver module may include a sending module and a receiving module, wherein the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device described in the sixth aspect, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device described in the fifth aspect.

[0103] Optionally, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may further include a storage module, wherein the storage module stores a program or instruction. When the processing module executes the program or instruction, the communication device can execute the method described in any one of the first to fifth aspects.

[0104] It can be understood that the communication device described in the sixth aspect can be a network device, or a chip (system) or other parts or components that can be set in the network device, or a device that includes a network device. This application does not limit this.

[0105] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the sixth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the other aspects mentioned above and will not be repeated here.

[0106] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor configured to execute the method described in any one of the first to fifth aspects.

[0107] In one possible design solution, the communication device described in the seventh aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the seventh aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0108] In one possible design, the communication device described in aspect 7 may further include a memory. The memory may be integrated with the processor or provided separately. The memory may be used to store the computer program and / or data involved in the method described in any one of aspects 1 to 5.

[0109] In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device described in the seventh aspect can be the network device described in any one of the first to fifth aspects, or a chip (system) or other parts or components that can be set in the network device, or a device that includes the network device.

[0110] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the seventh aspect can refer to the technical effects of the other aspects mentioned above and will not be repeated here.

[0111] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor coupled to a memory, the processor configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method described in any one of the first to fifth aspects.

[0112] In one possible design solution, the communication device described in the eighth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the eighth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0113] In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device described in aspect 8 may be the network device described in any one of aspects 1 to 5, or a chip (system) or other parts or components that may be set in the network device, or a device that includes the network device.

[0114] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the eighth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the other aspects mentioned above and will not be repeated here.

[0115] In the ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store a computer program, and when the processor executes the computer program, the communication device executes the method described in any one of the first to fifth aspects.

[0116] In one possible design solution, the communication device described in aspect 9 may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in aspect 9 to communicate with other communication devices.

[0117] In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device described in aspect 9 may be the network device described in any one of aspects 1 to 5, or a chip (system) or other parts or components that may be set in the network device, or a device that includes the network device.

[0118] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the ninth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the other aspects mentioned above and will not be repeated here.

[0119] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising at least one of the following: the first network element described in the first aspect, the application function network element described in the second aspect, the policy control network element described in the third aspect, or the policy control network element described in the third aspect.

[0120] In the eleventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, comprising: a computer program or instructions; when the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method described in any one of the first to fifth aspects.

[0121] In a twelfth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program or instructions, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to execute the method described in any one of the first to fifth aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0122] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the 5GS architecture;

[0123] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the L4S mechanism scenario;

[0124] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0125] FIG4 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0126] FIG5 is a second flow chart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0127] FIG6 is a third flow chart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0128] FIG7 is a fourth flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0129] FIG8 is a first structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0130] FIG9 is a second structural diagram of the communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0131] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as wireless network (Wi-Fi) systems, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, Internet of Vehicles communication systems, fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication systems, such as long-term evolution (LTE) systems, world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication systems, such as new radio (NR) systems, and future communication systems, such as 5.5G and sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication systems.

[0132] For ease of understanding, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of this application are first introduced below.

[0133] 1. Fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system (abbreviated as 5G system (5G system, 5GS)):

[0134] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the 5GS architecture. As shown in Figure 1, the 5GS includes an access network (AN) and a core network (CN), and may also include terminals.

[0135] The terminal may be one or more, such as a first terminal, a second terminal, a third terminal, etc. A terminal may be a terminal with transceiver functions, or may be a chip or chip system provided in the terminal. The terminal may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit (subscriber unit), user station, mobile station (MS), mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device. The terminal in the embodiments of the present application can be a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a handheld device (handset), a laptop computer, a machine type communication (MTC) terminal, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a smart home device (for example, a refrigerator, a television, an air conditioner, an electric meter, etc.), an intelligent robot, a robotic arm, a workshop equipment, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical care, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a vehicle-mounted terminal, a roadside unit with terminal function, or a wireless terminal in a smart city. The terminal device of the present application may also be an onboard module, onboard module, onboard component, onboard chip or onboard unit built into a vehicle as one or more components or units. The terminal device may also be other devices with terminal functions, for example, the terminal device may also be a device that functions as a terminal in D2D communication.

[0136] The embodiments of this application do not limit the device form factor of the terminal. The device used to implement the functions of the terminal device can be the terminal device; it can also be a device that supports the terminal device to implement the functions, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the terminal device or used in conjunction with the terminal device. In the embodiments of this application, the chip system can be composed of chips or include chips and other discrete devices.

[0137] The AN is used to implement access-related functions. It provides network access for authorized users in a specific area and can determine transmission links of varying quality for user data transmission based on user level and service requirements. The AN forwards control signals and user data between terminals and the CN. The AN may include access network equipment, also known as radio access network (RAN) equipment. The CN is primarily responsible for maintaining mobile network subscription data and providing terminal functions such as session management, mobility management, policy management, and security authentication. CN mainly includes the following network elements: user plane function (UPF) network element, authentication service function (AUSF) network element, AMF network element, SMF network element, network slice selection function (NSSF) network element, network exposure function (NEF) network element, network function repository function (NRF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, unified data management (UDM) network element, unified data repository (UDR), and application function network element (AF).

[0138] RAN equipment, that is, access network devices can be one or more. The access network device can be a device with wireless transceiver functions, or it can be a chip or chip system provided on the device, located in the access network (AN) of the communication system, to provide access services for the terminal. For example, the access network device can be called a radio access network device (RAN) device, which can specifically be a next-generation mobile communication system, such as a 6G access network device, such as a 6G base station, or in the next-generation mobile communication system, the access network device can also have other naming methods, which are all covered within the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application, and this application does not impose any limitations on this. Alternatively, the access network device may include 5G, such as a gNB in ​​a new radio (NR) system, or one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in 5G, or a network node constituting a gNB, a transmission and reception point (TRP or TP), or a transmission measurement function (TMF), such as a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), a radio unit (RU), an RSU with base station functions, a wired access gateway, or a 5G core network element. Alternatively, the access network device may include an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, various types of macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small cells), relay stations, access points, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, and the like.

[0139] Among them, the CU and DU can be set separately, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH). It can be understood that the network device can be a CU node, a DU node, or a device including a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU can be divided into a network device in the access network RAN, or the CU can be divided into a network device in the core network CN, and there is no limitation here.

[0140] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0141] The UPF network element is mainly responsible for user data processing (forwarding, receiving, billing, etc.). For example, the UPF network element can receive user data from the data network (DN) and forward the user data to the terminal through the access network equipment. The UPF network element can also receive user data from the terminal through the access network equipment and forward the user data to the DN. The DN network element refers to the operator network that provides data transmission services to users. For example, the Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Service (IMS), the Internet, etc.

[0142] The DN can be an operator's external network or a network controlled by the operator, and is used to provide business services to terminal devices.

[0143] The AUSF network element is mainly used to perform terminal security authentication.

[0144] The AMF network element is mainly used for mobility management in mobile networks, such as user location update, user network registration, and user handover.

[0145] The SMF network element is primarily used for session management in mobile networks, such as session establishment, modification, and release. Specific functions include allocating Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to users and selecting UPF network elements that provide packet forwarding capabilities.

[0146] The PCF network element mainly supports providing a unified policy framework to control network behavior, provides policy rules to the control layer network function, and is responsible for obtaining user subscription information related to policy decisions. The PCF network element can provide policies such as quality of service (QoS) policy and slice selection policy to the AMF network element and SMF network element.

[0147] The NSSF network element is mainly used to select network slices for terminals.

[0148] NEF network elements are mainly used to support the opening of capabilities and events.

[0149] UDM network elements are mainly used to store user data, such as subscription data, authentication / authorization data, etc.

[0150] The UDR network element is mainly used to store structured data, including contract data and policy data, externally exposed structured data, and application-related data.

[0151] AF mainly supports interaction with CN to provide services, such as influencing data routing decisions, policy control functions, or providing some third-party services to the network side.

[0152] 2. Quality of service (QoS) monitoring:

[0153] To support ultra-low-latency, high-reliability communications (ULLRC), the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) defined a QoS monitoring feature for packet-level latency measurement. QoS monitoring measures the transmission latency of packets between the UE and the protocol data unit (PDU) session anchor (PSA) UPF network element. This latency includes the latency between the UE and RAN equipment on the air interface side, and the latency on the N3 link between the RAN equipment and the UPF network element on the core network side. Among them, on the core network side, the measurement of the uplink and downlink data packet transmission delay between the RAN equipment and the UPF network element can be based on different granularities, including the granularity of a single QoS flow of a certain UE, or the granularity of the general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GPRS tunnelling protocol for the user plane, GTP-U) tunnel at the user layer. The specific granularity used depends on the operator policy, third-party application request or policy and charging control (PCC) rules.

[0154] For example, taking QoS monitoring at the QoS flow granularity as an example, the SMF network element will activate the uplink / downlink packet delay measurement for a certain QoS flow during the PDU session establishment or modification process. The SMF network element will send a QoS monitoring request to the RAN device and the UPF network element. The QoS monitoring request will include the corresponding monitoring parameters, measurement report trigger conditions, etc. The N3 link packet delay measurement between the RAN device and the UPF network element is achieved by adding timestamps and QoS monitoring indicators to the GTP-U layer of the uplink and downlink data packets. The PSA UPF network element will report the measurement results to the SMF network element based on the QoS monitoring request sent by the SMF network element, if a certain threshold condition given by the SMF network element is met.

[0155] 3. R18 network information opening:

[0156] In R18 research, how the application layer perceives network conditions and how network status information is exposed to applications is a critical issue that requires urgent research. For example, how can the application layer perceive network status in real time and make corresponding content adjustments to ensure user experience and improve network utilization efficiency? For example, network information can be exposed to third-party applications through control plane capability exposure interfaces. This could be done directly through the service-oriented interfaces of the UPF network element, or by using the NEF network element. Alternatively, using the R16 solution, the UPF network element sends measurement results to the SMF network element, which then exposes this network information to third-party applications through the NEF network element, achieving rapid and real-time exposure of network information.

[0157] Understandably, due to the potential security risks inherent in RAN equipment, 3GPP standards typically don't define the RAN as being able to directly expose network information. Instead, the RAN equipment must first communicate the monitored network information to core network nodes, such as the UPF network element, which then makes it available. Alternatively, the RAN equipment can embed network information into data packets via the user plane and transmit them to the UE or application server, also enabling network information disclosure.

