Communication method and apparatus, device, and readable storage medium

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method and apparatus, a device, and a readable storage medium. The method comprises: receiving first information from a second function. The first information comprises at least one of the following: packet detection indication information, protocol description information, a connection migration indication, service flow identification information, one or more pieces of user information, one or more pieces of service flow feature information, and one or more pieces of service flow QoS information.

Description

Communication methods, apparatus, devices and readable storage media

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202311460386.X, filed in China on November 3, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, specifically to a communication method, apparatus, device, and readable storage medium. Background Technology

[0004] For Extended Reality (XR) services, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has studied adaptive enhancements for the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) to enable network-service collaborative transmission and ensure network service quality.

[0005] The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) / 3 will abandon the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and instead use the Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) protocol (see Figure 1). Currently, XR services are also showing a trend of adopting QUIC, and enhancements to RTP alone cannot meet the needs of a wide range of services.

[0006] However, QUIC natively integrates Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption technology, making it difficult for the network to obtain the business layer information in traffic transmitted using QUIC.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] This disclosure provides a communication method, apparatus, device, and readable storage medium to solve the problem of networks having difficulty obtaining service layer information.

[0009] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, applied to a first function, comprising: receiving first information from a second function, the first information including at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

[0010] Secondly, a communication method is provided for use in the fourth function, including:

[0011] Send a fourth message to the second function, the fourth message being used to instruct the network to process the encrypted stream, the fourth message including at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; one or more service flow QoS information.

[0012] Thirdly, a communication method is provided, applied to a second function, comprising: receiving fourth information from a fourth function, the fourth information being used to instruct the network to process an encrypted stream; wherein the fourth information includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

[0013] Fourthly, a communication method is provided for a second node, comprising: receiving downlink data sent by a first function via a GTP message, wherein the header of the GTP message includes service layer information; and performing traffic coordination based on the service layer information.

[0014] Fifthly, a communication device is provided for a first function, comprising:

[0015] The first receiving module is configured to receive first information from the second function, the first information including at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

[0016] Sixthly, a communication device is provided for a fourth function, including:

[0017] The fifth sending module is used to send fourth information to the second function. The fourth information is used to instruct the network to process the encrypted stream. The fourth information includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

[0018] A seventh aspect provides a communication device for a second function, comprising:

[0019] The fifth receiving module is used to receive fourth information from the fourth function, the fourth information being used to instruct the network to process the encrypted stream;

[0020] The fourth information includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

[0021] Eighthly, a communication device is provided for use in a second node, comprising:

[0022] The sixth receiving module is used to receive downlink data sent by the first function via GTP messages, wherein the header of the GTP message includes service layer information;

[0023] The eleventh processing module is used to perform traffic coordination based on the business layer information.

[0024] A ninth aspect provides a communication device, including a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implement the steps of the method as described in the first, second, third, or fourth aspect.

[0025] A tenth aspect provides a readable storage medium on which a program or instructions are stored, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method as described in the first, second, third, or fourth aspect.

[0026] In this disclosure, a first function receives first information from a second function, the first information including at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; one or more service flow QoS information, enabling the network to obtain service layer information to meet the transmission optimization of traffic transmitted on QUIC. Attached Figure Description

[0027] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, the same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

[0028] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the streaming frame;

[0029] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a low-latency media transmission scenario;

[0030] Figure 3 is a flowchart of one of the communication methods provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0031] Figure 4 is a second flowchart of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0032] Figure 5 is a flowchart of the third communication method provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0033] Figure 6 is a flowchart of the fourth communication method provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0034] Figure 7 is a flowchart of the fifth communication method provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0035] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of one of the message formats provided in the embodiments of this disclosure:

[0036] Figure 9 is a second schematic diagram of the message format provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0037] Figure 10 is a flowchart of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0038] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of one of the communication devices provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0039] Figure 12 is a second schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0040] Figure 13 is a third schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0041] Figure 14 is a fourth schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0042] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0043] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of this disclosure. Based on the embodiments of this disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0044] The term "comprising," and any variations thereof, used in this disclosure and the claims are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such process, method, product, or apparatus. Furthermore, the use of "and / or" in the specification and claims indicates at least one of the connected objects, such as A and / or B, indicating the inclusion of A alone, B alone, or both A and B.

[0045] In this disclosure, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in this disclosure should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0046] Referring to Figure 2, the core scenario that MoQ (Media over QUIC) focuses on is low-latency media transmission. The proposed Media over QUIC architecture can support a variety of different media formats and use underlying support such as QUIC or Web communication mechanisms (WebTransport) to complete various low-latency media transmissions. It also allows for new encryption methods, intermediate relay processing, and other new tasks.

[0047] Referring to Figure 3, this embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication method. The executing entity can be a first function, such as a user plane function (UPF) including but not limited to a user plane function (UPF). The specific steps include: step 301.

[0048] Step 301: Receive first information from the second function, the first information including at least one of the following:

[0049] (1) Packet detection indication information;

[0050] Optionally, the packet detection indication information, used to guide the first function to detect, mark, or identify data packets, includes at least one of the following: Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), Connection ID, and packet detection dynamic indication;

[0051] The packet detection dynamic indicator is used to indicate that the first function can dynamically update the Connection ID based on the underlying link establishment status.

[0052] (2) Protocol description information;

[0053] For example, protocol description information is used to indicate the transport layer protocol to be used, and the protocol description information can be a protocol description indicator.

[0054] (3) Connection migration instruction;

[0055] For example, a connection migration indication is used to indicate that some or all of the connections identified by the business flow identification information need to be migrated.

[0056] (4) Business flow identification information;

[0057] Optionally, the service flow identification information includes at least one of the following: IP 5-tuple information, one or more Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), one or more Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs), one or more Connection IDs; and one or more stream identification information (stream IDs).

[0058] Optionally, the URI is used to identify the business server (or business function, or application function).

[0059] Optionally, the traffic flow identification information can also be called traffic flow description information.

