Communication method, communication apparatus and computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application are a communication method, a communication apparatus and a computer-readable storage medium. The present application can be applied to a communication system in which a control plane and a user plane are separated. The method comprises: receiving a first message, wherein the first message comprises identification information of a first application, and the first application is an application to be accessed by a terminal device; and establishing a forwarding tunnel between a first user plane function and a second user plane function, wherein the first user plane function is a user plane function that provides services for the terminal device, and the second user plane function is associated with a first data network (DN) in which the first application is deployed. Therefore, the quality of service when the terminal device accesses the first application in the first DN by means of the second user plane function (i.e., the forwarding tunnel) is better than the quality of service when the terminal device accesses the first application by means of other user plane functions.

Description

Communication method, communication device, and computer-readable storage medium

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application with application number 202311440161.8 filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on October 31, 2023, and priority to the Chinese patent application with the invention name “Communication Method, Communication Device and Computer-readable Storage Medium”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] The 5G core network separates the control plane and the user plane. The control plane's functions are carried by multiple network functions (NFs), while the user plane's functions are primarily handled by the user plane function (UPF). The separation of the control and user planes frees the user plane's functions from centralization, allowing the UPF to be deployed closer to the wireless access network. The downward deployment of applications is dominated by over-the-top (OTT) services. Due to deployment costs and demand, OTTs struggle to deploy edge clouds as widely as operators. Most applications are still deployed in OTT's own central cloud, which is far from the wireless access network, so the application's quality of service (QoS) is not guaranteed.

[0004] Nowadays, services in application scenarios such as augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR), high-definition live streaming, and industrial control often require ultra-low latency and high bandwidth QoS. To meet these QoS requirements, it is necessary to research solutions to improve the quality of service (QoS) of terminal devices accessing applications.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application disclose a communication method, a communication device, and a computer-readable storage medium, which can improve the service quality of terminal devices accessing applications.

[0007] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, the method comprising: receiving a first message, the first message including identification information of a first application, the first application being an application to be accessed by a terminal device; establishing a forwarding tunnel between a first user plane function and a second user plane function, the first user plane function being a user plane function providing services for the terminal device, the second user plane function being associated with a first data network (DN) on which the first application is deployed. In this document, the entity corresponding to the user plane function may be a user plane function network element (i.e., a core network device) or a chip in the user plane function network element.

[0008] In an embodiment of the present application, a forwarding tunnel is established between the first user plane function and the second user plane function so that the terminal device can access the first application in the first DN through the second user plane function. The path between the first user plane function and the second user plane function can also be guaranteed by a QoS guarantee mechanism, and since the second user plane function is associated with the first data network, the delay of the path from the second user plane function to the first data network is negligible. In addition, the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application in the first DN through the first user plane function and the second user plane function is better than accessing the first application through other user plane functions, that is, the service quality of the terminal device accessing the application can be improved.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a second message, the second message including information about an application deployed in the first DN. The method may further include: storing the application information deployed in the first DN based on the second message.

[0010] In this implementation, by receiving the second message, application information deployed in the first DN can be obtained, so as to subsequently determine which applications need to access the first DN.

[0011] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: obtaining an association relationship between the first DN and the second user plane function.

[0012] In this implementation, an association relationship between the first DN and the second user plane function is obtained so as to subsequently determine whether to access the first DN through the second user plane function.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the method is applied to a session management function, and before receiving the second message, the method further includes: sending a third message to an application control network element, wherein the third message is used to obtain information about applications deployed by the DN managed by the application control network element, or the third message is used to instruct the application control network element to send a notification to the session management function when a change occurs in an application deployed by the DN managed by the application control network element.

[0014] In this implementation, by sending the third message to the application control network element, the session management function can subscribe to the information of the application deployed by the DN managed by the application control network element.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the first message is a session establishment request message from the terminal device, or the first message is a session establishment request message from the terminal device forwarded by a core network element.

[0016] In this implementation, the first message is a session establishment request message from the terminal device. Based on the session establishment request message, a forwarding tunnel is established between the first user plane function and the second user plane function. The appropriate user plane function can be selected during session establishment, ensuring the quality of service for the terminal device accessing the first application.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the first message comes from the first user plane function, and the first message is used to indicate that the first user plane function has received data of the first application.

[0018] In this implementation, the first message is used to indicate that the first user plane function has received data from the first application. After receiving the first message, a forwarding tunnel is established between the first user plane function and the second user plane function. The forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function can be established after recognizing that the first user plane function has received data from the first application, thereby improving the quality of service for the terminal device accessing the first application.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the method is applied to a session management function. Before receiving the first message, the method further includes: sending a fourth message, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first user plane function to notify the session management function after detecting data of the first application.

[0020] In this implementation, the fourth message is sent so that the first user plane function notifies the session management function after detecting the data of the first application.

[0021] In one possible implementation, after receiving the first message and before establishing a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function, the method further includes: determining the first DN on which the first application is deployed; and determining the second user plane function associated with the first DN.

[0022] In this implementation, a second user plane function associated with the first DN is determined so that the first DN can be accessed through the second user plane function, thereby improving the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application.

[0023] In one possible implementation, determining the second user plane function associated with the first DN includes: determining the second user plane function associated with the first DN based on the transmission performance between multiple user plane functions associated with the first DN and the first user plane function.

[0024] In this implementation, based on the transmission performance between one or more user plane functions associated with the first DN and the first user plane function, a second user plane function with good transmission performance is determined to further improve the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application.

[0025] In one possible implementation, establishing a forwarding tunnel between a first user plane function and a second user plane function includes: sending a first request message to the first user plane function, the first request message being used to allocate tunnel information to the first user plane function; receiving a first response message, the first response message carrying the first tunnel information allocated by the first user plane function; sending a second request message to the second user plane function, the second request message being used to request the second user plane function to allocate tunnel information, the second request message carrying the first tunnel information; receiving a second response message, the second response message carrying the second tunnel information allocated by the second user plane function; and sending a message carrying the second tunnel information to the first user plane function.

[0026] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication method, the method comprising: a first user plane function receiving data of a first application;

[0027] The first user plane function establishes a forwarding tunnel with a second user plane function, where the second user plane function is associated with a data network DN where the first application is deployed; the first user plane function transmits data of the first application through the forwarding tunnel.

[0028] In an embodiment of the present application, the first user plane function receives data of the first application and transmits the data of the first application through a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function, so that the terminal device can access the DN where the first application is deployed through the second user plane function. Since the second user plane function is associated with the DN where the first application is deployed, the delay of the path from the second user plane function to the DN where the first application is deployed is negligible, and the quality of service can be effectively guaranteed. In addition, the path between the first user plane function and the second user plane function can also be guaranteed by the existing QoS guarantee mechanism. Therefore, the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application in the first DN through the second user plane function is better than that of accessing the first application through other user plane functions, that is, the service quality of the terminal device accessing the application can be improved.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the first user plane function receiving a fourth message, the fourth message being used to instruct the first user plane function to notify a session management function after detecting data of the first application; and the first user plane function sending a first message to the session management function, the first message being used to indicate that the first user plane function has received the data of the first application. Exemplarily, in response to the fourth message, upon receiving the data of the first application, the first user plane function sends the first message to the session management function.

[0030] In this implementation, the first user plane function sends a first message to the session management function, which may indicate that the session management function has received data of the first application.

[0031] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which includes: generating a second message, the second message including information of an application deployed by a first DN, the first DN being deployed with a first application; sending the second message to a session management function network element, the second message being used to determine a path for a terminal device to access the first application.