[0158] For easier understanding, the following takes open network congestion information as an example.

[0159] As an implementation solution, the industry introduced low latency, low loss, scalable throughput (L4S) into 3GPP and used it for the rapid and real-time disclosure of 5GS network capability information, for example, the disclosure of network congestion information by RAN equipment.

[0160] Specifically, as shown in Figure 2, explicit congestion notification (ECN) uses two information bits in the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) header as ECN flags. This is used to notify the sender or receiver of congestion at a transmission node, so that the sender can discard the corresponding data packets to reduce the possibility of congestion. For example, a CE flag value of 11 indicates that congestion has occurred during the current network transmission process. Other CE flag values, such as "00," "01," and "10," indicate whether ECN capabilities are supported. This means that the end-side can use the ECN flag to indicate whether the other end supports the ECN mechanism, thereby enabling bidirectional capability negotiation.

[0161] L4S is an upgrade based on the ECN mechanism, further expanding the role of the original ECN flag. For example, by counting the proportion of packets marked as congested (i.e., with an ECN flag of "11") within a period of time, the degree of network congestion can be determined. In other words, even if the network may not be congested at the moment, the L4S mechanism can still perceive the current network status, allowing the sender or receiver to adjust based on the network congestion information. For example, for media services, the sender may adjust the sending bitrate in real time based on network congestion information. In addition, the two-end capability negotiation of L4S also refers to the ECN mechanism, using the ECN flag in the IP header to indicate whether the other end supports L4S capabilities.

[0162] The R18 standard finally agreed on two L4S implementation schemes: RAN equipment implements L4S and UPF network elements implement L4S.

[0163] 1) RAN equipment performs L4S:

[0164] RAN equipment can monitor the network congestion status of corresponding QoS flows and perform L4S marking based on the network congestion status, thereby enabling the on-path disclosure of network congestion information. The details are described below.

[0165] Downlink scenario:

[0166] The RAN device can determine the downlink network congestion status based on the network status of the corresponding QoS flow or the network status of the DRB corresponding to the corresponding QoS flow, such as available bandwidth, bandwidth utilization, and the length of the data transmission queue on the air interface. For example, the proportion of downlink data packets with the CE identifier "11" is the network congestion information, or in other words, the network congestion information indicates the proportion of downlink data packets with the CE identifier "11." Based on the network congestion status, the RAN device can add the corresponding CE identifier, such as "11," to the IP header of the downlink data packet through the L4S mechanism. The UE will perform corresponding statistics, such as counting the number or proportion of downlink data packets with the CE identifier value "11," to determine the network congestion status. For example, if the number of data packets carrying the CE identifier "11" accounts for 40% of all received data packets, it can be considered that the probability of network congestion in the current network, the current QoS flow, or the DRB corresponding to the current QoS flow is 40%. The UE can inform the sender of the above network congestion status through upper-layer feedback mechanisms, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP) acknowledgment (ACK) feedback, the real-time transport control protocol (RTCP) feedback report, and the ACK mechanism of the user datagram protocol (UDP)-based low-latency Internet transport layer protocol (quick UDP internet connection, QUIC), such as the application server (AS) receiving the probability of network congestion from the UE side. Accordingly, the AS can dynamically adjust the bit rate based on the network congestion status obtained through feedback, thereby ensuring the user's service experience. It should be understood that how the RAN device determines the network congestion status of the QoS flow or the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow depends on the self-implementation of the RAN device and is not limited here.

[0167] Uplink scenario:

[0168] The RAN equipment can determine the uplink network congestion status based on the network status of the corresponding QoS flow or the network status of the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow, and use the L4S mechanism to add the corresponding CE identifier, such as "11", to the IP header of the uplink data packet. The receiving end, the application server (AS), can perform corresponding statistics, such as counting the number or proportion of uplink data packets with the CE identifier value of "11", and feedback this information to the transmitting end, the UE, to instruct the UE to dynamically adjust the bit rate to ensure the user experience. The specific implementation method is similar to the downlink scenario and is not detailed here.

[0169] 2) UPF network element executes L4S:

[0170] The RAN device can monitor the network congestion status of the corresponding QoS flow or the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow, and send the network congestion status to the UPF network element through the GTP-U layer of the uplink data packet. The UPF network element performs L4S marking based on the network congestion status provided by the RAN device. The specific implementation is similar to that of the above-mentioned RAN device. You can refer to it for understanding and will not repeat it here. In this way, the network congestion information can also be opened to the outside world. It should be understood that how the RAN device determines the network congestion status of the QoS flow or the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow depends on the self-implementation of the RAN device and is not limited here.

[0171] As can be seen, although third-party applications can obtain network congestion information from the network side through subscription and make corresponding rate adaptive adjustments, this cannot fully guarantee the user's service experience. For example, due to resource competition between different users, if a third-party application does not adjust the transmission rate even when network congestion information is available, or even increases the transmission rate, it will affect the service experience of other users and lead to a loss of transmission fairness.

[0172] In response to the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application propose the following technical solutions.

[0173] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0174] In the embodiment of the present application, "indication" may include direct indication and indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by a certain information (such as the first indication information, the second indication information, or the third indication information below) is called information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated, such as but not limited to, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein the other information and the information to be indicated have an association relationship. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of specific information can be achieved by means of the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (such as specified in the protocol), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, the common parts of each information can be identified and indicated uniformly to reduce the indication overhead caused by indicating the same information separately.

[0175] In addition, the specific indication method can also be various existing indication methods, such as but not limited to the above-mentioned indication methods and various combinations thereof. The specific details of the various indication methods can be referred to the prior art and will not be repeated herein. As can be seen from the above, for example, when it is necessary to indicate multiple pieces of information of the same type, there may be a situation where the indication methods for different pieces of information are different. In the specific implementation process, the required indication method can be selected according to specific needs. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the selected indication method. In this way, the indication method involved in the embodiment of the present application should be understood to cover various methods that can enable the party to be indicated to obtain the information to be indicated.

[0176] It should be understood that the information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in the embodiments of this application. The sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be predefined, for example, predefined according to a protocol, or can be configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device.

[0177] "Pre-definition" or "pre-configuration" can be implemented by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in the device, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation method. Among them, "saving" can mean saving in one or more memories. The one or more memories can be set separately or integrated in an encoder or decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The one or more memories can also be partially set separately and partially integrated in a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The type of memory can be any form of storage medium, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0178] The "protocol" involved in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a protocol family in the communication field, a standard protocol with a similar protocol family frame structure, or a related protocol used in future communication systems. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0179] In the embodiments of the present application, descriptions such as "when...", "in the case of...", "if" and "if" all mean that the device will perform corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances. It does not limit the time, nor does it require the device to perform judgment actions when implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0180] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated with each other are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can represent A or B. "And / or" in the embodiments of the present application is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" refers to two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. In addition, in order to facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with basically the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art will understand that words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit differences. At the same time, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete way for easy understanding.

[0181] The network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field will know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0182] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application is first described in detail using the communication system shown in Figure 3 as an example. For example, Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applicable to the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0183] As shown in FIG3 , the communication system mainly includes: a first network element, a policy control network element and an application function network element.

[0184] For example, the first network element may be a user-plane-related network element, such as an access network device or a user-plane network element. The access network device may be the RAN device described above, or in future communication systems, the access network device may be replaced by network elements with other corresponding functions. The user-plane network element may be the UPF network element described above, or in future communication systems, the user-plane network element may be replaced by network elements with other corresponding functions. The policy control network element may be the PCF network element described above, or in future communication systems, the policy control network element may be replaced by network elements with other corresponding functions. The application function network element may be the AF described above, or in future communication systems, the application function network element may be replaced by network elements with other corresponding functions.

[0185] In this communication system, the application function network element can configure the first network element to execute the policy defined in this application through the policy control network element. For example, the first network element can obtain network congestion information of the service flow to determine the possibility of network congestion and perform supervision. At this time, when the possibility of network congestion has reached a level where the application side needs to reduce the possibility by adjusting the transmission of the service flow, if the first network element does not adjust the transmission of the service flow after monitoring the transmission of the service flow, it can perform transmission control to avoid sending network congestion, thereby ensuring the user experience.

[0186] The following will specifically describe the interaction process between each network element / device in the above communication system through a method embodiment in conjunction with Figures 4 to 7. The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the above communication system and specifically applied to various scenarios mentioned in the above communication system, which will be described in detail below.

[0187] Figure 4 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method is applicable to the above communication system, and mainly involves the interaction between the first network element, the policy control network element, and the application function network element.

[0188] As shown in Figure 4, the process of the communication method is as follows:

[0189] S401: A first network element obtains network congestion information of a service flow.

[0190] A service flow can be a data stream consisting of data of a service (such as a video service, audio service, etc.). The data flow can be identified by the IP quintuple / IP triplet of the data packet, the type of service (ToS) in the IPv4 header, and / or the flow label in the IPv6 header. Therefore, the IP quintuple / IP triplet / ToS / flow label, etc. are also called information used to indicate the service flow, or flow description information of the service flow. A service can have one or more service flows, and these service flows can each have their own QoS flow or share a QoS flow (such as these service flows share a QoS flow together, or share a QoS flow with service flows of other services). Therefore, a service flow can also be represented by the QoS flow that carries the service flow.

[0191] For example, when the first network element is an access network device, the access network device is usually not aware of a specific service, so the service flow may be a QoS flow that carries the service flow for the access network device.

[0192] For another example, when the first network element is a user-plane network element, the user-plane network element can perceive the service flow and the QoS flow corresponding to the service flow. Therefore, if the user-plane network element performs supervision based on the granularity of service flow, the service flow can be the service flow of a known service for the user-plane network element; if the user-plane network element performs supervision based on the granularity of QoS flow, the service flow can be the QoS flow carrying the service flow for the user-plane network element.

[0193] The network congestion information of a service flow can be used to indicate the degree of congestion of the service flow, or the congestion level, or the current degree of congestion in the network. Specifically, it can be a proportional value, illustratively, which can be used to indicate the probability of network congestion. For example, if the network congestion information of a service flow has a proportional value of 32%, it means that there is a 32% chance that the network will be congested. If the network congestion information of a service flow has a proportional value of 45%, it means that there is a 45% chance that the network will be congested. Similarly, the larger the value of the network congestion information, the greater the probability of network congestion.

