Communication method and related apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and a related apparatus. In the method, a network repository function network element receives a first request message from a first network element, the first request message being used for requesting a second network element. The first request message comprises a network element capability type supported by the second network element, the network element capability type supported by the second network element being one of a vertical federation server or a vertical federation client, or the network element capability type supported by the second network element being one of the vertical federation server, a vertical federation primary client, or a vertical federation secondary client. A first response message is sent to the first network element, the first response message comprising one or more second network elements, and the one or more second network elements supporting the network element capability type. By using the present application, a participant of vertical federated learning can be discovered, thereby laying a foundation for subsequent vertical federated model training.

Description

Communication method and related device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on October 31, 2023, with application number 202311440574.6 and application name “Communication Methods and Related Devices”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] Federated learning (FL), a distributed machine learning framework, can effectively resolve data silos, enabling joint modeling among FL participants without sharing data, thus enabling artificial intelligence (AI) collaboration. Vertical federated learning (VFL) within FL is characterized by high sample space overlap between datasets, but low feature space overlap. However, identifying the corresponding VFL participants remains a pressing challenge.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application proposes a communication method and related devices that can discover participants in vertical federated learning and lay the foundation for subsequent vertical federated model training.

[0006] In the first aspect, the present application provides a communication method. Optionally, the execution subject of the method can be a network storage function network element that supports vertical federated learning, or a component or device applied to the network storage function network element (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network storage function network element functions. The method includes:

[0007] Receive a first request message from a first network element, where the first request message is used to request a second network element, and the first request message includes a network element capability type supported by the second network element, and also includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group to which the second network element belongs, and model type information supported by the second network element; the network element capability type supported by the second network element is one of a vertical federated server or a vertical federated client, or the network element capability type supported by the second network element is one of a vertical federated server, a vertical federated master client, or a vertical federated slave client; the model type information is used to identify the service type applicable to the model supported by the second network element and / or the algorithm type corresponding to the model;

[0008] A first response message is sent to the first network element, where the first response message includes one or more second network elements, and the one or more second network elements support the network element capability type.

[0009] In this application, it is proposed that in the vertical federated learning scenario, by introducing a network storage function network element responsible for the discovery of cross-domain vertical federated learning participants, the service initiator (i.e., the first network element) can discover suitable vertical federated learning service participants (i.e., the second network element), laying the foundation for subsequent vertical federated model training. It should be understood that the vertical federated learning service participants (hereinafter referred to as service participants) here can be vertical federated servers and vertical federated clients, or the service participants can also be vertical federated servers, vertical federated master clients, and vertical federated slave clients.

[0010] In one possible design, the first request message also includes selection information of the second network element; wherein:

[0011] In a case where the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation client, a vertical federation master client, or a vertical federation slave client, the selection information of the second network element includes one or more of the following: a time period in which the second network element supports vertical federation learning, data sample information supported by the second network element, data feature information supported by the second network element, or a training mode supported by the second network element;

[0012] When the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation server, the selection information of the second network element includes one or more of the following: the time period in which the second network element supports vertical federation learning, or the training mode supported by the second network element.

[0013] In this implementation mode, the selection information of the second network element included in the first request message can be understood as the requirements that the first network element expects the requested second network element to meet, which is conducive to discovering suitable business participants and improves the accuracy of business participant discovery.

[0014] In one possible design, when the first network element is a first vertical federation server, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation client, or the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation slave client, or the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation master client; or,

[0015] In the case where the first network element is a first vertical federation master client, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation slave client; or

[0016] In the case where the first network element is a first vertical federation slave client, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation master client; or

[0017] In a case where the first network element is a first vertical federation client, a first vertical federation master client, or a first vertical federation slave client, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation server.

[0018] In this implementation mode, when the first network element is of a different network element type, the network element type of the second network element it requests to discover is different, making the solution of the present application more rich, more suitable for different scenarios, and more applicable.

[0019] In one possible design, the method further includes:

[0020] receiving a registration request message from a third network element, the registration request message including a network element capability type supported by the third network element, and further including one or more of the following information: an identifier of a vertical federated learning group to which the third network element belongs, and information about model types supported by the third network element;

[0021] A registration response message is sent to the third network element, where the registration response message is used to indicate a registration result of the third network element.

[0022] Under this implementation method, a network element registration process in vertical federated learning is proposed. That is, before executing the aforementioned network element discovery process, each network element registers with the network storage function network element, which is conducive to the subsequent network storage function network element being responsible for the discovery of cross-domain vertical federated learning participants.

[0023] In one possible design, when the network element capability type supported by the third network element is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client, the registration request message includes model type information supported by the third network element.

[0024] Under this implementation method, when the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation master client or the vertical federation slave client needs to inform the network storage function network element of the model type information it supports when registering. This is conducive to the subsequent network storage function network element discovering the vertical federation master client or vertical federation slave client that meets a specific model type information.

[0025] In one possible design, when the network element capability type supported by the third network element is a vertical federation client, a vertical federation master client, or a vertical federation slave client, the registration request message further includes one or more of the following information: a time period in which the third network element supports vertical federation learning, data sample information supported by the third network element, data feature information supported by the third network element, or a training mode supported by the third network element;

[0026] In the case where the network element capability type supported by the third network element is a vertical federation server, the registration request message further includes one or more of the following information: the time period in which the third network element supports vertical federation learning, or the training mode supported by the third network element.

[0027] Under this implementation method, the registration request message can also carry capability information of the network element being registered, such as the time period for supporting vertical federated learning, or the supported training modes, etc. This will help the network storage function network element to subsequently discover suitable business participants and improve the accuracy of business participant discovery.

[0028] In one possible design, the third network element includes the first network element.

[0029] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method. Optionally, the method may be performed by a first vertical federated client that supports vertical federated learning, or by a component or device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system) applied to the first vertical federated client, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first vertical federated client. The method includes:

[0030] Sending a second request message to the fourth network element, where the second request message includes model type information, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information;

[0031] receiving a second response message from the fourth network element, wherein the second response message includes one or more vertical federation clients supporting the model type information;

[0032] Among them, the fourth network element is the first vertical federation server or the network storage function network element.

[0033] In this application, it is proposed that in a vertical federated learning scenario, the first vertical federated client initiates a request to discover a vertical federated client (i.e., a second request message) to the first vertical federated server or network storage function network element to discover a vertical federated client that meets a specific model type information requirement.

[0034] In one possible design, before sending the second request message to the fourth network element, the method further includes:

[0035] Sending a third request message to the network storage function network element, where the third request message includes the model type information, and the third request message is used to request a vertical federation server that supports the model type information;

[0036] A third response message is received from the network storage function network element, where the third response message includes one or more vertical federation service terminals.

[0037] In this implementation mode, in a vertical federated learning scenario, the first vertical federation client may also initiate a request to the network storage function network element to discover a vertical federation server to discover a vertical federation server that meets a specific model type information requirement.

[0038] In one possible design, when the fourth network element is the first vertical federation server, the second request message is also used to indicate that the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

[0039] In this implementation, the second request message may further indicate which network element is the initiator of the vertical federated learning, so that the network storage function network element receiving the second request message can know the initiator of the request message.

[0040] In a possible design, the second request message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

[0041] In this implementation, the second request message may carry an indication information (eg, the first indication information) to indicate the initiator of the request message, which has high operability and applicability.

[0042] In one possible design, when the fourth network element is a network storage function network element, the method further includes:

[0043] Sending a fourth request message to the one or more vertical federation clients, where the fourth request message is used to request the vertical federation client to join vertical federated learning;

[0044] A fourth response message is received from the one or more vertical federation clients, where the fourth response message is used to indicate whether the vertical federation client agrees to join the vertical federation learning.

[0045] Under this implementation method, after the network storage function network element feeds back one or more vertical federation clients that meet the requirements to the first vertical federation client, the first vertical federation client can also ask these vertical federation clients that meet the requirements whether they agree to join this vertical federation learning, and receive the response message fed back by the vertical federation client, and then determine the vertical federation clients that will ultimately participate in the vertical federation learning, further enhancing the integrity of the solution.

[0046] In one possible design, the method further includes:

[0047] A fifth request message is sent to the first vertical federation server, where the fifth request message includes the vertical federation client agreeing to join the vertical federation learning.

[0048] Since the model training process of federated learning is usually initiated by the vertical federation server, under this implementation method, after the first vertical federation client determines the vertical federation client that will eventually participate in the vertical federation learning, it sends a fifth request message to the first vertical federation server to inform the first vertical federation server of the vertical federation client that will eventually participate in the vertical federation learning. This makes it easier for the first vertical federation client to subsequently initiate model training for a specific model.

[0049] In one possible design, the second request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information, including:

[0050] The second request message is used to request support for the vertical federation slave client of the model type information; or,

[0051] The second request message is used to request the vertical federation master client that supports the model type information; or

[0052] The second request message is used to request a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client that support the model type information.

[0053] In this implementation, ① when vertical federation learning is initiated by the first vertical federation master client and the first vertical federation server is responsible for coordination (including discovering other vertical federation slave clients, obtaining information on whether other vertical federation slave clients can participate in vertical federation learning, etc.), the second request message is a request message sent by the first vertical federation master client to the first vertical federation server for requesting support for model type information from the vertical federation slave client. ② When vertical federation learning is initiated by the first vertical federation master client, but the first vertical federation master client is responsible for coordination (i.e., responsible for discovering and selecting vertical federation slave clients, etc.), the second request message is a request message sent by the first vertical federation master client to the network storage function network element for requesting support for model type information from the vertical federation slave client. ③ When vertical federation learning is initiated by the first vertical federation slave client and the first vertical federation server is responsible for coordination, the second request message is a request message sent by the first vertical federation slave client to the first vertical federation server for requesting support for model type information from the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client. ④ When vertical federation learning is initiated by the first vertical federation slave client and the first vertical federation master client is responsible for coordination (that is, responsible for the discovery and selection of the vertical federation server and other vertical federation slave clients, etc.), in the first stage, the second request message is a request message sent by the first vertical federation slave client to the network storage function network element for requesting the vertical federation master client that supports model type information, and then the first vertical federation slave client determines a vertical federation master client (for example, the first vertical federation master client) from the vertical federation master clients fed back, and then the first vertical federation slave client sends a sixth request message to the first vertical federation master client to request the vertical federation slave client that supports model type information, and may also request the vertical federation server; in the second stage, the second request message is a request message sent by the first vertical federation master client to the network storage function network element for requesting the vertical federation slave client.

[0054] In one possible design, the fourth network element is a network storage function network element, the first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation master client, the second request message is used to request a vertical federation master client that supports the model type information, the second response message includes one or more vertical federation master clients, and the first vertical federation master client is included in the one or more vertical federation master clients; and the method further includes:

[0055] A sixth request message is received from the first vertical federation slave client, where the sixth request message includes the model type information, and the sixth request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information.