[0032] In an embodiment of the present application, sending a second message to the session management function network element can enable the session management function network element to obtain information about the application deployed by the first DN.

[0033] In a possible implementation, the second message is used to determine a user plane function through which the terminal device accesses the first application, and the user plane function is associated with the first DN.

[0034] In this implementation, the second message is used to determine the user plane function through which the terminal device accesses the first application, so that the session management function network element determines to access the first application through the user plane function associated with the first DN, thereby improving the service quality of access to the first application.

[0035] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which includes: sending a session establishment request message, wherein the session establishment request message includes identification information of a first application; transmitting data of the first application through a first session connection, wherein the first session connection includes a connection between a terminal device and a wireless access network, and a forwarding tunnel between the wireless access network, a first user plane function, and a second user plane function, wherein the first user plane function serves the terminal device, and the second user plane function is associated with the DN on which the first application is deployed.

[0036] In an embodiment of the present application, data of the first application is transmitted through a first session connection. The first session connection includes a connection between the terminal device and the wireless access network, and a forwarding tunnel between the wireless access network, the first user plane function, and the second user plane function. Since the second user plane function is associated with the DN where the first application is deployed, the delay of the path from the second user plane function to the DN where the first application is deployed is negligible, and the quality of service can be effectively guaranteed. In addition, the path between the first user plane function and the second user plane function can also be guaranteed by the existing QoS guarantee mechanism. Therefore, the terminal device transmits the data of the first application through the first session connection, which can ensure the quality of service of the terminal device accessing the first application.

[0037] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which has the function of implementing the behavior in the method embodiment of the first aspect above. The communication device can be a network device, or a component of a network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware, or can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software, and the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver module and a processing module, wherein: the transceiver module is used to receive a first message, the first message includes identification information of a first application, and the first application is an application to be accessed by a terminal device; the processing module is used to establish a forwarding tunnel between a first user plane function and a second user plane function, the first user plane function is a user plane function that provides services for the terminal device, and the second user plane function is associated with a first DN on which the first application is deployed.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a second message, wherein the second message includes information about an application deployed in the first DN. Optionally, the processing module is further configured to store the application information deployed in the first DN based on the second message.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the processing module is further configured to obtain an association between the first DN and the second user plane function.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the communication device is a session management function; the transceiver module is also used to send a third message to the application control network element, and the third message is used to obtain information about the DN-deployed application managed by the application control network element, or the third message is used to instruct the application control network element to send a notification to the session management function when the DN-deployed application it manages changes.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the communication device is a session management function; the transceiver module is further used to send a fourth message, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first user plane function to notify the session management function after detecting data of the first application.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the processing module is further used to determine the first DN on which the first application is deployed; and determine the second user plane function associated with the first DN.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the processing module is specifically configured to determine the second user plane function associated with the first DN based on transmission performance between multiple user plane functions associated with the first DN and the first user plane function.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the processing module is specifically used to send a first request message to the first user plane function through the transceiver module, and the first request message is used to allocate tunnel information to the first user plane function; the transceiver module is used to receive a first response message, and the first response message carries the first tunnel information allocated by the first user plane function; the processing module is specifically used to send a second request message to the second user plane function through the transceiver module, and the second request message is used to request the second user plane function to allocate tunnel information, and the second request message carries the first tunnel information; the transceiver module is used to receive a second response message, and the second response message carries the second tunnel information allocated by the second user plane function; the processing module is specifically used to send a message carrying the second tunnel information to the first user plane function through the transceiver module.

[0045] Possible implementations of the communication device of the fifth aspect may refer to the various possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0046] For the technical effects brought about by various possible implementation methods of the fifth aspect, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of various possible implementation methods of the first aspect.

[0047] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which has the function of implementing the behavior in the method embodiment of the second aspect above. The communication device can be a network device, or a component of a network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware, or can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software, and the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver module and a processing module, wherein: the transceiver module is used to receive data of a first application; the processing module is used to establish a forwarding tunnel with a second user plane function, and the second user plane function is associated with a data network DN where the first application is deployed; the transceiver module is used to transmit the data of the first application through the forwarding tunnel.

[0048] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is further used to receive a fourth message, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first user plane function to notify the session management function after detecting the data of the first application; and to send a first message to the session management function, where the first message is used to indicate that the first user plane function has received the data of the first application.

[0049] Possible implementations of the communication device of the sixth aspect may refer to the various possible implementations of the second aspect.

[0050] For the technical effects brought about by various possible implementation methods of the sixth aspect, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of various possible implementation methods of the second aspect.

[0051] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which has the function of implementing the behavior in the embodiment of the method of the third aspect above. The communication device can be a network device, or a component of a network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver module and a processing module, wherein: the processing module is used to generate a second message, the second message includes information about an application deployed by a first DN, and the first DN is deployed with a first application; the transceiver module is used to send the second message to a session management function network element, and the second message is used to determine the path for the terminal device to access the first application.

[0052] Possible implementations of the communication device of the seventh aspect can refer to the various possible implementations of the third aspect.

[0053] For the technical effects brought about by various possible implementation methods of the seventh aspect, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of various possible implementation methods of the third aspect.

[0054] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device having the function of implementing the behavior in the method embodiment of the fourth aspect above. The communication device can be a terminal device, or a component of a terminal device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software, and the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver module and a processing module, wherein: the processing module is used to generate a session establishment request message; the transceiver module is used to send a session establishment request message, the session establishment request message includes identification information of a first application; data of the first application is transmitted through a first session connection, the first session connection includes a connection between a terminal device and a wireless access network, and a forwarding tunnel between the wireless access network, a first user plane function, and a second user plane function, the first user plane function serves the terminal device, and the second user plane function is associated with the DN on which the first application is deployed, or the first session connection includes a connection between the terminal device and the wireless access network, and a forwarding tunnel between the wireless access network and the second user plane function, and the second user plane function is associated with the DN on which the first application is deployed.

[0055] Possible implementations of the communication device of the eighth aspect can refer to the various possible implementations of the fourth aspect.

[0056] For the technical effects brought about by various possible implementation methods of the eighth aspect, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of various possible implementation methods of the fourth aspect.

[0057] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication device, which includes one or more processors, and the one or more processors are used to process data or signaling so that the method of any one of the first to fourth aspects above is implemented.

[0058] Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory storing a program or instruction. When the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the communication device performs the method described in the first or second aspect. Exemplarily, the communication device may be a chip, the processor may be a processing circuit in the chip, and the memory may be a random access memory or cache in the chip.

[0059] In one possible implementation, during the execution of the above method, the process of sending information (or signals) in the above method can be understood as the process of outputting information based on instructions from the processor. When outputting information, the processor outputs the information to the transceiver for transmission by the transceiver. After being output by the processor, the information may undergo further processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, when the processor receives input information, the transceiver receives the information and inputs it into the processor. Furthermore, after receiving the information, the transceiver may undergo further processing before inputting it into the processor.

[0060] For operations such as sending and / or receiving involved in the processor, unless otherwise specified, or unless they conflict with their actual functions or internal logic in the relevant descriptions, they can be generally understood as instructions output based on the processor.

[0061] During implementation, the processor may be a processor specifically configured to execute these methods, or may be a processor that executes computer instructions in a memory to execute these methods, such as a general-purpose processor. For example, the processor may also be configured to execute a program stored in a memory. When the program is executed, the communication device performs the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0062] In a possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device. In a possible implementation, the memory is located inside the communication device.

[0063] In a possible implementation, the processor and the memory may also be integrated into one device, that is, the processor and the memory may also be integrated together.