[0194] It should be understood that the network congestion information of the service flow as a proportional value is only an example and is not intended to be limiting. For example, it can also be a non-proportional value, such as 30, which can be converted into a proportional value, thereby indicating that the probability of network congestion is 30%.

[0195] If the first network element is an access network device, then as described above, the network congestion information of the service flow can be the network congestion information of the QoS flow carrying the service flow, or the network congestion information of the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow carrying the service flow. Specifically, the access network device can determine the network congestion information of the QoS flow based on the network status of the QoS flow or the network status of the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow, such as available bandwidth, bandwidth utilization, air interface side data transmission queue length, etc. In addition, the access network device can open the network congestion information of the QoS flow, or send the network congestion information of the QoS flow to the user plane network element, so that the user plane network element can open the network congestion information of the QoS flow.

[0196] If the first network element is a user plane network element, then as described above, the network congestion information of the service flow can be the network congestion information of the service flow of a certain known service, or it can be the network congestion information of the QoS flow that carries the service flow, or it can be the network congestion information of the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow that carries the service flow. Specifically, the access network device can determine the network congestion information of the QoS flow based on the network status of the QoS flow or the network status of the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow, and send it to the user plane network element. Accordingly, the user plane network element receives the network congestion information of the QoS flow from the access network device. Optionally, the user plane network element can also map the network congestion information of the QoS flow to the network congestion information of the service flow based on the carrying relationship between the QoS flow and the service flow.

[0197] It is understandable that the above is introduced using network congestion information as an example and is not intended to be limiting. Other implementation methods are possible. For example, when the first network element obtains the network congestion information of the QoS flow / service flow, it can also convert the network congestion information of the QoS flow / service flow into a congestion level. For example, the network congestion information of the QoS flow / service flow is 32%, which belongs to the level of 30%-40%. Therefore, the congestion level of the QoS flow / service flow can be determined to be 30% or 40%, or level 1 / level 2, etc. The higher the level, the greater the probability of network congestion. S402, the first network element determines that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted based on the network congestion information of the service flow but has not been adjusted.

[0198] S402: The first network element determines, based on network congestion information of the service flow, that transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted.

[0199] S403: Based on determining that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted, the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow.

[0200] The following is a detailed introduction to S402-S403.

[0201] Among them, the execution of S402-S403 by the first network element can be triggered by the configuration information of the service flow issued by the session management network element (recorded as configuration information #1), so as to realize on-demand supervision and avoid resource waste. The configuration information #1 can be used to instruct the first network element to determine whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the service flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow when the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted, or to instruct the first network element to manage and control the transmission of the service flow. Managing and / or controlling the transmission of the service flow includes: the first network element determines whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the service flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow when the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted.

[0202] For example, configuration information #1 may include regulatory indication information and, optionally, information indicating a service flow. That is, the information indicating a service flow and the regulatory indication information can be decoupled and combined to indicate the function of configuration information #1, providing a more flexible indication method.

[0203] If the first network element is an access network device, or if the first network element is a user-plane network element, and the user-plane network element performs supervision at the granularity of QoS flow, the information used to indicate the service flow may be the QoS flow that carries the service flow, or the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to the service flow, such as a QoS flow identifier (QFI) or any other possible identifier, and there is no limitation on this. If the first network element is a user-plane network element, and the user-plane network element performs supervision at the granularity of service flow, the information used to indicate the service flow may be the flow description information of the service flow, such as the above-mentioned IP quintuple / IP triplet / ToS / flow label, etc.

[0204] The regulatory indication information can be implemented by reusing an existing information element in configuration information #1, or can be a newly defined information element, which can be a string of one or more bits or a bit map, used to indicate that it is necessary to determine whether the transmission needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level, and to manage and / or control the transmission when the transmission needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted, or to indicate that the transmission is managed and / or controlled based on the congestion level and the transmission, specifically, to indicate that it is necessary to determine whether the transmission needs to be adjusted based on the congestion level, and to manage and / or control the transmission when the transmission needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted.

[0205] It is understood that configuration information #1 may not include information indicating a service flow. For example, if the service flow is pre-aligned between the first network element and the network, the first network element may perform a regulatory operation on the service flow by default based on the regulatory indication information. Alternatively, configuration information #1 may be sent to the first network element together with information indicating the service flow, thereby ensuring that the first network element can perform the regulatory operation indicated by the configuration information on the service flow. Alternatively, configuration information #1 may not include regulatory indication information. For example, configuration information #1 may be a new information type that implicitly indicates the aforementioned regulatory operation.

[0206] Optionally, configuration information #1 can also be used to indicate a monitoring time period, such as including information for indicating a monitoring time period, which is used in conjunction with the above-mentioned information for indicating a service flow and regulatory indication information to indicate: whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the service flow, and if the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted within the monitoring time period, the transmission of the service flow is managed and / or controlled. The monitoring time period can be a specified time period, such as 10:40 to 10:50, or it can be a periodic time period, such as performing 5 minutes of monitoring every 10 minutes, or it can be the length of the time window for performing monitoring, such as 10 minutes, that is, monitoring whether the service flow is adjusted within 10 minutes, and there is no limitation on this. It should be understood that configuration information #1 may not indicate a monitoring time period, such as the monitoring time period can be pre-configured locally in the first network element or pre-defined locally in the first network element by the protocol.

[0207] It can also be understood that the above-mentioned need to determine whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the business flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the business flow when the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted (such as not adjusted within the monitoring time period) can be understood as a regulatory policy, or the regulatory policy can indicate this information, such as indicating the need to determine whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the business flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the business flow when the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted (such as not adjusted within the monitoring time period). Or it can also be replaced by any other possible named policy. The regulatory policy can be carried by configuration information #1, can also be issued separately, or can also be pre-configured locally in the first network element or pre-defined by the protocol locally in the first network element, and the specific implementation is not limited.

[0208] In addition, configuration information #1 is only an exemplary name, and it can also be replaced by any possible name, such as supervision configuration information, transmission control configuration information, etc., without limitation.

[0209] The first network element may pre-receive configuration information #1. For example, the first network element is an access network device. During session establishment or modification, the access network device may receive an N2 message from a session management network element. The N2 message may carry configuration information #1. For another example, the first network element is a user plane network element. During N4 session establishment, the user plane network element may receive an N4 message from a session management network element. The N4 message may carry configuration information #1.

[0210] Thus, in response to configuration information #1, the first network element performs transmission management and / or control on the service flow based on the network congestion information of the service flow and the transmission of the service flow. Specifically, in response to configuration information #1, the first network element determines, based on the network congestion information of the service flow, that the transmission of the service flow requires adjustment but has not been adjusted (e.g., not adjusted within a monitoring time period). Based on the determination that the transmission of the service flow requires adjustment but has not been adjusted, the first network element may perform transmission management and / or control on the service flow, as described in detail below.

[0211] The first network element may determine whether transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted based on the network congestion information of the service flow.

[0212] For example, the first network element can determine whether the congestion level of a service flow is greater than or equal to a congestion level threshold based on the network congestion information of the service flow. If the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to the congestion level threshold, this indicates that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted, or that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted accordingly, such as by reducing the transmission rate of the service flow. Otherwise, no adjustment is required. For example, if the network congestion information of a service flow is 40%, indicating that the congestion level of the service flow, or the congestion level, is 40%, then if the congestion level threshold is 35%, then the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted.

[0213] For another example, the first network element may also determine whether the increase in the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to the increase threshold based on the network congestion information of the service flow. If the increase in the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to the increase threshold, it means that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted, or the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted accordingly, such as reducing the transmission rate of the service flow accordingly. Otherwise, no adjustment is required. For example, the network congestion information of the service flow determined in S401 is 40%, and the network congestion information of the service flow determined historically before S401 is 20%, then the increase in the congestion level of the service flow is 20%. At this time, if the increase threshold is 15%, it means that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted.

[0214] For another example, the first network element may also determine whether the congestion level of the service flow has increased based on the network congestion information of the service flow. If so, it indicates that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted accordingly, such as reducing the transmission rate of the service flow. Otherwise, no adjustment is required. For example, if the network congestion information of the service flow determined in S401 is 40%, and the network congestion information of the service flow determined previously in S401 is 30%, then the congestion level of the service flow has increased, indicating that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted.

[0215] In other words, if the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to the congestion level threshold, or if the increase in the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to the increase threshold, it can indicate that the transmission of the service flow is likely to cause network congestion. In this way, the first network element can effectively avoid network congestion by monitoring and / or adjusting the transmission of the service flow accordingly.

[0216] When the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted, the first network element can determine whether the transmission of the service flow (within the monitoring time period) is at least one of the following: the transmission rate has not decreased, the reduction in the transmission rate is less than the amplitude threshold, or the transmission rate has increased.

[0217] Among them, the transmission rate has not decreased or the transmission rate has increased, which means that the network level of the business flow has increased while the transmission rate of the business flow has not decreased or the transmission rate of the business flow has increased, or it means that the network level of the QoS flow has increased while the transmission rate of the QoS flow has not decreased or the transmission rate of the business flow has increased.

[0218] The amplitude threshold can be used to indicate the upper limit of the increase in network congestion. That is, if this upper limit is reached, transmission management and / or control is required. The amplitude threshold corresponds to the network congestion information of the above-mentioned business flow. The higher the congestion level indicated by the network congestion information of the business flow, the larger the corresponding amplitude threshold. For example, if the congestion level indicated by the network congestion information of the business flow is 40%, the corresponding amplitude threshold can be 15%. That is, if the probability of network congestion reaches 40%, the application side needs to reduce the probability of network congestion by at least 15% by reducing the transmission rate, or reduce the transmission rate by 15%. For another example, if the congestion level indicated by the network congestion information of the business flow is 50%, the corresponding amplitude threshold can be 25%. That is, if the probability of network congestion reaches 50%, the application side needs to reduce the transmission rate, such as reducing the transmission rate by 25%. For example, if the network congestion information of a business flow increases by 15%, the corresponding amplitude threshold may be 15%. That is, when the probability of network congestion increases by 15%, the application side needs to reduce the transmission rate to achieve a 15% reduction in network congestion.