[0056] In this implementation mode, if vertical federation learning is initiated by the first vertical federation slave client and the first vertical federation master client is responsible for coordination (i.e., responsible for the discovery and selection of the vertical federation server and other vertical federation slave clients, etc.), then the first vertical federation slave client can send a sixth request message to the first vertical federation master client. The sixth request message is used to request the vertical federation server and the vertical federation slave client that support model type information.

[0057] In one possible design, the method further includes:

[0058] A sixth response message is sent to the first vertical federation slave client, where the sixth response message indicates whether the vertical federation slave client request is successful.

[0059] In one possible design, the fourth network element is a network storage function network element, the first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation slave client, the second request message is used to request a vertical federation master client that supports the model type information, and the second response message includes one or more vertical federation master clients, where the first vertical federation master client is included in the one or more vertical federation master clients.

[0060] The method further comprises:

[0061] A sixth request message is sent to the first vertical federation master client, where the sixth request message includes the model type information, and the sixth request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information.

[0062] In this implementation, when vertical federation learning is initiated by the first vertical federation slave client and the first vertical federation master client is responsible for coordination (i.e., responsible for the discovery and selection of the vertical federation server and other vertical federation slave clients, etc.), the first vertical federation slave client can send a second request message to the network storage function network element to request a vertical federation master client that supports model type information, and then the first vertical federation slave client determines a vertical federation master client (e.g., the first vertical federation master client) from the vertical federation master clients fed back, and then the first vertical federation slave client sends a sixth request message to the first vertical federation master client to request vertical federation slave clients and vertical federation servers that support model type information. This can trigger the subsequent discovery of vertical federation slave clients and vertical federation servers that meet the requirements by the first vertical federation master client.

[0063] In one possible design, the method further includes:

[0064] A sixth response message is received from the first vertical federation master client, where the sixth response message indicates whether the request of the vertical federation slave client is successful.

[0065] In one possible design, the second request message further includes one or more of the following information: second indication information, an identifier of a vertical federated learning group, or selection information of a vertical federated client for the request;

[0066] Among them, the second indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type of the request is a vertical federation client, and the selection information for the requested vertical federation client includes one or more of the following: the time period supporting vertical federation learning, supported data sample information, supported data feature information, or supported training mode.

[0067] In this implementation mode, the second request message can also carry the second indication information described above, the identifier of the vertical federated learning group, or selection information of the requested vertical federated client, etc., to assist in discovering the vertical federated client that meets the requirements, and has high applicability.

[0068] In one possible design, the third request message also includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group, or a network element capability type requested by the third request message.

[0069] In this implementation method, the third request message can also carry the identifier of the vertical federated learning group described above, or information such as the network element capability type of the vertical federated server requested by the third request message, to assist in discovering a vertical federated server that meets the requirements, and has high applicability.

[0070] In one possible design, the fourth request message includes one or more of the following information:

[0071] Third, instruction information includes time requirements for vertical federated learning, data sample requirements for vertical federated learning, data feature requirements for vertical federated learning, or information about the vertical federated master client;

[0072] The third indication information is used to instruct the vertical federation client to join vertical federated learning.

[0073] In this implementation mode, the fourth request message can also specifically carry the third indication information described above, the time requirements for vertical federated learning, the data sample requirements for vertical federated learning, the data feature requirements for vertical federated learning, or the information of the vertical federated master client, etc., to assist in discovering the vertical federated client that ultimately agrees to join the vertical federated learning, and has high applicability.

[0074] In one possible design, the sixth request message further includes one or more of the following information:

[0075] Fourth indication information: network element capability type of the first vertical federation slave client that initiates the sixth request message, or selection information of the vertical federation slave client for the request;

[0076] The fourth indication information is used to request vertical federation from the client.

[0077] In this implementation mode, the sixth request message can also specifically carry the fourth indication information described above, the network element capability type of the first vertical federation slave client that initiates the sixth request message, or selection information of the requested vertical federation server and vertical federation slave client, etc., to assist in discovering vertical federation servers and vertical federation slave clients that meet the requirements, and has high applicability.

[0078] In one possible design, the first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation master client, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information; the method further includes:

[0079] A seventh request message is received from the first vertical federation server, where the seventh request message includes one or more vertical federation slave clients that support the model type information.

[0080] In this implementation, the seventh request message informs the first vertical federation master client of information of all vertical federation slave clients that will eventually participate in the VFL, which is beneficial for the first vertical federation master client to subsequently complete the training of a specific model with these vertical federation slave clients.

[0081] In one possible design, the method further includes:

[0082] Sending a registration request message to the network storage function network element, the registration request message including the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client, and also including one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group to which the first vertical federation client belongs, and model type information supported by the first vertical federation client;

[0083] A registration response message is received from the network storage function network element, where the registration response message is used to indicate a registration result of the first vertical federation client.

[0084] Under this implementation method, a network element registration process in vertical federated learning is proposed. That is, before executing the aforementioned network element discovery process, each network element registers with the network storage function network element, which is conducive to the subsequent network storage function network element being responsible for the discovery of cross-domain vertical federated learning participants.

[0085] In a possible design, when the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client, the registration request message includes model type information supported by the first vertical federation client.

[0086] Under this implementation method, when the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation master client or the vertical federation slave client needs to inform the network storage function network element of the model type information it supports when registering. This is conducive to the subsequent network storage function network element discovering the vertical federation master client or vertical federation slave client that meets a specific model type information.

[0087] In one possible design, the registration request message also includes one or more of the following information: the time period during which the first vertical federation client supports vertical federation learning, data sample information supported by the first vertical federation client, data feature information supported by the first vertical federation client, or a training mode supported by the first vertical federation client.

[0088] Under this implementation method, the registration request message can also carry capability information of the network element being registered, such as the time period for supporting vertical federated learning, or the supported training modes, etc. This will help the network storage function network element to subsequently discover suitable business participants and improve the accuracy of business participant discovery.

[0089] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method. Optionally, the execution subject of the method can be a first vertical federation server that supports vertical federated learning, or a component or device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system) applied to the first vertical federation server, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first vertical federation server. The method includes:

[0090] Sending a first request message to a network storage function network element, where the first request message includes model type information, and the first request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information;

[0091] A first response message is received from the network storage function network element, where the first response message includes at least one vertical federation client that supports the model type information.

[0092] In this application, it is proposed that in a vertical federated learning scenario, the first vertical federation server initiates a request to discover a vertical federation client (i.e., a first request message) to the network storage function network element to discover a vertical federation client that meets a specific model type information requirement.

[0093] In one possible design, the method further includes:

[0094] receiving a second request message from the first vertical federation client, where the second request message includes model type information, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information;

[0095] The sending a first request message to the network storage function network element includes:

[0096] Send a first request message to the network storage function network element according to the second request message.

[0097] In this implementation mode, when vertical federation learning is initiated by the first vertical federation master client and the first vertical federation server is responsible for coordination (including discovering other vertical federation slave clients, obtaining information on whether other vertical federation slave clients can participate in vertical federation learning, etc.), or when vertical federation learning is initiated by the first vertical federation slave client and the first vertical federation server is responsible for coordination, the first vertical federation server can send a first request message to the network storage function network element based on the triggering of the second request message sent by the first vertical federation client.

[0098] In one possible design, the method further includes:

[0099] A second response message is sent to the first vertical federation client, where the second response message includes one or more vertical federation clients that support the model type information.

[0100] In this implementation, the first vertical federation server may further send a second response message to the first vertical federation client to enhance the integrity of the solution.

[0101] In one possible design, the method further includes:

[0102] Sending a fourth request message to the at least one vertical federation client, where the fourth request message is used to request the vertical federation client to join vertical federated learning;

[0103] receiving a fourth response message from the at least one vertical federation client, the fourth response message being used to indicate whether the vertical federation client agrees to join the vertical federation learning;

[0104] The sending a second response message to the first vertical federation client includes:

[0105] A second response message is sent to the first vertical federation client according to the fourth response message.

[0106] Under this implementation method, after the network storage function network element feeds back one or more vertical federation servers that meet the requirements to the first vertical federation server, the first vertical federation server can also ask these vertical federation servers that meet the requirements whether they agree to join this vertical federation learning, and receive the response message fed back by the vertical federation server, and then determine the vertical federation server that will ultimately participate in the vertical federation learning, further enhancing the integrity of the solution.

[0107] In one possible design, the first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation master client, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information; the method further includes:

[0108] A seventh request message is sent to the first vertical federation master client, where the seventh request message includes one or more vertical federation slave clients that support the model type information.

[0109] In a possible design, the second request message is further used to indicate that the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

[0110] In one possible design, the second request message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

[0111] In one possible design, the second request message further includes one or more of the following information: second indication information, an identifier of a vertical federated learning group, or selection information of a vertical federated client for the request;

[0112] Among them, the second indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type of the request is a vertical federation client, and the selection information for the requested vertical federation client includes one or more of the following: the time period supporting vertical federation learning, supported data sample information, supported data feature information, or supported training mode.

[0113] In one possible design, when the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client, the second indication information included in the second request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation slave client, and the fifth indication information included in the first request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation slave client.

[0114] In one possible design, the first request message further includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of a vertical federated learning group, or selection information of the requested vertical federation from the client.

[0115] In one possible design, when the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation slave client, the second indication information included in the second request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, and the fifth indication information included in the first request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client.

[0116] In one possible design, the first request message also includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group, selection information of the vertical federated master client for the request, or selection information of the vertical federated slave client for the request.

[0117] In this implementation method, the first request message can also specifically carry the identifier of the vertical federated learning group described above, the selection information of the requested vertical federated master client, or the selection information of the requested vertical federated slave client, etc., to assist in discovering the vertical federated slave client of the vertical federated master client that meets the requirements, and has high applicability.

[0118] In one possible design, the method further includes:

[0119] Sending a registration request message to the network storage function network element, the registration request message including the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation server, and also including one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group to which the first vertical federation server belongs, and model type information supported by the first vertical federation server;

[0120] A registration response message is received from the network storage function network element, where the registration response message is used to indicate a registration result of the first vertical federation server.

[0121] In one possible design, the registration request message also includes one or more of the following information: the time period in which the first vertical federation server supports vertical federation learning, or the training mode supported by the first vertical federation server.

[0122] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a network storage function network element or a module or chip in a network storage function network element. The communication device includes:

[0123] A transceiver unit, configured to receive a first request message from a first network element, where the first request message is used to request a second network element, and the first request message includes a network element capability type supported by the second network element, and also includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group to which the second network element belongs, and model type information supported by the second network element; the network element capability type supported by the second network element is one of a vertical federated server or a vertical federated client, or the network element capability type supported by the second network element is one of a vertical federated server, a vertical federated master client, or a vertical federated slave client; the model type information is used to identify the service type applicable to the model supported by the second network element and / or the algorithm type corresponding to the model;

[0124] The transceiver unit is used to send a first response message to the first network element, where the first response message includes one or more second network elements, and the one or more second network elements support the network element capability type.

