Communication method, apparatus and system

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications. Provided are a communication method, apparatus and system. The method is applied to a first network element, and comprises: receiving first information from a terminal device, wherein the first information is used for describing an intent; acquiring the capability of at least one object and a capability calling method, wherein the capability of the at least one object is related to the intent; determining an information interaction method between a first network element and the at least one object on the basis of the capability of the at least one object and the capability calling method, wherein the information interaction method is used for implementing the intent; and calling the capability of the at least one object on the basis of the information interaction method. By means of the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, an intent sent by a terminal device can be translated into a specific service process or task orchestration strategy, and an object with a suitable capability is called and driven to implement the intent, thereby reducing the internal process design complexity of a communication system.

Description

Communication method, device and system

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on November 3, 2023, with application number 202311464430.4 and application name “Communication Methods, Devices and Systems”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technologies, and more specifically, to a communication method, device, and system. Background Art

[0003] The sixth-generation (6G) system, based on enhanced connectivity, adds resources and capabilities in new dimensions of computing, intelligence, data, and perception. It is no longer a simple pipeline, but provides platform-based service capabilities, thus realizing the intelligent connection of all things.

[0004] However, the enhanced evolution of existing mobile network protocol architectures will lead to the continuous accumulation of complexity in system design and implementation, making it unsustainable. This is primarily due to the fact that existing network architectures rely on the definition of standardized signaling processes. The complexity of the architecture and signaling process design depends on the number of business scenarios, the number of business processes within each scenario, and the number of network functions involved in each business process. As the number and variety of interacting objects in communication systems increase, the traditional end-to-end signaling process customization approach will result in a large number of signaling types, complex logic, long version iteration cycles, and poor scalability.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus to reduce the complexity of internal process design of a communication system.

[0007] In the first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a first network element, or by a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the first network element, or by a logical node, logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first network element. This application does not limit this.

[0008] The method includes: receiving first information from a terminal device, the first information is used to describe an intention; obtaining the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, the capability of at least one object being related to the intention; determining an information interaction method between a first network element and at least one object based on the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, the information interaction method being used to realize the intention; and calling the capability of at least one object based on the information interaction method.

[0009] Optionally, the first network element may be a network intelligent agent function (NIAF).

[0010] According to the technical solution provided in this application, the network only needs to define the invocation method of each object capability. The scenarios and business processes are automatically generated by the first network element, thus reducing the complexity of internal process design. In addition, the terminal device and NIAF interact through an intent-based interface. The first network element translates the intent into the business process within the network, thus reducing the learning cost of the terminal to use the network.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, obtaining the capabilities and capability calling methods of at least one object includes: sending a first message to a second network element, the first message being used to request the capabilities and capability calling methods of at least one object, the first message including an identifier of at least one object; and receiving the capabilities and capability calling methods of at least one object from the second network element.

[0012] Optionally, the second network element may be a registration function (RF).

[0013] According to the above technical solution, only the interaction between the first network element and the second network element is required to translate the intent description into an information interaction process that can realize the intent, thereby improving the efficiency of intent translation.

[0014] On the second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a first network element, or by a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the first network element, or by a logical node, logical module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the first network element. This application does not limit this.

[0015] The method includes: receiving first information from a terminal device, the first information is used to describe the intention; sending second information to a third network element, the second information is used to describe the intention; receiving third information from the third network element, the third information is used to indicate an information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object, the information interaction method is used to realize the intention, the information interaction method is determined based on the capability and capability calling method of at least one object; calling the capability of at least one object according to the information interaction method.

[0016] Optionally, the third network element may be an intent knowledge base (IKB).

[0017] According to the technical solution provided in this application, the first network element requests the third network element to assist in identifying and translating the intention, so that the first network element can directly obtain the information interaction method returned by the third network element, thereby saving the computing power of the first network element, and using the saved computing power to execute other tasks of the first network element, thereby improving the overall work efficiency of the communication system.

[0018] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: updating a local intent knowledge base in the first network element according to the intent and the information interaction method, wherein the local intent knowledge base is used to determine the information interaction method corresponding to the intent.

[0019] With this technical solution, the first network element can continuously learn from the data it generates during actual operations, automatically adapting to new intents and / or new objects. This improves the business scenarios and accuracy of intent translation without requiring interface or process upgrades. Furthermore, after updating the local knowledge base, the first network element can directly translate the same or similar intents encountered in subsequent operations without requiring a third network element, thus improving the efficiency of intent translation.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, calling the capability of at least one object according to the information interaction method includes: sending information of sub-intentions for describing the intent to at least part of the at least one object.

[0021] According to the above technical solution, an intent with a complex implementation process can be decomposed into multiple sub-intentions with relatively simple implementation processes, and translated in parallel by multiple objects that can process the intent, thereby improving the overall intent translation efficiency of the communication system.

[0022] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the method further includes: sending a result of realizing the intention to the terminal device.

[0023] According to the above technical solution, the terminal device can obtain the results of the realization of the intention, thereby improving the user experience.

[0024] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, before receiving the first information from the terminal device, the method also includes: establishing a session with the terminal device through a fourth network element; receiving the first information from the terminal device, including: receiving the first information through the session.

[0025] Optionally, the fourth network element may be an intelligent session management function (ISMF).

[0026] According to the above technical solution, the terminal device can establish an intent-driven intelligent session with the first network element, so that the terminal device can interact with the network through an intention-based interface, reducing the learning cost of the terminal using the network.

[0027] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent body, and a terminal device.

[0028] According to the above technical solution, a variety of schedulable objects are provided in the process of realizing intentions, which can realize more complex and diverse intentions, thereby enriching the task scenarios corresponding to the achievable intentions.

[0029] On the third aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a second network element, or by a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the second network element, or by a logical node, logical module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the second network element. This application does not limit this.

[0030] The method comprises: receiving a message for requesting the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, the message including the identification of at least one object; and sending the capability and capability calling method of at least one object according to the identification of the at least one object.

[0031] Optionally, the second network element may receive a message for requesting the capability and capability calling method of at least one object from the first network element, and correspondingly, the second network element sends the capability and capability calling method of the at least one object to the first network element.

[0032] Optionally, the second network element may receive a message for requesting the capability and capability calling method of at least one object from the third network element, and correspondingly, the second network element sends the capability and capability calling method of the at least one object to the third network element.

[0033] According to the technical solution provided in the present application, a unified channel for saving and querying the capability information of each callable object is provided for other first network elements and third network elements in the network, thereby avoiding the need to separately maintain the capability information of the object in multiple first network elements and second network elements, and saving the overall storage space of the system.

[0034] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, before receiving a message for requesting the capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object, the method also includes: receiving the identification, capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object; saving the capability template of at least one object, the capability template of each object in the at least one object including the identification, capabilities and capability calling method of the object.

[0035] According to the above technical solution, the second network element can provide a channel for object capability registration and specifically save and maintain the capability template of the object, thereby facilitating the first network element and the third network element to quickly and accurately query the required object capabilities and improve the efficiency and accuracy of the communication system's translation intent.

[0036] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: querying a capability template of at least one object based on an identifier of at least one object to determine the capability and capability calling method of the at least one object.

[0037] According to the above technical solution, the second network element can query the capability template of the object based on the representation of the object, thereby improving the efficiency and accuracy of obtaining required capabilities and capability calling methods.

[0038] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, before receiving the identification, capability and capability calling method of at least one object, the method also includes: receiving a second message from a third network element, the second message being used to subscribe to the capability template of the object; after saving the capability template of at least one object, the method also includes: sending the capability template of at least one object to the third network element.

[0039] According to the above technical solution, the third network element can subscribe to the capability template from the second network element, so that the third network element can obtain the capability template of the latest registered object, so that the first network element or the third network element can learn the achievable intentions and build an intention knowledge base, thereby improving the effect of translating the intentions of the terminal device into specific business processes or task scheduling strategies.

[0040] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: receiving the identification, capability, capability calling method of the terminal device and the identification of the first network element from the fourth network element, and a session exists between the first network element and the terminal device; saving the capability template of the terminal device, the capability template of the terminal device including the identification, capability, capability calling method of the terminal device and the identification of the first network element; or saving the capability template of the terminal device and the identification of the first network element, the capability template of the terminal device including the identification, capability, capability calling method of the terminal device, and the capability template of the terminal device corresponding to the identification of the first network element.

[0041] According to the above technical solution, the second network element can also save the association information between the terminal device and the first network element, so that the capabilities of the terminal device can also be called during the intention realization process, thereby expanding the application scenarios corresponding to the achievable intention to the business level.

[0042] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent agent, and a terminal device.

[0043] According to the above technical solution, a variety of schedulable objects are provided in the process of realizing intentions, which can realize more complex and diverse intentions, thereby enriching the task scenarios corresponding to the achievable intentions.

[0044] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a third network element, or by a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the third network element, or by a logical node, logical module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the third network element. This application does not limit this.

[0045] The method includes: receiving second information from a first network element, the second information being used to describe an intention; obtaining capabilities and capability calling methods of at least one object, the capabilities of at least one object being related to the intention; determining an information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object based on the capabilities and capability calling methods of at least one object, the information interaction method being used to implement the intention; and sending third information to the first network element, the third information being used to indicate the information interaction method.

[0046] According to the technical solution provided in this application, a new network element, a third network element, is introduced into the network to assist the first network element in identifying and translating intent, so that the first network element can directly obtain the information interaction method returned by the third network element, thereby saving the computing power of the first network element, and using the saved computing power to execute other tasks of the first network element, thereby improving the overall work efficiency of the communication system.

[0047] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, obtaining the capabilities and capability calling methods of at least one object includes: sending a third message to a second network element, the third message being used to request the capabilities and capability calling methods of at least one object, the third message including an identifier of at least one object; and receiving the capabilities and capability calling methods of at least one object from the second network element.

[0048] According to the above technical solution, the third network element can use the second network element to query the calling method of the object capability, thereby improving the efficiency and accuracy of obtaining the required capabilities and capability calling methods.

[0049] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method also includes: sending a second message to a second network element, the second message being used to subscribe to a capability template of an object, the capability template including an identifier of the object and the capabilities and capability calling method of the object; receiving capability templates of one or more objects from the second network element; and updating an intent knowledge base based on the capability templates of one or more objects, the intent knowledge base being used to determine an information interaction method corresponding to the intent.

[0050] According to the above technical solution, the third network element can subscribe to the capability template from the second network element, so that the third network element can obtain the capability template of the latest registered object, so that the third network element can learn the achievable intentions and build an intention knowledge base, thereby improving the effect of translating the intentions of the terminal device into specific business processes or task scheduling strategies.

[0051] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent body, and a terminal device.

[0052] According to the above technical solution, a variety of schedulable objects are provided in the process of realizing intentions, which can realize more complex and diverse intentions, thereby enriching the task scenarios corresponding to the achievable intentions.

[0053] In the fifth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a fourth network element, or by a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the fourth network element, or by a logical node, logical module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the fourth network element. This application does not limit this.

[0054] The method includes: receiving a fourth message from a terminal device, the fourth message is used to request establishment of a session, the fourth message including an identifier, capabilities and a capability calling method of the terminal device; establishing a session between the terminal device and a first network element according to the fourth message, the first network element being used to realize the intention through information interaction with at least one object; and sending the identifier, capabilities, capability calling method and identifier of the terminal device to a second network element.

[0055] According to the technical solution provided in this application, the terminal device can establish an intent-driven endogenous intelligent session with the first network element, so that the terminal device can interact with the network through an intention-based interface, reducing the learning cost of the terminal using the network.

[0056] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the session is used to transmit intent and / or invoke capabilities of the terminal device.

[0057] According to the above technical solution, multimodal information interaction can be carried out between the terminal device and the first network element through intelligent conversation, thereby enriching the possible business scenarios and reducing the learning cost of the terminal device to use the network.

[0058] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, before establishing a session between the terminal device and the first network element, the method further includes: selecting the first network element.

[0059] According to the above technical solution, the fourth network element can select a first network element that is most suitable for establishing an intelligent session with the terminal device when there are multiple available first network elements, thereby improving the intention interaction effect between the first network element and the terminal device.

[0060] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, after establishing a session between the terminal device and the first network element, the method further includes: sending an address of the first network element to the terminal device.

[0061] According to the above technical solution, the terminal device can establish an intelligent session with the first network element and interact with information.