[0219] It should be understood that the above-mentioned determination of whether the transmission of the service flow is at least one of the above-mentioned items can also be understood as a judgment strategy, that is, the judgment strategy can also indicate this information, such as being used to indicate whether the transmission of the service flow (within the monitoring time period) needs to be determined as at least one of the following: the transmission rate has not decreased, the reduction in the transmission rate is less than the amplitude threshold, or the transmission rate has increased. Alternatively, the judgment strategy can also be replaced by any other possible named strategy. The judgment strategy can be carried by the above-mentioned configuration information #1, or can also be issued separately, or can also be pre-configured or pre-defined by protocol locally in the first network element, and the specific implementation is not limited.

[0220] It should also be understood that the purpose of disclosing network congestion information for service flows is to enable the application side to promptly reduce the service flow's transmission rate, such as to a desired level. If the first network element determines through monitoring that the application side has not only failed to reduce the service flow's transmission rate to the desired level, but has also failed to reduce it, or has reduced it by less than a threshold, or has even increased it, then the first network element determines that the transmission of the service flow requires adjustment but has not been adjusted, or that optimization is required but has not been performed. Therefore, the first network element needs to manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow to reduce the probability of network congestion. The following describes three scenarios.

[0221] Case 1: The first network element is an access network device.

[0222] The access network device can perform at least one of the following operations on the above-mentioned QoS flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element or the user plane network element, discarding the data packets carried in the QoS flow, reducing the transmission priority of the data radio bearer DRB mapped by the QoS flow, mapping the QoS flow to a new DRB, or increasing the congestion level of the QoS flow when opening the network congestion information of the QoS flow.

[0223] The session management network element and the user plane network element may be network elements corresponding to the QoS flow, such as the session management network element that configures (or establishes) the QoS flow and the user plane network element that carries the QoS flow.

[0224] An exception report can be used to indicate an anomaly in the transmission of packets carried in the QoS flow, i.e., the QoS flow failed to make transmission adjustments when required, or the QoS flow failed to make adjustments despite the current level of network congestion. Such an exception report may include the identifier of the QoS flow and / or information indicating an anomaly in the transmission of packets. In other words, the identifier of the QoS flow and the information indicating an anomaly in the transmission of packets can be decoupled, and the two can be combined to indicate the function of the anomaly report, providing a more flexible indication method.

[0225] It should be understood that an exception report may not include an identifier for a QoS flow. For example, if the QoS flow is pre-aligned between the access network device and the session management network element / user plane network element, the session management network element / user plane network element can determine, based on the exception report, that a transmission anomaly has occurred in the service flow. Alternatively, an exception report may not include information indicating a packet transmission anomaly. For example, an exception report may be a new report type that implicitly indicates a transmission anomaly.

[0226] For ease of understanding, at least one operation performed in situation 1 is introduced below.

[0227] 1) If the access network device opens the network congestion information of the QoS flow, the access network device can send an exception report to the session management network element. The session management network element can send PCC rule indication information to the policy control network element based on the exception report.

[0228] Among them, the PCC rule indication information is used to indicate the transmission anomaly of the service flow corresponding to the PCC rule. For example, the PCC rule indication information may include at least one of the following: an identifier of the PCC rule, or information for indicating data packet transmission anomaly, and the two may be combined to indicate the function of the PCC rule indication information. Of course, the PCC rule indication information may not include information for indicating data packet transmission anomaly. For example, the PCC rule indication information may also be a new information type, and the new information type is used to implicitly indicate transmission anomaly. At this time, the PCC rule indication information may also be used to indicate that the service flow failed to make transmission adjustment when it needed it, or that the service flow needed to be adjusted but was not adjusted under the current network congestion level.

[0229] The session management network element can determine the PCC rule corresponding to the QoS flow based on the identifier of the QoS flow in the exception report, and encapsulate the identifier of the PCC rule and the information used to indicate the abnormality of data packet transmission to obtain PCC rule indication information, and then send the PCC rule indication information to the policy control network element. For example, the session management network element carries the PCC rule indication information into any possible signaling sent by the session management network element to the policy control network element. The session management network element determines the identifier of the corresponding PCC rule based on the identifier of the QoS flow in the exception report. The identifier of the PCC rule can also be the flow description information of the service flow, where the service flow is the service flow carried by the QoS flow.

[0230] The policy control network element can receive PCC rule indication information from the session management network element and, based on the PCC rule indication information, reduce the QoS level of the PCC rule, such as reducing QoS guarantees and implementing transmission rate limits, to reduce the possibility of network congestion and transmission fairness issues between service flows. Alternatively, the policy control network element can also send the PCC rule indication information to an application function network element, such as the application function network element providing the service flow, to alert the application function network element of transmission anomalies. The application function network element can then adjust transmission based on the alerted transmission anomaly to avoid network congestion and transmission fairness issues between service flows.

[0231] 2) If the network congestion information of the above-mentioned QoS flow (or service flow) is opened by the user plane network element, the access network device can send an exception report to the user plane network element. Specifically, the access network device can send the exception report to the user plane network element through the access and mobility management network element and the session management network element, or send the exception report to the user plane network element through the GTP-U layer of the uplink data packet or the uplink empty packet. The user plane network element can receive the exception report of the access network device, or the access network device corresponding to the QoS flow, to determine that the transmission of the data packet carried in the QoS flow is abnormal. In this way, in the case of abnormal transmission of the data packet carried in the QoS flow, the user plane network element can manage and / or control the transmission of the QoS flow. For example, in response to the configuration information of the service flow (recorded as configuration information #2), the user plane network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the QoS flow to reduce the possibility of network congestion.

[0232] Configuration information #2 may be used to indicate that, when network congestion information for a QoS flow (or service flow) is disclosed but transmission of the QoS flow (or service flow) is abnormal, management and / or control of the transmission of the QoS flow (or service flow) is required. Configuration information #2 may include at least one of the following: information indicating a QoS flow (or service flow), such as a QFI, flow description information of the service flow, or management indication information. The management indication information may be implemented by reusing existing information elements in configuration information #2, or may be a newly defined information element, which may be a string of one or more bits or a bitmap, to indicate that, when network congestion information is disclosed but transmission is abnormal, management and / or control of transmission is required.

[0233] It is understood that configuration information #2 may not include information indicating a QoS flow. For example, if a QoS flow is pre-aligned between a user-plane network element and an access network device, the user-plane network element may manage and / or control the transmission of the QoS flow by default based on the management indication information. Alternatively, configuration information #2 may not include management indication information. For example, configuration information #2 may be a new information type that implicitly indicates that the transmission of the QoS flow is to be managed and / or controlled.

[0234] Optionally, the user plane NE may obtain the aforementioned configuration information #2 from the session management NE in advance. For example, during the N4 session establishment process, the user plane NE may receive an N4 message from the session management NE, which may carry configuration information #2. Alternatively, configuration information #2 may be pre-configured or pre-defined by protocol locally in the user plane NE.

[0235] It can also be understood that configuration information #2 is merely an exemplary name, and it can also be replaced by any possible name, such as control configuration information, transmission control configuration information, etc., without limitation.

[0236] In addition, the user plane network element can also map the QoS flow to the corresponding service flow, such as the service flow carried by the QoS flow, and the user plane network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow. In addition, the specific implementation of the user plane network element managing and / or controlling the transmission of the QoS flow / service flow can also refer to the relevant introduction of Case 2 or Case 3 below, which will not be repeated here.

[0237] 3) The access network device can discard data packets carried in the QoS flow, such as discarding some data packets carried in the QoS flow according to a certain ratio (such as 30%, 40%, etc., without specific restrictions). Alternatively, the access network device can also directly reduce the transmission priority of the data radio bearer (DRB) mapped to the QoS flow. In this way, the transmission rate of the QoS flow can be limited locally on the access network device, reducing the transmission rate as much as possible to avoid network congestion and transmission fairness issues between multiple flows, or in other words, reducing the possibility of network congestion and transmission fairness issues between multiple service flows.

[0238] 4) If the above-mentioned QoS flow shares DRB with other QoS flows, such as QoS flow #1 and QoS flow #2 share DRB #1, the access network device can also map the QoS flow to a new DRB, such as re-establishing a new DRB for the QoS flow, and the DRB can be exclusively used by the QoS flow, such as mapping QoS flow #1 to a new DRB #2, so that QoS flow #1 and QoS flow #2 can both exclusively use the DRB, that is, decoupling the QoS flow from other QoS flows that have shared the DRB in advance, avoiding network congestion caused by the QoS flow occupying the DRB resources of other QoS flows, thereby reducing the possibility of network congestion and avoiding transmission fairness issues between multiple flows.

[0239] 5) If the access network device has released the network congestion information for the aforementioned QoS flow, the access network device may continue to release new network congestion information for the QoS flow. The ratio value represented by the new network congestion information may be the sum of the ratio value represented by the network congestion information for the QoS flow and a preset incremental ratio value. The preset incremental ratio value may be dynamically set by the access network device based on actual conditions, and is not subject to specific limitations. For example, if the access network device previously released the network congestion information for the QoS flow at a ratio of 42%, and the preset incremental ratio value is 10%, the access network device may increase the ratio from 42% to 52% and continue to release the network congestion information for the QoS flow at a ratio of 52%. In other words, for example, the IP headers of 52% of the uplink or downlink data packets are filled with a CE identifier with a value of "11" so that the application side can adjust transmission based on the higher congestion level, such as reducing the bit rate, to reduce the possibility of network congestion and avoid transmission fairness issues between multiple flows.

[0240] Case 2: The first network element is a user-plane network element, which performs supervision based on the granularity of QoS flow.

[0241] The user plane network element may perform at least one of the following operations on the above QoS flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element, discarding the data packets carried in the QoS flow, sending an alarm notification to the application function network element, or opening new network congestion information of the QoS flow.

[0242] Among them, the session management network element can be a network element corresponding to the QoS flow, such as a session management network element that configures (or establishes) the QoS flow. The exception report can be used to indicate the abnormal transmission of data packets carried in the QoS flow, such as including the identifier of the QoS flow and / or information for indicating the abnormal transmission of data packets. The identifier of the QoS flow can be the QFI or the flow description information of the service flow carried by the QoS flow. For specific implementation, please refer to the relevant introduction of the above-mentioned exception report, which will not be repeated here. The above-mentioned QoS flow can correspond to a certain service, such as carrying the data of the service, and the application function network element can be the network element that provides the service. The alarm notification can be used to indicate the abnormal transmission of data packets of the service corresponding to the QoS flow, such as including the identifier of the service and / or information for indicating the abnormal transmission of data packets. The specific implementation is similar to the above-mentioned exception report, which can be understood by reference and will not be repeated here.