[0125] In one possible design, the first request message also includes selection information of the second network element; wherein:

[0126] In a case where the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation client, a vertical federation master client, or a vertical federation slave client, the selection information of the second network element includes one or more of the following: a time period in which the second network element supports vertical federation learning, data sample information supported by the second network element, data feature information supported by the second network element, or a training mode supported by the second network element;

[0127] When the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation server, the selection information of the second network element includes one or more of the following: the time period in which the second network element supports vertical federation learning, or the training mode supported by the second network element.

[0128] In one possible design, when the first network element is a first vertical federation server, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation client, or the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation slave client, or the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation master client; or,

[0129] In the case where the first network element is a first vertical federation master client, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation slave client; or

[0130] In the case where the first network element is a first vertical federation slave client, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation master client; or

[0131] In a case where the first network element is a first vertical federation client, a first vertical federation master client, or a first vertical federation slave client, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation server.

[0132] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0133] receiving a registration request message from a third network element, the registration request message including a network element capability type supported by the third network element, and further including one or more of the following information: an identifier of a vertical federated learning group to which the third network element belongs, and information about model types supported by the third network element;

[0134] A registration response message is sent to the third network element, where the registration response message is used to indicate a registration result of the third network element.

[0135] In one possible design, when the network element capability type supported by the third network element is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client, the registration request message includes model type information supported by the third network element.

[0136] In one possible design, when the network element capability type supported by the third network element is a vertical federation client, a vertical federation master client, or a vertical federation slave client, the registration request message further includes one or more of the following information: a time period in which the third network element supports vertical federation learning, data sample information supported by the third network element, data feature information supported by the third network element, or a training mode supported by the third network element;

[0137] In the case where the network element capability type supported by the third network element is a vertical federation server, the registration request message further includes one or more of the following information: the time period in which the third network element supports vertical federation learning, or the training mode supported by the third network element.

[0138] In one possible design, the third network element includes the first network element.

[0139] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a first vertical federation client or a module or chip in the first vertical federation client. The communication device includes:

[0140] a transceiver unit, configured to send a second request message to a fourth network element, where the second request message includes model type information, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information;

[0141] The transceiver unit is configured to receive a second response message from the fourth network element, wherein the second response message includes one or more vertical federation clients that support the model type information;

[0142] Among them, the fourth network element is the first vertical federation server or the network storage function network element.

[0143] In one possible design, before sending the second request message to the fourth network element, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0144] Sending a third request message to the network storage function network element, where the third request message includes the model type information, and the third request message is used to request a vertical federation server that supports the model type information;

[0145] A third response message is received from the network storage function network element, where the third response message includes one or more vertical federation service ends.

[0146] In one possible design, when the fourth network element is the first vertical federation server, the second request message is also used to indicate that the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

[0147] In a possible design, the second request message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

[0148] In one possible design, when the fourth network element is a network storage function network element, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0149] Sending a fourth request message to the one or more vertical federation clients, where the fourth request message is used to request the vertical federation client to join vertical federated learning;

[0150] A fourth response message is received from the one or more vertical federation clients, where the fourth response message is used to indicate whether the vertical federation client agrees to join the vertical federation learning.

[0151] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0152] A fifth request message is sent to the first vertical federation server, where the fifth request message includes the vertical federation client agreeing to join the vertical federation learning.

[0153] In one possible design, the second request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information, including:

[0154] The second request message is used to request support for the vertical federation slave client of the model type information; or,

[0155] The second request message is used to request the vertical federation master client that supports the model type information; or

[0156] The second request message is used to request a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client that support the model type information.

[0157] In one possible design, the fourth network element is a network storage function network element, the first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation master client, the second request message is used to request a vertical federation master client that supports the model type information, the second response message includes one or more vertical federation master clients, and the first vertical federation master client is included in the one or more vertical federation master clients; and the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0158] A sixth request message is received from the first vertical federation slave client, where the sixth request message includes the model type information, and the sixth request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information.

[0159] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0160] A sixth response message is sent to the first vertical federation slave client, where the sixth response message indicates whether the vertical federation slave client request is successful.

[0161] In one possible design, the fourth network element is a network storage function network element, the first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation slave client, the second request message is used to request a vertical federation master client that supports the model type information, and the second response message includes one or more vertical federation master clients, where the first vertical federation master client is included in the one or more vertical federation master clients.

[0162] The transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0163] A sixth request message is sent to the first vertical federation master client, where the sixth request message includes the model type information, and the sixth request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information.

[0164] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0165] A sixth response message is received from the first vertical federation master client, where the sixth response message indicates whether the request of the vertical federation slave client is successful.

[0166] In one possible design, the second request message further includes one or more of the following information: second indication information, an identifier of a vertical federated learning group, or selection information of a vertical federated client for the request;

[0167] Among them, the second indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type of the request is a vertical federation client, and the selection information for the requested vertical federation client includes one or more of the following: the time period supporting vertical federation learning, supported data sample information, supported data feature information, or supported training mode.

[0168] In one possible design, the third request message also includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group, or a network element capability type requested by the third request message.

[0169] In one possible design, the fourth request message includes one or more of the following information:

[0170] Third, instruction information includes time requirements for vertical federated learning, data sample requirements for vertical federated learning, data feature requirements for vertical federated learning, or information about the vertical federated master client;

[0171] The third indication information is used to instruct the vertical federation client to join vertical federated learning.

[0172] In one possible design, the sixth request message further includes one or more of the following information:

[0173] Fourth indication information: network element capability type of the first vertical federation slave client that initiates the sixth request message, or selection information of the vertical federation slave client for the request;

[0174] The fourth indication information is used to request vertical federation from the client.

[0175] In one possible design, the first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation master client, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information; the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0176] A seventh request message is received from the first vertical federation server, where the seventh request message includes one or more vertical federation slave clients that support the model type information.

[0177] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0178] Sending a registration request message to the network storage function network element, the registration request message including the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client, and also including one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group to which the first vertical federation client belongs, and model type information supported by the first vertical federation client;

[0179] A registration response message is received from the network storage function network element, where the registration response message is used to indicate a registration result of the first vertical federation client.

[0180] In a possible design, when the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client, the registration request message includes model type information supported by the first vertical federation client.

[0181] In one possible design, the registration request message also includes one or more of the following information: the time period during which the first vertical federation client supports vertical federation learning, data sample information supported by the first vertical federation client, data feature information supported by the first vertical federation client, or a training mode supported by the first vertical federation client.

[0182] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a first vertical federation server or a module or chip in the first vertical federation server. The communication device includes:

[0183] A transceiver unit, configured to send a first request message to a network storage function network element, wherein the first request message includes model type information, and the first request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information;

[0184] The transceiver unit is configured to receive a first response message from the network storage function network element, where the first response message includes at least one vertical federation client that supports the model type information.

[0185] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0186] receiving a second request message from the first vertical federation client, where the second request message includes model type information, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information;

[0187] In the case of sending the first request message to the network storage function network element, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to:

[0188] Send a first request message to the network storage function network element according to the second request message.

[0189] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0190] A second response message is sent to the first vertical federation client, where the second response message includes one or more vertical federation clients that support the model type information.

[0191] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0192] Sending a fourth request message to the at least one vertical federation client, where the fourth request message is used to request the vertical federation client to join vertical federated learning;

[0193] receiving a fourth response message from the at least one vertical federation client, the fourth response message being used to indicate whether the vertical federation client agrees to join the vertical federation learning;

[0194] In the case of sending the second response message to the first vertical federation client, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to:

[0195] A second response message is sent to the first vertical federation client according to the fourth response message.

[0196] In one possible design, the first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation master client, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information; the method further includes:

[0197] A seventh request message is sent to the first vertical federation master client, where the seventh request message includes one or more vertical federation slave clients that support the model type information.

[0198] In a possible design, the second request message is further used to indicate that the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

[0199] In one possible design, the second request message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

[0200] In one possible design, the second request message further includes one or more of the following information: second indication information, an identifier of a vertical federated learning group, or selection information of a vertical federated client for the request;

[0201] Among them, the second indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type of the request is a vertical federation client, and the selection information for the requested vertical federation client includes one or more of the following: the time period supporting vertical federation learning, supported data sample information, supported data feature information, or supported training mode.

[0202] In one possible design, when the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client, the second indication information included in the second request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation slave client, and the fifth indication information included in the first request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation slave client.

[0203] In one possible design, the first request message further includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of a vertical federated learning group, or selection information of the requested vertical federation from the client.

[0204] In one possible design, when the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation slave client, the second indication information included in the second request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, and the fifth indication information included in the first request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client.

[0205] In one possible design, the first request message also includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group, selection information of the vertical federated master client for the request, or selection information of the vertical federated slave client for the request.

[0206] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

[0207] Sending a registration request message to the network storage function network element, the registration request message including the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation server, and also including one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group to which the first vertical federation server belongs, and model type information supported by the first vertical federation server;

[0208] A registration response message is received from the network storage function network element, where the registration response message is used to indicate a registration result of the first vertical federation server.

[0209] In one possible design, the registration request message also includes one or more of the following information: the time period in which the first vertical federation server supports vertical federation learning, or the training mode supported by the first vertical federation server.

[0210] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor, and the processor is used to execute a computer program so that the communication device executes any method described in any one of the first to third aspects.

[0211] In one possible design, the communication device may be a chip that implements the method of any one of the first to third aspects or a device including a chip.

[0212] In one possible design, the communication device further includes a transceiver, and the processor is coupled to the transceiver.

[0213] In one possible design, the communication device further includes a memory. The processor and the memory are coupled, the memory stores a computer program, and the processor is further configured to call the computer program in the memory. For example, the processor and the memory may be integrated.

[0214] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor, and the processor is used to implement any method as described in any one of the first to third aspects through a logic circuit or execution code instructions.

[0215] Optionally, the communication device further includes an interface circuit, which is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor, or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device.

[0216] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a computer, the method described in any one of the first to third aspects is implemented.

[0217] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product. When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer executes any one of the methods described in any one of the first to third aspects.

[0218] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a communication device for implementing the method described in any one of the first aspects above, and a communication device for implementing the method described in any one of the second aspects above, and a communication device for implementing the method described in any one of the third aspects above.

[0219] The beneficial effects of the fourth to eleventh aspects can be referred to the beneficial effects of the first to third aspects, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0220] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture;

[0221] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another communication system;

[0222] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of data distribution for vertical federated learning;

[0223] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an interaction flow of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0224] FIG5 is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0225] FIG6 is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0226] FIG7 is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0227] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0228] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0229] The specific embodiments of the present application are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0230] The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish between different objects, not to describe a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "including" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements, but may optionally include steps or elements not listed, or may optionally include other steps or elements inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0231] References herein to "embodiments" 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 constitute an independent or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0232] In this application, "at least one (item)" refers to one or more, "more than one" refers to two or more, "at least two (items)" refers to two or three and more than three, and "and / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. 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 character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0233] To better understand the embodiments of the present application, the following first introduces the system architecture involved in the embodiments of the present application:

[0234] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, new radio (NR) and other fifth generation (5G) systems, sixth generation (6G) systems and other systems evolved after 5G, wireless local area networks (WALN), etc., without limitation.