[0062] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, before sending the address of the first network element to the terminal device, the method further includes: receiving the address of the first network element from the first network element.

[0063] According to the above technical solution, the efficiency of the fourth network element in establishing an intelligent session between the terminal device and the first network element can be improved.

[0064] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent body, and a terminal device.

[0065] According to the above technical solution, a variety of schedulable objects are provided in the process of realizing intentions, which can realize more complex and diverse intentions, thereby enriching the task scenarios corresponding to the achievable intentions.

[0066] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device can be a first network element, a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the first network element, or a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first network element. The device includes: a transceiver unit for receiving first information from a terminal device, the first information being used to describe an intention; a processing unit for obtaining the capabilities and capability call method of at least one object, the capabilities of at least one object being related to the intention; a processing unit for determining an information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object based on the capabilities and capability call method of the at least one object, the information interaction method being used to implement the intention; and a processing unit for calling the capabilities of at least one object based on the information interaction method.

[0067] Optionally, the first network element may be a NIAF.

[0068] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically used to: send a first message to the second network element, the first message is used to request the capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object, and the first message includes the identifier of at least one object; receive the capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object from the second network element.

[0069] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a first network element, a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the first network element, or a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first network element. The device includes: a transceiver unit for receiving first information from a terminal device, the first information being used to describe an intention; the transceiver unit is also used to send second information to a third network element, the second information being used to describe the intention; the transceiver unit is also used to receive third information from the third network element, the third information being used to indicate an information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object, the information interaction method being used to implement the intention, the information interaction method being determined based on the capabilities and capability invocation method of the at least one object; and a processing unit for invoking the capabilities of the at least one object based on the information interaction method.

[0070] In combination with the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the processing unit is further used to: update the local intent knowledge base in the first network element based on the intent and the information interaction method, and the local intent knowledge base is used to determine the information interaction method corresponding to the intent.

[0071] In combination with the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, the processing unit is specifically used to: send information of sub-intents for describing the intent to at least part of the objects in at least one object.

[0072] In combination with the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, the transceiver unit is further used to: send the result of the realization of the intention to the terminal device.

[0073] In combination with the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, before receiving the first information from the terminal device, the processing unit is also used to: establish a session with the terminal device through the fourth network element; the transceiver unit is specifically used to: receive the first information through the session.

[0074] In combination with the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent body, and a terminal device.

[0075] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device may be a second network element, a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) within the second network element, or a logical node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the second network element. The device includes: a transceiver unit configured to receive a message requesting the capabilities and capability invocation method of at least one object, the message including an identifier of the at least one object; and the transceiver unit further configured to send the capabilities and capability invocation method of the at least one object based on the identifier of the at least one object.

[0076] Optionally, the second network element may be RF.

[0077] In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, before receiving a message for requesting the capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object, the transceiver unit is also used to: receive the identification, capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object; the device also includes a processing unit for: saving the capability template of at least one object, the capability template of each object in the at least one object including the identification, capabilities and capability calling method of the object.

[0078] In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the processing unit is further used to: query the capability template of at least one object based on the identification of at least one object to determine the capability and capability calling method of the at least one object.

[0079] In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, before receiving the identification, capability and capability calling method of at least one object, the transceiver unit is also used to: receive a second message from a third network element, the second message being used to subscribe to the capability template of the object; after saving the capability template of at least one object, the transceiver unit is also used to: send the capability template of at least one object to the third network element.

[0080] In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the transceiver unit is further used to: receive the identifier, capability, capability calling method of the terminal device and the identifier of the first network element from the fourth network element, and a session exists between the first network element and the terminal device; the processing unit is further used to: save the capability template of the terminal device, the capability template of the terminal device includes the identifier, capability, capability calling method of the terminal device and the identifier of the first network element; or save the capability template of the terminal device and the identifier of the first network element, the capability template of the terminal device includes the identifier, capability, capability calling method of the terminal device, and the capability template of the terminal device corresponds to the identifier of the first network element.

[0081] In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent body, and a terminal device.

[0082] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device may be a third network element, a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the third network element, or a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the third network element. The device includes: a transceiver unit for receiving second information from the first network element, the second information being used to describe the intent; a processing unit for obtaining the capabilities and capability call method of at least one object, the capabilities of at least one object being related to the intent; a processing unit for determining an information interaction method between the first network element and the at least one object based on the capabilities and capability call method of the at least one object, the information interaction method being used to implement the intent; and a transceiver unit for sending third information to the first network element, the third information being used to indicate the information interaction method.

[0083] Optionally, the third network element may be an IKB.

[0084] In combination with the ninth aspect, in certain implementations of the ninth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically used to: send a third message to the second network element, the third message is used to request the capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object, and the third message includes the identifier of at least one object; receive the capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object from the second network element.

[0085] In combination with the ninth aspect, in certain implementations of the ninth aspect, the transceiver unit is further used to: send a second message to the second network element, the second message is used to subscribe to the capability template of the object, the capability template including the object's identifier and the object's capabilities and capability calling method; receive the capability templates of one or more objects from the second network element; the processing unit is further used to: update the intent knowledge base based on the capability templates of one or more objects, the intent knowledge base is used to determine the information interaction method corresponding to the intent.

[0086] In combination with the ninth aspect, in certain implementations of the ninth aspect, at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent body, and a terminal device.

[0087] In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a fourth network element, a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the fourth network element, or a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the fourth network element. The device includes: a transceiver unit, configured to receive a fourth message from a terminal device, the fourth message being used to request establishment of a session, the fourth message including an identifier, capabilities, and a capability invocation method of the terminal device; a processing unit, configured to establish a session between the terminal device and a first network element according to the fourth message, the first network element being configured to implement the intention through information interaction with at least one object; and the transceiver unit, further configured to send the identifier, capabilities, capability invocation method, and identifier of the first network element to the second network element.

[0088] Optionally, the fourth network element may be an ISMF.

[0089] In combination with the tenth aspect, in certain implementations of the tenth aspect, the session is used to transmit intent and / or invoke capabilities of the terminal device.

[0090] In combination with the tenth aspect, in some implementations of the tenth aspect, before establishing a session between the terminal device and the first network element, the processing unit is further used to: select the first network element.

[0091] In combination with the tenth aspect, in certain implementations of the tenth aspect, after establishing a session between the terminal device and the first network element, the transceiver unit is further used to: send the address of the first network element to the terminal device.

[0092] In combination with the tenth aspect, in certain implementations of the tenth aspect, before sending the address of the first network element to the terminal device, the transceiver unit is further used to: receive the address of the first network element from the first network element.

[0093] In combination with the tenth aspect, in certain implementations of the tenth aspect, at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent body, and a terminal device.

[0094] In the eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to, by executing a computer program or instruction or through a logic circuit, enable the communication device to perform the method described in the first aspect and any possible embodiment of the first aspect; or enable the communication device to perform the method described in the second aspect and any possible embodiment of the second aspect; or enable the communication device to perform the method described in the third aspect and any possible embodiment of the third aspect; or enable the communication device to perform the method described in the fourth aspect and any possible embodiment of the fourth aspect; or enable the communication device to perform the method described in the fifth aspect and any possible embodiment of the fifth aspect.

[0095] In a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a memory for storing the computer program or instruction.

[0096] In a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a communication interface, which is used to input and / or output signals.

[0097] In the twelfth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a logic circuit and an input / output interface, the input / output interface being used to input and / or output signals, the logic circuit being used to execute the method described in the first aspect or any possibility of the first aspect; or, the logic circuit being used to execute the method described in the second aspect and any possibility of the second aspect; or, the logic circuit being used to execute the method described in the third aspect and any possibility of the third aspect; or, the logic circuit being used to execute the method described in the fourth aspect and any possibility of the fourth aspect; or, the logic circuit being used to execute the method described in the fifth aspect and any possibility of the fifth aspect.

[0098] In the thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the communication device described in the sixth aspect or any possibility of the sixth aspect, and / or the communication device described in the seventh aspect or any possibility of the seventh aspect.

[0099] In one possible implementation, the communication system further includes the communication device described in the eighth aspect or any possibility of the eighth aspect.

[0100] In one possible implementation, the communication system further includes the communication device described in the ninth aspect or any possibility of the ninth aspect.

[0101] In one possible implementation, the communication system further includes the communication device described in the tenth aspect or any possibility of the tenth aspect.

[0102] In the fourteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or the instruction is run on a computer, the method described in the first aspect or any possibility of the first aspect is executed; or, the method described in the second aspect and any possibility of the second aspect is executed; or, the method described in the third aspect and any possibility of the third aspect is executed; or, the method described in the fourth aspect and any possibility of the fourth aspect is executed; or, the method described in the fifth aspect and any possibility of the fifth aspect is executed.

[0103] In the fifteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the method described in the first aspect or any possibility of the first aspect to be executed; or, cause the method described in the second aspect and any possibility of the second aspect to be executed; or, cause the method described in the third aspect and any possibility of the third aspect to be executed; or, cause the method described in the fourth aspect and any possibility of the fourth aspect to be executed; or, cause the method described in the fifth aspect and any possibility of the fifth aspect to be executed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0104] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the complexity of process design in a traditional communication system.

[0105] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0106] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the complexity of process design in a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0107] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0108] FIG5 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0109] FIG6 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0110] FIG7 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0111] FIG8 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0112] FIG9 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0113] FIG10 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0114] FIG11 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0115] FIG12 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0116] FIG13 is a schematic structural block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0117] FIG14 is a schematic structural block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0118] FIG15 is a schematic structural block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0119] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: fifth generation (5G) system, sixth generation (6G) system or new radio (NR), as well as future communication systems.

[0120] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device may also be a subscriber unit, a terminal device station, a terminal device agent, a terminal device device, or a terminal in V2X communication. The terminal device may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal in a 5G network, a terminal in a 6G network, or a terminal in a future evolution network, etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0121] The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may also be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a holographic projector, a video player, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a tactile terminal device, a vehicle-mounted terminal device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, and a wireless terminal in a smart home.

[0122] Among them, wearable devices can also be called wearable smart devices. It is a general term for wearable devices that use wearable technology to intelligently design and develop wearable devices for daily wear, such as head-mounted extended reality (XR) glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. Wearable devices are portable devices that are worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not just hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are full-featured, large in size, and can achieve full or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0123] In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can also be a terminal device in the Internet of Things (IoT) system. IoT is an important part of the future development of information technology. Its main technical feature is to connect objects to the network through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network of human-machine interconnection and object-to-object interconnection.

[0124] In addition, in this application, the terminal device may also include sensors such as smart printers, train detectors, gas stations, etc., and its main functions include collecting data (part of the terminal device), receiving control information and downlink data from the network device, and sending electromagnetic waves to transmit uplink data to the network device.

[0125] The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, and the network device may be a base transceiver station (BTS) in a global system of mobile communication (GSM) or code division multiple access (CDMA), a base station (nodeB, NB) in a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, an evolutionary node base (eNB) in an LTE system, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the network device may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in a 5G or 6G network and a future communication system, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network, etc., an access point (AP) in a WLAN, or a gNB in ​​a new radio (NR) system, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited. It can be understood that all or part of the functions of the network device in the present application may also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

[0126] Among them, the functions and specific implementation methods of the terminal devices and network devices listed above are only exemplary descriptions, and this application is not limited thereto.

[0127] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device or a network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also called main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. As long as it is possible to communicate according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module in the terminal device or the network device that can call and execute a program.

[0128] In addition, various aspects or features of the present application can be implemented as methods, devices or products using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "product" as used in this application covers computer programs that can be accessed from any computer-readable device, carrier or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks or magnetic tapes, etc.), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), cards, sticks or key drives, etc.). In addition, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0129] Building on the enhanced connectivity of 5G systems, 6G systems add resources and capabilities in new dimensions, such as computing, intelligence, data, and perception. They are no longer simply pipelines, but instead provide platform-based service capabilities, enabling the intelligent interconnection of all things. However, this enhanced evolution based on the existing mobile network protocol system will lead to the continuous accumulation of complexity in system design and implementation, making it unsustainable. This is primarily due to the fact that the existing network architecture relies on the definition of standardized signaling processes. The complexity of the architecture and signaling process design depends on the number of business scenarios, the number of business processes within each scenario, and the number of network functions involved in each business process.