[0243] For ease of understanding, executing at least one operation in situation 2 is introduced below.

[0244] 1) If the user-plane network element opens the network congestion information of the QoS flow, the user-plane network element can send an exception report to the session management network element, so that the policy control network element can ultimately lower the QoS level of the PCC rule, reduce the possibility of network congestion, and avoid transmission fairness issues between multiple flows.

[0245] 2) User-plane network elements can also discard data packets carried in QoS flows to implement local rate limiting, reduce the possibility of network congestion, and avoid transmission fairness issues among multiple flows.

[0246] 3) The user plane network element can also send an alarm notification to the application function network element, or open new network congestion information of the QoS flow, so that the application function network element (or the application side) can adjust the transmission according to the higher congestion level or the abnormal alarm transmission, thereby avoiding network congestion and avoiding the problem of transmission fairness between multiple flows. The alarm notification includes the flow description information of the service flow carried by the QoS flow. Specifically, the user plane network element can determine the flow description information of the service flow carried by the QoS flow based on the QoS identifier. Optionally, the alarm notification will also include alarm indication information, which is used to indicate that the service flow failed to make transmission adjustment when it needed to, or that the service flow needed to be adjusted but was not adjusted under the current network congestion level, or instruct the application server / application function network element to make corresponding transmission adjustments for the corresponding service flow.

[0247] In addition, the three operations performed in the above situation 2 can also refer to the relevant introduction of the above situation 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0248] Case 3: The first network element is a user-plane network element, which performs supervision based on the granularity of service flows.

[0249] The user-plane network element may perform at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element, sending an alarm notification to the application function network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, or releasing new network congestion information for the service flow. The ratio value represented by the new network congestion information may also be the sum of the ratio value represented by the network congestion information for the service flow and a preset incremental ratio value. For details, please refer to the above and will not be repeated here.

[0250] The session management network element or application function network element is the network element corresponding to the service flow, such as the session management network element that configures (or establishes) the QoS flow, or the application function network element that provides the service flow. The alarm notification or exception report can be used to indicate a data packet transmission anomaly of the service corresponding to the service flow, such as including a service identifier and / or information indicating a data packet transmission anomaly. The specific implementation is similar to the above-mentioned exception report or alarm notification, which can be referred to for understanding and will not be further described.

[0251] For ease of understanding, executing at least one operation in situation 3 is introduced below.

[0252] 1) If the user-plane network element opens the network congestion information of the service flow, the user-plane network element can send an exception report to the session management network element, so that the session management network element can send PCC rule indication information to the policy control network element, thereby triggering the policy control network element to lower the QoS level of the PCC rule, such as lowering the transmission priority, thereby reducing the possibility of network congestion and avoiding transmission fairness issues among multiple flows.

[0253] 2) User-plane network elements can also discard data packets in the service flow to implement local rate limiting, reduce the possibility of network congestion, and avoid transmission fairness issues among multiple flows.

[0254] 3) The user plane network element can also send an alarm notification to the application function network element, or open new network congestion information of the service flow, so that the application side can adjust the transmission according to the higher congestion level or the abnormal alarm transmission to avoid network congestion and avoid transmission fairness issues between multiple flows. The alarm notification contains the flow description information of the service flow. Optionally, the alarm notification may also include alarm indication information, which can be used to indicate that the service flow failed to make transmission adjustment when it needed to, or to indicate that the service flow did not make transmission adjustment under the current network congestion level, or to instruct the application server / application function network element to make corresponding transmission adjustments for the corresponding service flow.

[0255] The three operations performed in the above situation 3 can also refer to the relevant introduction of the above situation 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0256] It can also be understood that in any of the above three situations, how the first network element specifically performs the corresponding at least one operation can also be understood as a management and control policy, or can be replaced by any other possible named policy. The management and control policy can be carried by the above-mentioned configuration information #1 (or, for the user plane network element in situation 2, it can also be carried by configuration information #2), or can also be issued separately, or can also be pre-configured or pre-defined locally in the first network element, and the specific implementation is not limited. For example, when the first network element is an access network device, the management and control policy is used to indicate that the transmission of the service flow (or the QoS flow carrying the service flow) needs to be managed and / or controlled, specifically including performing at least one of the following on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to the session management network element or the user plane network element, discarding the data packets carried in the QoS flow, reducing the transmission priority of the data radio bearer DRB mapped to the QoS flow, mapping the QoS flow to a new DRB, or increasing the congestion level of the QoS flow when opening the network congestion information of the QoS flow. Alternatively, when the first network element is a user plane network element, the management and control policy is used to indicate that the transmission of the service flow needs to be managed and / or controlled. Managing and / or controlling the transmission of service flows includes executing at least one of the following on the service flows: sending an exception report to a session management network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, or opening new network congestion information for the service flow; or specifically includes executing at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, discarding data packets in the service flow, or opening new network congestion information for the service flow; wherein the service flow being managed and / or controlled may also be the QoS flow that carries the service flow.

[0257] Optionally, the service flow configuration information may further include information indicating that the first network element for managing and / or controlling transmission is the aforementioned access network device or user plane network element. For example, configuration information #1 carries information indicating that the first network element for supervising transmission is an access network device, and configuration information #2 carries information indicating that the first network element for supervising transmission is a user plane network element. Supervising transmission means managing and / or controlling transmission if, based on congestion level information, it is determined that transmission adjustment is required but has not been made.

[0258] In summary, network-side network elements, such as the first network element, can obtain network congestion information for service flows to determine the likelihood of current network congestion and perform supervision. For example, when the network congestion level increases, if the likelihood of network congestion has reached a point where the application side needs to reduce the likelihood by adjusting the transmission of the service flow, if the first network element determines, by monitoring the transmission of the service flow, that the application side has not adjusted the transmission of the service flow, it can manage and / or control its transmission to avoid network congestion while ensuring fairness between services and thus protecting the user experience.

[0259] Optionally, in combination with the above method, before S401, the method may further include the following process:

[0260] S400a: The application function network element obtains the demand information of service flow transmission.

[0261] The demand information for business flow transmission (referred to as demand information) can be used to indicate the need to manage and / or control the transmission of the business flow according to the congestion level of the business flow and the transmission of the business flow. Specifically, the demand information can be used to indicate the need to determine whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the business flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the business flow when the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted. For example, the demand information may include regulatory indication information, and optionally, may also include information for indicating the business flow, such as the flow description information of the business flow, which may specifically be the above-mentioned IP quintuple / IP triplet / ToS / flow label and other information. For specific implementation, reference may also be made to the relevant introduction in S401 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0262] Optionally, the demand information may further include a monitoring time period. For specific implementation, reference may be made to the relevant introduction in the above S401 and will not be repeated here.

[0263] Optionally, the demand information may further include the above-mentioned strategies, such as at least one of the above-mentioned supervision strategy, judgment strategy, or control strategy. For specific implementation, please refer to the relevant introduction in the above-mentioned S401, which will not be repeated here.

[0264] Optionally, the requirement information may further include information indicating that the first network element that supervises the transmission is the above-mentioned access network device or user plane network element.

[0265] The application function network element can obtain demand information from the local network or from other network elements at any possible time without restriction.

[0266] In addition, the demand information is only an exemplary name, and it can also be replaced by any possible name, such as management and control demand information, transmission management and control demand information, etc., without limitation.

[0267] S400b: The application function network element sends the demand information, and the policy control network element obtains the policy information of the service flow.

[0268] If the application function NE and the policy control NE are both NEs within the operator's network, the application function NE can directly send demand information to the policy control NE. Alternatively, if the application function NE is a third-party NE outside the operator's network, the application function NE can send demand information to the network capability exposure NE. After the network capability exposure NE verifies that the application function NE is trustworthy, the network capability exposure NE sends the demand information to the policy control NE.

[0269] The policy control network element can determine policy information (referred to as policy information) for service flow transmission based on the demand information. For example, the policy information can also include supervision indication information and, optionally, information indicating the service flow. Optionally, the policy information can also include a monitoring time period. Optionally, the demand information can also include the aforementioned policies, such as at least one of the aforementioned supervision policy, judgment policy, or management and control policy. In other words, the policy control network element can obtain information from the demand information and encapsulate it to obtain policy information.

[0270] It can be understood that the policy control network element determines the policy information based on the demand information provided by the application function network element. This is an example and not a limitation. For example, the policy information can also be pre-configured locally in the policy control network element or the protocol can be pre-defined locally in the policy control network element.

[0271] S400c: The policy control network element sends policy information to the session management network element corresponding to the service flow.

[0272] When the session management element triggers the establishment or modification of a service session, such as when a PDU session is established or modified, the policy control element may send the above-mentioned policy information to the session management element. Alternatively, the policy control element may decide to send the policy information to the session management element on its own.

[0273] It should be understood that the definition of the corresponding session management network element can also refer to the above-mentioned related introduction, that is, the session management network element that establishes or modifies the session for transmitting the service flow, which will not be repeated here.

[0274] In addition, the policy information is merely an exemplary name, and it can also be replaced with any possible name, such as control policy information, transmission control policy information, etc., without limitation.

[0275] S400d: The session management network element sends the configuration information of the service flow to the first network element according to the policy information.

[0276] The session management network element may determine the configuration information of the service flow, such as configuration information #1, based on the received policy information.

[0277] For example, for scenario 1 above, the session management network element can instruct the service flow to be mapped to the QoS flow corresponding to the service flow. That is, the information indicating the service flow in the policy information is converted into an identifier of the QoS flow, such as a QFI, and the QFI is encapsulated with other information in the policy information (such as supervision indication information, monitoring time period, etc.) into configuration information #1. The configuration information #1 is then sent to the access network device, such as being carried in the QoS configuration. For another example, for scenario 2 above, the session management network element maps the service flow to the QoS flow corresponding to the service flow. That is, the flow description information of the service flow is converted into a QFI, and the QFI is encapsulated with other information in the policy information into configuration information #1. The configuration information #1 is then sent to the user plane network element. For example, the configuration information #1 is carried in the QoS enforcement rules (QER) or packet detection rule (PDR) in the N4 rule. For another example, for scenario 3 above, the session management network element can directly encapsulate the information in the policy information into configuration information #1, and then send the configuration information #1 to the user plane network element.