[0064] In a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a transceiver, and the transceiver is used to receive signals or send signals.

[0065] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides another communication device, which includes a processing circuit and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to acquire data or output data; the processing circuit is used to execute the method shown in any one of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0066] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, and the computer program includes program instructions, which, when executed, enable the computer to execute the method shown in any one of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects.

[0067] In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program, and the computer program includes program instructions, which, when executed, enable the computer to execute the method shown in any one of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects.

[0068] In the thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip comprising a communication interface and a processor; the communication interface is used for transmitting and receiving signals of the chip; the processor is used for executing computer program instructions so that a communication device comprising the chip executes a method as in any one of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects.

[0069] In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising the communication device described in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect, and the communication device described in the eighth aspect or any possible implementation of the eighth aspect. Optionally, the communication system further comprises the communication device described in the seventh aspect or any possible implementation of the seventh aspect. Optionally, the communication system further comprises the communication device described in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0070] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the background technology, the drawings required for use in the embodiments of the present application or the background technology will be described below.

[0071] FIG1 is an example of a system architecture applicable to the technical solution provided in this application;

[0072] FIG2 is an interactive flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG3 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG4 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG5 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG6 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG7 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 800 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of another device 90 provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0080] The terms "first" and "second" in the specification, claims and drawings of the present application are only used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. It will be understood that the various digital numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the sequence number of each of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally also includes steps or units that are not listed, or optionally also includes other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0081] References to "embodiments" herein mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it refer to independent or alternative embodiments that are mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It will be understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0082] The terms used in the following embodiments of the present application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application. As used in the specification of the present application and the appended claims, the singular expressions "one", "a kind of", "said", "above", "the" and "this" are intended to also include plural expressions, unless there is a clear contrary indication in the context. It should also be understood that the term "and / or" used in the present application refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more listed items. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The term "multiple" used in the present application refers to two or more. In the textual description of the present application, the character " / " generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0083] It is understood that in each embodiment of the present application, "A corresponds to B" means that there is a corresponding relationship between A and B, and B can be determined according to A. However, it should also be understood that determining (or generating) B according to (or based on) A does not mean that B is determined (or generated) only according to (or based on) A, and B can also be determined (or generated) according to (or based on) A and / or other information.

[0084] It should be understood that, in this application, indication includes direct indication (also known as explicit indication) and implicit indication. Direct indication of information A refers to including information A; implicit indication of information A refers to indicating information A through the correspondence between information A and information B and the direct indication of information B. The correspondence between information A and information B can be predefined, pre-stored, pre-burned, or pre-configured.

[0085] It should be understood that, in this application, information C is used to determine information D, which includes both information D being determined solely based on information C and information D being determined based on information C and other information. Furthermore, information C can also be used to determine information D indirectly, for example, where information D is determined based on information E, and information E is determined based on information C.

[0086] In addition, in each embodiment of the present application, "network element A sends information A to network element B" can be understood as the destination end of the information A or the intermediate network element in the transmission path between the destination end and the network element B, which may include directly or indirectly sending information to network element B. "Network element B receives information A from network element A" can be understood as the source end of the information A or the intermediate network element in the transmission path between the source end and the network element A, which may include directly or indirectly receiving information from network element A. The information may be processed as necessary between the source end and the destination end of the information transmission, such as format changes, but the destination end can understand the valid information from the source end. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be elaborated here.

[0087] The transmission path for terminal devices to access OTT applications includes the air interface (terminal device to base station), the base station to the anchor UPF (anchor UPF, A-UPF), and the anchor UPF to the cloud. The air interface (terminal device to base station) and the base station to the anchor UPF define relatively complete quality of service (QoS) guarantee mechanisms, while the anchor UPF to cloud path mostly uses a best-effort IP transmission mechanism, and QoS cannot be guaranteed. In other words, a major factor affecting the quality of service of terminal devices accessing data networks (DNs) in communication systems (such as 5G communication systems) is that the QoS of the path from the anchor UPF to the cloud (i.e., the data network) cannot be guaranteed. When the distance between the UPF accessed by the terminal device and the data network accessed by the terminal device is long, the transmission performance of the terminal device accessing the data network is generally poor, such as long latency. The main idea of ​​the technical solution provided in this application is to deploy the UPF locally in the data network, that is, to deploy the UPF close to the data network, and the terminal device accesses the data network through the UPF deployed locally in the data network. In this article, the UPF deployed locally in the data network can be referred to as the UPF associated with the data network, that is, the UPF associated with the data network. Since the UPF associated with the data network is deployed close to the data network, that is, the UPF is closer to the data network than other UPFs, the latency is almost negligible, and the cost of ensuring bandwidth is also low. Therefore, the service quality of the path between the UPF and the data network is better than the service quality of the path between other UPFs and the data network. Since the service quality of the path between the terminal device and the UPF associated with the data network can guarantee QoS, and the service quality of the path between the UPF and the data network is better than the service quality of the path between other UPFs and the data network, the terminal device can improve the service quality by accessing the data network through the UPF deployed locally in the data network.

[0088] The following introduces the system architecture to which the technical solution provided by this application is applicable. The technical solution provided by this application is applicable to a communication system including a terminal device, an access network device, a UPF, a data network, a session management function network element, and an application control (AF controller) network element. The UPF and the session management function network element can be replaced by network elements with similar functions, and this application is not limited thereto. The application control network element is responsible for maintaining the application (application, APP) deployed in the DN, and the AF controller can belong to an application service provider (over the top provider, OTT provider) or an operator. The entity of the AF controller can be an application enabler network element (application enabler server), etc. The technical solution provided by this application can be applied to communication systems evolved after 5G, such as the fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) system, the sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, and other communication systems including a core network that separates the control plane and the user plane.

[0089] Figure 1 is an example of a system architecture applicable to the technical solution provided in this application. As shown in Figure 1, the system architecture includes: one or more terminal devices (only one is shown), a radio access network (RAN node), multiple UPFs (only I / A-UPF, LDN-UPF#1, and LDN-UPF#2 are shown), one or more DNs (only local DN#1, local DN#2, and central DN are shown), an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a session management function (SMF) network element, and an AF controller. LDN-UPF#1 is associated with local DN#1, and LDN-UPF#2 is associated with local DN#2. The AF controller is responsible for maintaining applications deployed in the DNs (including local DN#1 and local DN#2). Applications deployed on local DN#1 include application 2, application 4, and application M, and applications running on local DN#2 include application 1, application 2, and application N. I-UPF stands for intermediate UPF, and A-UPF stands for anchor UPF. The I-UPF connects to the RAN node, while the A-UPF serves as the session anchor UPF. The A-UPF can also be called the protocol data unit (PDU) session anchor (PSA), which accesses the DN. Applications deployed on the central DN include Application 1, Application 2, and Application 3. The path for a terminal device to access Application 4 can be: Terminal Device - RAN Node - (I / A-UPF) - (LDN-UPF#1) - Local DN#1. The path for a terminal device to access Application 1 can be: Terminal Device - RAN Node - (I / A-UPF) - (LDN-UPF#2) - Local DN#2. The AMF network element provides the following main functions: registration management; connectivity management; reachability management; mobility management; access authentication and authorization; message transmission; security anchor function; and positioning service management.The main functions provided by the session management function are as follows: session management: establishment / update / deletion of PDU sessions; allocation and management of Internet protocol (IP) addresses for user equipment (UE); selection and control of user plane function (UPF) network elements; configuration of service flow orientation in the UPF network element to route the service flow to the appropriate destination; downlink data notification; determination of the session and service continuity (SSC) mode of the session; roaming function. The UPF is mainly responsible for forwarding and receiving user data. It can receive user data from the data network and transmit it to the UE through the access network equipment; it can also receive user data from the UE through the access network equipment and forward it to the data network. The system architecture shown in Figure 1 may also include other network elements. In addition, the embodiment of the present application does not limit the data of each network element in the system architecture shown in Figure 1. The local DN#1 and / or local DN#2 in Figure 1 can be replaced with a central DN. For example, local DN#1 can be replaced with the central DN, and the path for the terminal device to access application 3 is: terminal device-RAN node-(I / A-UPF)-(LDN-UPF#1)-central DN.