[0130] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of process design in a traditional communication system. As shown in Figure 1, each NF in the system has different signaling interaction methods in each business process in each scenario. Therefore, the process design scale is: number of scenarios S × number of business flows P × number of network functions F, and the corresponding process design complexity is expressed as O(S·P·F). As the number and variety of objects participating in interactions in a communication system increase, the above-mentioned traditional end-to-end signaling process customization approach will lead to problems such as a large number of signaling types, complex logic, long version iteration cycles, and poor scalability. Therefore, how to reduce the complexity of process design within communication systems has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently.

[0131] In view of this, the communication system provided in the embodiment of the present application identifies and understands the user's intentions through the network's endogenous intelligent agent, realizes the mapping and orchestration of intentions to scenarios and business flows, thereby driving network functions, intelligent bodies, and multimodal terminal devices to ultimately achieve the user's intentions and realize the transformation from a process-driven network to an intent-driven network.

[0132] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario that can be applied to the communication method of the embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2, the system is a user-centric communication system that drives multimodal information interaction between humans, machines, numbers, and spirits based on the intentions sent by users through terminal devices. It uses the inherent communication, perception, calculation, mathematics, and intelligence capabilities of intelligent agents to translate user intentions into specific business flows, thereby directly invoking or indirectly driving the capabilities of various objects to realize the user's intentions.

[0133] Among them, the "person" mentioned in the above-mentioned express communication scenario may refer to the user's terminal device, such as the mobile phone shown in Figure 2, or other terminal devices that can send user intentions, including but not limited to tablets, computers with wireless transceiver functions, smart watches, etc. This application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0134] The "machine" mentioned in the above-mentioned communication scenario can refer to a machine, that is, a type of terminal device with specific functions or capable of completing specific tasks, such as the XR device or drone shown in Figure 2, or other terminal devices with specific functions or capable of completing specific tasks, including but not limited to vehicle-mounted terminal devices, wireless terminals in smart homes, terminal devices in Internet of Things systems, etc. This application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0135] The "digital" in the aforementioned expressive communication scenario can refer to a digital human or a digitally intelligent human. These are digital virtual images created using computer graphics (CG) and artificial intelligence technologies. They possess human appearance and behavior, and are capable of intelligent voice interaction, visual recognition, and emotional experience. For example, the digitally intelligent avatar shown in Figure 2.

[0136] The "spirit" mentioned in the aforementioned expressive communication scenario can refer to a class of entities with autonomous or semi-autonomous intelligence. These entities can include physical devices, such as the service robot shown in Figure 2, or other autonomous or semi-autonomous intelligent terminal devices, including but not limited to robots or robot dogs. These entities can also include virtual entities, such as intelligent agents in a network. These intelligent agents can recognize and understand the intent and semantics of physical and / or virtual communication partners, enabling efficient interaction and transfer of intent and semantics between communication partners, and assisting in completing task processing.

[0137] In the embodiments of the present application, "objects" refer to network devices and / or terminal devices in a communication system that have specific capabilities and participate in specific business processes in specific business scenarios, including but not limited to network functions (NFs), management functions (MFs), agents, call applications, third-party application functions (AFs), and different types of terminal devices. NFs are network devices that provide services to terminal devices or other network devices. As shown in Figure 2, the services provided by NFs include but are not limited to at least one of the following: connectivity services, computing services, data services, or perception services. MFs are network devices that provide management services to terminal devices or other network devices. The management services provided by MFs can be the cloud network facility management services shown in Figure 2, or other control plane functions, such as management and network orchestration (MANO). AFs are application servers that provide services to terminal devices or other network devices. Call applications are used to provide call services to terminal devices, such as new calls in the Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia System (IMS). An intelligent agent is an entity based on artificial intelligence (AI) technology, such as the digital human or digital intelligent being referred to in the preceding "number" or the virtual entity referred to in the preceding "spirit." Different types of terminal devices include, but are not limited to, those referred to in the preceding "human," "machine," and "spirit."

[0138] It should be understood that the form of "capabilities" may vary depending on the type of object. For example, for a NF or AF, a capability may be a service that the NF or AF can provide externally; for a terminal device or agent, a capability may be a task that the terminal device or agent can complete; or a capability may be an object's internal processing, such as the setting of MF parameters. This application does not specifically limit the form of representation of an object's capabilities.

[0139] For "capabilities" in different forms, there are also different forms of "capability invocation methods." The "capability invocation method" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be any method that can use the services provided by an object or control the object to complete a task, including but not limited to the object's application programming interface (API), the object's control instructions, the object's parameter configuration rules, the object's intent or semantic interface, etc. The embodiments of this application do not specifically limit the form of the capability invocation method.

[0140] The "intention" mentioned in the embodiments of this application refers to the expected result of the target object. Intent includes but is not limited to the following information: intention expectation, intention object, intention target, intention context, etc. Intent expectation refers to the business scenario targeted by the intention, such as entrusting a digital human to act as an agent for the user to perform tasks, intelligently driving terminal equipment, expanding the computing power of terminal equipment, and establishing a virtual network for a machine group; the intention object refers to the target object targeted by the intention, such as terminal equipment, base stations, virtual private networks, call applications, computing services, third-party applications, etc.; the intention target refers to the target value that the performance indicator needs to achieve, such as throughput, latency, switching success rate, etc.; the intention context refers to the constraints on the intention expressed through relationships such as comparison, inclusion, and association, such as the duration of the intention, the priority of the intention, etc. The description form of the intention includes but is not limited to natural language, formatted intention expression model, etc., and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0141] The "business flow" referred to in the embodiments of this application refers to the specific information exchange process between an intelligent agent and an object and / or multiple objects required to complete a specific business in a specific business scenario, that is, the specific implementation method of the intention. Depending on the type of information recipient and the degree of autonomous intelligence, the exchanged information may include specific signaling, task scheduling strategies, and intentions.

[0142] FIG3 shows a schematic diagram of the process design in the communication system provided by the embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3 , an intelligent agent is introduced into the communication system provided by the embodiment of the present application. A unified intentional interface is used between the intelligent agent and the terminal device, and the information that can express the intention, such as semantics and data flow, is interacted with. The intelligent agent translates the intention into the corresponding scenario and business flow, so that the terminal device only needs to express the intention without knowing how to implement the scenario and business flow corresponding to each intention, thereby reducing the learning cost of the terminal device to use the network. On this basis, NF uses service interface so that the intelligent agent and each NF only need to define how the NF's capabilities are called. Since the NF's capability calling method is independent of the specific scenario or business flow, the process design scale is: the number of network functions F, and the corresponding process design complexity is expressed as O(F). Compared with traditional communication systems, the process design complexity is significantly reduced.

[0143] The communication system 400 provided in an embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to FIG4 . As shown in FIG4 , the system 400 includes a network element 410, which may be a network intelligent agent function (NIAF). NIAF is an implementation of the aforementioned intelligent agent, which is used to receive and identify intentions from terminal devices (such as smart terminal devices) (or, intentions sent by terminal devices through access networks (AN)), and translate the intentions into specific information interaction methods, thereby directly calling or indirectly driving the capabilities of various objects to ultimately achieve the intentions sent by users through terminal devices. As mentioned above, these objects include but are not limited to other NFs or MFs, intelligent entities (such as digital humans), call applications (such as IMS new calls), third-party AFs, and different types of terminal devices.

[0144] Network element 410 can also map intents to information interaction methods based on a local intent knowledge base. Network element 410 can also have an interaction interface that can be used to receive intents, interact with other types of information, and forward intents or sub-intents of intents to other devices. It should be understood that the above-mentioned structure and workflow of network element 410 are merely examples, and this application does not specifically limit the internal design of network element 410.

[0145] Optionally, the communication system 400 may further include a network element 440, which may be an intelligent session management function (ISMF). Various terminal devices, including but not limited to mobile phones, XR glasses, IoT terminals, drones, robot dogs, robots, etc., may establish a session with the network element 410 through the network element 440. In an embodiment of the present application, the session established between the NIAF and the terminal device may be referred to as an intelligent session. The intelligent session is used to implement intention interaction between the terminal device and the network element 410, and / or to implement information interaction between the network element 410 and the terminal device required to achieve the intention, including but not limited to semantic information sent by the terminal device to the network element 410 to express the intention, the intention sent by the network element 410 to the intelligent terminal device that can recognize and implement the intention, the specific signaling used by the network element 410 to control the terminal device, and the multimodal data (such as sensor data, image data, audio and video data, etc.) received or collected by the network element 410 from the terminal device. The terminal device can address the network element 440 through other network elements (such as the access and mobility management function (AMF) network element), or can directly connect to the network element 440. This application does not make specific restrictions on this.

[0146] Optionally, the communication system 400 may further include a network element 420 and / or a network element 430, wherein the network element 420 may be a registration function (RF) and the network element 430 may be an intent knowledge base (IKB). The network element 410 may rely on the network element 420 and the network element 430 to achieve accurate identification and translation of intents. The network element 420 is used to record the capability templates of various objects, that is, which callable capabilities each object provides and how to call the capabilities. In other words, the object registers the capability template with the network element 420. The capability template registered by the object with the network element 420 determines the types and scope of intents that the communication system 400 can achieve. Intents that exceed the capability template cannot be achieved. The network element 430 learns the intents that the communication system 400 can achieve by obtaining the capability template information, and maps them into business processes or task orchestration policies that drive the capability objects. When network element 410 receives a new intent, if it cannot process it, it can forward the intent to network element 430 for identification to obtain a translation result, and use the translation result as knowledge to update the local intent knowledge base, thereby accelerating the subsequent translation of the same or similar intent.

[0147] It should be understood that the NIAF, RF, IKB, and ISMF described above can be independent network elements in the communication system, or can be integrated into other network elements as functional modules. For example, RF, IKB, and / or ISMF can each be a functional module within network element 410, thereby enabling network element 410 to have NIAF functionality while also having functions such as registering capability templates, learning intent knowledge, and / or establishing intelligent sessions.

[0148] As mentioned above, depending on the type of information recipient and the degree of autonomous intelligence, the interactive information may include specific signaling, task scheduling strategies, and intents. In other words, the result of the intelligent agent translating the intent may include business processes and / or task scheduling strategies and / or sub-intents. For example, if the object involved in the intent is a non-intelligent terminal device, NF, AF or call application, the intelligent agent can translate the intent into a specific business process. In this case, the intelligent agent can send specific signaling based on various protocols to the object, such as signaling interaction with NF based on service-based architecture (SBA), signaling interaction with IMS new calls based on session initialization protocol (SIP), signaling interaction with AF based on hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc. For another example, if the object involved in the intent is a terminal device, NF, MF or AF with a certain degree of autonomous intelligence, which can autonomously determine the complete task execution process according to a specific task scheduling strategy, then the intelligent agent can translate the intent into a task scheduling strategy. In this case, the intelligent agent only sends the task scheduling strategy to the object without specifying specific signaling interactions. The object determines the specific implementation process according to the task scheduling strategy to complete the task. For another example, if the object involved in the intent is a terminal device, digital intelligent person or other NIAF with higher-level intelligence, which has the ability to understand and implement intent, then the intelligent agent can translate the intent into sub-intentions. In this case, the intelligent agent decomposes the intent into sub-intentions and assigns them to the object, which then performs further processing based on the sub-intentions to realize the overall intent. It should be understood that in actual application scenarios, the result of the intelligent agent's intent translation may be a combination of the above-mentioned methods.

[0149] The following describes in detail the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application based on the above communication system in conjunction with Figures 5 to 12. Figure 5 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method 500 provided by an embodiment of the present application. Optionally, the method shown in Figure 5 can be applied to the communication system 400 shown in Figure 4.

[0150] In this embodiment, the method is illustrated by taking the network element and the terminal device as the execution subjects of the interaction as an example, but this application does not limit the execution subjects of this interaction. For example, the network element in Figure 5 can also be a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the method that can be implemented by the network element, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network element functions; the terminal device in Figure 5 can also be a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the method that can be implemented by the terminal device, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device functions.

[0151] It should be understood that the specific type of terminal device is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the terminal device can be a UE or other types of terminal devices, and the present application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0152] As shown in FIG5 , the method includes the following steps.

[0153] Step S510: The terminal device sends first information to the first network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the first information from the terminal device.