[0235] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture. As shown in Figure 1, communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. For example, communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node / device (e.g., 110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). Terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to network device 110. Network device 110 is wirelessly or wiredly connected to core network 200. The core network device in core network 200 and network device 110 in RAN 100 may be separate physical devices, or they may be a single physical device that integrates core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions.

[0236] It should be noted that RAN 100 can be a cellular system related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), for example, a 4G or 5G mobile communication system, or an evolved system after 5G (for example, a 6G mobile communication system). RAN 100 can also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), etc. RAN 100 can also be a communication system that is a fusion of two or more of the above systems. It should be noted that the number of network devices and terminals in Figure 1 is only for illustration and should not be regarded as a specific limitation of this application.

[0237] The following describes in detail the terminal device, RAN 100 and CN 200 involved in the system architecture in FIG1 .

[0238] 1. Terminal Equipment

[0239] Terminal devices include devices that provide voice and / or data connectivity to users. For example, a terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water (such as ships, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons, and satellites, etc.). The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a vehicle-mounted terminal, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical care, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a wearable terminal, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios. Terminal devices may also sometimes be referred to as terminals, user equipment (UE), access terminals, vehicle-mounted terminals, industrial control terminals, UE units, UE stations, mobile stations, mobile stations, remote stations, remote terminals, mobile devices, UE terminals, wireless communication devices, UE agents, or UE devices. Terminals may also be fixed or mobile. It is understood that all or part of the functions of the terminals in this application may also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

[0240] 2. RAN

[0241] The RAN may include one or more RAN devices / nodes (or access network devices), and the interface between the access network device and the terminal device may be a Uu interface (or air interface). Of course, in communications evolved after 5G, the names of these interfaces may remain unchanged or may be replaced by other names, and this application does not limit this.

[0242] Access network equipment is a node or device that connects a terminal device to a wireless network. Examples of access network equipment include, but are not limited to, next generation node B (gNB), evolved node B (eNB), next generation eNB (ng-eNB), wireless backhaul equipment, radio network controller (RNC), node B (NB), home evolved node B (HeNB) or home node B (HNB), baseband unit (BBU), transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), mobile switching center, and equipment that performs base station functions in device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications in 5G communication systems. It may also include centralized units (C-RAN) in cloud radio access network (C-RAN) systems. unit, CU) and distributed unit (distributed unit, DU), network equipment in non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication systems, that is, can be deployed on high-altitude platforms or satellites, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0243] 3. CN

[0244] The CN may include one or more network function entities (also known as core network elements, logical network elements, network elements, or entities, etc.), for example, network data analytics function (NWDAF), network slice selection function (NSSF), network exposure function (NEF), network function repository function (NRF), policy control function (PCF), unified data management (UDM), application function (AF), vertical federated learning support function (VFLSF), authentication server function (AUSF), access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), vertical federated learning (VFL) server, and user plane function (UPF).

[0245] For example, please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another communication system. The communication system is a system architecture in a 5G non-roaming scenario. As shown in Figure 2, the communication system includes the following logical network elements: NWDAF, NSSF, NEF, NRF, PCF, UDM, AF, AMF, VFLSF, AUSF, SMF, UE, (radio) access network ((R)AN), VFL Server, UPF and data network (DN). Among them:

[0246] 1. User plane network element: Serves as the interface with the data network, completing functions such as user plane data forwarding, session / flow-level billing and statistics, and bandwidth limiting. This includes packet routing and forwarding, as well as quality of service (QoS) processing for user plane data.

[0247] In a 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a UPF network element.

[0248] 2. Authentication server: performs user security authentication. In the 5G communication system, the authentication server can be an AUSF network element.

[0249] 3. Mobility Management NE: This is primarily responsible for mobility management and access management. In a 5G communication system, this access management NE can be an AMF NE, which primarily performs mobility management and access authentication / authorization. It is also responsible for communicating user policies between terminals and the PCF NE.

[0250] 4. Session management network element: It is mainly used for session management, allocation and management of Internet protocol (IP) addresses of user devices, selection of endpoints for manageable user plane functions, policy control and charging function interfaces, and downlink data notification.

[0251] In the 5G communication system, the session management network element can be an SMF network element, which completes terminal IP address allocation, UPF selection, and billing and QoS policy control.

[0252] 5. Application network element: In the 5G communication system, the application network element can be an AF network element, which represents the application function of a third-party functional entity or an operator. It is the interface for the 5G network to obtain external application data. It is mainly used to convey the requirements of the application side to the network side, such as QoS requirements or user status event subscription.

[0253] 6. Unified Data Management NE: Responsible for the management of user identification, subscription data, authentication data, and user service NE registration. In the 5G communication system, this unified data management NE can be a UDM NE.

[0254] 7. Policy control network element: including user contract data management function, policy control function, billing policy control function, quality of service (QoS) control, etc., a unified policy framework used to guide network behavior, and provide policy rule information for control plane functional network elements (such as AMF, SMF network elements, etc.).

[0255] In a 5G communication system, the policy control network element may be a PCF.

[0256] 8. Network Function Repository Functional Network Element: Provides storage and selection functions for network function entity information for other core network elements. In 5G communication systems, this network element can be an NRF network element.

[0257] 9. Network open network element: In the 5G communication system, the network open network element can be a NEF network element, which is mainly used to expose the services and capabilities of the 3GPP network function to the AF, and also allows the AF to provide information to the 3GPP network function.

[0258] 10. Network slice selection function network element: responsible for selecting network slices for UE. In the 5G communication system, this application network element can be the NSSF network element.

[0259] 11. Network Data Analysis Function: This function includes data collection, model training, data analysis, and model reasoning. It can be used to collect relevant data from network elements, third-party service servers, terminal devices, or network management systems, perform data analysis or model training based on the relevant data, and provide data analysis results to network elements, third-party service servers, terminal devices, or network management systems, or provide trained models to other data analysis function elements. In a 5G communication system, this network element can be a NWDAF, where the NWDAF can be divided into an analysis logic function (AnLF) and a model training logic function (MTLF) based on its functions. The AnLF is a logic function within the NWDAF that is used to perform model reasoning, derive analysis results (i.e., derive statistical or predictive analysis results based on the analysis consumer's request), and make analysis results available. The MTLF is a logic function within the NWDAF that is used to train models and make training services available (e.g., provide trained models). An NWDAF may include only the AnLF, only the MTLF, or both the AnLF and the MTLF. For example, Table 1 lists some analysis results that can be provided by existing NWDAFs, as well as the data that the NWDAF needs to collect to provide the corresponding analysis results. For example, NWDAF can provide service experience analysis results. To provide this analysis result, NWDAF needs to collect service-related information such as service identification and service experience from AF / UE, and collect information such as signal reception power and signal reception quality from OAM. NWDAF can train an AI model based on the collected data, and then obtain inference analysis results based on the AI ​​model, such as the predicted service experience for a certain time period in the future.

[0260] Table 1: Analysis results provided by NWDAF and examples of data that need to be collected

[0261] 12. Vertical Federated Learning Support: This function is primarily responsible for the registration and discovery of VFL participants. In a 5G communication system, this network element can be a VFLSF, which can be deployed independently or within network elements such as NEF, NWDAF, and AF.

[0262] 13. Vertical Federated Learning Server (VFL Server): Responsible for maintaining the vertical federation process, authorizing the admission and removal of federated learning members, and distributing encryption keys and decrypting intermediate information. In 5G communication systems, this network element can be deployed independently or integrated into network elements such as the NEF, NWDAF, and AF.

[0263] Optionally, the VFLSF and VLF server may not belong to the CN, but may be a third-party functional entity (such as a network management element or AF). This application mainly uses the VFLSF and VLF server as CN network elements as an example for schematic description.

[0264] The above-mentioned functional network element can be a network element in a hardware device, a software function running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualized function instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform). The above-mentioned functional network element can be divided into one or more services. Furthermore, there may be services that exist independently of the network function. In this application, an instance of the above-mentioned functional network element, or an instance of a service included in the above-mentioned functional network element, or an instance of a service that exists independently of the network function can be referred to as a service instance.

[0265] In addition, although not shown, the CN may also include other possible network elements, such as service communication proxy (SCP), network slice admission control function (NSACF), unified data repository (UDR) network element, authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) network elements, etc.

[0266] It should be noted that in a 5G communication system, each functional network element may be the name of each functional network element shown in FIG2 , and in a communication system evolved after 5G (such as a 6G communication system), each functional network element may still be the name of each functional network element shown in FIG2 , or may have other names. For example, in a 5G communication system, a policy control network element may be a PCF, and in a communication system evolved after 5G (such as a 6G communication system), the policy control function may still be a PCF, or may have other names, and this application is not limited thereto.

[0267] Among them, Nnssf is the service-based interface provided by NSSF; Nnef is the service-based interface provided by NEF; Nnrf is the service-based interface provided by NRF; Npcf is the service-based interface provided by PCF; Nudm is the service-based interface provided by UDM; Naf is the service-based interface provided by AF; Nausf is the service-based interface provided by AUSF; Namf is the service-based interface provided by AMF; Nsmf is the service-based interface provided by SMF; N1 is the reference point between UE and AMF; N2 is the reference point between (R)AN and AMF; N3 is the reference point between (R)AN and UPF; N4 is the reference point between SMF and UPF; N6 is the reference point between UPF and DN; N9 is the reference point between UPFs. It should be noted that the meanings of Nnssf, Nnef, Nnrf, Npcf, Nudm, Naf, Nausf, Namf, Nsmf, N1, N2, N3, N4, N6, and N9 in Figure 2 can be referred to the meanings defined in the relevant standard protocols and are not limited here.

[0268] 4. DN

[0269] A DN, also known as a packet data network (PDN), is a network outside the operator's network that provides data transmission services such as IP multi-media service (IMS) and the Internet. A UE accesses a DN by establishing a session between the UE, RAN, UPF, and DN.

[0270] It should be noted that the various network functions and entities in Figure 2 can exchange messages through different interfaces. For example, the UE and AMF entities can interact through the N1 interface, and the interaction message is called the N1 Message. Some interfaces are implemented as service-oriented interfaces. The UE, RAN equipment, UPF entity and DN in Figure 2 can be called data plane network functions and entities, which are used to carry business data. User-layer data traffic can be transmitted through the PDU Session established between the UE and DN, and pass through the two network function entities of the RAN equipment and the UPF entity. Other network functions and entities can be collectively referred to as control plane network functions and entities, which are used to carry signaling messages and are mainly responsible for functions such as authentication and authorization, registration management, session management, mobility management and policy control, etc., so as to achieve reliability and stability in the transmission of user-layer data traffic.