[0090] The technical solution provided by this application is applicable to communication systems in which the core network separates the user plane and the control plane, in order to improve the service quality of terminal devices accessing applications. The technical solution provided by this application is described below in conjunction with Figure 2. Figure 2 is an interactive flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 2, the method includes:

[0091] 201. A first network element sends a first message to a session management function.

[0092] Correspondingly, the session management function receives a first message from the first network element. The first message includes identification information of the first application, and the above-mentioned first application is the application to be accessed by the terminal device. The main functions that the session management function can provide are as follows: Session management: establishment / update / deletion of PDU sessions, etc. The naming of the session management function may be different in different communication systems. In this article, the entity corresponding to the session management function can be a session management function network element (such as a core network device) or a chip in the session management function. It is uniformly explained here that a network element (such as a first network element) sending a message to a function (such as a session management function) means that the network element sends a message to the entity of the function, and a function sending a message means that the entity of the function sends a message.

[0093] The identification information of the first application may be one or more of the following: an identifier of the first application, an IP address, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), and the like.

[0094] In a possible implementation, the first network element is a terminal device, and the first message is a session establishment request message, that is, a message for requesting to establish a session for accessing the first application.

[0095] In another possible implementation, the first network element is a first user plane function (eg, a user plane function that provides services to a terminal device), and the first message is used to indicate that the first user plane function has received data from a first application of the terminal device.

[0096] 202. The session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function.

[0097] The first user plane function is a user plane function that provides services for the terminal device. For example, the terminal device is within the service range of the first user plane function. The second user plane function is associated with the first DN where the first application is deployed.

[0098] A possible implementation of step 202 is as follows: the session management function sends a first request message to the first user plane function, the first request message being used to allocate tunnel information to the first user plane function; the session management function receives a first response message from the first user plane function, the first response message carrying the first tunnel information allocated by the first user plane function; the session management function sends a second request message to the second user plane function, the second request message being used to request the second user plane function to allocate tunnel information, the second request message carrying the first tunnel information; the session management function receives a second response message from the second user plane function, the second response message carrying the second tunnel information allocated by the second user plane function; and the session management function sends a message carrying the second tunnel information to the first user plane function. The session management function may also establish a forwarding tunnel between the first and second user plane functions through other means, which are not limited in this application.

[0099] In an embodiment of the present application, the session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function so that the terminal device accesses the first application in the first DN through the second user plane function. Since the second user plane function is associated with the first data network, the delay of the path from the second user plane function to the first data network is negligible, and the quality of service can be effectively guaranteed. In addition, the path between the first user plane function and the second user plane function can also be guaranteed by the existing QoS guarantee mechanism. Therefore, the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application in the first DN through the second user plane function is better than that of accessing the first application through other user plane functions, that is, the service quality of the terminal device accessing the application can be improved.

[0100] FIG3 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in FIG3 is a possible implementation of the method described in FIG2. In this implementation, when a first message (including identification information of a first application) is received, the session management function determines the second user plane function associated with the first DN (where the first application is deployed), and then establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function (serving the terminal device) and the second user plane function to improve the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application. As shown in FIG3, the method includes:

[0101] 301. The application control network element sends a second message to the session management function.

[0102] Correspondingly, the session management function receives a second message from the application control network element. The second message includes application information deployed by the first DN, for example, the first DN is deployed with the first application.

[0103] An example of step 301 is as follows: the application control network element sends application information (or application information) deployed on one or more DNs to the session management function, and the application control network element is responsible for maintaining the applications deployed on the one or more DNs. Step 301 is optional.

[0104] In one possible implementation, the session management function sends a third message to the application control network element. The third message is used to obtain application information deployed by the DN managed by the application control network element, or the third message is used to instruct the application control network element to notify when an application deployed by the DN managed by the application control network element changes. The application control network element sends a second message to the session management function based on the third message. Exemplarily, the third message may be a subscription request message.

[0105] The session management function may also obtain application information deployed on the first DN through other means, which are not limited in this application. The application control network element may support centralized deployment or distributed deployment (i.e., different DNs are controlled and managed by different AF controllers). If the application control network element supports centralized deployment, the application control network element may send application information deployed on each DN it manages to the session management function. If the application control network element supports distributed deployment, multiple application control network elements (AF controllers) may send application information deployed on the DNs they manage to the session management function.

[0106] In one possible implementation, the application control network element sends the application information deployed by the first DN (i.e., the second message) to the session management function (e.g., the session management function) near the first DN. Exemplarily, after the session management function near the first DN sends the above-mentioned third message to the application control network element, the application control network element sends the application information deployed by the first DN to the session management function near the first DN. The first DN can cover or serve a specific area, and the session management function can also cover or serve a specific area. In other words, the first DN and the session management function both have specific service range attributes, and the session management function near the first DN refers to the service range of the first DN and the session management function having an intersecting area or an overlapping area. In this implementation, the session management function near the first DN obtains the application information deployed by the first DN, which can avoid all session management functions from interacting with the application control network element, saving signaling interaction, and also saving storage resources of the session management function.

[0107] 302. The session management function stores application information deployed by the first DN based on the second message.

[0108] Step 302 is optional. In the method flow of Figure 3, the role of steps 301 and 302 is to enable the session management function to store the application information deployed by the first DN (which may also include other DNs); after the session management function stores the application information deployed by the first DN (which may also include other DNs), before the application information deployed by the first DN is changed, the application control network element does not need to send a second message to the session management function, that is, the method flow of Figure 3 may not include steps 301 and 302. A possible implementation of step 302 is as follows: the session management function (for example, the session management function) stores the application information deployed by one or more DNs (including the first DN) in a unified data repository (UDR) / unified data management (UDM) / policy control function (PCF), and the session management function subsequently obtains the application information deployed by the DN from the UDR / UDM / PCF.

[0109] 303. The first network element sends a first message to the session management function.

[0110] Correspondingly, the session management function receives the first message from the first network element. Step 303 may refer to step 201. The session management function receives the first message from the first network element and learns that the terminal device will access the first application.

[0111] 304. The session management function determines, based on the first message, a first DN where the first application is deployed.

[0112] Step 304 can be replaced by: the session management function determines the first DN where the first application is deployed. For example, the session management function can determine the DN(s) where the first application is deployed based on the identification information of the first application. For example, if the first application is deployed on multiple DNs (including local DNs and central DNs), the session management function can determine which DN to select based on factors such as the load and latency of the multiple DNs, or can determine which DN to select by other means, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0113] 305. The session management function determines a second user plane function associated with the first DN.

[0114] The session management function may determine the second user plane function associated with the first DN based on an association relationship (or a mapping relationship) between the first DN and the second user plane function.