[0278] Optionally, for the above-mentioned scenario 1, the embodiment of the present application may also configure the above-mentioned configuration information #2 for the user plane network element in a manner similar to configuration information #1. For example, the application function network element may also carry management indication information in the demand information, so that the management indication information can be subsequently obtained by the session management network element by carrying it in the policy information. In this way, the session management network element can convert the flow description information of the service flow into a QFI based on the policy information, and encapsulate the flow description information, QFI, and management indication information of the service flow into configuration information #2, and then send it to the user plane network element.

[0279] The above is combined with Figure 4 to illustrate the overall process of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. The above is combined with Figures 5-7 to specifically introduce the specific processes of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application in various scenarios.

[0280] Scenario 1:

[0281] Figure 5 is a second flow chart of the communication method provided in this embodiment. This communication method is applicable to the above-mentioned communication system, and specifically involves the interaction between the UE, the RAN device (i.e., the first network element is the access network device), the SMF network element (i.e., the session management network element), the PCF network element (i.e., the policy control network element), the UPF network element (i.e., the user plane network element), and the AF (i.e., the application function network element). In scenario 1, when the RAN device discloses network congestion information, the RAN device can perform transmission supervision based on the network congestion status to reduce the possibility of network congestion.

[0282] Specifically, as shown in FIG5 , the process of the communication method is as follows:

[0283] S501: The AF sends an AF request message to the PCF network element. Correspondingly, the PCF network element receives the AF request message from the AF.

[0284] If the AF is in an untrusted domain, such as a third-party AF outside the operator's network, the AF request message can be an AF QoS request (Nnef_AFSessionWithQoS) message, which can carry the aforementioned requirement information. The AF can send this AF QoS session message to the NEF network element. The NEF network element can authenticate the AF. If the AF is authenticated, the NEF network element can send the requirement information to the PCF network element through the policy authorization (Npcf_PolicyAuthorization) service. Otherwise, the NEF network element rejects the AF QoS session message.

[0285] If the AF is in the trusted domain, such as the AF is within the operator network, the AF request message may be a policy authorization service message, that is, the AF may directly send the above requirement information to the PCF network element through the policy authorization service.

[0286] It can be understood that S501 is an optional step. For example, the policy information may also be pre-configured locally in the PCF network element, and S501 is not executed.

[0287] It can be understood that the specific implementation of the demand information can also refer to the relevant introduction in the above S400a, which will not be repeated here.

[0288] S502: The PCF network element obtains policy information.

[0289] Upon receiving the demand information, the PCF network element may determine policy information based on the demand information and / or local operator configuration. For example, the PCF network element may obtain information from the demand information, encapsulate it to obtain policy information, and then store it locally. Alternatively, the policy information may be pre-configured or pre-defined by protocol in the PCF network element. In this case, S501 may not be performed.

[0290] In addition, the specific implementation of the policy information can also refer to the relevant introduction in the above S400b-S400c, which will not be repeated here.

[0291] S503: The UE initiates a PDU session establishment or modification process.

[0292] In the PDU session establishment or modification process, the UE can send a non-access stratum (NAS) message to the AMF network element, and the AMF network element sends the PDU session establishment request message or PDU session modification request message in the NAS message to the SMF network element.

[0293] S504, the SMF network element triggers the session management (SM) policy association (SM policy association) establishment or modification process.

[0294] If the UE triggers the PDU session establishment process, the SMF network element triggers the SM policy association establishment process. If the UE triggers the PDU session establishment process, the SMF network element triggers the SM policy association modification process. During this process, the SMF network element can request the PCF network element to provide new or modified policies related to the PDU session. Correspondingly, the PCF network element can respond to the SMF network element's request, obtain the above policy information locally, and send it to the SMF network element.

[0295] Alternatively, the PCF network element may also trigger the SM policy association establishment or modification process by itself and send the policy information to the SMF network element by itself. In this case, S503 may not be executed.

[0296] In this way, the SMF network element can determine the configuration information based on the policy information. For example, the SMF network element can obtain the information in the policy information and map the information used to indicate the service flow to information used to indicate the QoS flow, such as QFI, and then encapsulate this information to obtain configuration information #1.

[0297] In addition, the specific implementation of configuration information #1 can also refer to the relevant introduction in the above S401, which will not be repeated here.

[0298] S505: The SMF network element sends an N4 Session Establishment / Modification message to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the N4 Session Establishment / Modification message from the SMF network element.

[0299] Among them, the N4 session establishment / modification message is used to establish or modify the N4 session between the SMF network element and the UPF network element, or to configure the N4 session. For details, please refer to the relevant introduction of the 3GPP protocol, which will not be repeated here.

[0300] S506: The SMF network element sends an N2 session management message (N2 SM message) to the RAN device. Correspondingly, the RAN device receives the N2 session management message from the SMF network element.

[0301] Specifically, the SMF network element sends N2 session management related information to the RAN device through the AMF network element.

[0302] The SMF can determine, based on local policy, that the RAN device monitor and control open network congestion information. Alternatively, the SMF can determine, based on policy information, that the RAN device monitor and control open congestion information. In this case, the QoS configuration carried in the N2 session management message can also include the aforementioned configuration information #1. Furthermore, the N2 session management message can also include other information. For example, in the case of S503, the N2 session management message can also include a PDU session establishment accept message or a PDU session modification accept message. For specific implementations, please refer to the relevant description of the 3GPP protocol and will not be further described here.

[0303] S507: The RAN device configures resources corresponding to the PDU session.

[0304] Specifically, the RAN device may configure or reconfigure the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow established or modified in the PDU session.

[0305] The RAN device may send the received PDU session establishment accept message or PDU session modification accept message to the UE. In addition, the RAN device may also configure corresponding air interface resources, such as DRBs corresponding to QoS flows, according to the QoS configuration.

[0306] S508: The RAN device continues to complete the remaining PDU session establishment / modification process.

[0307] The specific implementation of S508 may also refer to the relevant introduction of the 3GPP protocol, which will not be repeated here.

[0308] S509: The RAN device performs congestion monitoring on the QoS flow.

[0309] The RAN device may determine network congestion information of the QoS flow by performing congestion monitoring on the QoS flow.

[0310] Optionally, the QoS flow may also be replaced by a DRB mapped by the QoS flow, that is, the RAN device may also perform network congestion monitoring on the DRB.

[0311] S510: The RAN device performs L4S marking.

[0312] Optionally, the RAN device performs L4S marking to make network congestion information public. For specific implementation, please refer to the relevant introduction in "3. R18 Network Information Publicity" above, which will not be repeated here.

[0313] S511: The RAN device reports network congestion information of the QoS flow.

[0314] Optionally, the RAN device opens the network congestion information to the outside world through the control plane API. The RAN device can also report the network congestion information of the above-mentioned QoS flow to the PCF network element through the SMF network element, and the PCF network element opens the network congestion information to the AF. For example, the PCF network element directly opens it to the AF or opens it to the AF side through the NEF network element.

[0315] It is understandable that S511 is an optional step. For example, the RAN device may choose not to report the network congestion information of the QoS flow through the control plane API. The third-party application may determine the network congestion information based on the proportion of L4S marked packets.

[0316] S512: The RAN device determines whether transmission of the QoS flow needs to be adjusted.

[0317] By monitoring congestion for QoS flows, the RAN device can obtain network congestion information for the QoS flows and determine whether the QoS flow transmission needs to be adjusted. If the QoS flow transmission needs to be adjusted and is actually adjusted, the RAN device does not execute subsequent processes. If the QoS flow transmission needs to be adjusted but is not actually adjusted, the RAN device continues to execute subsequent processes, such as S513-S517.

[0318] In addition, the specific implementation of S512 can also refer to the relevant introduction of S401-S402 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0319] S513: The RAN device opens new network congestion information of the QoS flow.

[0320] S514: The RAN device discards the data packet carried in the QoS flow.

[0321] S515: The RAN device lowers the transmission priority of the DRB mapped to the QoS flow.

[0322] S516: The RAN device maps the QoS flow to the new DRB.

[0323] S517: The RAN device sends an exception report to the SMF network element. Correspondingly, the SMF network element receives the exception report from the RAN device.

[0324] S513-S517 are optional, and the RAN device may choose to perform one or more steps, without specific limitation. In addition, the specific implementation of S513-S517 can also refer to the relevant introduction of the above-mentioned S402 case 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0325] S518, the SMF network element sends PCC rule indication information to the PCF network element.

[0326] Specifically, the PCC rule indication information is used to indicate that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted, or to indicate that the service flow needs to be QoS downgraded. Optionally, the SMF network element may also send a PCC rule ID to the PCF network element. The PCC rule ID may also be the flow description information of the service flow within the PCC rule, wherein the SMF network element may determine the flow description information of the service flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID based on the QoS flow ID in the exception report reported by the RAN.

[0327] S519: The PCF network element reduces the QoS level or sends an alarm to the AF according to the PCC rule indication information.

[0328] The SMF network element may send an instruction message to the PCF network element based on the received exception report, so that the PCF network element may reduce the QoS level or alert the AF. For specific implementation, please refer to the relevant introduction of Case 1 of S402 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0329] Scenario 2:

[0330] Figure 6 is a third flow diagram of the communication method provided in this embodiment. This communication method is applicable to the above-mentioned communication system, and specifically involves the interaction between the UE, RAN equipment (i.e., the above-mentioned access network equipment), SMF network element (i.e., the above-mentioned session management network element), PCF network element (i.e., the above-mentioned policy control network element), UPF network element (i.e., the above-mentioned first network element is the user plane network element), and AF (i.e., the above-mentioned application function network element). In scenario 2, when the UPF network element discloses network congestion information, the RAN equipment can still perform transmission supervision based on the network congestion status to reduce the possibility of network congestion.

[0331] Specifically, as shown in FIG6 , the process of the communication method is as follows:

[0332] S601: The AF sends an AF request message to the PCF network element. Correspondingly, the PCF network element receives the AF request message from the AF.

[0333] S602: The PCF network element obtains policy information.

[0334] S603: The UE initiates a PDU session establishment or modification process.

[0335] S604, the SMF network element triggers the session management SM policy association establishment or modification process.

[0336] The specific implementation of S601-S604 can also refer to the relevant introduction of S501-S504 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0337] S605: The SMF network element sends an N4 session establishment / modification message to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the N4 session establishment / modification message from the SMF network element.