[0060] (5) One or more user information;

[0061] Optionally, user information includes at least one of the following: the user's Internet Protocol (IP) address, user identifier (ID), URI, and group identifier (group ID). Optionally, the user ID includes at least one of the following: Generic Public Subscription Identifier (GPSI) and UE ID.

[0062] (6) One or more business flow characteristic information;

[0063] Optionally, the service flow characteristic information includes at least one of the following: frame type, message type, priority, send order, packet size, and burst periodicity.

[0064] (7) Quality of Service (QoS) information for one or more service flows;

[0065] Optionally, the service flow QoS information includes at least one of the following: 5G QoS Identifier (5QI), latency, packet loss rate, integrity requirements, and security requirements.

[0066] Optionally, the service flow includes, but is not limited to, video streams, audio streams, etc.

[0067] Optionally, the second function includes, but is not limited to, the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF).

[0068] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0069] Based on the first information, establish one or more Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) connections with the user equipment (UE, i.e., the terminal), and determine or generate the identifiers of one or more QUIC connections (Scheme 1).

[0070] Optionally, the UE's information can be obtained from the first information, or carried in the request when the UE initiates a request.

[0071] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0072] Based on the first information, establish one or more QUIC connections with the third function of the business flow identification information, and determine or generate the identifier of one or more QUIC connections (Scheme 2).

[0073] Optionally, the third function includes, but is not limited to, the application function (AF).

[0074] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0075] Based on the first information, one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information (e.g., connection ID) and the third function (e.g., AF) are migrated to the first function and the UE (Scheme 3).

[0076] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0077] Send a second message to the UE, the second message being used to instruct the UE to migrate one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information and a third function (e.g., AF) to the first function and the UE.

[0078] Optionally, the second information includes at least one of the following: first function address, first function identifier, connection ID before migration, connection ID after migration, and IP 5-tuple information after migration.

[0079] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0080] Based on the first information, one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information (e.g., connection ID) and the third function (e.g., AF) are migrated to the first function and the third function (Scheme 4).

[0081] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0082] Send a third message to a third function, the third message being used to instruct the third function to migrate one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information and the third function (e.g., AF) to the first function and the third function.

[0083] Optionally, the third information includes at least one of the following: first function address, first function identifier, connection ID before migration, IP 5-tuple information before migration, connection ID after migration, and IP 5-tuple information after migration.

[0084] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0085] Based on the first information, store the identifiers of one or more QUIC connections established with the UE, and the correspondence between the identifiers of one or more QUIC connections established with the third function of the service flow identifier information;

[0086] The correspondence is sent to the second function.

[0087] Example 1: The correspondence between one or more QUIC connections established by the UE in storage scheme 1 and the identifiers of one or more QUIC connections established by the third function of service flow identifier information in scheme 2.

[0088] Example 2: The correspondence between one or more QUIC connections established by the UE in storage scheme 1 and the identifiers of one or more QUIC connections established by the third function of the service flow identifier information in scheme 4;

[0089] Example 3: The correspondence between one or more QUIC connections established by the UE in storage scheme 3 and the identifiers of one or more QUIC connections established by the third function of the service flow identifier information in scheme 2.

[0090] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the packet detection indication information includes at least one of the following: URI, connection ID, and packet detection dynamic indication;

[0091] The packet detection dynamic indicator is used to indicate that the first function dynamically updates the connection ID based on the underlying link establishment status.

[0092] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0093] Based on the first information, different service flows are identified for different service data flow templates or packet detection rules (PDR), corresponding to different QoS parameters.

[0094] Optionally, the service data stream template or PDR includes at least one of the following: connection ID, stream ID, URI;

[0095] Optionally, the QoS parameters include at least one of the following: 5QI, latency, and bitrate.

[0096] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the connection ID includes at least one of the following:

[0097] (1) QUIC connection ID between the terminal and the server;

[0098] (2) QUIC connection ID between the terminal and the first function;

[0099] (3) QUIC connection ID between the first function and the server.

[0100] In one embodiment of this disclosure, when the QUIC connection includes a QUIC connection between a terminal and a server, the media content in the stream is transmitted via QUIC encryption, and the metadata in the stream is transmitted via a first method, the metadata including service layer information;

[0101] The first method includes: the metadata being carried in the header field of the UDP packet, or the first method is using Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC).

[0102] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0103] Receive downlink data via User Datagram Protocol (UDP) messages;

[0104] Obtain metadata from the header fields of the UDP packet, the metadata including business layer information.

[0105] The step of receiving downlink data via UDP packets includes: receiving downlink data by establishing a UDP tunnel. The step of obtaining metadata from the header fields of the UDP packets includes identifying XRM metadata from HTTP datagrams.

[0106] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0107] Receive downlink data;

[0108] Based on the first information, relevant information (or service characteristics) is extracted from the transport layer data frames of the downlink data;

[0109] The business layer information is identified based on the aforementioned relevant information.

[0110] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the relevant information includes at least one of the following: offset, FIN flag, delivery order, length, sequence number, frame type, and stream ID.

[0111] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the downlink data transport layer data frame is MoQ metadata, and the extracted relevant information (or service characteristics) is PDU set information; the service layer information may be a GPRS Tunneling Protocol-User Plane (GTP-U) header.

[0112] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0113] The downlink data is sent to the first node via a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) message, the header of which includes the service layer information.

[0114] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the service layer information includes at least one of the following: the end PDU of the PDU set, the end of data burst (EDB), the PDU set importance (PSI), the PDU set sequence number (PSSN), the PDU sequence number within a PDU set (PSN), and the PDU set size (PSSize).

[0115] Optionally, the PDU group sequence number can be identified by the offset of the QUIC stream frame.

[0116] Optionally, the end PDU of a PDU group can be identified by the FIN flag of the QUIC stream frame.

[0117] Optionally, the PDU group sequence number can be identified by the object sequence number of the MoQT message.

[0118] Optionally, the PDU group size (in bytes) can be identified by the sum of the length fields of the QUIC stream frames.

[0119] Optionally, the importance of a PDU group can be identified by the delivery order of MoQT messages.