[0115] In one possible implementation, the session management function may be pre-configured with an association (or mapping) between the first DN and the second user plane function. Alternatively, an administrator may directly configure (in a static or manual manner) the association between DNs and user plane functions on the session management function, including the association between the first DN and the second user plane function. A DN may be associated with one user plane function or multiple user plane functions. In other words, a DN may be associated with one user plane function or multiple user plane functions.

[0116] In one possible implementation, the session management function sends a message to other network elements (such as UDR) to request the association relationship between the first DN and the second user plane function. The message can carry the identifier of the first DN. The session management function can subsequently receive a response message to the message, thereby obtaining the association relationship between the first DN and the second user plane function.

[0117] When the first DN is associated with multiple user plane functions, one possible implementation of step 305 is as follows: based on the transmission performance between the multiple user plane functions associated with the first DN and the first user plane function, the second user plane function associated with the first DN is determined. For example, the session management function obtains the second user plane function with the best transmission performance between the multiple user plane functions and the first user plane function. In this implementation, by selecting the second user plane function with the best transmission performance, the quality of service provided to the terminal's application can be further improved.

[0118] 306. The session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function.

[0119] Step 306 may refer to step 202 in FIG. 2 .

[0120] In an embodiment of the present application, when a first message (including identification information of a first application) is received, the session management function determines a second user plane function associated with a first DN (where the first application is deployed), and then establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function (serving the terminal device) and the second user plane function, so as to improve the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application.

[0121] Figure 4 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in Figure 4 is a possible implementation of the method described in Figure 2 or Figure 3. In this implementation, after the session management function (an example of a session management function) receives a session establishment request message (an example of the above-mentioned first message, including identification information of the first application), it determines the second user plane function associated with the first DN (deployed with the first application), and then establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function (serving the terminal device) and the second user plane function. It can select the appropriate user plane function when the session is established and improve the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application. As shown in Figure 4, the method includes:

[0122] 401. The application control network element sends a second message to the session management function.

[0123] Correspondingly, the session management function receives the second message from the application control network element. The session management function is an example of the session management function in FIG2 .

[0124] 402. The session management function stores application information deployed by the first DN based on the second message.

[0125] Step 401 to step 402 may refer to step 301 to step 302 in Figure 3. Step 401 and step 402 are optional.

[0126] 403. The terminal device sends a session establishment request message to the session management function.

[0127] The session establishment request message includes identification information of the first application and location information of the terminal device. The first application is the application to be accessed by the terminal device. The session establishment request message is an example of the first message in Figure 2. For example, the terminal device sends the session establishment request message to the session management function via the RAN node.

[0128] 404. The session management function determines a first user plane function that provides services for the terminal device and a second user plane function associated with the first DN where the first application is deployed.

[0129] A possible implementation of step 404 is as follows: the session management function determines the first user plane function that provides services to the terminal device, that is, the first user plane function that serves the terminal device, based on the location information of the terminal device and the service scope of the user plane function; based on the identification information of the first application in the first message, determines the first DN where the first application is deployed (see the above step 304); and determines the second user plane function associated with the first DN (see the above step 305).

[0130] The session management function determines the first user plane function that provides services to the terminal device based on the location information of the terminal device and the service scope of the user plane function. The session management function may be: based on the location information of the terminal device and the service scope of the user plane function, the session management function determines which user plane function's service scope the terminal device is within; the user plane function that includes the location of the terminal device within the service scope is the first user plane function that serves the terminal device.

[0131] In one possible implementation, the location information of the terminal device is identified by the RAN node to which the terminal device accesses, and the service range of the user plane function may also be identified by the covered RAN nodes. Therefore, the session management function may determine the first user plane function based on the location information of the terminal device and the service range information of the user plane function. For example, if the RAN node to which the terminal device accesses is RAN node #1, and the RAN nodes covered by the service range of user plane function #1 include RAN node #1, the session management function determines that user plane function #1 is the first user plane function providing service to the terminal device.

[0132] In one possible implementation, the location information of the terminal device is a coordinate point or a geographical area (such as a circular area), the service range of the user plane function is a larger geographical area (compared to the location information of the terminal device), and the session management function determines, based on the location information of the terminal device and the service range of the user plane function, which user plane function's service range the terminal device is within; the user plane function that includes the location of the terminal device within the service range is the first user plane function serving the terminal device.

[0133] In one possible implementation, the location information of the terminal device is the administrative area (such as a county or city) where the terminal device is located, and the service scope of the user plane function is an administrative area. The session management function determines, based on the location information of the terminal device and the service scope of the user plane function, which user plane function's service scope the terminal device is within; the user plane function that includes the location of the terminal device within the service scope is the first user plane function serving the terminal device.

[0134] 405. The session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the first user plane function, and a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function.

[0135] Step 405 may be replaced by: the session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device, the first user plane function, and the second user plane function.

[0136] 406. The terminal device transmits data of the first application through the first session connection.

[0137] The first session connection may include a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the first user plane function, and a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function. The path for the terminal device to transmit data of the first application through the first session connection is: terminal device - RAN node accessed by the terminal device - first user plane function - second user plane function - first DN.

[0138] In an embodiment of the present application, when a session management function (an example of a session management function) receives a session establishment request message, the session management function determines the second user plane function associated with the first DN (deployed with the first application), and then establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function (serving the terminal device) and the second user plane function. The appropriate user plane function can be selected when the session is established, and the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application can be improved.

[0139] Figure 5 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in Figure 5 is a possible implementation of the method described in Figure 2 or Figure 3. In this implementation, after the session management function (an example of a session management function) receives a session establishment request message (an example of the above-mentioned first message, including identification information of the first application), it determines the second user plane function associated with the first DN (where the first application is deployed), and then establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the second user plane function. It can select an appropriate user plane function when the session is established, and improve the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application. As shown in Figure 5, the method includes:

[0140] 501. The application control network element sends a second message to the session management function. Correspondingly, the session management function receives the second message from the application control network element.

[0141] 502. The session management function stores application information deployed by the first DN based on the second message.

[0142] Step 501 and step 502 are optional.

[0143] 503. The terminal device sends a session establishment request message to the session management function.

[0144] Steps 501 to 503 may be the same as steps 401 to 403 in FIG. 4 , and are not described again here.

[0145] 504. The session management function determines a second user plane function associated with the first DN where the first application is deployed.

[0146] 505. When the terminal device and the second user plane function meet the first condition, the session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the second user plane function.

[0147] The terminal device and the second user plane function satisfying the first condition may be that the terminal device is within the service range of the second user plane function. In other words, when the terminal device is within the service range of the second user plane function, the RAN node accessed by the UE can directly connect to the second user plane function.

[0148] In one possible implementation, if there are two session management functions (i.e., session management function 1 and session management function 2), session management function 1 establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device, the first user plane function, and the second user plane function, while session management function 2 establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the second user plane function. In this example, the two session management functions can each establish a forwarding tunnel for the terminal device to access the first application, which can improve reliability.

[0149] In one possible implementation, if the terminal device and the second user plane function do not meet the first condition, the session management function determines the first user plane function that provides services to the terminal device and establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function. Specifically, reference may be made to the method described in FIG4 .

[0150] 506. The terminal device transmits data of the first application through the first session connection.

[0151] If in step 505, the session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the second user plane function, the first session connection may include the connection between the terminal device and the radio access network, and the forwarding tunnel between the above-mentioned radio access network and the second user plane function, that is, the first session connection corresponds to the path of terminal device-RAN node-second user plane function.

[0152] If in step 505, the session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function, the first session connection may include the connection between the terminal device and the radio access network, and the forwarding tunnels between the above-mentioned radio access network, the first user plane function, and the second user plane function, that is, the first session connection corresponds to the path of terminal device-RAN node-first user plane function-second user plane function.