[0154] The first network element may be a NIAF, such as NIAF 410 shown in FIG4 . Specifically, the first information is used to describe the intent, and thus the first information may also be referred to as an intent description. The intent description may be a natural language description, such as natural language text or voice, or a formatted intent expression model, such as the intent expression model defined by the intent driven management service (IDMS) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Management Standards Working Group SA5.

[0155] The first information may be included in an intent request message sent by the terminal device to the first network element, where the intent request message is used to request the implementation of the intent described by the first information. Optionally, the intent request message may also include other information, such as a UE identity (ID), which is used to enable the first network element or other entities in the system to determine the identity of the terminal device sending the information.

[0156] Optionally, the intent request message may also carry attachments, including but not limited to pictures, text, voice, video, binary code files, application (APP) installation packages, etc., to expand or supplement the content described in the intent.

[0157] Optionally, the first network element and the terminal device may interact multiple times to confirm the terminal device's specific intent. For example, the first network element may request the terminal device to provide additional details describing the intent, or the first network element may send the identified intent to the terminal device to confirm whether the intent was correctly identified. The aforementioned attachments may also be provided during multiple intent confirmation interactions.

[0158] After step S510, the first network element can obtain an information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object, and the information interaction method is used to implement the intention described in the above-mentioned first information. Optionally, the above-mentioned information interaction method can be determined by the first network element, or it can be obtained by the first network element from other network elements. Among them, the case where the information interaction method is determined by the first network element can correspond to the following steps S520 and S530, and the case where the information interaction method is obtained from other network elements can correspond to the following steps S540 to S570. That is, steps S520 to S570 described below can be executed selectively, for example, steps S520 and S530 can be executed, or steps S540 to S570 can also be executed. The two cases are described in detail below.

[0159] In some possible implementations, the information interaction method may be determined by the first network element, specifically corresponding to steps S520 and S530.

[0160] Step S520: The first network element obtains the capability and capability calling method of at least one object.

[0161] Specifically, the at least one object is an object related to achieving the above-mentioned intent. For example, the first network element can determine, based on a local intent knowledge base and the intent described in the first information, which objects and capabilities in the communication system need to be scheduled to achieve the intent. These objects determined to require scheduling are referred to as objects. Objects include, but are not limited to, NFs, MFs, AFs, call applications, agents, and terminal devices.

[0162] The local intent knowledge base can be implemented in a variety of ways, including but not limited to a mapping table between intent and object capabilities, a knowledge graph that represents the relationship between intent and object capabilities, or a neural network model whose input is an intent description and whose output is the object capabilities. As an example, the first network element can save the capabilities of the object corresponding to each intent as a mapping table, and then determine the object required to implement the above intent based on the first information by looking up the table. For another example, the first network element can construct a knowledge graph based on different intents and the capabilities of different objects, and then use the knowledge graph to infer objects that have a relationship with the above intent based on the first information. For another example, the first network element can use known intents and the capabilities of the corresponding objects as training data to train a neural network model, and then use the above intent as input data of the neural network model based on the first information, and determine the object based on the output data of the neural network model. It should be understood that the local intent knowledge base can also be implemented in other ways, and the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the way in which the first network element translates intent.

[0163] After determining at least one object, the first network element can query the capability and capability calling method corresponding to each object from the RF. Specifically, step S520 may include the following steps S521 and S522.

[0164] Step S521: The first network element sends a first message to the second network element. Correspondingly, the second network element receives the first message from the first network element.

[0165] The second network element may be an RF, such as RF 420 shown in Figure 4. Specifically, the first message is used to request the capability and capability invocation method of at least one object, where the capability of the at least one object is related to the intent described by the first information. Therefore, the first message may also be referred to as a first capability query request message.

[0166] The first network element may send the above-mentioned first message to the second network element based on at least one determined object. The first message may include an identifier of the object, so that the second network element can query the capabilities of the object and the method for calling the capabilities. The first message may also include a UE ID. Specifically, the second network element may store a capability template for each object that has registered its capabilities with the second network element. The capability template includes at least an identifier of the object and the corresponding capabilities of each object and the method for calling each capability. Therefore, the second network element can query the capability template of the at least one object based on the identifier of the at least one object in the first message, thereby determining the capabilities of the at least one object and the corresponding calling method. The identifier of the above-mentioned object may be, for example, the name of the object or the ID of the object, etc., which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0167] Step S522: The second network element sends the capability and capability calling method of at least one object to the first network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the capability and capability calling method of at least one object from the second network element.

[0168] For example, the second network element may send a first capability query response message to the first network element in response to the first capability query request message. The first capability query response message may include the UE ID and the capability of each of the at least one object and the corresponding capability invocation method, thereby feeding back the query result to the first network element.

[0169] It should be understood that the above steps S521 and S522 are merely examples of the interaction between the NIAF and the RF as two independent network elements, but the implementation of step S520 is not limited to this. For example, the first network element may also integrate a function registration module for locally storing object capability templates. In this case, the capabilities and capability invocation methods of at least one object may be obtained by the first network element through local query. For another example, the capabilities and capability invocation methods of at least one object may be obtained by the first network element directly requesting the at least one object. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0170] Step S530: The first network element determines an information interaction method.

[0171] For example, the first network element determines an information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object based on the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, where the information interaction method enables the capability of the at least one object to be called to achieve the above intention.

[0172] It should be understood that the above-mentioned information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object may include: an information interaction method between the first network element and each object in at least part of the at least one object, and / or an information interaction method between at least two objects in at least one object.

[0173] The above process only requires interaction between the first network element and the second network element to translate the intent description into an information interaction process that can realize the intent, thereby improving the efficiency of intent translation.

[0174] In other possible implementations, if the first network element cannot correctly translate the user's intent through the built-in local intent knowledge base, it can send an intent translation request message to the IKB, forward the intent description and corresponding attachments to the IKB, so that the IKB can perform intent recognition and translation, which specifically corresponds to steps S540, S550, S560 and S570.

[0175] Step S540: The first network element sends the second information to the third network element. Correspondingly, the third network element receives the second information from the first network element.

[0176] The third network element may be an IKB, such as IKB 430 shown in FIG4 . Specifically, the second information is used to describe the intent described by the aforementioned first information. The description format of the second information may be the same as that of the first information, or may be different from that of the first information, such as converting a natural language description into an intent expression model, which is not specifically limited in this application. The second information may be included in an intent translation request message sent by the first network element to the third network element. The intent translation request message is used to request the third network element to translate the intent described by the second information. Optionally, the intent request message may also include other information, such as a UE ID, an attachment corresponding to the intent description, and the like.

[0177] Step S550: The third network element obtains the capability and capability calling method of at least one object.

[0178] For example, the third network element can determine at least one object related to achieving the intent described in the second information based on the second information. The specific implementation method can refer to the first network element determining the relevant description of the object based on the local intent knowledge base in S520, including but not limited to through a mapping table, a knowledge graph, a neural network model, etc., which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0179] After determining the at least one object, the third network element may execute steps S551 and S552 to obtain the capability and capability calling method of the at least one object from the second network element, as follows.

[0180] Step S551: The third network element sends a third message to the second network element. Correspondingly, the second network element receives the third message from the third network element.

[0181] Specifically, the third message is used to request the capabilities and capability invocation methods of at least one object. The capabilities of the at least one object are related to the intent described in the second information. Therefore, the third message can also be called a second capability query request message. The third message can include an identifier of the object, enabling the second network element to query the capabilities of the object and the capability invocation methods. The third message can also include a UE ID.

[0182] Step S552: The second network element sends the capability and capability calling method of at least one object to the third network element. Correspondingly, the third network element receives the capability and capability calling method of at least one object from the second network element.

[0183] For example, the second network element may send a second capability query response message to the third network element in response to the second capability query request message. The second capability query response message may include the capability of each of the at least one object and the corresponding capability invocation method, thereby feeding back the query result to the first network element. Optionally, the second capability query response message includes the UE ID.

[0184] It should be understood that step S551 and step S552 are only one implementation method of step S550. The third network element can also obtain the capabilities and capability calling methods of at least one object through other methods. This application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0185] Step S560: The third network element determines the information interaction method.

[0186] For example, the third network element determines an information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object based on the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, where the information interaction method enables the capability of the at least one object to be called to achieve the above intention.

[0187] Optionally, the specific process implemented by the third network element and the second network element in the above steps S550 and S560 may be similar to the process implemented by the first network element and the second network element in the above steps S520 and S530. Please refer to the description of the corresponding related content and will not be repeated here.

[0188] Step S570: The third network element sends third information to the first network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the third information from the third network element.

[0189] Specifically, the third information is used to indicate the information interaction method determined by the third network element. The third information may be included in an intent translation response message sent by the third network element to the first network element in response to the intent translation request message, thereby feeding back the intent translation result to the first network element.

[0190] The above process enables the first network element to directly obtain the information interaction method returned by the third network element, thereby saving the computing power of the first network element and using the saved computing power to execute other tasks of the first network element, thereby improving the overall working efficiency of the communication system.

[0191] Furthermore, the third network element can perform more advanced intent translation than the local intent knowledge base of the first network element. Specifically, the third network element can perform more comprehensive and accurate translations compared to the local intent knowledge base of the first network element, thereby improving the success rate of intent execution. This "more advanced" approach may be due to the third network element employing a more accurate translation method than the local intent knowledge base of the first network element. For example, to save computing power, the local intent knowledge base uses a relatively simple mapping table approach, storing the correspondence between some known intents and object capabilities as a mapping table for lookup translation. However, the third network element utilizes a more complex neural network model, enabling it to perform some translations that the local intent knowledge base cannot. The third network element and the local intent knowledge base can employ the same translation method. In this case, the "more advanced" approach may be due to the third network element having more comprehensive sample data for learning than the local intent knowledge base. For example, the third network element can use the capabilities of all registered objects in the RF as sample data for learning, while the local intent knowledge base, to save storage space, may only use intents and object capabilities acquired in actual services as learning samples. Therefore, the third network element can perform some translations that the local intent knowledge base cannot. Or it may be other situations, such as a combination of the above two situations, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0192] Optionally, steps S520 and S530 described above may be used in conjunction with steps S540 to S570, in part or in whole, and the order of the steps may be swapped. For example, after step S510, steps S540 to S570 may be performed first. However, the intent-to-translate response message sent by the third network element to the first network element may not include the specific method for information exchange, but may only include the information exchange strategy, such as which objects and capabilities need to be invoked and the order in which the capabilities of each object are invoked. In this case, after steps S540 to S570, the first network element may also perform steps S520 and S530, and query the second network element for the invocation method of the relevant object capabilities based on the information exchange strategy fed back by the third network element, thereby determining the specific method for information exchange. For another example, since the intent-to-translate response message in the above example may not include the specific method for information exchange, the third network element may not obtain the object capability invocation method. In this case, only steps S540, S570, S520, and S530 may be performed. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0193] Optionally, when the first network element requests the third network element to assist in the intention translation, that is, when at least step S570 is executed, the method 500 may further include the following step S580.

[0194] S580: The first network element updates the local intent knowledge base.

[0195] For example, the first network element can update the local intent knowledge base in the first network element based on the intent described by the first information and the information interaction method included in the intent translation response message returned by the third network element. For example, the first network element can learn the current intent and at least one object determined by the third network element as a set of sample data. For example, if the local intent knowledge base adopts the implementation method of a mapping table, the first intent and the corresponding at least one object can be added to the mapping table; if the local intent knowledge base adopts the implementation method of a knowledge graph, if there is no node corresponding to the first intent and / or at least one object in the graph, the corresponding node can be added to the graph, and the relationship between the nodes corresponding to the first intent and at least one object can be added; if the local intent knowledge base adopts the implementation method of a neural network model, the first intent and the corresponding at least one object can be used as a new set of training data for training the neural network model, thereby updating the parameters of the model. The local intent knowledge base can also learn sample data in other ways, and this application does not make specific restrictions on this.

[0196] Through this solution, NIAF can continuously learn from the data it generates during actual operations, automatically adapting to new intents and / or new objects. This improves the business scenarios and accuracy of intent translation without requiring interface or process upgrades. Furthermore, after updating the local knowledge base, NIAF can directly translate the same or similar intents encountered in subsequent operations without relying on the IKB, thereby improving the efficiency of intent translation.

[0197] After obtaining the information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object through the above steps, the first network element can execute the following step S590.

[0198] Step S590: The first network element calls the capability of at least one object according to the information interaction method.