[0120] In this disclosure, a first function receives first information from a second function, the first information including at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; one or more service flow QoS information, enabling the network to obtain service layer information to meet the transmission optimization of traffic transmitted on QUIC.

[0121] Referring to Figure 4, this embodiment of the disclosure provides a communication method executed by a fourth function, such as a policy control function (PCF), and the specific steps include: step 401.

[0122] Step 401: Send a fourth message to the second function, the fourth message being used to instruct the network to process the encrypted stream, the fourth message including at least one of the following:

[0123] (1) Packet detection indication information;

[0124] Optionally, the packet detection indication information includes at least one of the following: URI, Connection ID, and packet detection dynamic indication;

[0125] The packet detection dynamic indicator is used to indicate that the first function can dynamically update the Connection ID based on the underlying link establishment status.

[0126] (2) Protocol description information;

[0127] For example, protocol description information is used to indicate the transport layer protocol to be used, and the protocol description information can be a protocol description indicator.

[0128] (3) Connection migration instruction;

[0129] For example, a connection migration instruction is used to indicate that some or all of the connections identified by the business flow identification information need to be migrated.

[0130] (4) Business flow identification information;

[0131] Optionally, the service flow identification information includes at least one of the following: IP 5-tuple information, one or more URIs, one or more URLs, one or more FQDNs, one or more Connection IDs; and one or more stream IDs.

[0132] (5) One or more user information;

[0133] Optionally, user information includes at least one of the following: user's IP address, user ID, URI, and group ID. Optionally, user ID includes at least one of the following: GPSI and UE ID.

[0134] (6) One or more business flow characteristic information;

[0135] Optionally, the service flow characteristic information includes at least one of the following: frame type, message type, priority, send order, packet size, and burst periodicity.

[0136] (7) QoS information for one or more service flows;

[0137] Optionally, the service flow QoS information includes at least one of the following: 5QI, latency, packet loss rate, integrity requirements, and security requirements.

[0138] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0139] Receive fifth information from a third function (e.g., AF);

[0140] The fourth information is determined based on the fifth information;

[0141] The fifth piece of information includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow feature information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

[0142] In this disclosure, a fourth message is sent to the second function. The fourth message is used to instruct the network to process the encrypted stream. The fourth message includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; and one or more service flow QoS information, so that the network can obtain service layer information to meet the transmission optimization of traffic transmitted on QUIC.

[0143] Referring to Figure 5, this embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication method executed by a second function, such as a session management function (SMF), and the specific steps include: step 501.

[0144] Step 501: Receive fourth information from the fourth function, the fourth information being used to instruct the network to process the encrypted stream;

[0145] The fourth piece of information includes at least one of the following:

[0146] (1) Packet detection indication information;

[0147] Optionally, the packet detection indication information includes at least one of the following: URI, Connection ID, and packet detection dynamic indication;

[0148] The packet detection dynamic indicator is used to indicate that the first function can dynamically update the Connection ID based on the underlying link establishment status.

[0149] (2) Protocol description information;

[0150] For example, protocol description information is used to indicate the transport layer protocol to be used, and the protocol description information can be a protocol description indicator.

[0151] (3) Connection migration instruction;

[0152] For example, a connection migration instruction is used to indicate that some or all of the connections identified by the business flow identification information need to be migrated.

[0153] (4) Business flow identification information;

[0154] Optionally, the service flow identification information includes at least one of the following: IP 5-tuple information, one or more Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), one or more URLs, one or more FQDNs, one or more Connection IDs, and one or more Stream IDs.

[0155] (5) One or more user information;

[0156] Optionally, user information includes at least one of the following: user's IP address, user ID, URI, and group ID. Optionally, user ID includes at least one of the following: GPSI and UE ID.

[0157] (6) One or more business flow characteristic information;

[0158] Optionally, the service flow characteristic information includes at least one of the following: frame type, message type, priority, send order, packet size, and burst periodicity.

[0159] (7) QoS information for one or more service flows;

[0160] Optionally, the service flow QoS information includes at least one of the following: 5QI, latency, packet loss rate, integrity requirements, and security requirements.

[0161] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0162] Based on the fourth information, determine whether to send the sixth information to the first node (which may be a UE or an AF). The sixth information is used to instruct the first node to migrate one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information (e.g., connection ID) and the third function (e.g., AF) to the first function and the UE.

[0163] Optionally, the first node can be a UE or an AF.

[0164] Optionally, the sixth information includes at least one of the following: first function address, first function identifier, connection ID before migration, connection ID after migration, and IP 5-tuple information after migration.

[0165] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0166] Based on the fourth information, update the QoS rules and / or Policy Control and Charging (PCC) rules;

[0167] Optionally, the service data flow template or PDR in the QoS rules and / or PCC rules includes at least one of the following: connection ID, stream ID, URI.

[0168] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0169] The first information is sent to the first function, and the first information includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow feature information; and one or more service flow QoS information. In this disclosure, fourth information is received from the fourth function, the fourth information being used to instruct the network to process the encrypted flow; the fourth information includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow feature information; and one or more service flow QoS information, enabling the network to obtain service layer information to meet the transmission optimization of traffic transmitted on QUIC. Referring to Figure 6, an embodiment of this disclosure provides a communication method executed by a second node, for example, the second node can be a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, specifically including steps 601 and 602.

[0170] Step 601: Receive downlink data sent by the first function via a GTP message, wherein the header of the GTP message includes service layer information;

[0171] Step 602: Perform traffic coordination based on the business layer information.

[0172] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the service layer information includes at least one of the following: End PDU of the PDU Set, End of Data Burst, PDU Set Importance, PDU Set Sequence Number, PDU sequence number in a PDU group, and PDU group size.

[0173] In this embodiment, traffic coordination is performed based on service layer information to optimize the transmission of traffic transmitted on QUIC.

[0174] The implementation methods of this disclosure are described below with reference to Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2.

[0175] Example 1: Cooperative transmission scheme.

[0176] Referring to Figure 7, the specific steps are as follows:

[0177] Step 1: The UE sends a PDU session establishment request to the AMF.