[0338] The N4 session establishment / modification message is used to establish or modify the N4 session between the SMF network element and the UPF network element. For example, it includes the above-mentioned configuration information #2. For specific implementation, please refer to the relevant introduction in the above-mentioned S402 case 1, which will not be repeated here. Of course, the N4 session establishment / modification message can also include existing information. For details, please refer to the relevant introduction of the 3GPP protocol, which will not be repeated here.

[0339] S606: The SMF network element sends an N2 session management message to the RAN device. Accordingly, the RAN device receives the N2 session management message from the SMF network element. Specifically, the SMF network element can send N2 session management-related information to the RAN device via the AMF.

[0340] S607: The RAN device configures resources corresponding to the PDU session.

[0341] Specifically, the RAN device may configure or reconfigure the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow established or modified in the PDU session.

[0342] S608: The RAN device continues to complete the remaining PDU session establishment / modification process.

[0343] S609: The RAN device performs congestion monitoring on the QoS flow.

[0344] The specific implementation of S606-S609 can also refer to the relevant introduction of S506-S509 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0345] S610: The RAN device sends network congestion information of the QoS flow to the UPF network element.

[0346] Specifically, the RAN device can send the network congestion information to the UPF network element through the GTP-U layer of the uplink data packet, or send the network congestion information to the UPF network element through the GTP-U layer of the uplink empty data packet.

[0347] S611, UPF network element performs L4S marking.

[0348] The specific implementation of S610-S611 can refer to the relevant introduction in the above "3. R18 Network Information Openness", which will not be repeated here.

[0349] S612: The RAN device determines whether transmission of the QoS flow needs to be adjusted.

[0350] By monitoring QoS flow congestion, the RAN device can obtain network congestion information for the QoS flow and determine whether the QoS flow's transmission needs to be adjusted. If the QoS flow's transmission needs to be adjusted and is actually adjusted, the RAN device does not execute subsequent procedures. If the QoS flow's transmission needs to be adjusted but is not actually adjusted, the RAN device continues with subsequent procedures, such as S613-S617.

[0351] In addition, the specific implementation of S612 can also refer to the relevant introduction of S401-S402 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0352] S613: The RAN device discards the data packet carried in the QoS flow.

[0353] S614: The RAN device lowers the transmission priority of the DRB mapped to the QoS flow.

[0354] S615: The RAN device maps the QoS flow to the new DRB.

[0355] S616: The RAN device sends an exception report to the SMF network element. Correspondingly, the SMF network element receives the exception report from the RAN device.

[0356] S617: The RAN device sends an exception report to the UPF network element. Accordingly, the UPF network element receives the exception report from the RAN device. Specifically, the RAN device may send the exception report to the UPF network element via the GTP-U layer of an uplink data packet, or send the exception report to the UPF network element via the GTP-U layer of an uplink null data packet.

[0357] S613-S617 are optional, and the RAN device may choose to perform one or more steps, without specific limitation. In addition, the specific implementation of S613-S617 can also refer to the relevant introduction of the above-mentioned S402 case 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0358] S618, the SMF network element sends PCC rule indication information to the PCF network element.

[0359] Specifically, the PCC rule indication information is used to indicate that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted, or to indicate that the service flow needs to be QoS downgraded. Optionally, the SMF network element may also send a PCC rule ID to the PCF network element. The PCC rule ID may also be the flow description information of the service flow within the PCC rule, wherein the SMF network element determines the flow description information of the service flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID based on the QoS flow ID in the exception report reported by the RAN.

[0360] S619: The PCF network element reduces the QoS level or sends an alarm to the AF according to the PCC rule indication information.

[0361] When the SMF network element receives an abnormal report, execute S618-S619. The specific implementation can also refer to the relevant introduction of situation 1 of S402 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0362] S620: The UPF network element opens new network congestion information of the QoS flow.

[0363] S621: The UPF network element discards the data packets carried in the QoS flow or sends an alarm to the AF based on the abnormality report.

[0364] When the UPF network element receives an abnormality report, S620-S621 is executed. The specific implementation can also refer to the relevant introduction of situation 1 of S402 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0365] In addition, for the UPF network element in scenario 2, the QoS flow can also be replaced by the service flow corresponding to the QoS flow.

[0366] Scenario 3:

[0367] Figure 7 is a fourth flow chart of the communication method provided in this embodiment. This communication method is applicable to the above-mentioned communication system, and specifically involves the interaction between the UE, the RAN device (i.e., the above-mentioned access network device), the SMF network element (i.e., the above-mentioned session management network element), the PCF network element (i.e., the above-mentioned policy control network element), the UPF network element (i.e., the above-mentioned first network element is the user plane network element), and the AF (i.e., the above-mentioned application function network element). In scenario 3, when the UPF network element discloses network congestion information, the UPF network element can perform transmission supervision based on the network congestion status to reduce the possibility of network congestion.

[0368] Specifically, as shown in FIG7 , the process of the communication method is as follows:

[0369] S701: The AF sends an AF request message to the PCF network element. Correspondingly, the PCF network element receives the AF request message from the AF.

[0370] S702: The PCF network element obtains policy information.

[0371] S703: The UE initiates a PDU session establishment or modification process.

[0372] S704, the SMF network element triggers the session management SM policy association establishment or modification process.

[0373] The specific implementation of S701-S704 can also refer to the relevant introduction of S501-S504 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0374] S705: The SMF network element sends an N4 session establishment / modification message to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the N4 session establishment / modification message from the SMF network element.

[0375] The N4 session establishment / modification message is used to establish or modify the N4 session between the SMF network element and the UPF network element. For example, it includes the above-mentioned configuration information #1. For specific implementation, please refer to the relevant introduction in the above-mentioned S402 case 2, which will not be repeated here. Of course, the N4 session establishment / modification message can also include existing information. For details, please refer to the relevant introduction of the 3GPP protocol, which will not be repeated here.

[0376] S706: The SMF network element sends an N2 session management message to the RAN device. Accordingly, the RAN device receives the N2 session management message from the SMF network element. Specifically, the SMF network element may send N2 session management-related information to the RAN device via the AMF network element.

[0377] The N2 session management message may include existing information. For details, please refer to the relevant introduction of the 3GPP protocol, which will not be repeated here.

[0378] S707: The RAN device configures resources corresponding to the PDU session.

[0379] Specifically, the RAN device may configure or reconfigure the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow established or modified in the PDU session.

[0380] S708: The RAN device continues to complete the remaining PDU session establishment / modification process.

[0381] S709: The RAN device performs congestion monitoring on the QoS flow.

[0382] The specific implementation of S706-S709 can also refer to the relevant introduction of S506-S509 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0383] S710 , the RAN device sends network congestion information of the QoS flow to the UPF network element.

[0384] Specifically, the RAN device may send the network congestion information to the UPF network element through the GTP-U layer of the uplink data packet, or send the network congestion information to the UPF network element through the GTP-U layer of the uplink empty data packet.

[0385] S711, UPF network element performs L4S marking.

[0386] The specific implementation of S710-S711 can refer to the relevant introduction in the above "3. R18 Network Information Openness", which will not be repeated here.

[0387] S712, the UPF network element determines whether the transmission of the QoS flow needs to be adjusted.

[0388] The UPF network element can determine whether the transmission of the QoS flow needs to be adjusted based on the network congestion information of the QoS flow reported by the RAN device. If the transmission of the QoS flow needs to be adjusted and is actually adjusted, the UPF network element does not execute subsequent processes. If the transmission of the QoS flow needs to be adjusted but is not actually adjusted, the UPF network element continues to execute subsequent processes, such as S713-S716.

[0389] In addition, the specific implementation of S712 can also refer to the relevant introduction of S401-S402 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0390] S713, the UPF network element opens new network congestion information of the QoS flow.

[0391] S714, the UPF network element discards the data packet carried in the QoS flow.

[0392] S715: The UPF network element sends an exception report to the SMF network element. Correspondingly, the SMF network element receives the exception report from the UPF network element.

[0393] S716: The UPF network element sends an alarm notification to the AF. Correspondingly, the AF receives the alarm notification from the UPF network element.

[0394] Among them, S713-S716 are optional, and the UPF network element can choose to perform one or more steps, without specific limitation. In addition, the specific implementation of S713-S716 can also refer to the relevant introduction of the above-mentioned S402 case 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0395] S717, the SMF network element sends PCC rule indication information to the PCF network element.

[0396] Specifically, the PCC rule indication information is used to indicate that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but has not been adjusted, or to indicate that the service flow needs to be QoS downgraded. Optionally, the SMF network element may also send a PCC rule ID to the PCF network element. The PCC rule ID may also be the flow description information of the service flow within the PCC rule, wherein the SMF network element may determine the flow description information of the service flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID based on the QoS flow ID in the exception report reported by the RAN.

[0397] S718: The PCF network element reduces the QoS level or sends an alarm to the AF according to the PCC rule indication information.

[0398] The SMF network element may send an instruction message to the PCF network element based on the received exception report, so that the PCF network element may reduce the QoS level or alert the AF. For specific implementation, please refer to the relevant introduction of Case 1 of S402 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0399] It can be understood that in scenario 3, the QoS flow can also be replaced by the business flow corresponding to the QoS flow, that is, configuration and transmission supervision are performed at the granularity of the business flow. The specific implementation can also refer to the relevant introduction of situation 3 of S402 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0400] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above in conjunction with Figures 4 to 7. The communication device for executing the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with Figures 8 to 9.

[0401] Figure 8 is a structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8 , the communication device 800 includes a transceiver module 801 and a processing module 802. For ease of illustration, Figure 8 only shows the main components of the communication device.

[0402] The transceiver module 801 is used to perform the transceiver function of the method shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 7 , and the processing module 802 is used to perform other functions of the method shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 7 except the transceiver function.

[0403] Optionally, the transceiver module 801 may include a sending module (not shown in FIG8 ) and a receiving module (not shown in FIG8 ). The sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device 800 , and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device 800 .

[0404] Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG8 ) that stores a program or instruction. When the processing module 802 executes the program or instruction, the communication device 800 may perform the functions of the respective devices / network elements in the methods shown in FIG4-FIG7 in the above-mentioned method.

[0405] It can be understood that the communication device 800 can be a network device, a chip (system) or other parts or components that can be set in the network device, or a device that includes a network device. This application does not limit this.