[0271] It should be noted that the names of the network elements involved in this application may also be called other names, without limitation. It should be noted that the new network element or newly designed network element described in this application may be a brand new network element, or may be an expansion, update, or addition of the functions of an existing network element, or may be a merger or integration of the functions of multiple existing network elements, without limitation.

[0272] The following is an explanation of the relevant technical features involved in the embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that these explanations are intended to make the embodiments of the present application easier to understand and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection claimed by the present application.

[0273] 1. Federated learning (FL)

[0274] Federated Learning (FL) is a machine learning framework that effectively helps multiple organizations utilize data and conduct machine learning modeling while meeting user privacy, data security, and government regulatory requirements. As a distributed machine learning framework, federated learning effectively addresses data silos, enabling participants to jointly model without sharing data. This technically breaks down data silos and enables AI collaboration. Based on the characteristics of the participating data sources, federated learning can be categorized into three types: horizontal federated learning, vertical federated learning, and federated transfer learning.

[0275] The main characteristic of vertical federated learning is that the sample space overlap between the datasets of each party is high, while the feature space overlap is low, as shown in Figure 3. For example, the data sample set of participant A contains the data of (user 1, user 2, user 3, user 4), where each user's data contains features (feature 1, feature 2, feature 3, feature 4, feature 5). The data sample set of participant B contains the data of (user 1, user 2, user 3, user 4, user 5), where each user's data contains features (feature 6, feature 7, feature 8, feature 9, feature 10). This shows that the data features of participants A and B have little overlap, but the data samples are mostly the same. Participants A and B can select the same samples (i.e., user 1, user 2, user 3, user 4) from their respective data sample sets to train the vertical federated learning model.

[0276] It should be understood that this application mainly relates to vertical federated learning. Generally speaking, the participants in vertical federated learning can be divided into vertical federated clients and vertical federated servers (i.e., VLF servers). That is to say, when the vertical federated client does not distinguish between vertical federated master / slave clients, the participants in vertical federated learning mainly include two types of network elements, namely vertical federated clients and vertical federated servers. Among them, each vertical federated client has some data features, but only one vertical federated client has data labels.

[0277] Optionally, participants in vertical federated learning can be divided into the following three categories: vertical federated master clients, vertical federated slave clients, and vertical federated servers. For a specific federated learning task, the participant that possesses the required partial data features and data labels is called a vertical federated master client. A vertical federated master client may also possess only data labels without data features. For a specific federated learning task, the participant that possesses only the required partial data features is called a vertical federated slave client. The vertical federated server is primarily responsible for maintaining the vertical federation process, authorizing the admission and removal of federated learning members, and also handles encryption key distribution and decryption of intermediate information. The vertical federated server is typically a third party independent of the task or a credible organization in the industry. In other words, if the vertical federated client distinguishes between vertical federated master and vertical federated slave clients, the participants in vertical federated learning primarily include three types of network elements: the vertical federated master client, the vertical federated slave client, and the vertical federated server.

[0278] 2. ML Model Interoperability indicator

[0279] Federated learning participants can configure a machine learning model interoperability indicator, which includes a vendor identifier (Verdor ID) list. The vendor identifier list is used to identify vendors that can obtain models from the federated learning participant, or the federated learning participant supports providing machine learning models to vendors identified in the vendor identifier list.

[0280] 3. Analytics ID

[0281] Analytics ID is used to identify the type of model being trained. Generally speaking, the specific function of the trained model can be determined based on the Analytics ID. For example, Analytics ID = service experience indicates that the trained model is used for business experience analysis.

[0282] 4. Event ID

[0283] Event ID is an event identifier, which is used to identify the event types supported by a network element, that is, the event types that other network elements can subscribe to from the network element. When a network element receives a subscription message, and the subscription message contains a specific Event ID, the network element will send a notification to the subscriber when the corresponding event is triggered or when the feedback conditions specified by the subscriber are met (such as threshold feedback or periodic feedback, etc.). The notification contains specific data. For example, Event ID = "Number of UEs served by the AMF". When the AMF receives the subscription, it will feedback the Number of UEs served by the AMF to the subscriber, that is, the total number of users served by the AMF. For another example, Event ID = "PDU Session Establishment and / or PDU Session Release". When the SMF receives the subscription, it will feedback PDU Session established / released on a Network Slice to the subscriber, that is, the SMF reports the PDU session information established / released on each slice.

[0284] 5. Sample space overlap

[0285] The number of common samples among multiple vertical federation participants, or the proportion of the number of common samples among multiple vertical federation participants to the total number of samples of one of the vertical federation participants.

[0286] It should be understood that currently, for VFL, there is no solution for how to discover the participants corresponding to VFL. Based on this, this application proposes a communication method that can discover the participants of vertical federated learning, laying the foundation for subsequent vertical federated model training.

[0287] It should be noted that the specific embodiments in the following text of this application mainly use the network storage function network element as VFLSF as an example for schematic illustration. Among them, VFLSF can be a newly designed functional network element (for example, VFLSF can be a network element in the 5G core network), or VFLSF can also be a functional network element of a third party. Optionally, VFLSF can also be combined with existing network elements, that is, the functions of existing network elements can also be expanded so that they can realize the functions of VFLSF mentioned in this application, and this application does not limit this. The vertical federation server (i.e., VFL sever) in this application can be a network element in the core network, or it can be a functional network element of a third party, and this application does not limit this. In some implementations, VFLSF and the vertical federation server may also be co-located. It should be understood that when VFLSF and the vertical federation server are co-located, the interaction between VFLSF and the vertical federation server in the specific embodiments below can be understood as an implementation within a device.

[0288] It should be noted that the vertical federation client in this application can be AF, or NWDAF, or other network functions (NF), such as AMF, SMF, etc., and is not limited here.

[0289] The communication method and communication device provided by this application are described in detail below:

[0290] Please refer to Figure 4, which is an interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4, the communication method includes the following steps S401 to S4012. The execution subject of the method shown in Figure 4 can be a vertical federation client, a vertical federation server and a VFLSF, or the execution subject of the method shown in Figure 4 can also be a vertical federation client, a vertical federation server and a chip in the VFLSF. For the convenience of description, Figure 4 mainly uses the vertical federation client, the vertical federation server and the VFLSF as an example of the execution subject of the method. It should be noted that Figure 4 is a schematic flow chart of an embodiment of the method of the present application, showing the detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples. The embodiment of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of the various operations in Figure 4. In addition, the various steps in Figure 4 can be executed in a different order from that presented in Figure 4, and it is possible that not all operations in Figure 4 need to be executed. Among them:

[0291] S401: The vertical federation client and the vertical federation server send registration request messages to the VFLSF respectively. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the registration request messages from the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server.

[0292] It should be noted that when the vertical federation client does not distinguish between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client may include (N-1) vertical federation clients and a first vertical federation client (i.e., the flowchart shown in FIG4 includes (N-1) vertical federation clients and a first vertical federation client), where N is an integer greater than 1. When the vertical federation client distinguishes between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client may include a first vertical federation master client, a first vertical federation slave client, and (N-1) vertical federation slave clients (i.e., the flowchart shown in FIG4 includes (N-1) vertical federation slave clients, the first vertical federation master client, and the first vertical federation slave client), where N is an integer greater than 1.

[0293] Generally speaking, the registration request message sent by the network element that needs to register to the VFLSF may include one or more of the following information: the network element capability type supported by the network element (or the type of participant supported), the identifier of the vertical federated learning group to which the network element belongs (for example, VFL group ID), the model type information supported by the network element (for example, Model Type ID(s) per VFL group ID), the model filter information corresponding to the model type information (for example, ML model Filter information per Model Type ID(s)), the model interoperability information corresponding to the model type information (for example, ML Model Interoperability Information per Model Type ID(s)), the address information of the network element (that is, Address of VFL client instance, such as Internet Protocol (IP) address), the time period for which the network element supports vertical federated learning (for example, Time interval supporting VFL), the data sample information supported by the network element (or supported sample space, that is, Supported sample space), the data feature information supported by the network element (or supported feature space, that is, Supported feature space), or the training mode supported by the network element (that is, Supported training mode). mode) etc.

[0294] In one example, when the vertical federation client does not distinguish between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the registration request message sent by any vertical federation client (for example, the first vertical federation client is used as an example below) may include the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client (for example, the network element capability type is the vertical federation client). Optionally, the registration request message may also include one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federation learning group to which the first vertical federation client belongs, model type information supported by the first vertical federation client, model filtering information corresponding to the model type information, model interoperability information corresponding to the model type information, address information of the first vertical federation client, time period for which the first vertical federation client supports vertical federation learning, data sample information supported by the first vertical federation client, data feature information supported by the first vertical federation client, or training mode supported by the first vertical federation client, etc.

[0295] In another example, when the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the registration request message sent by any vertical federation master client (for example, the first vertical federation master client is used as an example below) may include the model type information supported by the first vertical federation master client, and the network element capability type supported (i.e., the vertical federation master client). Optionally, the registration request message may also include one or more of the following information: the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation master client (for example, the network element capability type is the vertical federation master client), the identifier of the vertical federation learning group to which the first vertical federation master client belongs, the model filtering information corresponding to the model type information, the model interoperability information corresponding to the model type information, the address information of the first vertical federation master client, the time period for the first vertical federation master client to support vertical federation learning, the data sample information supported by the first vertical federation master client, the data feature information supported by the first vertical federation master client, or the training mode supported by the first vertical federation master client, etc.

[0296] Similarly, in another example, when the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the registration request message sent by any vertical federation slave client (for example, the first vertical federation slave client is used as an example below) may include the model type information supported by the first vertical federation slave client, and the network element capability type supported (i.e., the vertical federation slave client). Optionally, the registration request message may also include one or more of the following information: the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation slave client (for example, the network element capability type is the vertical federation slave client), the identifier of the vertical federation learning group to which the first vertical federation slave client belongs, the model filtering information corresponding to the model type information, the model interoperability information corresponding to the model type information, the address information of the first vertical federation slave client (for example, an IP address), the time period for the first vertical federation slave client to support vertical federation learning, the data sample information supported by the first vertical federation slave client, the data feature information supported by the first vertical federation slave client, or the training mode supported by the first vertical federation slave client, etc.

[0297] As can be seen from the above example, if the vertical federation client does not distinguish between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the registration request message sent by any vertical federation client may or may not include the model type information it supports. If the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the registration request message sent by any vertical federation master / slave client is generally required to include the model type information it supports.

[0298] In another example, when the network element that needs to be registered is a vertical federation server, the registration request message sent by any vertical federation server (for example, the first vertical federation server is used as an example below) may include the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation server (for example, the network element capability type is a vertical federation server). Optionally, the registration request message may also include one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federation learning group to which the first vertical federation server belongs, information on model types supported by the first vertical federation server, address information of the first vertical federation server (for example, an IP address), the time period during which the first vertical federation server supports vertical federation learning, or a training mode supported by the first vertical federation server.