[0178] Step 2: AMF performs SMF selection;

[0179] Step 3: The AMF initiates a PDU session establishment SM context request (Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContextRequest) to the SMF;

[0180] Step 4: Perform subscription retrieval or subscription for update operations between SMF and UDM;

[0181] Step 5: The SMF sends a PDU session establishment SM context response (Nsmf_PDUSession_CreatSMContextResponse) to the AMF;

[0182] Step 6: Perform PDU session authentication or authorization;

[0183] Step 7a: SMF performs PCF selection;

[0184] Step 7b: Establish session management policy association or SMF initiates session management policy association modification;

[0185] Step 8: SMF performs UPF selection;

[0186] Step 9: SMF initiates the modification of the session management policy association;

[0187] Steps 10a-10b: N4 Session Establishment Process;

[0188] Step 10a: The SMF sends an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Request to the UPF;

[0189] Step 10b: The UPF sends an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Response to the SMF;

[0190] Optionally, the UPF provides one or more QUIC connection IDs based on the rules issued by the SMF (see Example 2 for a related description).

[0191] Step 11: Perform N1N2 message transfer between SMF and AMF (Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer);

[0192] Step 12: The AMF sends an N2 PDU Session Request to the RAN;

[0193] Step 13: The RAN sends RAN-specific resource setup to the UE;

[0194] In steps 11-13, if the UPF provides a Traffic flow differentiation number and one or more QUIC connection IDs, the SMF sends the information to the UE via the AMF (or it can be updated via the UCU, which can be written in the UE Route Selection Policy (URSP) rule). The UE initiates a PDU session establishment request carrying multiple QUIC connection IDs, which are carried on one or more QUIC connections.

[0195] a) Relay mode:

[0196] In this mode, the UPF acts as an intermediate node between the UE and the server in the QUIC connection. One or more QUIC connections (Connection IDs a11, a12, a13, etc.) are established between the UE and the PDU Session Anchor (PSA) and the UPF. One or more QUIC connections (Connection IDs a21, a22, a23) are established between the UPF and the server. The UPF needs to maintain a mapping of Connection IDs on the two QUIC connections. This scheme requires the UPF to terminate the QUIC connection and decrypt the QUIC payload. In this mode, the UPF can forward multiple QUIC connections received from the server to the UE. Alternatively, the UPF can establish only one connection with the server, splitting the traffic received from the server into different Connection IDs sent to the UE (see Figure 8).

[0197] b) Extended transmission mode:

[0198] A QUIC connection is established between the UE and the server. This scheme uses only QUIC encryption to encrypt the media content, but leaves the metadata to other mechanisms (Web Real-Time communication (WebRTC) / User Datagram Protocol (UDP) option). In this way, the QUIC connection is from producer to consumer. UPF does not need to decrypt QUIC, see Figure 9.

[0199] In this mode, the updates in steps 10-13 above are not required.

[0200] Step 14: The RAN sends an N2 PDU Session Response to the AMF;

[0201] Step 15: The AMF sends a PDU session update SM context request (Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext Request) to the SMF;

[0202] Step 16a: The SMF sends an N4 Session Modification Request to the UPF;

[0203] Step 16b: The UPF sends an N4 Session Modification Response to the SMF;

[0204] Step 17: Rule enforcement;

[0205] 17a. The server responds to requests using the established user plane path.

[0206] Optionally, the server may write the service characteristics it wants the network to recognize to the transport layer for network identification. This information can be written into an extension frame already defined by QUIC, or a new frame can be used. For example, this disclosure proposes an APPLICATION_INFO frame, as follows:

[0207] APPLICATION_INFO Frame{

[0208] Type(i) = 0xxx,

[0209] [Traffic / PDU Set Identifier(i),

[0210] Traffic / PDU Set Importance(i),

[0211] Traffic / PDU Sequence Number within a PDU Set(i),

[0212] End of Data Burst(i), / / 1 bit indicates whether this is the end of the burst.

[0213] }

[0214] Extended transport mode: The above information can be written into the UDP option header, or it can be transmitted additionally using WebRTC.

[0215] 17b. Optionally, if the server does not directly provide information as described in 17a above, the UPF can extract business characteristics based on the QUIC packet information. After receiving the packet, the UPF extracts the business characteristics according to the rule issued by the SMF (see Example 2 for a related description) and adds the packet to the metadata. The corresponding relationship is as follows:

[0216] -End PDU of the PDU Set[E](1bit):(offset==0and FIN flag);

[0217] -End of Data Burst[EDB](3bits): End of Data Burst in the APPLICATION_INFO Frame;

[0218] -PDU Set Importance[PSI](4bits):.(delivery order(MoQ specific));

[0219] -PDU Set Sequence Number[PSSN](10bits):(offset / group sequence(MoQ-specific));

[0220] -PDU Sequence Number within a PDU Set[PSN](6bits):(offset / object sequence(MoQ-specific));

[0221] -PDU Set Size[PSSize](QUIC: sum of offset / length fields of a stream with a FIN flag / Warp message length (MoQ-specific)).

[0222] In extended transport mode, UPF extracts the above information directly from the UDP option header.

[0223] Optionally, UPF can optimize transmission based on the parsed information and local network information, including but not limited to:

[0224] - Packets from the same PDU group (set) are sent to the same connection in the same connection to the UE;

[0225] - Prioritize transmitting high-priority data

[0226] - Based on the detected traffic size, packet size, priority information, etc., the traffic is classified and then packetized into different Connections, and corresponding to different 5G Quality of Service Identifiers (5QI).

[0227] Optionally, the UPF can extract the delay information from the acknowledgment (ACK) and write it into the tunnel header, providing it to the RAN for scheduling reference.

[0228] Optionally, the content can be stored locally using MoQ's capabilities and then broadcast using MoQ's announce function.

[0229] Step 18: QoS policy enforcement.

[0230] The RAN can extract the service characteristics written by the UPF into the packet header of the GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) and perform traffic coordination, including but not limited to: putting flow packets of the same PDU set in the same PRB; and prioritizing the transmission of high-priority data.

[0231] Step 19: The UE receives a response from the Server.

[0232] Example 2: QoS policy distribution for encrypted streams.