[0199] As previously described, the information exchange between the first network element and at least one object includes: information exchange between the first network element and each of at least some of the at least one object, and / or information exchange between at least two of the at least one object. Therefore, in step S590, the first network element can directly schedule the object or indirectly drive the object. Direct scheduling refers to sending information directly to the object, thereby scheduling it to implement the corresponding capability; indirect driving refers to sending information to other objects, thereby causing the other objects to send information to the object to drive it to implement the corresponding capability.

[0200] As mentioned above, the first network element can translate the first intent into a business process and / or a task scheduling strategy and / or a sub-intent for processing. Therefore, the way in which the first network element calls the capability of at least one object includes but is not limited to: sending specific signaling to at least part of the at least one object, sending a task scheduling strategy to at least part of the at least one object, and / or sending a sub-intent to at least part of the at least one object. For example, the first network element can interact with the corresponding NF, AF, other terminal devices for information, or interact with digital humans, other NIAFs for sub-intents, etc., and this application does not make specific limitations on this. For example, the first network element can send fourth information to at least part of the at least one object, and the fourth information is used to describe the sub-intent of the intent, so that the intent with a complex implementation process can be decomposed into multiple sub-intents with relatively simple implementation processes, and multiple objects that can process the intent can perform translation in parallel, thereby improving the overall intent translation efficiency of the communication system.

[0201] It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, "the information interaction method is used to achieve the intention" means that the purpose of determining the information interaction method is to achieve the above intention, but it does not limit the final information interaction method to being able to achieve the intention.

[0202] By introducing a new network element (NIAF) into the network through method 500, the network only needs to define interfaces between NIAF and each functional entity. NIAF automatically generates scenarios and business processes, thus reducing the complexity of internal process design. Furthermore, terminal devices interact with NIAF via an intent-based interface. NIAF translates the terminal device's intent into internal business processes, thus reducing the learning curve for terminals.

[0203] Optionally, for the above method 500, after step S590, NIAF may feed back the result of the implementation of the intent to the terminal device. For example, the first network element may send the fifth information to the terminal device, and the terminal device accordingly receives the fifth information from the first network element. The fifth information is used to indicate the result of the implementation of the intent described by the first information. The fifth information may be included in the intent response message sent by the first network element to the terminal device in response to the intent request message. The intent response message may include, for example, whether the intent is successfully implemented, the quantitative implementation effect (for example, the percentage of reaching the expected value), the reason for the unsuccessful implementation part, etc. The intent response message may also include an attachment object for further supplementary explanation of the intent implementation result, including but not limited to text, pictures, videos, etc. Optionally, the above feedback step may be repeated. For example, the first network element may feed back the execution progress of the intent to the terminal device at any time during the intent implementation process in the form of event notifications, etc. This enables the terminal device to obtain feedback on the intent in a timely manner and improve the user experience.

[0204] The following describes the application of the above method 500 in different scenarios through five specific embodiments with reference to Figures 6 to 10.

[0205] Example 1: The business scenario is that a user entrusts a digital human with a task of making or receiving phone calls through NIAF. The specific process is shown in method 600 in FIG6 .

[0206] Optionally, before method 600 starts, the IMS call service sends an incoming call notification to the UE.

[0207] S601: The UE sends a request message to the NIAF.

[0208] For example, a user sends an intent request message to NIAF through the UE. The intent description in the intent request message can include "entrust a digital human to answer the phone on behalf of the user." The intent description can also include a strategy for answering the call. For example, if it is a courier, prompt the courier to leave the package at the door. If it is an educational institution that has been contacted before, write down the key information and notify the UE via SMS, etc. If the above-mentioned policy information for answering the call is relatively large, it can also be provided as an attachment included in the intent request message in the form of text or other means. Optionally, the intent description can also include entrusting a digital human to make external calls on behalf of the user. In this case, the time when the intent takes effect can be constrained by the intent context, such as making external calls according to the strategy at a specific time. This will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

[0209] S602: The NIAF sends a capability query request message to the RF.

[0210] For example, after receiving the intent request message, the NIAF recognizes that the intent requires the digital human and IMS call service to complete the task. Therefore, it sends a capability query request message to the RF to obtain the capabilities and capability invocation methods of the digital human and IMS call service. Optionally, if the NIAF cannot recognize or translate the intent, it can send the intent to the IKB for recognition and / or translation. For the specific process, please refer to the description of the relevant steps in method 500 above and will not be repeated here.

[0211] S603: The RF sends a capability query response message to the NIAF.

[0212] For example, in response to the capability query request message, RF queries the capability templates of objects with object names of "digital person" and "IMS call service" in the capability templates of objects that have been registered for capabilities, thereby obtaining the respective capabilities of digital person and IMS call service and the corresponding calling methods for each capability, and returns the required capabilities and capability calling methods to NIAF.

[0213] S604: NIAF determines the information exchange method.

[0214] For example, NIAF translates user intent into corresponding business processes based on the capabilities of digital humans and IMS call services, including sub-intention interactions between NIAF and digital humans and information interactions between NIAF and IMS call services.

[0215] S605: Sub-intention interaction between NIAF and digital human.

[0216] For example, S605a: NIAF sends a sub-intent request message to the digital human according to the business process, informing the digital human of the response strategy for answering the call; S605b: The digital human sends a sub-intent response message to NIAF, feeding back the recognition result of the sub-intent.

[0217] S606: Information exchange between NIAF and IMS call service.

[0218] For example, S606a: NIAF sends an IMS call forwarding request message to the IMS call service according to the business process to configure the IMS call service so that the IMS transfers specific incoming calls from the UE to the digital human; S606b: The IMS call service sends an IMS call forwarding response message to NIAF to feedback the configuration result of the IMS call service.

[0219] S607: The NIAF sends an intent response message to the UE.

[0220] For example, the NIAF sends an intent response message to the UE to feedback the intent achievement result.

[0221] S608: Digital Human and IMS call service make and receive calls according to the UE's intention.

[0222] For example, the IMS call service transfers a specific incoming call to a digital person, who then answers the specific incoming call and responds on behalf of the user according to the response strategy expressed by the intent.

[0223] In the above embodiment, the UE only needs to send an intent to the NIAF, and the NIAF automatically translates the intent into a corresponding business process to implement the UE's intent, simplifying the interface for interaction between the UE and the network, and eliminating the need to design and develop new business processes.

[0224] Example 2: The business scenario is that NIAF receives the intention of UE and drives multiple terminal devices to complete task goals to realize the intention, so that the terminal devices are intelligent enough to perceive user intentions. The specific process is method 700 shown in Figure 7.

[0225] Optionally, terminal device 1 (e.g., a smart electric vehicle) and terminal device 2 (e.g., a home control center) establish smart sessions with different NIAFs. For example, before method 700 begins, terminal device 1 in city 1 may have established a smart session with NIAF 1, while terminal device 2 in city 2 may have established a smart session with NIAF 2.

[0226] S701: The UE sends an intent request message to the NIAF 1.

[0227] For example, a user sends an intent request message to NIAF 1 through a UE. The intent description in the intent request message may be "drive back to city 2 at 2 pm, and hope that the temperature on the way, in the car, and indoors is 26 degrees Celsius when arriving home."

[0228] S702: NIAF 1 recognition intention requires at least one terminal device to complete.

[0229] For example, after receiving the intent request message, NIAF 1 determines based on the local intent knowledge base that the intent requires terminal device 1 and terminal device 2 to complete the task together.

[0230] S703: Information exchange between NIAF 1 and RF.

[0231] For example, in S703a, NIAF 1 sends a Capability Query Request message to RF to obtain the capabilities of Terminal Device 1 and Terminal Device 2, the method for invoking the capabilities, and the binding information between the terminal devices and the NIAF. It should be understood that terminal devices are different from other types of objects, such as NFs, AFs, or digital humans. Terminal devices need to interact with other entities in the network through the NIAF with which they have established an intelligent session. Therefore, in order to invoke terminal device capabilities, it is necessary to query which NIAF the terminal device has established an intelligent session with. S703b: RF sends a Capability Query Response message to NIAF 1, returning the query results to NIAF 1.

[0232] S704: NIAF 1 translates the intent into a business process or task schedule.

[0233] For example, NIAF 1 translates the user intent into a corresponding business process or task scheduling policy based on the capabilities of terminal device 1 and terminal device 2. Since NIAF 1 can determine that a smart session binding relationship exists between terminal device 2 and NIAF 2 based on the capability query results of terminal device 2, NIAF 1's intent translation results are divided into two parts: one is the information interaction process between NIAF 1 and terminal device 1, and the other is the sub-intent for controlling terminal device 2, which NIAF 1 forwards to NIAF 2 to request NIAF 2 to implement the final control and information interaction process for terminal device 2.

[0234] S705: NIAF 1 sends a sub-intent request message to NIAF 2.

[0235] For example, based on the intent description in the intent request message and the user's location information, NIAF1 can determine that the user arrives at home in city 2 at approximately 17:00. Therefore, the content of the intent description of the sub-intent can be "The user arrives home at approximately 17:00 and hopes that the indoor temperature will be controlled at 26 degrees."

[0236] S706: Information exchange between NIAF 1 and terminal device 1.

[0237] For example, NIAF 1 implements control and information interaction of terminal device 1 based on the intent translation result and the obtained capability information of terminal device 1. For example, NIAF 1 uses the air-conditioning control application programming interface (API) of terminal device 1 to control terminal device 1 to turn on the air-conditioning in the car and set the temperature to 26 degrees at 13:50 (that is, 10 minutes before the user's expected driving time expressed in the intention).

[0238] S707: Information exchange between NIAF 2 and RF.

[0239] For example, in step S707a, after receiving the sub-intent request message, NIAF 2 recognizes that the sub-intent requires controlling terminal device 2 to complete a task. Therefore, NIAF 2 sends a capability query request message to RF to obtain the capabilities and capability invocation methods of terminal device 2. In step S707b, RF sends a capability query response message to NIAF 2, returning the query results to NIAF 2, such as whether terminal device 2 has temperature control capabilities and the remote API invocation method.

[0240] S708: NIAF 2 translates the sub-intent into a business process or task scheduling.

[0241] For example, NIAF 2 translates the sub-intent into a corresponding business process or task scheduling strategy based on the capabilities of terminal device 2.

[0242] S709: Information exchange between NIAF 2 and terminal device 2.

[0243] For example, NIAF 2 implements control and information interaction with terminal device 2 based on the sub-intent translation result and the obtained capability information of terminal device 2. For example, NIAF 2 calls the API of terminal device 2 to control the home air conditioner to turn on the car air conditioner and set the temperature to 26 degrees at 16:45 (i.e., 15 minutes before the user's expected arrival time expressed by the sub-intent). Alternatively, NIAF 2 can also translate the sub-intent into a task scheduling strategy. For example, NIAF 2 only sends information to terminal device 2 to set the indoor temperature to 26 degrees at 17:00. Terminal device 2 determines which smart devices in the home need to be scheduled and how to schedule them according to the above task scheduling strategy. This embodiment will not be described in detail.

[0244] S710: NIAF 2 sends a sub-intent response message to NIAF 1.

[0245] For example, NIAF 2 sends a sub-intent response message to NIAF 1, indicating that the sub-intent has been successfully executed.

[0246] S711: NIAF 1 sends an intent response message to the UE.

[0247] For example, NIAF 1 sends an intent response message to UE, and feedback indicates that the intent has been arranged.

[0248] It should be understood that the information exchange between NIAF 1 and Terminal Device 1, between NIAF 2 and Terminal Device 2, and between NIAF 1 and NIAF 2 in the above process is continuous, and the execution status of intents or sub-intents can be fed back to the UE at any time through event notifications, etc. For example, NIAF 1 and NIAF 2 can continuously monitor the execution status of their respective tasks on Terminal Device 1 and Terminal Device 2, such as changes in the current air conditioner temperature value and whether the air conditioner is faulty.

[0249] In the above embodiment, the UE expresses its intent to the NIAF that multiple terminal devices collaborate to complete a task. The NIAF automatically translates the intent into a corresponding business process or task scheduling. According to the terminal device capability invocation method provided in the registered capability template, multiple NIAFs drive multiple terminal devices to collaborate to implement the intent. Each NIAF interacts with the terminal device through an intentional interface, and multiple NIAFs collaborate to complete the task through interactive sub-intents. This simplifies the interface for interaction between NIAFs and eliminates the need for new business process design and development.