[0406] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 800 can refer to the technical effects of the communication method shown in Figures 4 to 7, and will not be repeated here.

[0407] Figure 9 is a second structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the communication device may be a terminal, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be provided in a terminal. As shown in Figure 9, the communication device 900 may include a processor 901. Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include a memory 902 and / or a transceiver 903. The processor 901 is coupled to the memory 902 and the transceiver 903, such as by a communication bus.

[0408] The following is a detailed introduction to the various components of the communication device 900 in conjunction with FIG9 :

[0409] The processor 901 is the control center of the communication device 900 and can be a single processor or a collective term for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 901 can be one or more central processing units (CPUs), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present application, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0410] Optionally, the processor 901 may execute various functions of the communication device 900 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 902 and calling data stored in the memory 902, such as executing the communication methods shown in Figures 4 to 7 above.

[0411] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 901 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG. 9 .

[0412] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 900 may also include multiple processors, such as the processor 901 and the processor 904 shown in FIG9 . Each of these processors may be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). The processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0413] The memory 902 is used to store the software program for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 901. The specific implementation method can refer to the above method embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0414] Optionally, the memory 902 can 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, optical disc storage (including 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 902 can be integrated with the processor 901 or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 901 through the interface circuit of the communication device 900 (not shown in Figure 9). This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0415] Transceiver 903 is used for communication with other communication devices. For example, if communication device 900 is a terminal, transceiver 903 can be used to communicate with a network device or another terminal device. For another example, if communication device 900 is a network device, transceiver 903 can be used to communicate with a terminal or another network device.

[0416] Optionally, the transceiver 903 may include a receiver and a transmitter (not shown separately in FIG9 ), wherein the receiver is used to implement a receiving function, and the transmitter is used to implement a sending function.

[0417] Optionally, the transceiver 903 may be integrated with the processor 901 or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 901 through an interface circuit (not shown in FIG. 9 ) of the communication device 900 . This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0418] It is understandable that the structure of the communication device 900 shown in FIG9 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device, and an actual communication device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently.

[0419] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 900 can refer to the technical effects of the methods described in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0420] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0421] It should also be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0422] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware (such as circuits), firmware or any other combination. When implemented using software, the above embodiments 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 or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer program are loaded or 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 (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more available media sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium can be a solid-state drive.

[0423] It should be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein simply describes a relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A alone, A and B together, or B alone. A and B can be singular or plural. Furthermore, the character " / " as used herein generally indicates an "or" relationship between the associated objects, but it may also indicate an "and / or" relationship. For specific understanding, please refer to the context.

[0424] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or plural.

[0425] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0426] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0427] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0428] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0429] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0430] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0431] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, 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. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0432] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to the first network element, including: The first network element obtains network congestion information of the service flow; The first network element determines, based on the network congestion information of the service flow, that transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but does not adjust it; Based on determining that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted, the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Obtain configuration information of the service flow, wherein the configuration information is used to instruct the first network element to determine whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the service flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow if the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The configuration information of the service flow includes supervision indication information, wherein the supervision indication information is used to indicate whether transmission needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level, and to manage and / or control the transmission when the transmission needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The configuration information is further used to indicate a monitoring time period, where the monitoring time period is a time period used to monitor whether the transmission of the service flow is adjusted.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The first network element determines that transmission of the service flow is not adjusted, including: The first network element determines that the transmission of the service flow is at least one of the following: the transmission rate is not reduced, the reduction amplitude of the transmission rate is less than the amplitude threshold, or the transmission rate is increased.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The first network element determines, according to the network congestion information of the service flow, that transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted, including: The first network element determines, according to the network congestion information of the service flow, that the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to a congestion level threshold; or, The first network element determines, based on the network congestion information of the service flow, that an increase in the congestion level of the service flow is greater than or equal to an increase threshold.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The first network element is an access network device, the service flow is carried by a QoS flow, the network congestion information of the service flow is the network congestion information of the QoS flow, and the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow, including: The access network device performs at least one of the following on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element or a user plane network element, discarding a data packet carried in the QoS flow, reducing the transmission priority of a data radio bearer DRB mapped by the QoS flow, mapping the QoS flow to a new DRB, or opening new network congestion information of the QoS flow; Among them, the session management network element and the user plane network element are network elements corresponding to the QoS flow, the exception report is used to indicate the abnormal transmission of the data packet carried in the QoS flow, and the proportion value represented by the new network congestion information is the sum of the proportion value represented by the network congestion information of the QoS flow and the preset incremental proportion value.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The abnormality report includes the identifier of the QoS flow and / or information indicating abnormality in data packet transmission.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The first network element is a user plane network element, the service flow is carried by a QoS flow, the network congestion information of the service flow is the network congestion information of the QoS flow, and the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow, including: The user plane network element performs at least one of the following on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, discarding a data packet carried in the QoS flow, or opening new network congestion information of the QoS flow; Among them, the session management network element is the network element corresponding to the QoS flow, the exception report is used to indicate the abnormal transmission of the data packet carried in the QoS flow, the application function network element is the network element corresponding to the service flow, the alarm notification is used to indicate the abnormal transmission of the data packet of the service corresponding to the service flow, and the proportion value represented by the new network congestion information is the sum of the proportion value represented by the network congestion information of the QoS flow and the preset incremental proportion value.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The abnormality report includes the identifier of the QoS flow and / or information used to indicate abnormal data packet transmission, and the alarm notification includes the identifier of the service and / or information used to indicate abnormal data packet transmission.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The first network element is a user plane network element, and the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow, including: The user plane network element performs at least one of the following on the service flow: sending an abnormality report to a session management network element, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, discarding a data packet in the service flow, or opening new network congestion information of the service flow; Among them, the session management network element or the application function network element is the network element corresponding to the service flow, the exception report or the alarm notification is used to indicate the data packet transmission abnormality of the service corresponding to the service flow, and the proportion value represented by the new network congestion information is the sum of the proportion value represented by the network congestion information of the service flow and the preset incremental proportion value.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The abnormality report or the alarm notification includes the identifier of the service flow and / or information indicating abnormality in data packet transmission.

13. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to application function network elements, including: The application function network element obtains demand information for service flow transmission, wherein the demand information is used to indicate whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion degree of the service flow, and manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow when the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted; The application function network element sends the demand information.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The demand information for the service flow transmission includes supervision indication information, wherein the supervision indication information is used to indicate whether the transmission needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level, and to perform transmission control when the transmission needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The demand information is specifically used to indicate whether the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the business flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the business flow when the transmission of the business flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted within a monitoring time period.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The demand information includes the monitoring time period.

17. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that The application function network element sends the demand information, including: The application function network element sends an application function network element request message to the policy control network element corresponding to the service flow, wherein the application function network element request message includes the requirement information.

18. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to policy control network elements, including: The policy control network element obtains policy information for service flow transmission, wherein the policy information for service flow transmission is used to indicate whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion degree of the service flow, and manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow when the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted; The policy control network element sends the policy information to the session management network element corresponding to the service flow.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The policy information of the service flow transmission includes supervision indication information, wherein the supervision indication information is used to indicate whether the transmission needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level, and to manage and / or control the transmission when the transmission needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that The policy information is specifically used to indicate whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion level of the service flow, and to manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow when the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted within a monitoring time period.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The policy information includes the monitoring time period.

22. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, characterized in that The policy control network element obtains the policy information, including: The policy control network element receives the demand information of the service flow transmission from the application function network element of the service flow, where the demand information of the service flow transmission is used to indicate whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion degree of the service flow, and manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow when the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted; The policy control network element determines the policy information according to the demand information.

23. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 22, characterized in that After the policy control network element sends the policy information to the session management network element corresponding to the service flow, the method further includes: The policy control network element receives indication information from the session management network element, wherein the indication information is used to indicate a transmission anomaly of the service flow corresponding to the control policy and charging PCC rule; The policy control network element reduces the quality of service QoS level of the PCC rule according to the indication information.

24. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to user plane network elements, including: In the case where the user plane network element opens network congestion information of the quality of service QoS flow, the user plane network element receives an exception report from an access network device corresponding to the QoS flow, wherein the exception report is used to indicate that the transmission of a data packet carried in the QoS flow is abnormal; In the case where the transmission of the data packets carried in the QoS flow is abnormal, the user plane network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the QoS flow.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that The user plane network element performs transmission control on the QoS flow, including: In response to the configuration information, the user plane network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the QoS flow, wherein the configuration information is used to indicate that when the network congestion information of the QoS flow is opened but the transmission of the data packets carried in the QoS flow is abnormal, the transmission of the QoS flow needs to be managed and / or controlled.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The method further comprises: The user plane network element receives the configuration information from the session management network element corresponding to the QoS flow.

27. The method according to any one of claims 25-26, characterized in that The user plane network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the QoS flow, including: The user plane network element performs at least one operation on the QoS flow: sending an exception report to a session management network element, sending an alarm notification to an application function network element, discarding a data packet carried in the QoS flow, or opening new network congestion information of the QoS flow; Among them, the session management network element is the network element corresponding to the QoS flow, the exception report is used to indicate the abnormal transmission of the data packet carried in the QoS flow, the application function network element is the network element corresponding to the service carried by the QoS flow, the alarm notification is used to indicate the abnormal transmission of the data packet of the service, and the proportion value represented by the new network congestion information is the sum of the proportion value represented by the network congestion information of the QoS flow and the preset incremental proportion value.

28. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The policy control network element obtains policy information for service flow transmission, wherein the policy information for service flow transmission is used to indicate whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion degree of the service flow, and manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow when the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted; The policy control network element sends the policy information to the session management network element; The session management network element sends the configuration information of the service flow to the first network element according to the policy information, wherein the first network element is an access network device or a user plane network element, and the configuration information is used to indicate whether the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted according to the congestion degree of the service flow, and manage and / or control the transmission of the service flow when the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted; The first network element obtains network congestion information of the service flow; In response to the configuration information, if the first network element determines, based on the network congestion information of the service flow, that the transmission of the service flow needs to be adjusted but is not adjusted, the first network element manages and / or controls the transmission of the service flow.

29. A communication device, characterized in that: The apparatus comprises: a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-28.

30. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1-28.

31. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium comprises a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 28.

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