[0299] It should be noted that the “identifier of the vertical federated learning group” involved in the embodiments of the present application can be used to mark a vertical federated learning group that can support the joint training of a vertical federated model, that is, participants with the same group identifier support the joint training of a vertical federated model. Generally speaking, one vertical federated learning group corresponds to one identifier. Optionally, in addition to indicating the vertical federated learning group, the identifier of the vertical federated learning group can also have the function of indicating a machine learning model interoperability indicator (ML model interoperability indicator). In this case, the identifier of the vertical federated learning group can be, for example, a list of vendor identifiers. The vendors in the list can obtain models from each other. For example, the vendor identifier list includes (verdor ID1, verdor ID2, verdor ID3). If the vendor identifier of vertical federated learning participant A is verdor ID1 and the vendor identifier of vertical federated learning participant B is verdor ID2, it means that vertical federated learning participant A can obtain a model from vertical federated learning participant B, and vertical federated learning participant B can also obtain a model from vertical federated learning participant A. It should be understood that when the identifier of the vertical federated learning group does not serve as an ML model interoperability indicator, the ML model interoperability indicator usually needs to be directly carried in the registration request message.

[0300] The "model type information" involved in the embodiments of the present application can be used to indicate the business type applicable to the vertical federated model supported by the vertical federated learning group for training and / or the algorithm type corresponding to the vertical federated model. The business types include personalized recommendations for telecommunications packages, business experience analysis, network element load analysis, or edge MEC business experience analysis, and the algorithm types may include linear regression, decision trees, or neural network models. Among them, a model type information may indicate one or more business types and / or one or more algorithm types, and this application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0301] For example, when the model type information indicates the applicable business type of the vertical federated model supported by the vertical federated learning group, the model type information may be in the form of an Analytics ID. Optionally, to protect privacy, the model type information may be in the form of a string of numbers or a character string, corresponding to the applicable business type of the vertical federated model. In other words, the specific function of the model cannot be determined based on the form of the model type information. This prevents VFLSF or other third parties from directly knowing the specific function of the model to be trained based on the model type information.

[0302] It should be noted that the "model filtering information" involved in the embodiments of the present application includes single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), or area of ​​interest (AOI) and other information. "Model interoperability information" includes information such as model file format, or model execution environment. "Supported training modes" refer to which specific mode algorithms / processes are supported for training vertical federation models. For example, the supported training mode can be a vertical federation training method based on homomorphic encryption, or a multi-party multi-classification vertical federation method based on privacy protection label sharing, or a multi-party vertical federation method based on secret sharing, etc. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0303] The data sample information can be a set of UE identifiers or a set of encrypted UE identifiers. The encryption here is to prevent the VFLSF or other third parties from obtaining the actual sample space information. Generally speaking, the data sample information can be used to calculate the common sample space between different participants to assist in discovering vertical federated clients with as many overlapping samples as possible. The data feature information is mainly used to represent a set of data features supported by the participants. The specific form can be a set of event identifiers (Event IDs). For the understanding of "Event ID", please refer to the relevant section above and will not be repeated here.

[0304] S402: The VFLSF sends a registration response message to the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server respectively. Correspondingly, the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server respectively receive the registration response message from the VFLSF.

[0305] Here, the registration response message is used to indicate whether the registration is successful. Specifically, the registration response message may include result indication information to indicate whether the registration is successful.

[0306] S403: The first vertical federation (master) client sends a vertical federation server discovery request message to the VFLSF. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the vertical federation server discovery request message from the first vertical federation (master) client.

[0307] It should be noted that when a vertical federation client does not distinguish between a master and slave clients, the first vertical federation client sends a vertical federation server discovery request message to the VFLSF. When a vertical federation client distinguishes between a master and slave clients, the first master client sends a vertical federation server discovery request message to the VFLSF. For ease of description, the following description generally describes the first vertical federation (master) client sending a vertical federation server discovery request message to the VFLSF.

[0308] Generally speaking, when a first vertical federation (master) client determines that a specific model needs to be trained through vertical federated learning, the first vertical federation (master) client can send a vertical federation server discovery request message to the VFLSF (i.e., the initiator of vertical federation learning is the first vertical federation (master) client). For example, when the first vertical federation (master) client discovers that the training data for the telecom package personalized recommendation model cannot be collected due to privacy protection issues, it can be determined that the telecom package personalized recommendation model needs to be trained through vertical federated learning. In this case, the specific model is the telecom package personalized recommendation model, and therefore, the first vertical federation (master) client can send a vertical federation server discovery request message to the VFLSF.

[0309] In some feasible implementations, the vertical federation server discovery request message may include the specific model type information, and thus the vertical federation server discovery request message is used to request (discover) a vertical federation server that supports the specific model type information. It should be understood that the specific model type information here refers to information about a model that needs to be trained through vertical federated learning, such as a personalized recommendation model for telecom packages.

[0310] In some other feasible implementations, the vertical federation server discovery request message may not include specific model type information, so the vertical federation server discovery request message is used to request (discover) the vertical federation server.

[0311] It should be understood that the vertical federation server discovery request message may indicate which network element is being requested (discovered) in the following two implementations:

[0312] The first method: by carrying information about the network element capability type (i.e., vertical federation server) supported by the requested network element in the vertical federation server discovery request message, it can be indicated what type of network element the vertical federation server discovery request message is used to request (discover). For example, the vertical federation server discovery request message includes a field (for example, the field can be described as VFL capability type), which is used to carry the network element capability type of the network element requested by the vertical federation server discovery request message, for example, VFL capability type = VFL server, indicating a request for a vertical federation server.

[0313] The second type: If the name of the vertical federation server discovery request message itself can indicate that it is a request message for requesting a vertical federation server, then the vertical federation server discovery request message may not carry information about the network element capability type (i.e., vertical federation server) supported by the requested network element. For example, the first vertical federation (master) client sends a request message to the VFLSF through the Nvflsf_VFLServerDiscovery_Request service operation, and the VFLSF can learn through this service operation that the first vertical federation (master) client wants to request (discover) the vertical federation server. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of this application are mainly illustrated using the first solution as an example.

[0314] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federation server discovery request message may also include the identifier of the vertical federated learning group, the time period for expected vertical federated learning execution, supported training modes and other information. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0315] S404: The VFLSF sends a vertical federation server discovery response message to the first vertical federation (master) client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation (master) client receives the vertical federation server discovery response message from the VFLSF.

[0316] It should be noted that when a vertical federation client does not distinguish between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the VFLSF sends a vertical federation server discovery response message to the first vertical federation client. When a vertical federation client distinguishes between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the VFLSF sends a vertical federation server discovery response message to the first vertical federation master client. For ease of description, the following description generally refers to the VFLSF sending a vertical federation server discovery response message to the first vertical federation (master) client.

[0317] In some feasible implementations, when the vertical federation server discovery request message includes specific model type information, the VFLSF can determine (or discover) one or more vertical federation servers that support the specific model type information based on the received vertical federation server discovery request message, and send the information of the one or more vertical federation servers that it discovered that support the specific model type information to the first vertical federation (master) client. Here, the information of the one or more vertical federation servers that support the specific model type information determined can be carried in the vertical federation server discovery response message. Generally speaking, the information of the vertical federation server can be the identifier (ID) of the vertical federation server, or the information of the vertical federation server can also be the internet protocol (IP) address of the vertical federation server. Among them, when the information of the vertical federation server fed back is the ID of the vertical federation server, the first vertical federation (master) client can generate its corresponding IP address based on the ID of the vertical federation server.

[0318] For example, assuming that the specific model type information is a personalized recommendation model for a telecommunications package, if the vertical federation server discovery request message includes the specific model type information, i.e., the personalized recommendation model for a telecommunications package, then the vertical federation server discovery response message fed back by the VFLSF may include information on vertical federation servers 1, 2, and 3 that support the personalized recommendation model for the telecommunications package.

[0319] In other feasible implementations, when the vertical federation server discovery request message does not include specific model type information, the vertical federation server discovery response message fed back by the VFLSF includes information of one or more vertical federation servers that support different model type information. Therefore, the first vertical federation (master) client needs to further interact with the one or more vertical federation servers included in the vertical federation server discovery response message to determine which vertical federation server(s) supports the specific model type information.

[0320] For example, assuming that the specific model type information is a personalized recommendation model for telecommunications packages, if the vertical federation server discovery request message does not include the specific model type information, then the vertical federation server discovery response message fed back by the VFLSF may include information about vertical federation servers 1, 2, and 3 that support the personalized recommendation model for telecommunications packages, as well as information about vertical federation servers 4, 5, and 6 that support the service experience analysis model. Therefore, the first vertical federation (master) client also needs to interact with vertical federation servers 1, 2, and 3 that support the personalized recommendation model for telecommunications packages, as well as vertical federation servers 4, 5, and 6 that support the service experience analysis model, to determine which vertical federation server(s) are the vertical federation servers that support the personalized recommendation model for telecommunications packages.

[0321] For ease of understanding, the following text uses the example of a vertical federation server discovery request message including specific model type information and a vertical federation server discovery response message including information about one or more vertical federation servers that support the specific model type information as an example for schematic explanation.

[0322] S405: The first vertical federation (master) client sends a vertical federation client selection request message to the first vertical federation server. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation server receives the vertical federation client selection request message from the first vertical federation (master) client.

[0323] It should be noted that when a vertical federation client does not distinguish between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the first vertical federation client sends a vertical federation client selection request message to the first vertical federation server. When a vertical federation client distinguishes between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the first vertical federation master sends a vertical federation client selection request message to the first vertical federation server. For ease of description, the following description generally describes the first vertical federation (master) client sending a vertical federation client selection request message to the first vertical federation server.

[0324] It should be understood that the first vertical federation (master) client can select a vertical federation server from one or more vertical federation servers that support specific model type information fed back by the VFLSF (for example, the first vertical federation server is used as an example for schematic illustration), and send a vertical federation client selection request message to the IP address corresponding to the selected first vertical federation server.

[0325] In some feasible implementations, the vertical federation client selection request message may include the above-mentioned specific model type information, so the vertical federation client selection request message is used to request the vertical federation client that supports the specific model type information. In other feasible implementations, when a vertical federation server only supports one type of model type information, the vertical federation client selection request message may also not include the specific model type information, so the vertical federation client selection request message is used to request (discover) the vertical federation client. It should be understood that when the vertical federation client selection request message does not include specific model type information, the first vertical federation server will subsequently need to interact with each vertical federation client fed back by the VFLSF to determine which vertical federation client / clients are the vertical federation clients that support the specific model type information, similar to the operations in S403 and S404 above when the vertical federation server discovery request message does not include specific model type information, which will not be elaborated here. For ease of understanding, the following mainly uses the example of the vertical federation client selection request message including specific model type information as an example for schematic explanation.