[0153] In an embodiment of the present application, when a session management function receives a session establishment request message, the session management function determines the second user plane function associated with the first DN (on which the first application is deployed), and then establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the second user plane function. This allows for selection of an appropriate user plane function during session establishment, thereby improving the quality of service for the terminal device accessing the first application. Furthermore, if the terminal device and the second user plane function meet a first condition, the session management function establishes the forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the second user plane function without intervening an intermediate UPF (I-UPF). This saves resources required to establish the forwarding tunnel between the I-UPF and the second user plane function, while also ensuring transmission path performance.

[0154] Figure 6 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in Figure 6 is a possible implementation of the method described in Figure 2 or Figure 3. In this implementation, the session management function 1 receives a session establishment request message (an example of the above-mentioned first message, including identification information of the first application). If the session management function 1 does not store the deployment information associated with the first application, that is, the information on which DN is deployed with the first application is not stored, the session management function 1 forwards the session establishment request message to the session management function 2 that stores the deployment information associated with the first application, so that the session management function 2 determines the second user plane function associated with the first DN (deployed with the first application), and then establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the second user plane function. The appropriate user plane function can be selected when the session is established to improve the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application. As shown in Figure 6, the method includes:

[0155] 601. The application control network element sends a second message to the session management function 2. Correspondingly, the session management function 2 receives the second message from the application control network element. The second message includes application information deployed by the first DN.

[0156] In one possible implementation, the application control network element sends the application information deployed by the first DN to the session management function 2 near the first DN. For example, after receiving the third message sent by the session management function 2 near the first DN, the application control network element sends the application information deployed by the first DN to the session management function 2.

[0157] 602. Session management function 2 stores application information deployed by the first DN based on the second message.

[0158] Step 601 and step 602 are optional. For steps 601 to 602, refer to steps 301 to 302 in FIG. 3 .

[0159] 603. The terminal device sends a session establishment request message to the session management function 1.

[0160] The session establishment request message includes identification information of the first application and location information of the terminal device. The first application is the application to be accessed by the terminal device. The session establishment request message is an example of the first message in FIG2 .

[0161] 604. If the session management function 1 does not store the deployment information associated with the first application, the session establishment request message is forwarded to the session management function 2 that stores the deployment information associated with the first application.

[0162] The fact that the session management function 1 does not store the deployment information associated with the first application may mean that the session management function 1 does not store any DN deployed application information, or that the session management function 1 stores deployment information associated with other applications but does not store deployment information associated with the first application.

[0163] If the session management function 1 does not store the deployment information associated with the first application, it can search for the session management function 2 that stores the deployment information associated with the first application, and then forward the session establishment request message to the session management function 2 that stores the deployment information associated with the first application. A possible method for the session management function 1 to search for the session management function that stores the deployment information associated with the first application is as follows: the session management function 1 sends a search request message to another network element (e.g., a network repository function (NRF) network element or an AF controller), where the search request message includes the identifier of the first application. In response, the other network element sends a response message to the session management function 1, where the response message includes the identifier information of the session management function 2, such as an IP address or a universal resource locator (URL). The session management function 2 may be an example of the session management function in FIG. 2 .

[0164] 605. The session management function 2 determines a first user plane function that provides services for the terminal device and a second user plane function associated with the first DN where the first application is deployed.

[0165] 606. Session management function 2 establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the first user plane function, and a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function.

[0166] In one possible implementation, step 605 is replaced by: session management function 2 determines a second user plane function associated with the first DN on which the first application is deployed; step 606 is replaced by: session management function 2 establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the second user plane function when the terminal device and the second user plane function meet the first condition.

[0167] 607. The terminal device transmits data of the first application through the first session connection.

[0168] In an embodiment of the present application, when Session Management Function 1 receives a session establishment request message and, if it does not store the deployment information associated with the first application, forwards the session establishment request message to Session Management Function 2, which does store the deployment information associated with the first application. Session Management Function 2 determines the second user plane function associated with the first DN (on which the first application is deployed), and then establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function. This allows for selecting an appropriate user plane function when the session is established, thereby improving the quality of service for terminal devices accessing the first application.

[0169] Figure 7 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in Figure 7 is a possible implementation of the method described in Figure 2 or Figure 3. In this implementation, after the first user plane function accessed by the terminal device detects the data packet of the first application, the session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function (associated with the DN where the first application is deployed) so that the terminal device accesses the application through the path of RAN node-first user plane function-second user plane function; the forwarding tunnel can be re-established after the session is established to improve the service quality of the terminal device accessing the first application. As shown in Figure 7, the method includes:

[0170] 701. The application control network element sends a second message to the session management function. Correspondingly, the session management function receives the second message from the application control network element.

[0171] 702. The session management function stores application information deployed by the first DN based on the second message.

[0172] Step 701 and step 702 are optional. Step 701 and step 702 may refer to step 301 and step 302. The session management function is an example of the session management function in FIG2 and FIG3.

[0173] 703. The session management function sends a fourth message to the first user plane function.

[0174] Correspondingly, the first user plane function receives a fourth message from the session management function. The fourth message is used to instruct the above-mentioned first user plane function to notify the session management function after detecting the data of the above-mentioned first application. The fourth message may carry a reporting rule, which is that when the user plane function detects the first application, the session management function is notified. The session management function may choose to send the fourth message (including the reporting rule) to one or more UPFs (including the first user plane function) within its service scope. For example, the service scope of the session management function includes 3 UPFs, UPF#1, UPF#2, and UPF#3. Each UPF may cover a different range. The session management function may choose to send the fourth message to one or more UPFs according to a policy (this application does not limit the policy), or send the fourth message to all UPFs it manages.

[0175] 704. The terminal device sends a session establishment request message. Correspondingly, the session management function receives the session establishment request message from the terminal device.

[0176] For example, the terminal device sends a session establishment request message to the session management function through the RAN node. The session establishment request message may carry the location information of the terminal device.

[0177] 705. The session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and the first user plane function based on the session establishment request message.

[0178] One possible implementation of step 705 is as follows: The session management function determines the first user plane function providing service to the terminal device based on the terminal device's location information and the service range of the UPF, and establishes a tunnel between the RAN node and the first user plane function. The terminal device then accesses an application (which may not include the first application) via a path from RAN node to first user plane function to the central DN. The session management function may also establish a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node accessed by the terminal device and a user plane function through other means, which are not limited here.

[0179] 706. After detecting the data of the first application, the first user plane function sends a first message to the session management function.

[0180] The first application data is sent by the terminal device to the first user plane function through the RAN node. The first user plane function detects the data of the first application in a forwarding tunnel between the RAN node and the first user plane function.

[0181] The first message is used to indicate that the first user plane function has received data of the first application. The first message may include identification information of the first application, and the first application is an application to be accessed by the terminal device.

[0182] 707. The session management function determines, based on the first message, a first DN where the first application is deployed, and determines a second user plane function associated with the first DN.

[0183] For step 707 , please refer to step 304 and step 305 in FIG. 3 .

[0184] 708. The session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function.

[0185] Step 708 may refer to step 202 in FIG. 2 .

[0186] 709. The first user plane function sends the data of the first application through the forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function.

[0187] In an embodiment of the present application, after the first user plane function accessed by the terminal device detects the data packet of the first application, the session management function establishes a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function (associated with the DN on which the first application is deployed), and then the terminal device accesses the application through the path of RAN node-first user plane function-second user plane function; the forwarding tunnel can be re-established after the session is established to improve the service quality of the terminal device's access to the first application.