[0233] Premise: PCF has subscribed to update events from UDR.

[0234] Referring to Figure 10, the specific steps are as follows:

[0235] Step 1: Information provision;

[0236] 1. To create a new request, AF invokes the Nnef_ServiceParameter_create service operation. This request may include subscription information for reporting the results of UE policy delivery.

[0237] Input: Service descriptor (e.g., a combination of DNN and S-NSSAI, AF-Service-Identifier, or external application identifier). Optional: Service parameters and target UE identifier (e.g., UE address (IP or Ethernet) (if available), GPSI (if available), external group identifier (if available), etc.).

[0238] Optionally, the information may include at least one of the following:

[0239] (1) Protocol description indicator: indicates the transport layer protocol to be used;

[0240] (2) QUIC Container: (plaintext) Traffic flow description (five-tuple + multiple Connection IDs); indicates the types of service flows (e.g., video stream, audio stream, etc.) indicated by the same five-tuple; or five-tuple + additional information, which describes the service type and other characteristics of different service flows.

[0241] It is necessary to indicate how to map the streams received by N6 to the streams of N3 / N9, such as mapping different connection IDs.

[0242] Optionally, the information may also include: for different Connection IDs, priority and related QoS information can also be added.

[0243] Table 1

[0244] Step 2: NEF Authorization AF Request;

[0245] Step 3: Store or update;

[0246] NEF stores the AF request information as "Application Data" (with a subset set to "Service specific information") in the UDR along with the specified Transaction Reference ID.

[0247] Step 4: NEF sends the response provided by the information to AF;

[0248] NEF responds with AF. In the case of the Nnef_ServiceParameter_Create response message, the response message includes the allocated transaction reference ID.

[0249] Step 5: The UDR or UDM sends a data management notification message (Nudr_DM_Notify) to the PCF;

[0250] PCF receives Nudr_DM_Notify notifications of data changes from UDR.

[0251] Based on the received notification, the PCF discovered that connections to a certain service require QUIC connections and have differentiated traffic requirements. Therefore, the PCF updated and distributed the corresponding Policy Control and Charging (PCC) rules. The PCC needs to add a Traffic flow differentiation number and a Traffic flow differentiation Descriptor. Different Service data flow templates require different 5QI values ​​or bitrates. See the table below for details:

[0252] Table 2: PCC rule information in 5GC

[0253] Step 6: PCF sends a session management policy control update message (Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update) to SMF;

[0254] For example, the PCF sends the updated PCC rule to the SMF. If necessary, the PCF initiates UE policy delivery in accordance with the relevant technical specifications.

[0255] Step 7: UE policy delivery or QoS rule update;

[0256] For example, SMF uses the PDU session establishment / modification process to update QoS rules, which are either pre-configured in the UE or implicitly derived by the UE through application reflection QoS. Based on the received QoS rules, the UE places different flows into different connections.

[0257] Step 8: SMF performs N4 rule update;

[0258] For example, SMF generates updated N4 rules and sends them to UPF.

[0259] After receiving the updated N4 rule, UPF will assign different 5QI or bitrates to different Service data flow templates or PDRs based on the indicated Traffic flow differentiation Descriptor.

[0260] For QUIC PDU session types, detection information may include one or a combination of the following:

[0261] -CN tunnel info;

[0262] - Network instance;

[0263] - QoS Flow Identifier (QFI);

[0264] -Connection ID;

[0265] -QUIC additional information (Path ID, stream ID, etc.).

[0266] Table 3: Attributes within Packet Detection Rule

[0267] Table 4: Attributes within a QoS Enforcement Rule

[0268] Step 9: SMF QoS rule update (QoS Policy update).

[0269] For example, the SMF generates an updated QoS policy and sends it to the RAN via the AMF.

[0270] Example 3:

[0271] This embodiment includes masque and MoQ, both of which require the construction of a new tunnel for the terminal. For a related description, please refer to steps 11-13 in Embodiment 1.

[0272] Referring to Figure 11, this disclosure provides a communication device for a first function, such as UPF, and the device 1100 includes:

[0273] The first receiving module 1101 is configured to receive first information from a second function, the first information including at least one of the following:

[0274] (1) Packet detection indication information;

[0275] Optionally, the packet detection indication information includes at least one of the following: URI, Connection ID, and packet detection dynamic indication;

[0276] The packet detection dynamic indicator is used to indicate that the first function can dynamically update the Connection ID based on the underlying link establishment status.

[0277] (2) Protocol description information;

[0278] For example, protocol description information is used to indicate the transport layer protocol to be used; protocol description information can be a protocol description indicator.

[0279] (3) Connection migration instruction;

[0280] For example, a connection migration instruction is used to indicate that some or all of the connections identified by the business flow identification information need to be migrated.

[0281] (4) Business flow identification information;

[0282] Optionally, the service flow identification information includes at least one of the following: IP 5-tuple information, one or more URIs, one or more URLs, one or more FQDNs, one or more Connection IDs; and one or more stream IDs.

[0283] (5) One or more user information;

[0284] Optionally, user information includes at least one of the following: user's IP address, user ID, URI, and group ID. Optionally, user ID includes at least one of the following: GPSI and UE ID.

[0285] (6) One or more business flow characteristic information;

[0286] Optionally, the service flow characteristic information includes at least one of the following: frame type, message type, priority, send order, packet size, and burst periodicity.

[0287] (7) QoS information for one or more service flows;

[0288] Optionally, the service flow QoS information includes at least one of the following: 5QI, latency, packet loss rate, integrity requirements, and security requirements.

[0289] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0290] The first processing module is configured to establish one or more QUIC connections with the UE based on the first information, and determine or generate identifiers for one or more QUIC connections.

[0291] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0292] The second processing module is used to establish one or more QUIC connections with the third function of the service flow identification information based on the first information, and to determine or generate the identifier of one or more QUIC connections.

[0293] Optionally, the third function includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: business server, business function, application function.

[0294] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0295] The third processing module is used to migrate one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information and the third function (e.g., AF) to the first function and the UE based on the first information.