[0326] It should be understood that the vertical federation client selection request message may indicate which network element is being requested (discovered) in the following two implementations:

[0327] The first one: by carrying the information of the network element capability type (i.e., vertical federation client) of the requested network element in the vertical federation client selection request message, it can be indicated what kind of network element the vertical federation client selection request message is used to request (discover). For example, the vertical federation client selection request message includes a field (for example, the field can be described as VFL client selection Flag), which is used to carry the network element capability type (i.e., the second indication information) of the network element requested by the vertical federation client selection request message, for example, VFL client selection Flag = VFL client, indicating a request for the vertical federation client. For another example, VFL client selection Flag = slave VFL client, indicating a request for the vertical federation slave client. For another example, slave VFL client selection Flag = 1, indicating a request for the vertical federation slave client.

[0328] The second type: If the name of the vertical federation client selection request message itself can indicate that it is a request message for requesting a vertical federation client, then the vertical federation client selection request message may not carry information about the network element capability type of the requested network element. For example, the first vertical federation (master) client sends a vertical federation client selection request message to the first vertical federation server through the Nvflserver_VFLClientSelection_Request service operation. The first vertical federation server can learn through this service operation that the first vertical federation (master) client wants to request (discover) a vertical federation client. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of this application are mainly illustrated using the first solution as an example.

[0329] Optionally, the vertical federation client selection request message in the present application may also indicate the network element capability type of the first vertical federation (master) client, that is, indicate the network element capability type of the initiator of the vertical federation client selection request message, or indicate the network element capability type of the initiator of the vertical federation learning. Generally speaking, when the vertical federation client does not distinguish between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is the vertical federation client (that is, the network element capability type of the initiator of the vertical federation learning is the vertical federation client); when the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the network element capability type of the first vertical federation master client may be the vertical federation master client (that is, the network element capability type of the initiator of the vertical federation learning is the vertical federation master client). The following mainly introduces the implementation scheme of how to indicate the network element capability type of the initiator of two types of vertical federation learning:

[0330] The first type: The information of the network element capability type of the first vertical federation (master) client can be carried in the vertical federation client selection request message to indicate that the initiator of the vertical federation learning is the vertical federation (master) client. For example, the vertical federation client selection request message includes a field (for example, the field can be described as a VFL client indicator), which is used to carry the information of the initiator of the vertical federation learning (i.e., the first indication information), for example, VFL client indicator = master VFL client, indicating that the initiator of the vertical federation learning is the vertical federation master client. For another example, the field can also be a master VFL client indicator. When the master VFL client indicator = 1, it indicates that the initiator of the vertical federation learning is the vertical federation master client.

[0331] The second type: If the name of the vertical federation client selection request message itself can indicate who the initiator of the vertical federation learning is, then the vertical federation client selection request message may not carry the information of the initiator of the vertical federation learning. For example, the first vertical federation (master) client sends a vertical federation client selection request message to the first vertical federation server through the Nvflserver_VFLClientSelection_Request service operation, and it is defined that the requester of the Nvflserver_VFLClientSelection_Request service operation can only be the vertical federation (master) client, then the first vertical federation server can know through this service operation that the initiator of the vertical federation learning is the vertical federation (master) client. For ease of understanding, the embodiment of this application mainly takes the first solution as an example for schematic explanation.

[0332] It should be noted that, (1) when the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, when the VFL client selection Flag can only indicate that the requested network element capability type is the vertical federation client (i.e., VFL client selection Flag = VFL client), but cannot specifically indicate that the requested network element capability type is the vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client selection request message usually needs to carry the VFL client indicator to indicate the initiator of the vertical federation learning (i.e., VFL client indicator = master VFL client), thereby avoiding the situation where the first vertical federation server cannot know what type of network element should be discovered subsequently. That is to say, the first vertical federation server can combine VFL client selection Flag = VFL client and VFL client indicator = master VFL client to determine that the network element capability type that should be requested to be discovered in the subsequent step S406 is the vertical federation slave client. (2) When the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, and the VFL client selection Flag can specifically indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation slave client (i.e., VFL client selection Flag = slave VFL client), the vertical federation client selection request message may carry the VFL client indicator or may not carry the VFL client indicator. This is because the first vertical federation server can directly determine that the network element capability type to be requested for discovery in the subsequent step S406 is a vertical federation slave client based on VFL client selection Flag = slave VFL client. (3) When the vertical federation client does not distinguish between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client selection request message may include the VFL client selection Flag (in this case, VFL client selection Flag = VFL client) but not the VFL client indicator.

[0333] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federation client selection request message may also include information such as the identifier of the vertical federation learning group, or requirements for the requesting vertical federation client (or selection information for the requesting vertical federation client). For example, the requirements / selection information for the requesting vertical federation client includes one or more of the following: the time period during which the vertical federation client is expected to support vertical federation learning, the data sample information supported by the expected vertical federation client, the data feature information supported by the expected vertical federation client, the training mode supported by the expected vertical federation client, or the sample space overlap (i.e., Overlap degree of sample space), etc. Among them, the sample space overlap can indicate the selection of a vertical federation (slave) client with a sample space overlap higher than a certain threshold or a number of overlapping samples higher than a certain threshold, which can reduce the workload of sample alignment.

[0334] S406: The first vertical federation server sends a vertical federation client discovery request message to the VFLSF. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the vertical federation client discovery request message from the first vertical federation server.

[0335] In some feasible implementations, the vertical federation client discovery request message may include the above-mentioned specific model type information, and the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request vertical federation clients that support the specific model type information.

[0336] It should be understood that, if the vertical federation client does not distinguish between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports a specific model type information. If the vertical federation client distinguishes between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports a specific model type information.

[0337] It should be understood that the vertical federation client discovery request message may indicate which network element is being requested (discovered) in the following two implementations:

[0338] The first method: by carrying information about the network element capability type (i.e., vertical federation client / vertical federation slave client) of the requested network element in the vertical federation client discovery request message (i.e., the fifth indication information), it can be indicated what kind of network element the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request (discover). For example, the vertical federation client discovery request message includes a field (e.g., the field can be described as VFL capability type), which is used to carry the network element capability type of the network element requested by the vertical federation client discovery request message, such as VFL capability type = VFL client / slave VFL client, indicating a request for a vertical federation client / vertical federation slave client.

[0339] The second type: If the name of the vertical federation client discovery request message itself can indicate that it is a request message for requesting a vertical federation client / vertical federation slave client, then the vertical federation client discovery request message may not carry information about the network element capability type of the requested network element. For example, the first vertical federation server sends a request message to the VFLSF through the Nvflsf_VFLClientDiscovery_Request or Nvflsf_VFLSlaveClientDiscovery_Request service operation, and the VFLSF can learn through this service operation that the first vertical federation server requests (discovers) the vertical federation client / vertical federation slave client. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of the present application are mainly illustrated using the first solution as an example.

[0340] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federation client discovery request message may also include an identifier of the vertical federation learning group, or information such as requirements / selections for the requesting vertical federation client. For example, the requirements / selections for the requesting vertical federation client may include one or more of the following: the time period during which the vertical federation client is expected to support vertical federation learning, information about data samples that the vertical federation client is expected to support, information about data features that the vertical federation client is expected to support, or information about training modes that the vertical federation client is expected to support.

[0341] It should be noted that if the vertical federation client selection request message of step S405 does not include requirements for the requested vertical federation client, then the first vertical federation server can determine the requirements for the requested vertical federation client by itself. If the vertical federation client selection request message of step S405 includes requirements for the requested vertical federation client, then the requirements for the requested vertical federation client included in the vertical federation client discovery request message can be the requirements for the requested vertical federation client included in the vertical federation client selection request message in step S405. Optionally, the requirements for the requested vertical federation client included in the vertical federation client selection request message in step S405 can also be adjusted (for example, add / delete / modify), and the adjusted requirements for the requested vertical federation client can be used as the requirements for the requested vertical federation client carried in the vertical federation client discovery request message in step S406. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0342] S407: The VFLSF sends a vertical federation client discovery response message to the first vertical federation server. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation server receives the vertical federation client discovery response message from the VFLSF.

[0343] In some feasible implementations, the vertical federation client discovery response message includes at least one vertical federation (slave) client that supports specific model type information. It should be understood that in the case where the vertical federation client does not distinguish between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client discovery response message includes at least one vertical federation client that supports specific model type information. Generally speaking, the at least one vertical federation client is included in the (N-1) vertical federation clients. In the case where the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client discovery response message includes at least one vertical federation slave client that supports specific model type information. Generally speaking, the at least one vertical federation slave client is included in the (N-1) vertical federation slave clients.

[0344] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federation client discovery response message may also include data sample information and / or data feature information supported by each vertical federation (slave) client in the at least one vertical federation (slave) client, etc. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0345] S408: The first vertical federation server sends a vertical federation learning preparation request message to the at least one vertical federation (slave) client. Correspondingly, the at least one vertical federation (slave) client receives the vertical federation learning preparation request message from the first vertical federation server.

[0346] It should be noted that when the vertical federation client does not distinguish between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the first vertical federation server sends a vertical federation learning preparation request message to at least one discovered vertical federation client. When the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the first vertical federation server sends a vertical federation learning preparation request message to at least one discovered vertical federation slave client. For ease of description, the following description summarizes the first vertical federation server sending a vertical federation learning preparation request message to the at least one vertical federation (slave) client.

[0347] The vertical federated learning preparation request message is used to request the vertical federated client to join vertical federated learning (or to indicate the preparation process for executing vertical federated learning, such as determining whether to agree to join vertical federated learning based on its own computing power and other information). Joining vertical federated learning here means joining vertical federated learning for the aforementioned specific model. Exemplarily, the vertical federated learning preparation request message may include the following two implementations of requesting the vertical federated client to join vertical federated learning:

[0348] The first method is to carry an indication information (i.e., third indication information) in the vertical federated learning preparation request message, and the third indication information is used to instruct the vertical federation client to perform the preparation process of vertical federated learning (or to instruct the vertical federation client to join vertical federated learning). For example, the vertical federation learning preparation request message includes a field (for example, the field can be described as VFL preparation Flag), the value of which is used to instruct the vertical federation client to perform the preparation process of vertical federated learning. For example, VFL preparation Flag = 1 indicates that the vertical federation client is requested to join vertical federated learning.

[0349] The second type: If the name of the vertical federated learning preparation request message itself can indicate a request for the vertical federated client to join the vertical federated learning, then the vertical federated learning preparation request message may not carry the VFL preparation Flag. For example, the first vertical federated server sends a request message to the vertical federated (slave) client through the Nvflclient_VFLPreparation_Request service operation, and the vertical federated (slave) client can learn through the service operation that the first vertical federated server requests the vertical federated (slave) client to join the vertical federated learning. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of the present application are mainly illustrated by taking the first solution as an example.

[0350] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federated learning preparation request message also includes time requirements for vertical federated learning, data sample requirements for vertical federated learning, data feature requirements for vertical federated learning, or information of the first vertical federated master client (such as Master VFL client instance), etc.

[0351] S409. At least one vertical federation (slave) client determines whether to agree to join vertical federated learning.