[0188] The following describes the structure of a communication device that can implement the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The following only briefly describes the communication device. For details on the implementation of the solution, please refer to the description of the method embodiment above, which will not be repeated below.

[0189] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 800 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 800 may implement the functions or steps implemented by the terminal device in each of the aforementioned method embodiments, the functions or steps implemented by the application control network element in each of the aforementioned method embodiments, the functions or steps implemented by the session management function in each of the aforementioned method embodiments, or the functions or steps implemented by the first network element in each of the aforementioned method embodiments. The communication device may include a processing module 810 and a transceiver module 820. In one possible implementation, the device may also include a storage unit that can be used to store instructions (code or program) and / or data. The processing module 810 and the transceiver module 820 may be coupled to the storage unit. For example, the processing module 810 may read the instructions (code or program) and / or data in the storage unit to implement the corresponding method. The aforementioned units may be independently configured or partially or fully integrated. For example, the transceiver module 820 may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. The transmitting module may be a transmitter, and the receiving module may be a receiver. The entity corresponding to the transceiver module 820 may be a transceiver circuit, such as a transceiver or a communication interface.

[0190] In some possible implementations, the communication device 800 can implement the behaviors and functions of the terminal device in the above-described method embodiments. For example, the communication device 800 can be a terminal device, or a component (e.g., a chip or circuit) used in the terminal device. The transceiver module 820 can, for example, be used to perform all receiving or transmitting operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7. The processing module 810 can, for example, be used to perform all operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7 except for the transmitting and receiving operations.

[0191] In some possible implementations, the communication device 800 can implement the behaviors and functions of the application control network element in the above-mentioned method embodiments. For example, the communication device 800 can be an application control network element, or it can be a component (such as a chip or circuit) in an entity applied to the application control network element. The transceiver module 820 can be used to perform all receiving or sending operations performed by the application control network element in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7. The processing module 810 can be used to perform all operations performed by the application control network element in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7 except for the sending and receiving operations.

[0192] In some possible implementations, the communication device 800 can implement the corresponding behaviors and functions of the session management function in the above-described method embodiments. For example, the communication device 800 can be a session management function, or a component (e.g., a chip or circuit) in an entity that implements the session management function. The transceiver module 820 can, for example, be used to perform all receiving or sending operations performed by the session management function in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7. The processing module 810 can, for example, be used to perform all operations performed by the session management function in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7 except for the sending and receiving operations.

[0193] In some possible implementations, the communication device 800 can implement the behaviors and functions of the first network element in the above-described method embodiments. For example, the communication device 800 can be the first network element, or it can be a component (e.g., a chip or circuit) in an entity applied to the first network element. The transceiver module 820 can, for example, be used to perform all receiving or sending operations performed by the first network element in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7. The processing module 810 can, for example, be used to perform all operations performed by the first network element in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7 except for the transceiver operations.

[0194] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another apparatus 90 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus in Figure 9 can be the aforementioned terminal device or a chip used for the aforementioned terminal device, or can be the aforementioned application control network element or a chip in an entity used for the aforementioned application control network element, or can be the aforementioned session management function or a chip in an entity used for the aforementioned session management function, or can be the aforementioned first network element or a chip in an entity used for the aforementioned first network element. As shown in Figure 9, the apparatus 90 includes a processing circuit 910 and a transceiver circuit 920.

[0195] In some embodiments of the present application, the processing circuit 910 and the transceiver circuit 920 may be used to execute functions or operations performed by the terminal device. The transceiver circuit 920, for example, is used to execute all receiving or transmitting operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7. The processing circuit 910, for example, is used to execute all operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7 except for the transceiver operations.

[0196] In some embodiments of the present application, the processing circuit 910 and the transceiver circuit 920 may be configured to execute functions or operations performed by the application control network element. The transceiver circuit 920, for example, is configured to execute all receiving or transmitting operations performed by the application control network element in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7. The processing circuit 910, for example, is configured to execute all operations performed by the application control network element in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7 except for the transceiver operations.

[0197] In some embodiments of the present application, the processing circuit 910 and the transceiver circuit 920 may be configured to execute functions or operations performed by the session management function. The transceiver circuit 920 may, for example, be configured to execute all receiving or sending operations performed by the session management function in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7 . The processing circuit 910 may, for example, be configured to execute all operations performed by the session management function in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7 , except for the transceiver operations.

[0198] In some embodiments of the present application, the processing circuit 910 and the transceiver circuit 920 may be configured to execute functions or operations performed by the first network element. The transceiver circuit 920, for example, is configured to execute all receiving or transmitting operations performed by the first network element in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7. The processing circuit 910, for example, is configured to execute all operations performed by the first network element in the embodiments of Figures 2 to 7 except for the transceiver operations.

[0199] In a possible implementation, the transceiver circuit 920 includes at least one transceiver, and the processing circuit 910 includes at least one processor, or a circuit in at least one processor for processing or control.

[0200] The transceiver is used to communicate with other devices / apparatuses via a transmission medium. The processor uses the transceiver to send and receive data and / or signaling, and is used to implement the method in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The processor can implement the functions of the processing module 810, and the transceiver can implement the functions of the transceiver module 820. Optionally, the transceiver may include a radio frequency circuit and an antenna, and the radio frequency circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals into radio frequency signals and processing radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for sending and receiving radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc. are mainly used to receive data input by users and output data to users.

[0201] Optionally, the device 90 may further include at least one memory for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory is coupled to the processor. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information exchange between the devices, units, or modules. The processor may operate in conjunction with the memory. The processor may execute program instructions stored in the memory. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

[0202] The processor can read software programs stored in memory, interpret and execute their instructions, and process their data. When data needs to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and outputs a baseband signal to the RF circuit. The RF circuit then performs RF processing on the baseband signal and transmits it via the antenna in the form of electromagnetic waves. When data is transmitted to device 90, the RF circuit receives the RF signal via the antenna, converts it into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor. The processor then converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0203] In another implementation, the above-mentioned RF circuit and antenna can be set independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna can be arranged independently of the device 90 in a remote manner.

[0204] The specific connection medium between the above-mentioned transceiver, processor and memory is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0205] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be one of the following devices: a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or all or part of the circuits used for processing functions in the aforementioned devices, which may implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0206] In one possible implementation, the processing circuit 910 includes at least one logic circuit, and the transceiver circuit 920 includes at least one interface. The processing module 810 in Figure 8 can be implemented using a logic circuit, and the transceiver module 820 in Figure 8 can be implemented using an interface. The logic circuit can be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit, or a system on chip (SoC) chip, and the interface can be a communication interface, an input / output interface, etc. In the embodiment of the present application, the logic circuit and the interface can also be coupled to each other. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific connection method of the logic circuit and the interface.

[0207] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed on a computer, the computer executes the method of the above embodiment.

[0208] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes instructions or a computer program. When the instructions or the computer program are run on a computer, the method in the above embodiment is executed.

[0209] The present application also provides a communication system, including the above-mentioned application control network element and the above-mentioned session management function. Optionally, the communication system also includes the above-mentioned terminal device.