[0296] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0297] The first sending module is used to send second information to the UE, the second information being used to instruct the UE to migrate one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information and the third function (e.g., AF) to the first function and the UE.

[0298] Optionally, the second information includes at least one of the following: first function address, first function identifier, connection ID before migration, connection ID after migration, and IP 5-tuple information after migration.

[0299] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0300] The fourth processing module is configured to migrate one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information and the third function (e.g., AF) to between the first function and the third function (e.g., AF) based on the first information.

[0301] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0302] The second sending module is used to send third information to the third function, the third information being used to instruct the third function to migrate one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information and the third function (e.g., AF) to the first function and the third function.

[0303] Optionally, the third information includes at least one of the following: first function address, first function identifier, connection ID before migration, IP 5-tuple information before migration, connection ID after migration, and IP 5-tuple information after migration.

[0304] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0305] The fifth processing module is used to store, based on the first information, the identifiers of one or more QUIC connections established with the UE, and the correspondence between the identifiers of one or more QUIC connections established with the third function of the service flow identifier information;

[0306] The third sending module is used to send the correspondence to the second function.

[0307] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the packet detection indication information includes at least one of the following: URI, connection ID, and packet detection dynamic indication;

[0308] The packet detection dynamic indicator is used to indicate that the first function dynamically updates the connection ID based on the underlying link establishment status.

[0309] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0310] The sixth processing module is used to identify different service flows and corresponding QoS parameters for different service data flow templates or PDRs based on the first information.

[0311] Optionally, the service data flow template or PDR includes at least one of the following: connection identifier, flow identifier, and URI;

[0312] Optionally, the QoS parameters include at least one of the following: 5QI, latency, and bit rate.

[0313] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the connection identification information includes at least one of the following:

[0314] (1) QUIC connection ID between the terminal and the server;

[0315] (2) QUIC connection ID between the terminal and the first function;

[0316] (3) QUIC connection ID between the first function and the server.

[0317] In one embodiment of this disclosure, when the QUIC connection includes a QUIC connection between a terminal and a server, the media content in the stream is transmitted via QUIC encryption, and the metadata in the stream is transmitted via a first method, the metadata including service layer information;

[0318] The first method includes: the metadata being carried in the header field of the UDP packet, or the first method is to use WebRTC.

[0319] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0320] The second receiving module is used to receive downlink data via UDP packets;

[0321] The seventh processing module is used to obtain metadata from the header fields of the UDP packet, the metadata including business layer information.

[0322] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0323] The third receiving module is used to receive downlink data;

[0324] The eighth processing module is used to extract relevant information from the transport layer data frame of the downlink data according to the first information; and to identify service layer information according to the relevant information.

[0325] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the relevant information includes at least one of the following: offset, FIN flag, delivery order, length, sequence number, frame type, and stream ID.

[0326] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0327] The fourth sending module is used to send the downlink data to the first node via GTP messages, wherein the header of the GTP message includes the service layer information.

[0328] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the service layer information includes at least one of the following: End PDU of the PDU Set, End of Data Burst, PDU Set Importance, PDU Set Sequence Number, PDU Sequence Number in a PDU group, and PDU Set Size.

[0329] The PDU group sequence number can be identified by the offset of the QUIC stream frame. The last PDU in a PDU group can be identified by the FIN flag of the QUIC stream frame. The PDU group sequence number can be identified by the object sequence number of the MoQT message. The PDU group size (in bytes) can be identified by the sum of the length fields of the QUIC stream frames. The importance of the PDU group can be identified by the delivery order of the MoQT messages.

[0330] The apparatus provided in this disclosure can implement the various processes implemented in the method embodiment shown in FIG3 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described again here.

[0331] Referring to Figure 12, this disclosure provides a communication device for a fourth function, such as PCF, and the device 1200 includes:

[0332] The fifth sending module 1201 is used to send fourth information to the second function, the fourth information being used to instruct the network to process the encrypted stream, the fourth information including at least one of the following:

[0333] (1) Packet detection indication information;

[0334] Optionally, the packet detection indication information includes at least one of the following: URI, Connection ID, and packet detection dynamic indication;

[0335] The packet detection dynamic indicator is used to indicate that the first function can dynamically update the Connection ID based on the underlying link establishment status.

[0336] (2) Protocol description information;

[0337] For example, protocol description information is used to indicate the transport layer protocol to be used, and the protocol description information can be a protocol description indicator.

[0338] (3) Connection migration instruction;

[0339] For example, a connection migration instruction is used to indicate that some or all of the connections identified by the business flow identification information need to be migrated.

[0340] (4) Business flow identification information;

[0341] Optionally, the service flow identification information includes at least one of the following: IP 5-tuple information, one or more Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), one or more URLs, one or more FQDNs, one or more Connection IDs, and one or more Stream IDs.

[0342] (5) One or more user information;

[0343] Optionally, user information includes at least one of the following: user's IP address, user ID, URI, and group ID. Optionally, user ID includes at least one of the following: GPSI and UE ID.

[0344] (6) One or more business flow characteristic information;

[0345] Optionally, the service flow characteristic information includes at least one of the following: frame type, message type, priority, send order, packet size, and burst periodicity.

[0346] (7) QoS information for one or more service flows;

[0347] Optionally, the service flow QoS information includes at least one of the following: 5QI, latency, packet loss rate, integrity requirements, and security requirements.

[0348] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0349] The fourth receiving module is used to receive the fifth information from the third function (e.g., AF);

[0350] The eighth processing module is used to determine the fourth information based on the fifth information;

[0351] The fifth piece of information includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow feature information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

[0352] The apparatus provided in this disclosure can implement the various processes implemented in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described again here.

[0353] Referring to Figure 13, this disclosure provides a communication device for a second function, such as SMF (Self-Focusing Module). The device 1300 includes:

[0354] The fifth receiving module 1301 is used to receive fourth information from the fourth function, the fourth information being used to instruct the network to process the encrypted stream;

[0355] The fourth piece of information includes at least one of the following:

[0356] (1) Packet detection indication information;

[0357] Optionally, the packet detection indication information includes at least one of the following: URI, Connection ID, and packet detection dynamic indication;

[0358] The packet detection dynamic indicator is used to indicate that the first function can dynamically update the Connection ID based on the underlying link establishment status.