[0250] Embodiment 3: The business scenario is that the NIAF receives the intention of the UE and implements the establishment of a virtual network for a group of machine devices. The specific process is method 800 shown in Figure 8.

[0251] Optionally, the “machine” or “machine device” mentioned in this embodiment is a type of terminal device, so before the method 800 starts, multiple machine devices have registered with the network and established intelligent sessions with the NIAF.

[0252] S801: The UE sends an intent request message to the NIAF.

[0253] For example, a user sends an intent request message to the NIAF via a UE. The intent description in the intent request message may include "establishing a virtual local area network (LAN) for specified machine members." Optionally, a list of specific machine members participating in the network may be provided as a text attachment to the intent request message.

[0254] S802: NIAF identification intention needs to be completed by control plane functions related to virtual networks (VN).

[0255] S803: Information exchange between NIAF and RF.

[0256] For example, S803a: NIAF sends a first capability query request message to RF to obtain the capability template of each machine participating in the networking. S803b: RF sends a first capability query response message to NIAF, including but not limited to the capabilities of each machine, the capability call method and the binding information with NIAF. S803c: NIAF sends a second capability query request message to RF to obtain the capability template of the NF related to the VN. S803d: RF sends a second capability query response message to NIAF, including but not limited to the capabilities of the VN-related control plane (VN control plane, VN-CP) and the capability call method.

[0257] S804: NIAF translates intent into business processes or task scheduling.

[0258] S805: The NIAF sends a VN establishment request message to the VN-CP.

[0259] For example, NIAF sends a VN establishment request message to VN-CP based on the calling method for creating VN provided in the obtained VN-CP capability template. The VN establishment request message may include an ID list of machine members that need to be interconnected through VN.

[0260] S806: The VN-CP creates a VN, triggering the designated machine device to establish a session to the user plane function (UPF) network element and access the VN.

[0261] For example, the VN-CP initiates the VN creation process, creates a VN member group including all machines on the user data management function (e.g., unified data management function (UDM)), creates a virtual LAN (e.g., 5G LAN) switching instance on the UPF, and triggers all machines to establish sessions to the UPF and access the created virtual LAN instance. All processes involved in this step can refer to existing standards, such as the standardized processes defined by 3GPP 5G LAN, and this embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0262] S807: The VN-CP sends a VN establishment response message to the NIAF.

[0263] For example, after the VN-CP creates the virtual LAN, it feeds back the result of the VN establishment through a VN establishment response message.

[0264] S808: The NIAF sends an intent response message to the UE.

[0265] For example, NIAF sends an intent response message to the UE to feedback the intent execution result, such as successful creation of VNs for multiple target machines.

[0266] In the above embodiment, the UE expresses its intention to NIAF to establish a virtual network for a group of machines. NIAF automatically translates this intention into a corresponding business process, driving the control plane and / or user plane functions to create a virtual network for the specified group of machines and enable the machines to access the virtual network and communicate with each other. This enriches the types of objects that NIAF can drive without requiring the design and development of new business processes.

[0267] Example 4: The business scenario is that NIAF receives the intention of UE, drives the network to select and deploy task execution nodes, enables UE computing tasks to be offloaded to the network for execution, and achieves the effect of expanding UE computing capabilities. The specific process is method 900 shown in Figure 9.

[0268] S901: The UE sends an intent request message to the NIAF.

[0269] For example, a user sends an intent request message to NIAF via a UE. The intent description in the intent request message may be "terminal computing task offloading." Optionally, the image package or download address of the code for the computing task to be offloaded may be provided as an attachment included in the intent request message.

[0270] S902: Information exchange between NIAF and RF.

[0271] For example, after receiving the intent request message, the NIAF recognizes that the intent requires both the computing network collaboration network function and the network functions associated with the computing service to complete the task. Therefore, S902a: The NIAF sends a capability query request message to the RF to obtain the capability template for computing network collaboration and search for the capability template for the NF associated with the computing service. S902b: The RF sends a first capability query response message to the NIAF, including but not limited to the computing network collaboration and computing management capabilities and the capability invocation method.

[0272] S903: NIAF translates intent into business processes or task scheduling.

[0273] For example, NIAF translates user intent into corresponding business flows or task scheduling based on the local intent knowledge base and the computing network collaboration and computing management capability information. In this embodiment, the business flow mainly drives the computing network collaboration function to realize the offloading of terminal computing tasks.

[0274] S904: NIAF sends a computing offloading request message to the computing network collaboration.

[0275] For example, NIAF sends a computing offload request message to the computing network collaboration function according to the business process. The computing offload request message may also include the code image package or download address of the computing task that needs to be moved up. The computing network collaboration function computing offload request message decomposes the computing offload task into two steps: computing task installation and execution and session establishment. It should be understood that in some possible implementations, the computing network collaboration function can also be implemented by NIAF. In this case, NIAF no longer needs to send the above-mentioned computing offload request message and subsequently receive the computing offload response message. This will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

[0276] S905: The computing network collaboration sends a task installation request message to the computing management.

[0277] For example, the task installation request message may include the UE ID, the UE location, the code image package or download address of the computing task, and the like.

[0278] S906: The computing manager selects a task execution node.

[0279] For example, the computing management task selects a task execution node that meets the task requirements based on information such as the UE location, computing task category, requirements for the software and hardware execution environment, and resource usage of the current computing node.

[0280] S907: Computing management and information interaction with task execution nodes.

[0281] For example, S907a: The computing management sends a task installation request message to the task execution node, which includes the code image package of the computing task, to instruct the selected task execution node to download and install the code image and instantiate the computing task. S907b: The task execution node sends a task installation response message to the computing management, feeding back the IP address and port number of the task execution node where the computing task is located or an accessible uniform resource locator (URL) to facilitate subsequent addressing and access between the UE and the offloaded computing task.

[0282] S908: The computing management sends a task installation response message to the computing network collaboration.

[0283] For example, the task installation response message may include the ID of the task execution node where the computing task is located, as well as the IP address and port number or an accessible URL.

[0284] S909: Information interaction between computing network collaboration and session management.

[0285] For example, S909a: The computing network collaboration sends a session establishment request message to the session management function. The session establishment request message is used to request the session management function to execute S909b to trigger the establishment of a user plane session connection between the UE and the task execution node. The specific implementation method can refer to existing communication standards, such as the session establishment process between the UE and the UPF defined by 3GPP. This application does not make specific restrictions on this. S909c: Sending a session establishment request message to the computing network collaboration is used to indicate the result of the session establishment.

[0286] S910: The computing network collaboration sends a computing offloading response message to the NIAF, including but not limited to the IP address and port number of the task execution node where the computing task is located or the accessible URL.

[0287] S911: NIAF sends an intent response message to the UE, including but not limited to the IP address and port number of the task execution node where the computing task is located or accessible.

[0288] S912: The UE interacts with the computing tasks moved up by the task execution node to achieve UE computing power expansion.

[0289] In the above embodiment, the UE expresses its intention to offload terminal computing to the NIAF. NIAF automatically translates this intention into a corresponding business process, driving the computing network collaboration and computing management functions to execute the terminal computing task on the optimal task execution node in the network. This improves the execution speed and accuracy of the computing task, saves UE battery power, and effectively expands the computing power of the terminal UE. This process does not require the design and development of new business processes.

[0290] Example 5: An example of NIAF's autonomous learning intention. The specific business scenario is that NIAF learns and achieves the intention based on the newly registered capability template. The specific process is shown in method 1000 in Figure 10.

[0291] S1001: UE sends an intent request message to NIAF.

[0292] For example, a user sends an intent request message to NIAF via a UE. The intent description in the intent request message may be "terminal computing task offloading." Optionally, the image package or download address of the code for the computing task to be offloaded may be provided as an attachment included in the intent request message.

[0293] S1002: NIAF and IKB are unable to translate intent.

[0294] For example, if NIAF cannot retrieve knowledge related to “terminal task offloading” based on the local intent knowledge base or IKB, and cannot deduce the business process for implementing the intent based on the capability template of the objects registered in RF, NIAF determines that the intent cannot be correctly translated at present.

[0295] S1003: NIAF sends an intent response message to the UE.

[0296] For example, the intent response message can be used to provide feedback to the UE that the above intent has not been achieved. The intent response message can also include the reason why the intent has not been achieved, such as "the registered network functions are missing network functions related to computing offloading."

[0297] S1004: The computing management sends an NF capability registration request message to the RF, which includes the computing management capability template.

[0298] S1005: The computing network collaboration sends an NF capability registration request message to the RF, which includes the computing network collaboration capability template.

[0299] For example, after step S1003 is completed, subsequent computing management functions, computing network collaboration functions, and task execution nodes related to terminal computing task offloading are deployed to the operator network and their capabilities are registered with the RF.

[0300] S1006: The RF sends a capability information notification message to the IKB.

[0301] For example, the RF notifies the IKB of a new capability registration event, and the capability information notification message includes the capability template of the newly registered object.

[0302] S1007: The IKB learns and updates based on failed historical intentions and newly registered capabilities.

[0303] For example, based on the history of previously unfulfilled intents and the newly registered capability template, the IKB learns how to fulfill failed intents and updates the intent knowledge base for subsequent recognition and translation of the same or similar intents. It should be understood that the method by which the IKB learns and updates intent knowledge is related to the implementation of the IKB and is not specifically limited in this application. For details, please refer to the description related to updating the NIAF's local intent knowledge base in method 500 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0304] S1008: The UE sends an intent request message to the NIAF.

[0305] For example, the user sends an intent request message to the NIAF again through the UE, and the content of the intent description is still "terminal computing task offloading".

[0306] S1009: NIAF sends an intent translation request message to the IKB.

[0307] For example, since NIAF's local intent knowledge base has not been updated, NIAF itself is currently unable to correctly translate the above intent. Therefore, NIAF requests IKB to assist in identifying and translating the above intent.

[0308] S1010: The IKB sends an intent translation response message to the NIAF.

[0309] For example, because IKB has previously learned how to handle intent related to terminal computing offloading for the newly added capability template, IKB is able to complete the translation of the above intent and feed back the translation results to NIAF.

[0310] S1011: NIAF updates local intent knowledge base.

[0311] For example, NIAF updates the local intent knowledge base based on translation results.

[0312] S1012: Implementing the calculation offloading intention.

[0313] For example, NIAF can drive the computing network collaboration function, computing management function, and task execution node to complete the terminal computing upshift based on the business process in the translation results. The specific implementation method can refer to the description of the relevant steps in Example 4, which will not be repeated here.

[0314] S1013: NIAF sends an intent response message to the UE, including but not limited to the IP address and port number of the task execution node where the computing task is located or accessible.

[0315] S1014: The UE interacts with the computing tasks moved up by the task execution node to achieve UE computing power expansion.

[0316] In the above embodiment, NIAF and IKB can learn how to achieve intent based on the newly registered capability set and unfulfilled historical intent, and update NIAF's local intent library knowledge and IKB, thereby improving the success rate of intent recognition and translation, making NIAF more understanding as it is used, without the need to add new business process design and development.

[0317] The above description, in conjunction with Figures 5 to 10, describes a communication method for translating an intent sent by a terminal device into a business process or task scheduling, provided in an embodiment of the present application. The following description, in conjunction with Figures 11 and 12, describes two other communication methods based on the communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application and related to the implementation of the above method 500.

[0318] In some possible implementations, a terminal device can determine a suitable NIAF through ISMF and establish an intelligent session with that NIAF, enabling the terminal device to subsequently interact with the NIAF. In this case, Figure 11 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method 1100 provided in an embodiment of the present application, for enabling a terminal device to establish an intelligent session with a NIAF through ISMF. Optionally, the method shown in Figure 11 can be applied to the communication system 400 shown in Figure 4. Optionally, the method shown in Figure 12 can be performed before the method shown in Figure 5.

[0319] It should be understood that before the method shown in Figure 11 is executed, the terminal device may have completed the network registration process. For example, the terminal device initiates a registration request message to the access and mobility management function (AMF), which may include the UE ID required for the network registration process (such as IMSI for 4G, SUPI / SUCI / GUTI for 5G, etc.) and security credentials; the AMF interacts with the digital identity management function to complete the identity authentication of the terminal device; the AMF returns a registration response message to the terminal device, which may include a temporary ID assigned by the network to the terminal device, such as TMSI / GUTI, etc. The network registration process of the terminal device may also be implemented in other ways, for example, reference may be made to the network registration method of the terminal device in the existing 5G protocol, and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0320] As shown in FIG11 , the method includes the following steps.