[0210] The present application also provides a chip, which includes: a communication interface and a processor; the communication interface is used for sending and receiving signals of the above-mentioned chip; the processor is used to execute computer program instructions so that the communication device including the above-mentioned chip executes the method in the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0211] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0212] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving a first message, wherein the first message includes identification information of a first application, and the first application is an application to be accessed by a terminal device; A forwarding tunnel is established between a first user plane function and a second user plane function, wherein the first user plane function is a user plane function that provides services for the terminal device, and the second user plane function is associated with a first data network DN on which the first application is deployed.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive a second message, wherein the second message includes information about an application deployed by the first DN.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: Obtain an association between the first DN and the second user plane function.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The method is applied to a session management function, and before receiving the second message, the method further includes: A third message is sent to the application control network element, where the third message is used to obtain information about the DN-deployed application managed by the application control network element, or the third message is used to instruct the application control network element to send a notification to the session management function when a change occurs to the DN-deployed application managed by the application control network element.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The first message is a session establishment request message from the terminal device, or the first message is a session establishment request message from the terminal device forwarded by a core network element.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The first message comes from the first user plane function, and the first message is used to indicate that the first user plane function has received data of the first application.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The method is applied to a session management function. Before receiving the first message, the method further includes: A fourth message is sent, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first user plane function to notify the session management function after detecting the data of the first application.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: After receiving the first message, before establishing a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function, the method further includes: Determine the first DN on which the first application is deployed; Determine the second user plane function associated with the first DN.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The determining the second user plane function associated with the first DN includes: Based on the transmission performance between multiple user plane functions associated with the first DN and the first user plane function, determine the second user plane function associated with the first DN.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The establishing of a forwarding tunnel between the first user plane function and the second user plane function comprises: Sending a first request message to the first user plane function, where the first request message is used for the first user plane function to allocate tunnel information; receiving a first response message, where the first response message carries first tunnel information allocated by the first user plane function; Sending a second request message to the second user plane function, where the second request message is used to request the second user plane function to allocate tunnel information, and the second request message carries the first tunnel information; receiving a second response message, where the second response message carries second tunnel information allocated by the second user plane function; Send a message carrying the second tunnel information to the first user plane function.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The first user plane function receives data of the first application; The first user plane function establishes a forwarding tunnel with a second user plane function, where the second user plane function is associated with a data network DN on which the first application is deployed; The first user plane function transmits data of the first application through the forwarding tunnel.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first user plane function receives a fourth message, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first user plane function to notify a session management function after detecting data of the first application; The first user plane function sends a first message to the session management function, where the first message is used to indicate that the first user plane function has received data of the first application.

13. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Generate a second message, the second message including information of an application deployed on a first data network DN, the first DN being deployed with a first application; The second message is sent to the session management function network element, where the second message is used to determine the path for the terminal device to access the first application.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The second message is used to determine the user plane function through which the terminal device accesses the first application, and the user plane function is associated with the first DN.

15. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending a session establishment request message, where the session establishment request message includes identification information of the first application; The data of the first application is transmitted through a first session connection, wherein the first session connection includes a connection between a terminal device and a wireless access network, and a forwarding tunnel between the wireless access network, a first user plane function, and a second user plane function, wherein the first user plane function serves the terminal device, and the second user plane function is associated with a data network DN on which the first application is deployed.

16. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a transceiver module and a processing module; The transceiver module is used to receive a first message, where the first message includes identification information of a first application, where the first application is an application to be accessed by the terminal device; The processing module is used to establish a forwarding tunnel between a first user plane function and a second user plane function, wherein the first user plane function is a user plane function that provides services for the terminal device, and the second user plane function is associated with a first DN on which the first application is deployed.

17. The communication device according to claim 16, characterized in that: The transceiver module is also used to receive a second message, where the second message includes information about the application deployed in the first DN.

18. The communication device according to claim 17, characterized in that: The processing module is also used to obtain the association relationship between the first DN and the second user plane function.

19. The communication device according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that: The communication device is a session management function; The transceiver module is also used to send a third message to the application control network element, and the third message is used to obtain information about the DN-deployed application managed by the application control network element, or the third message is used to instruct the application control network element to send a notification to the session management function when the DN-deployed application it manages changes.

20. The communication device according to any one of claims 16 to 19, characterized in that: The first message is a session establishment request message from the terminal device, or the first message is a session establishment request message from the terminal device forwarded by a core network element.

21. The communication device according to any one of claims 16 to 19, characterized in that: The first message comes from the first user plane function, and the first message is used to indicate that the first user plane function has received data of the first application.

22. The communication device according to claim 21, characterized in that The communication device is a session management function; The transceiver module is further used to send a fourth message, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first user plane function to notify the session management function after detecting the data of the first application.

23. The communication device according to any one of claims 16 to 22, characterized in that: The processing module is also used to determine the first DN on which the first application is deployed; and determine the second user plane function associated with the first DN.

24. The communication device according to claim 23, characterized in that The processing module is specifically used to determine the second user plane function associated with the first DN based on the transmission performance between multiple user plane functions associated with the first DN and the first user plane function.

25. The communication device according to any one of claims 16 to 24, characterized in that: The processing module is specifically configured to send a first request message to the first user plane function through the transceiver module, where the first request message is used for the first user plane function to allocate tunnel information; The transceiver module is used to receive a first response message, where the first response message carries first tunnel information allocated by the first user plane function; The processing module is specifically configured to send a second request message to the second user plane function through the transceiver module, where the second request message is used to request the second user plane function to allocate tunnel information, and the second request message carries the first tunnel information; The transceiver module is used to receive a second response message, where the second response message carries second tunnel information allocated by the second user plane function; The processing module is specifically configured to send a message carrying the second tunnel information to the first user plane function through the transceiver module.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a transceiver module and a processing module; The transceiver module is used to receive data of the first application; The processing module is used to establish a forwarding tunnel with a second user plane function, where the second user plane function is associated with a data network DN on which the first application is deployed; and the transceiver module is used to transmit data of the first application through the forwarding tunnel.

27. The communication device according to claim 26, characterized in that The transceiver module is also used to receive a fourth message, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first user plane function to notify the session management function after detecting the data of the first application; and send a first message to the session management function, where the first message is used to indicate that the first user plane function has received the data of the first application.

28. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a transceiver module and a processing module; The processing module is used to generate a second message, wherein the second message includes information of an application deployed by the first DN, and the first DN is deployed with a first application; The transceiver module is used to send the second message to the session management function network element, and the second message is used to determine the path for the terminal device to access the first application.

29. The communication device according to claim 28, characterized in that The second message is used to determine the user plane function through which the terminal device accesses the first application, and the user plane function is associated with the first DN.

30. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a transceiver module and a processing module; The processing module is used to generate a session establishment request message; The transceiver module is used to send a session establishment request message, wherein the session establishment request message includes identification information of a first application; transmit data of the first application through a first session connection, wherein the first session connection includes a connection between a terminal device and a wireless access network, and a forwarding tunnel between the wireless access network, a first user plane function, and a second user plane function, wherein the first user plane function serves the terminal device, and the second user plane function is associated with a DN on which the first application is deployed; or, the first session connection includes a connection between the terminal device and a wireless access network, and a forwarding tunnel between the wireless access network and the second user plane function, and the second user plane function is associated with a DN on which the first application is deployed.

31. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, wherein the computer program includes program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 is executed.

32. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises a processor, wherein the processor is configured to cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 when executing instructions.

33. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises a computer program, wherein the computer program comprises program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed, the computer is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

34. A chip, characterized in that: include: A communication interface, used for sending and receiving signals of the chip; A processor, configured to execute computer program instructions so that a communication device including the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

35. A communication system, characterized in that: It includes the communication device according to any one of claims 16 to 25, the communication device according to any one of claims 26 to 27, and the communication device according to any one of claims 28 to 29.

36. The communication system according to claim 35, characterized in that The communication system further comprises the communication device according to claim 30.

37. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

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