[0359] (2) Protocol description information;

[0360] For example, protocol description information is used to indicate the transport layer protocol to be used, and the protocol description information can be a protocol description indicator.

[0361] (3) Connection migration instruction;

[0362] For example, a connection migration instruction is used to indicate that some or all of the connections identified by the business flow identification information need to be migrated.

[0363] (4) Business flow identification information;

[0364] Optionally, the service flow identification information includes at least one of the following: IP 5-tuple information, one or more Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), one or more URLs, one or more FQDNs, one or more Connection IDs, and one or more Stream IDs.

[0365] (5) One or more user information;

[0366] Optionally, user information includes at least one of the following: user's IP address, user ID, URI, and group ID. Optionally, user ID includes at least one of the following: GPSI and UE ID.

[0367] (6) One or more business flow characteristic information;

[0368] Optionally, the service flow characteristic information includes at least one of the following: frame type, message type, priority, send order, packet size, and burst periodicity.

[0369] (7) QoS information for one or more service flows;

[0370] Optionally, the service flow QoS information includes at least one of the following: 5QI, latency, packet loss rate, integrity requirements, and security requirements.

[0371] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0372] The ninth processing module is used to determine whether to send sixth information to the first node (which may be a UE or an AF) based on the fourth information. The sixth information is used to instruct the first node to migrate one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information (e.g., connection ID) and the third function (e.g., AF) to the first function and the UE.

[0373] Optionally, the sixth information includes at least one of the following: first function address, first function identifier, connection ID before migration, connection ID after migration, and IP 5-tuple information after migration.

[0374] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0375] The tenth processing module is used to update the QoS rules and / or PCC rules according to the fourth information, wherein the service data flow template or PDR in the QoS rules and / or PCC rules includes at least one of the following: connection ID, stream ID, URI.

[0376] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes:

[0377] The sixth sending module is used to send the first information to the first function. The first information includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow feature information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

[0378] The apparatus provided in this disclosure can implement the various processes implemented in the method embodiment shown in FIG5 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described again here. Referring to FIG14, this disclosure provides a communication apparatus applied to a second node, for example, the second node may be a RAN node, and the apparatus 1400 includes.

[0379] The sixth receiving module 1401 is used to receive downlink data sent by the first function via GTP messages, wherein the header of the GTP message includes service layer information.

[0380] The eleventh processing module 1402 is used to perform traffic coordination based on the service layer information.

[0381] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the service layer information includes at least one of the following: End PDU of the PDU Set, End of Data Burst, PDU Set Importance, PDU Set Sequence Number, PDU Sequence Number in a PDU group, and PDU Set Size.

[0382] The apparatus provided in this disclosure can implement the various processes implemented in the method embodiment shown in FIG6 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described again here.

[0383] As shown in Figure 15, this disclosure also provides a communication device 1500, including a processor 1501, a memory 1502, and a program or instructions stored in the memory 1502 and executable on the processor 1501. When the program or instructions are executed by the processor 1501, they implement the various processes of the method embodiments of Figures 3, 4, 5, or 6, and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, further details are omitted here.

[0384] This disclosure also provides a readable storage medium storing a program or instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the various processes of the method embodiments shown in Figures 3, 4, 5, or 6 above, and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, these will not be described again here.

[0385] The processor mentioned above is the processor in the terminal described in the above embodiments. The readable storage medium includes computer-readable storage media, such as computer read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk, or optical disk.

[0386] The steps of the methods or algorithms described in this disclosure can be implemented in hardware or by executing software instructions on a processor. The software instructions can consist of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, portable hard disks, read-only optical discs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can be housed in an ASIC. Alternatively, the ASIC can be housed in a core network interface device. Of course, the processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the core network interface device.

[0387] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the functions described in this disclosure in one or more of the examples above can be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, these functions can be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, wherein communication media include any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available medium accessible to a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

[0388] The specific embodiments described above further illustrate the purpose, technical solution, and beneficial effects of this disclosure. It should be understood that the above description is only a specific embodiment of this disclosure and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this disclosure. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made on the basis of the technical solution of this disclosure should be included within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0389] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this disclosure can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, embodiments of this disclosure can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, embodiments of this disclosure can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0390] This disclosure describes embodiments of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this disclosure with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowchart illustrations and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0391] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0392] These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0393] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the embodiments of this disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Therefore, if these modifications and variations to the embodiments of this disclosure fall within the scope of the claims of this disclosure and their equivalents, this disclosure is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method applied to a first function, the method comprising: Receive first information from the second function, the first information including at least one of the following: Packet inspection indication information; Protocol description information; Connection migration indication; Business flow identification information; One or more user information; One or more business flow characteristic information; Quality of Service (QoS) information for one or more service flows.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The service flow identification information includes at least one of the following: IP five-tuple information, one or more Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), one or more Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs), and one or more Connection Identifiers (Connection IDs); One or more stream identifiers, stream IDs.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Based on the first information, establish one or more QUIC connections with the UE, and determine or generate identifiers for one or more QUIC connections.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Based on the first information, establish one or more QUIC connections with the third function of the business flow identification information, and determine or generate the identifier of one or more QUIC connections.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: Based on the first information, one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information and the third function are migrated to the first function and the UE.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising: Send a second message to the UE, the second message being used to instruct the UE to migrate one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information and the third function to the first function and the UE.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, The second information includes at least one of the following: first function address, first function identifier, connection ID before migration, connection ID after migration, and IP 5-tuple information after migration.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: Based on the first information, one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information and the third function are migrated to between the first function and the third function.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: The first function sends third information to the third function, the third information being used to instruct the third function to migrate one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information and the third function to the connection between the first function and the third function. between.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The third information includes at least one of the following: first function address, first function identifier, connection ID before migration, IP 5-tuple information before migration, connection ID after migration, and IP 5-tuple information after migration.

11. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 10, wherein the method further comprises: Based on the first information, store the identifiers of one or more QUIC connections established with the UE, and the correspondence between the identifiers of one or more QUIC connections established with the third function of the service flow identifier information; The correspondence is sent to the second function.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The packet detection indication information includes at least one of the following: URI, Connection ID, and packet detection dynamic indication; The packet detection dynamic indicator is used to indicate that the first function dynamically updates the connection ID based on the underlying link establishment status.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Based on the first information, different service flows are identified for different service data flow templates or packet detection rules (PDR), corresponding to different QoS parameters.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein, The service data stream template or PDR includes at least one of the following: connection ID, stream ID, URI; And / or, The QoS parameters include at least one of the following: 5G Quality of Service Identifier (5QI), latency, and bit rate.

15. The method according to claim 2, 12, or 14, wherein, The connection ID includes at least one of the following: QUIC connection ID between the terminal and the server; QUIC connection ID between the terminal and the first function; The first function is the QUIC connection ID between the server and the user.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein, In the case where the QUIC connection includes a QUIC connection between a terminal and a server, the media content in the stream is transmitted via QUIC encryption, and the metadata in the stream is transmitted via a first method, the metadata including business layer information; The first method includes: the metadata being carried in the header field of a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) message, or the first method is using WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication).

17. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Receive downlink data via UDP packets; Obtain metadata from the header fields of the UDP packet, the metadata including business layer information.

18. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Receive downlink data; Based on the first information, relevant information is extracted from the transport layer data frame of the downlink data; The business layer information is identified based on the aforementioned relevant information.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein, The relevant information includes at least one of the following: offset, FIN flag, delivery order, length, sequence number, frame type, and stream ID.

20. The method according to claim 17 or 18, further comprising: The downlink data is sent to the first node via a GPRS tunneling protocol GTP message, the header of which includes the service layer information.

21. The method according to claim 16, 17, 18, or 20, wherein, The business layer information includes at least one of the following: PDU set end, PDU set importance, PDU set sequence number, PDU sequence number in a PDU set, and PDU set size.

22. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The service flow characteristic information includes at least one of the following: frame type, message type, priority, send order, packet size, and burst periodicity.

23. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The QoS information of the service flow includes at least one of the following: 5QI, latency, packet loss rate, integrity requirements, and security requirements.

24. A communication method applied to a fourth function, the method comprising: Send a fourth message to the second function, the fourth message being used to instruct the network to process the encrypted stream, the fourth message including at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; one or more service flow QoS information.

25. The method according to claim 24, further comprising: Receive the fifth message from the third function; The fourth information is determined based on the fifth information; The fifth piece of information includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow feature information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein, The service flow identification information includes at least one of the following: IP 5-tuple information, one or more URIs, one or more URLs, one or more FQDNs, one or more connection identification information, and one or more flow identification information.

27. The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein, The service flow characteristic information includes at least one of the following: frame type, message type, priority, sending order, packet size, and burst period.

28. The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein, The QoS information of the service flow includes at least one of the following: 5QI, latency, packet loss rate, integrity requirements, and security requirements.

29. A communication method applied to a second function, the method comprising: Receive fourth information from the fourth function, the fourth information being used to instruct the network to process the encrypted stream; The fourth information includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

30. The method according to claim 29, further comprising: Based on the fourth information, determine whether to send the sixth information to the first node. The sixth information is used to instruct the first node to migrate one or more connections established between the UE identified by the service flow identification information and the third function to the first function and the UE.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein, The sixth piece of information includes at least one of the following: first function address, first function identifier, connection ID before migration, connection ID after migration, and IP 5-tuple information after migration.

32. The method according to claim 29, further comprising: Based on the fourth information, the QoS rules and / or PCC rules are updated, and the service data flow template or PDR in the QoS rules and / or PCC rules includes at least one of the following: connection ID, stream ID, URI.

33. The method according to claim 29, further comprising: Send first information to the first function, the first information including at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; Protocol description information; Connection migration indication; Service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; one or more service flow QoS information.

34. The method according to claim 29, 30, or 33, wherein, The service flow identification information includes at least one of the following: IP 5-tuple information, one or more URIs, one or more URLs, one or more FQDNs, one or more connection identification information, and one or more flow identification information.

35. The method according to claim 29 or 33, wherein, The service flow characteristic information includes at least one of the following: frame type, message type, priority, send order, packet size, and burst periodicity.

36. The method according to claim 29 or 33, wherein, The QoS information of the service flow includes at least one of the following: 5QI, latency, packet loss rate, integrity requirements, and security requirements.

37. A communication method applied to a second node, the method comprising: Receive downlink data sent by the first function via GTP message, wherein the header of the GTP message includes service layer information; Traffic coordination is performed based on the aforementioned business layer information.

38. The method according to claim 37, wherein, The business layer information includes at least one of the following: End PDU of the PDU Set, End of Data Burst, PDU Set Importance, PDU Set Sequence Number, PDU Sequence Number in a PDU Set, and PDU Set Size.

39. A communication device for a first function, the device comprising: A first receiving module is configured to receive first information from a second function, the first information including at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; Protocol description information; Connection migration indication; Service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; one or more service flow QoS information.

40. A communication device for a fourth function, the device comprising: The fifth sending module is used to send fourth information to the second function, the fourth information being used to instruct the network to transmit the encrypted stream. The fourth piece of information, when processed, includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

41. A communication device for a second function, the device comprising: The fifth receiving module is used to receive fourth information from the fourth function, the fourth information being used to instruct the network to process the encrypted stream; The fourth information includes at least one of the following: packet detection indication information; protocol description information; connection migration indication; service flow identification information; one or more user information; one or more service flow characteristic information; and one or more service flow QoS information.

42. A communication device applied to a second node, the device comprising: The sixth receiving module is used to receive downlink data sent by the first function via GTP messages, wherein the header of the GTP message includes service layer information; The eleventh processing module is used to perform traffic coordination based on the business layer information.

43. A communication device comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implement the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 38.

44. A readable storage medium on which a program or instructions are stored, wherein the program or instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 38.

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