[0321] Step S1110: The terminal device sends a fourth message to the fourth network element. Correspondingly, the fourth network element receives the fourth message from the terminal device.

[0322] The fourth network element may be an ISMF, such as ISMF 440 shown in FIG4 . Specifically, the fourth message is used to request session establishment. In the embodiment of the present application, the session established between the NIAF and the terminal device may also be referred to as an intelligent session, and thus the fourth message may also be referred to as an intelligent session establishment request message. The fourth message may include a UE ID, as well as an identifier, capabilities, and capability invocation method of the terminal device. It should be understood that in some possible implementations, the UE ID may also serve as an identifier of the terminal device, which is not specifically limited in this application. Optionally, the fourth message may also include location information of the terminal device, indicating the geographical location of the terminal device.

[0323] Optionally, the above method 1100 may include step S1120.

[0324] Step S1120: The fourth network element selects the first network element according to the fourth message.

[0325] The first network element is configured to implement an intention by interacting with at least one object. For example, the first network element is a NIAF, such as NIAF 410 shown in FIG4 . Specifically, for example, when there are multiple available NIAFs, the ISMF can select a suitable NIAF from the multiple NIAFs according to the intelligent session establishment request information to establish a session with the terminal device. The selected NIAF is referred to as the first network element.

[0326] For example, the ISMF may select a first network element based on the location information of the terminal device. For example, the first network element may be a NIAF among the multiple NIAFs that is closest to the geographical location of the terminal device. This may increase the rate of information exchange between the terminal device and the NIAF and / or increase the signal strength of the interaction.

[0327] It should be understood that the above two methods of selecting NIAF are merely examples, and the ISMF may also select a suitable NIAF based on other criteria, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0328] Step S1130: The fourth network element establishes a session between the first network element and the terminal device.

[0329] For example, ISMF can establish a connection from the terminal device to the RAN and then to the NIAF, which may include a connection between the terminal device and the RAN (such as a radio resource control (RRC) connection) and a connection from the RAN to the NIAF (such as a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol for the user plane (GTP-U) tunnel connection). The specific process can refer to the session establishment process between the terminal device and the UPF in the 3GPP TS23502 protocol. The UPF in the above process can be replaced by the NIAF in the process of this application, and will not be described in detail in this embodiment. During the session establishment process, the NIAF or ISMF allocates the addresses (or communication identifiers) of the terminal device and the NIAF, such as the IP address of the terminal device, the IP address of the NIAF instance, etc., and may further include the port number corresponding to the NIAF instance.

[0330] Step S1140: The fourth network element sends the terminal device's identifier, capabilities, capability invocation method, and the first network element's identifier to the second network element. Correspondingly, the second network element receives the terminal device's identifier, capabilities, capability invocation method, and the first network element's identifier from the fourth network element.

[0331] The second network element may be an RF, such as RF 420 shown in FIG4 . Specifically, if the terminal device is establishing a smart session for the first time, the terminal device's identifier, capabilities, capability invocation method, and the identifier of the first network element may be included in a terminal capability registration request message, which is used to request registration of the terminal device's capability information with the second network element. Otherwise, the terminal device's identifier, capabilities, capability invocation method, and the identifier of the first network element may be included in a terminal capability update request, which is used to request the second network element to update the terminal device's capability information. The identifier of the first network element may be, for example, the name or ID of the NIAF, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0332] Optionally, the above method 1100 may further include step S1150.

[0333] Step S1150: The second network element sends a terminal capability registration / update response message to the fourth network element. Correspondingly, the fourth network element receives the terminal capability registration / update response message from the second network element.

[0334] For example, the second network element saves the capability information of the terminal device in response to the terminal capability registration / update request message, and sends a terminal capability registration / update response message to indicate the capability registration result of the terminal device.

[0335] In some possible implementations, the capability template of a terminal device may include binding information between the terminal device and the NIAF, indicating the identifier of the first network element that established the intelligent session with the terminal device. In this case, the second network element may store the capability information of the terminal device by storing the capability template of the terminal device, where the capability template includes the identifier, capabilities, and capability invocation method of the terminal device, as well as the identifier of the first network element.

[0336] In other possible implementations, the binding information between the terminal device and the NIAF may not be included in the capability template, and the capability template of the terminal device and the identifier of the corresponding first network element may be stored separately. In this case, the second network element may store the capability information of the terminal device by storing the capability template of the terminal device and the identifier of the first network element, wherein the capability template of the terminal device includes the identifier of the terminal device, capabilities, and capability invocation methods, and the capability template of the terminal device corresponds to the identifier of the first network element.

[0337] Optionally, the above method 1100 may further include step S1160.

[0338] Step S1160: The fourth network element sends the address of the first network element to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the address of the first network element from the fourth network element.

[0339] For example, the address of the first network element may be included in an intelligent session establishment response message sent by the fourth network element to the terminal device in response to the intelligent session establishment request message. The intelligent session establishment response message is used to feedback the establishment result of the intelligent session. The intelligent session establishment response message may also include an address assigned to the terminal device. The address of the first network element may be, but is not limited to, the IP address of the NIAF instance and / or the port number of the NIAF instance. The address of the terminal device may be, but is not limited to, the IP address of the terminal device, or any other communication identifier that enables the terminal device to exchange information with the first network element. This application does not specifically limit the form of the communication identifier.

[0340] Optionally, the address of the first network element may be received by the fourth network element before sending the smart session establishment response message. For example, the fourth network element may receive the address of the first network element during step S1130, that is, during the session establishment process, the NIAF or ISMF allocates the address to the terminal device and the NIAF. The fourth network element may receive the address of the first network element after step S1130, by requesting the fourth network element from the first network element or other network elements. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0341] Enables intention and information interaction between the terminal device and the first network element, including but not limited to the terminal device being able to send intentions to the first network element, and / or the first network element implementing information interaction and control of the terminal device based on the capability template of the terminal device.

[0342] Through the above method 1100, ISMF enables the terminal device to establish an intent-driven endogenous intelligent session with NIAF, so that the terminal device can interact with the network through an intention-based interface, reducing the learning cost of the terminal using the network.

[0343] In some possible implementations, various objects callable by NIAF can register their capabilities with the RF, and the RF can send the newly registered capabilities to the IKB in the form of subscription notifications for learning intent knowledge. In this case, Figure 12 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method 1200 provided in an embodiment of the present application, for various objects to register their capabilities with the RF. Optionally, the method shown in Figure 12 can be applied to the communication system 400 shown in Figure 4. Optionally, the method shown in Figure 12 can be performed before the method shown in Figure 5.

[0344] As shown in Figure 12, the method includes the following steps. It should be understood that steps S1210 and S1240 are optional steps, and steps S1210 and S1240 are related. That is, if optional step S1210 is executed before step S1220, then optional step S1240 is executed after step S1230. Alternatively, neither step S1210 nor S1240 is executed, and only steps S1220 and S1230 are executed.

[0345] Step S1210: The third network element sends a second message to the second network element. Correspondingly, the second network element receives the second message from the third network element.

[0346] The second network element may be a RF, such as RF 420 shown in Figure 4 ; the third network element may be an IKB, such as IKB 430 shown in Figure 4 . Specifically, the second message is used to subscribe to the capability template of an object, such as the capability template of an object registering capabilities with the second network element. Therefore, the second message may also be referred to as a capability subscription message. After the third network element subscribes to capability information from the second network element, the second network element notifies the third network element when a new capability registration event occurs. Capability registration events may include, but are not limited to, new object capability registration, registered object new capability registration, and / or registered object updating registered capabilities.

[0347] Step S1220: The second network element receives the identifier, capability, and capability calling method of one or more objects.

[0348] Specifically, the identifiers, capabilities, and capability invocation methods of one or more objects may be included in a capability registration request message, which is used to request capability registration with the second network element. Depending on the type of object, the capability registration request message may include, but is not limited to, an NF capability registration request message, an AF capability registration request message, a management and network orchestration (MANO) capability registration request message, a digital human capability registration request message, and a terminal capability registration request message.

[0349] The capability registration request message may include but is not limited to the following information: object category, such as NF, AF, call application, digital person, terminal device, etc.; object identifier, used to identify the object. When the object is a virtual entity, it can also be used to identify the instance of the object. For example, the object identifier can be the name of the object; the object address, such as a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IP address, used for object addressing; one or more capabilities of the object, where, when the object has multiple capabilities, the multiple capabilities can be expressed in the form of a capability list; capability call method for each capability, such as an API name and an API call method; if the object is a terminal device, it can also include binding information between the terminal device and the NIAF, used to indicate the NIAF that establishes an intelligent session with the terminal device, such as the identifier of the NIAF that establishes a session with the terminal device as described above. Optionally, the above information can be used as information in the capability template of the object.

[0350] Step S1230: The second network element saves capability templates of one or more objects.

[0351] Specifically, the second network element records the capability templates registered by various types of objects, which can be used for subsequent object capability queries. The capability template of an object includes at least the object's identifier, capability, and capability call method. Optionally, the capability template of an object may also include other information, such as the information that may be included in the capability registration request information exemplified in step S1220 above, including but not limited to the object category, object FQDN, object IP address, etc., and may also include any other information, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0352] Step S1240: The second network element sends capability templates of one or more objects to the third network element. Correspondingly, the third network element receives capability templates of one or more objects from the second network element.

[0353] For example, the capability templates of one or more objects may be included in a capability information notification message sent by the second network element to the third network element, and the capability information notification message is used to notify the third network element of the newly registered capability templates to which it has subscribed. The capability templates of the one or more objects mentioned above refer to the capability templates saved by the second object after the second network element receives the capability subscription message from the third network element. After receiving the capability templates of the one or more objects mentioned above, the third network element can learn the achievable intent based on the newly registered capability templates and update the IKB based on the learning results. For the specific update method, please refer to the description of the relevant content of the update of the local intent knowledge base of NIAF in the aforementioned embodiment S580, which will not be repeated here.

[0354] Through the above method 1200, RF can realize the capability registration of multiple categories of objects so that NIAF or IKB can learn achievable intentions and build an intention knowledge base, thereby improving the effect of translating the intentions of terminal devices into specific business processes or task scheduling strategies.

[0355] Finally, the device embodiment of the embodiment of the present application is introduced.

[0356] To implement the various functions of the method provided in this application, the first network element, the second network element, the third network element, and the fourth network element may each include a hardware structure and / or a software module, and implement the aforementioned functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module. Whether a particular one of the aforementioned functions is implemented in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0357] Figure 13 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1300 according to an embodiment of the present application. Communication device 1300 includes a processor 1310 and a communication interface 1320, which may be interconnected via a bus 1330. Communication device 1300 may be at least one of the aforementioned first network element, second network element, third network element, or fourth network element.

[0358] Optionally, the communication device 1300 may further include a memory 1340. The memory 1340 includes, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), and is used to store relevant instructions and data.

[0359] The processor 1310 may be one or more central processing units (CPUs). In the case where the processor 1310 is a CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

[0360] When the communication device 1300 is a first network element, illustratively, the communication device 1300 is configured to perform the following operations: calling a capability of at least one object according to an information interaction method, etc.

[0361] When the communication device 1300 is a second network element, illustratively, the communication device 1300 is configured to perform the following operations: receiving a message for requesting a capability and a capability calling method of at least one object, etc.

[0362] When the communication device 1300 is a third network element, illustratively, the communication device 1300 is used to perform the following operations: determine an information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object according to the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, etc.

[0363] When the communication device 1300 is the fourth network element, illustratively, the communication device 1300 is used to perform the following operations: establishing a session between the terminal device and the first network element, etc.

[0364] The above description is for illustrative purposes only. When the communication device 1300 is at least one of the aforementioned first network element, second network element, third network element, or fourth network element, it will be responsible for executing the methods or steps related to at least one of the first network element, second network element, third network element, or fourth network element in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0365] The above description is merely exemplary. For details, please refer to the contents of the above method embodiments. The implementation of each operation in FIG13 may also correspond to the corresponding description of the method embodiments shown in FIG5 to FIG12.

[0366] Figure 14 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1400 according to an embodiment of the present application. Communication device 1400 may be at least one of the aforementioned first network element, second network element, third network element, or fourth network element, or may be a chip or module within the first, second, third, or fourth network element, configured to implement the methods described in the aforementioned embodiments. Communication device 1400 includes a transceiver unit 1410 and a processing unit 1420. The following provides an exemplary description of transceiver unit 1410 and processing unit 1420.

[0367] Transceiver unit 1410 may include a transmitting unit and a receiving unit. The transmitting unit is used to perform the transmitting operation of communication device 1400, and the receiving unit is used to perform the receiving operation of communication device 1400. For ease of description, this embodiment of the application combines the transmitting unit and the receiving unit into a single transceiver unit. This is described here as a unified description and will not be repeated later.

[0368] When the communication device 1400 is a first network element, exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1410 is used to receive first information from a terminal device, and obtain the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, and the processing unit 1420 is used to determine the information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object based on the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, and call the capability of at least one object according to the information interaction method; or the transceiver unit 1410 is used to receive first information from a terminal device, send second information to a third network element, and receive third information from the third network element, and the processing unit 1420 is used to call the capability of at least one object according to the information interaction method.

[0369] When the communication device 1400 is a second network element, illustratively, the transceiver unit 1410 is used to receive a message for requesting the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, and send the capability and capability calling method of at least one object according to the identifier of the at least one object.

[0370] When the communication device 1400 is a third network element, exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1410 is used to receive second information from the first network element and obtain the capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object, the processing unit 1420 is used to determine the information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object based on the capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object, and the transceiver unit 1410 is also used to send third information to the first network element.

[0371] When the communication device 1400 is a fourth network element, exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1410 is used to receive a fourth message from the terminal device, the processing unit 1420 is used to establish a session between the terminal device and the first network element based on the fourth message, and the transceiver unit 1410 is also used to send the terminal device's identification, capabilities, capability calling method and the identification of the first network element to the second network element.

[0372] The above description is for illustrative purposes only. When the communication device 1400 is at least one of the aforementioned first network element, second network element, third network element, or fourth network element, it will be responsible for executing the methods or steps related to at least one of the first network element, second network element, third network element, or fourth network element in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0373] Optionally, the communication device 1400 further includes a storage unit 1430, which is used to store a program or code for executing the aforementioned method.

[0374] The device embodiments shown in Figures 13 and 14 are used to implement the contents described in Figures 5 to 12. The specific execution steps and methods of the devices shown in Figures 13 and 14 can refer to the contents described in the above method embodiments.

[0375] Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1500 according to an embodiment of the present application. Communication device 1500 is configured to implement the functionality of at least one of the aforementioned first network element, second network element, third network element, or fourth network element. Communication device 1500 may be a chip within at least one of the aforementioned first network element, second network element, third network element, or fourth network element.

[0376] Communication device 1500 includes an input / output interface 1520 and a processor 1510. Input / output interface 1520 may be an input / output circuit. Processor 1510 may be a signal processor, a chip, or other integrated circuit capable of implementing the method of the present application. Input / output interface 1520 is used for inputting or outputting signals or data.

[0377] For example, when the communication device 1500 is a first network element, the input-output interface 1520 is used to receive first information from a terminal device, and obtain the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, and the processor 1510 is used to determine the information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object based on the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, and call the capability of at least one object according to the information interaction method; or the input-output interface 1520 is used to receive first information from a terminal device, send second information to a third network element, and receive third information from the third network element, and the processor 1510 is used to call the capability of at least one object according to the information interaction method.

[0378] For example, when the communication device 1500 is a second network element, the input / output interface 1520 is used to receive a message for requesting the capability and capability calling method of at least one object, and send the capability and capability calling method of at least one object according to the identifier of at least one object.

[0379] For example, when the communication device 1500 is a third network element, the input-output interface 1520 is used to receive the second information from the first network element and obtain the capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object. The processor 1510 is used to determine the information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object based on the capabilities and capability calling method of at least one object. The input-output interface 1520 is also used to send third information to the first network element.

[0380] For example, when the communication device 1500 is the fourth network element, the input-output interface 1520 is used to receive a fourth message from the terminal device, the processor 1510 is used to establish a session between the terminal device and the first network element based on the fourth message, and the input-output interface 1520 is also used to send the terminal device's identification, capabilities, capability calling method and the identification of the first network element to the second network element.

[0381] In one possible implementation, the processor 1510 implements the functions implemented by at least one of the aforementioned first network element, second network element, third network element, or fourth network element by executing instructions stored in the memory.

[0382] Optionally, the communication device 1500 further includes a memory.

[0383] Optionally, the processor and memory are integrated together.

[0384] Optionally, the memory is outside the communication device 1500 .

[0385] In one possible implementation, the processor 1510 may be a logic circuit, which inputs / outputs messages or signals through the input / output interface 1520. The logic circuit may be a signal processor, a chip, or other integrated circuit that can implement the method of the embodiment of the application.

[0386] The above description of the communication device 1500 is merely an exemplary description. The communication device 1500 can be used to execute the method described in the above embodiments. For details, please refer to the description of the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0387] The present application also provides a chip, including a processor, for calling and executing instructions stored in a memory from the memory, so that a communication device equipped with the chip executes the methods in the above examples.

[0388] The present application also provides a chip, comprising: an input interface, an output interface, and a processor, wherein the input interface, the output interface, and the processor are connected via an internal connection path, and the processor is configured to execute code in a memory. When the code is executed, the processor is configured to execute the methods in the above examples. Optionally, the chip also includes a memory, which is configured to store computer programs or code.

[0389] The present application also provides a processor for coupling with a memory, for executing the methods and functions involving at least one of the aforementioned first network element, second network element, third network element or fourth network element in any of the above embodiments.

[0390] The present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions. When the computer program product is run on a computer, the method of the aforementioned embodiment is implemented.

[0391] The present application also provides a computer program. When the computer program is executed in a computer, the method of the aforementioned embodiment is implemented.

[0392] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the method described in the above embodiment is implemented.

[0393] 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.

[0394] 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.

[0395] In the several embodiments provided in this application, the disclosed systems, devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of units is only 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.

[0396] 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 the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0397] 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.

[0398] If the function is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment 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, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of each method 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 ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0399] 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 a first network element, the method includes: Receiving first information from a terminal device, where the first information is used to describe an intention; Acquire a capability and a capability calling method of at least one object, wherein the capability of the at least one object is related to the intent; Determining, according to the capability and capability calling method of the at least one object, an information interaction method between the first network element and the at least one object, wherein the information interaction method is used to realize the intention; The capability of the at least one object is invoked according to the information interaction method.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method of obtaining the capability of at least one object and the capability calling method includes: Sending a first message to the second network element, where the first message is used to request a capability and a capability calling method of the at least one object, and the first message includes an identifier of the at least one object; Receive capabilities and a capability calling method of the at least one object from the second network element.

3. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a first network element, the method includes: Receiving first information from a terminal device, where the first information is used to describe an intention; Sending second information to a third network element, where the second information is used to describe the intention; receiving third information from the third network element, the third information being used to indicate an information interaction method between the first network element and at least one object, the information interaction method being used to implement the intention, the information interaction method being determined according to a capability and a capability calling method of the at least one object; The capability of the at least one object is invoked according to the information interaction method.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: According to the intention and the information interaction method, a local intention knowledge base in the first network element is updated, and the local intention knowledge base is used to determine the information interaction method corresponding to the intention.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The calling of the capability of the at least one object according to the information interaction method comprises: Information describing a sub-intent of the intent is sent to at least part of the at least one object.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send the result of realizing the intention to the terminal device.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that Before receiving the first information from the terminal device, the method further includes: Establishing a session with the terminal device through a fourth network element; The receiving first information from the terminal device includes: The first information is received through the session.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent agent, and a terminal device.

9. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to the second network element, including: receiving a message for requesting a capability and a capability calling method of at least one object, wherein the message includes an identifier of the at least one object; According to the identifier of the at least one object, the capability and the capability calling method of the at least one object are sent.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that Before receiving a message for requesting a capability and a capability calling method of at least one object, the method further includes: Receiving an identification, capabilities, and a capability invocation method of the at least one object; A capability template of the at least one object is saved, wherein the capability template of each object in the at least one object includes an identifier, a capability, and a capability calling method of the object.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: According to the identifier of the at least one object, a capability template of the at least one object is queried to determine the capability and capability calling method of the at least one object.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: Before receiving the identification, capability and capability calling method of the at least one object, the method further includes: receiving a second message from a third network element, where the second message is used to subscribe to a capability template of the object; After saving the capability template of the at least one object, the method further includes: Sending the capability template of the at least one object to the third network element.

13. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receiving an identifier, a capability, a capability calling method of a terminal device and an identifier of a first network element from a fourth network element, wherein a session exists between the first network element and the terminal device; Saving a capability template of the terminal device, where the capability template of the terminal device includes an identifier, a capability, a capability calling method of the terminal device, and an identifier of the first network element; or The capability template of the terminal device and the identifier of the first network element are saved, wherein the capability template of the terminal device includes the identifier, capability and capability calling method of the terminal device, and the capability template of the terminal device corresponds to the identifier of the first network element.

14. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that The at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent agent, and a terminal device.

15. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to the third network element, including: receiving second information from the first network element, where the second information is used to describe the intention; Acquire a capability and a capability calling method of at least one object, wherein the capability of the at least one object is related to the intent; Determining, according to the capability and capability calling method of the at least one object, an information interaction method between the first network element and the at least one object, wherein the information interaction method is used to realize the intention; Sending third information to the first network element, where the third information is used to indicate the information interaction method.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The method of obtaining the capability of at least one object and the capability calling method includes: Sending a third message to the second network element, where the third message is used to request the capability and capability calling method of the at least one object, and the third message includes an identifier of the at least one object; Receive capabilities and a capability calling method of the at least one object from the second network element.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending a second message to the second network element, where the second message is used to subscribe to a capability template of the object, where the capability template includes an identifier of the object and capabilities and a capability calling method of the object; receiving a capability template of one or more objects from the second network element; An intent knowledge base is updated according to the capability template of the one or more objects, and the intent knowledge base is used to determine an information interaction method corresponding to the intent.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that The at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent agent, and a terminal device.

19. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to the fourth network element, including: receiving a fourth message from a terminal device, the fourth message being used to request establishment of a session, the fourth message including an identifier, a capability, and a capability calling method of the terminal device; Establishing, according to the fourth message, a session between the terminal device and a first network element, the first network element being configured to realize an intention by interacting with at least one object; Send the identifier, capability, capability calling method of the terminal device and the identifier of the first network element to the second network element.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The session is used to transmit an intention and / or to invoke a capability of the terminal device.

21. The method according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that Before establishing the session between the terminal device and the first network element, the method further includes: Select the first network element.

22. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, characterized in that After establishing the session between the terminal device and the first network element, the method further includes: Send the address of the first network element to the terminal device.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that Before sending the address of the first network element to the terminal device, the method further includes: An address of the first network element is received from the first network element.

24. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, characterized in that The at least one object includes at least one of the following: a network function NF, a management function MF, an application function AF, a call application, an intelligent agent, and a terminal device.

25. A communication device, characterized in that: comprising means for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 8; or comprising means for performing the method of any one of claims 9 to 14; or comprising means for performing the method of any one of claims 15 to 18; or Comprising means for performing the method of any one of claims 19 to 24.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: comprising a processor configured to, by executing a computer program or instructions, causing the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8; or causing the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 9 to 14; or causing the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 15 to 18; or The communication device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 19 to 24.

27. The communication device according to claim 26, characterized in that The communication device further comprises a memory for storing the computer program or instructions.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed on a computer, causing the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8; or, causing the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 9 to 14; or, causing the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 18; or, The computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 19 to 24.

29. A computer program product, characterized in that Contains instructions that, when executed on a computer, causing the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8; or, causing the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 9 to 14; or, causing the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 18; or, The computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 19 to 24.

30. A communication system, characterized in that: include: A communication device for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8; and A communication device for performing the method according to any one of claims 9 to 14.

31. The communication system according to claim 30, characterized in that The communication system further comprises: A communication device for performing the method of any one of claims 15 to 18; and / or A communication device for performing the method according to any one of claims 19 to 24.

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