[0352] It should be noted that when a vertical federation client does not distinguish between a master and slave clients, at least one vertical federation client determines whether to join vertical federation learning. When a vertical federation client distinguishes between a master and slave clients, at least one slave client determines whether to join vertical federation learning. For ease of description, the following description generally refers to at least one slave client determining whether to join vertical federation learning.

[0353] Generally speaking, a vertical federation (slave) client that receives a vertical federated learning preparation request message can determine whether to agree to join the vertical federated learning based on its own computing power, sample space (or data sample set) and other information.

[0354] It should be understood that, in the case where a vertical federation client distinguishes between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation slave client may perform a sample alignment process with the vertical federation master client and determine whether to join vertical federated learning based on the sample alignment results. For example, if the vertical federation slave client's sample space overlaps with the vertical federation master client by no less than a preset threshold, then the vertical federation slave client agrees to join vertical federation learning; if the vertical federation slave client's sample space overlaps with the vertical federation master client by less than the preset threshold, then the vertical federation slave client may not agree to join vertical federation learning. For example, assuming that the preset number threshold is 3, if the data sample set of the vertical federation master client includes the data of (user 1, user 2, user 3, user 4), the data sample set of the vertical federation slave client 1 includes the data of (user 1, user 2, user 3, user 5), and the data sample set of the vertical federation slave client 2 includes the data of (user 1, user 5, user 6, user 7), since the sample space overlap number of the vertical federation slave client 1 and the vertical federation master client is 3 (i.e., user 1, user 2, user 3), and the sample space overlap number of the vertical federation slave client 2 and the vertical federation master client is 1 (i.e., user 1), therefore, the vertical federation slave client 1 agrees to join the vertical federation learning, and the vertical federation slave client 2 does not agree to join the vertical federation learning.

[0355] It should be understood that, in the case where vertical federation clients do not distinguish between vertical federation master clients and vertical federation slave clients, a sample alignment process can be performed between each pair of vertical federation clients, and whether to join vertical federation learning can be determined based on the sample alignment results. For example, assuming the preset number threshold is 3, if the data sample set of vertical federation client 1 includes the data of (user 1, user 2, user 3, user 4), the data sample set of vertical federation client 2 includes the data of (user 1, user 2, user 3, user 5), and the data sample set of vertical federation client 3 includes the data of (user 1, user 5, user 6, user 7), since the sample space overlaps between vertical federation client 1 and vertical federation client 2 by 3 (i.e., user 1, user 2, user 3), the sample space overlaps between vertical federation client 1 and vertical federation client 3 by 2 (i.e., user 1), and the sample space overlaps between vertical federation client 2 and vertical federation client 3 by 2 (i.e., user 1, user 2), therefore, vertical federation client 1 and vertical federation client 2 agree to join vertical federation learning, while vertical federation client 3 does not agree to join vertical federation learning.

[0356] S4010: At least one vertical federation (slave) client sends a vertical federation learning preparation response message to the first vertical federation server. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation server receives the vertical federation learning preparation response message from the at least one vertical federation (slave) client.

[0357] It should be noted that when a vertical federation client does not distinguish between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, at least one vertical federation client sends a vertical federation learning preparation response message to the first vertical federation server. When a vertical federation client distinguishes between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, at least one vertical federation slave client sends a vertical federation learning preparation response message to the first vertical federation server. For ease of description, the following description generally refers to at least one vertical federation (slave) client sending a vertical federation learning preparation response message to the first vertical federation server.

[0358] It should be understood that the vertical federated learning preparation response message is used to indicate whether the vertical federated (slave) client agrees to join the vertical federated learning.

[0359] S4011. The first vertical federation server determines the vertical federation (slave) client that ultimately participates in vertical federation learning.

[0360] The first vertical federation server can determine the vertical federation (slave) client that ultimately participates in the vertical federation learning based on the vertical federation learning preparation response message sent by at least one vertical federation (slave) client.

[0361] In Example 1, assuming that vertical federation clients do not need to distinguish between vertical federation master clients and vertical federation slave clients, assume that N = 4, that is, there are a total of four vertical federation clients, namely vertical federation client 0 to vertical federation client 3, of which the first vertical federation client is vertical federation client 3 (i.e., vertical federation client 3 is the client that initiates vertical federation learning), and the other three vertical federation clients are vertical federation client 0 to vertical federation client 2. Furthermore, assume that in step S407, at least one vertical federation client federated by the VFLSF is vertical federation client 0, vertical federation client 1, and vertical federation client 2. Then, the first vertical federation server can send a vertical federation learning preparation request message to the three vertical federation clients and receive a vertical federation learning preparation response message sent by the three vertical federation clients. Among them: if the vertical federation learning preparation response message fed back by vertical federation client 0 indicates that vertical federation client 0 does not agree to join vertical federation learning, and the vertical federation learning preparation response messages fed back by vertical federation client 1 and vertical federation client 2 respectively indicate that vertical federation client 1 and vertical federation client 2 agree to join vertical federation learning, then the first vertical federation server can determine that the vertical federation clients that ultimately participate in vertical federation learning are vertical federation client 1 and vertical federation client 2.

[0362] Example 2: Taking the case where the vertical federation client needs to distinguish between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, assume that N=5, that is, there are a total of 5 vertical federation slave clients, namely the vertical federation slave client 4 as the first vertical federation slave client and the other 4 vertical federation slave clients (i.e., vertical federation slave client 0 to vertical federation slave client 3). Assume that at least one vertical federation slave client fed back by the VFLSF in step S407 is vertical federation slave client 0, vertical federation slave client 1, and vertical federation slave client 2. Then the first vertical federation server can send a vertical federation learning preparation request message to the three vertical federation slave clients, and receive a vertical federation learning preparation response message sent by the three vertical federation slave clients. Among them: if the vertical federation learning preparation response message fed back by the vertical federation slave client 0 indicates that the vertical federation slave client 0 does not agree to join the vertical federation learning, and the vertical federation learning preparation response messages fed back by the vertical federation slave client 1 and the vertical federation slave client 2 respectively indicate that the vertical federation slave client 1 and the vertical federation slave client 2 agree to join the vertical federation learning, then the first vertical federation server can determine that the vertical federation slave clients that ultimately participate in the vertical federation learning are the vertical federation slave client 1 and the vertical federation slave client 2.

[0363] S4012: The first vertical federation server sends a vertical federation client selection response message to the first vertical federation (master) client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation (master) client receives the vertical federation client selection response message from the first vertical federation server.

[0364] It should be noted that when a vertical federation client does not distinguish between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the first vertical federation server sends a vertical federation client selection response message to the first vertical federation client. When a vertical federation client distinguishes between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the first vertical federation server sends a vertical federation client selection response message to the first vertical federation master client. For ease of description, the following description generally refers to the first vertical federation server sending a vertical federation client selection response message to the first vertical federation (master) client.

[0365] Generally speaking, the vertical federation client selection response message includes the information of the vertical federation (slave) client that ultimately participates in the vertical federation learning, as determined in the aforementioned step S4011. It should be noted that when the vertical federation client does not distinguish between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client selection response message includes the information of the vertical federation client that ultimately participates in the vertical federation learning, as determined in the aforementioned step S4011. When the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client selection response message includes the information of the vertical federation slave client that ultimately participates in the vertical federation learning, as determined in the aforementioned step S4011.

[0366] Taking Example 1 above as an example, the vertical federation client selection response message includes information about vertical federation client 1 and vertical federation client 2. Taking Example 2 as another example, the vertical federation client selection response message includes information about vertical federation slave client 1 and vertical federation slave client 2.

[0367] It should be noted that the embodiment corresponding to FIG4 above mainly describes a vertical federated learning process in which the first vertical federated master client initiates vertical federated learning, and the first vertical federated server is responsible for coordination (including discovering other vertical federated slave clients and obtaining information about whether other vertical federated slave clients can participate in vertical federated learning). Among them:

[0368] In the case of not distinguishing between master / slave clients, if the first network element is the first vertical federation client, then the first request message sent by the first vertical federation client to the network storage function network element to request the vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery request message in step S403 of Figure 4 when master / slave clients are not distinguished; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation client is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery response message in step S404 of Figure 4 when master / slave clients are not distinguished.

[0369] In the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients, if the first network element is the first vertical federation master client, then the first request message sent by the first vertical federation master client to the network storage function network element to request the vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery request message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S403 of Figure 4; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation master client is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery response message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S404 of Figure 4.

[0370] In the case where the first network element is the first vertical federation server, the first request message sent by the first vertical federation server to the network storage function network element to request the vertical federation client is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery request message in step S406 of Figure 4 without distinguishing between master / slave clients; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery response message in step S407 of Figure 4 without distinguishing between master / slave clients.

[0371] In the case where the first network element is the first vertical federation server, the first request message sent by the first vertical federation server to the network storage function network element to request the vertical federation slave client is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery request message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S406 of Figure 4; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery response message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S407 of Figure 4.

[0372] In the case where the fourth network element is the first vertical federation server, if the master / slave client is not distinguished, then the second request message sent by the first vertical federation client to the first vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation client selection request message in step S405 of Figure 4 when the master / slave client is not distinguished; the second response message fed back by the first vertical federation server to the first vertical federation client is equivalent to the vertical federation client selection response message in step S4012 of Figure 4 when the master / slave client is not distinguished.

[0373] In the case where the fourth network element is the first vertical federation server, if the master / slave client is not distinguished, then the second request message sent by the first vertical federation master client to the first vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation client selection request message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S405 of Figure 4; the second response message fed back by the first vertical federation server to the first vertical federation master client is equivalent to the vertical federation client selection response message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S4012 of Figure 4.

[0374] Without distinguishing between master / slave clients, the first vertical federation server sends a fourth request message to at least one vertical federation client, which is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation request message in step S408 of Figure 4 without distinguishing between master / slave clients; the fourth response message fed back by at least one vertical federation client to the first vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation response message in step S4010 of Figure 4 without distinguishing between master / slave clients.

[0375] In the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients, the first vertical federation server sends a fourth request message to at least one vertical federation slave client, which is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation request message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S408 of Figure 4; the fourth response message fed back by at least one vertical federation slave client to the first vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation response message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S4010 of Figure 4.

[0376] In this embodiment of the present application, the vertical federation client and vertical federation server register their vertical federated learning capability information with the VFLSF. This allows the first vertical federation server to be discovered through the VFLSF when the first vertical federation (master) client initiates vertical federation learning, and the first vertical federation server to discover other vertical federation (slave) clients that meet the requirements. This embodiment provides a method for registering and discovering vertical federation participants, enabling the initiator to discover suitable participants that can participate in the vertical federation learning service, laying the foundation for subsequent vertical federation learning model training.

[0377] Please refer to Figure 5, which is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, the communication method includes the following steps S501 to S5011. The execution subject of the method shown in Figure 5 can be a vertical federation client, a vertical federation server and a VFLSF, or the execution subject of the method shown in Figure 5 can also be a vertical federation client, a vertical federation server and a chip in the VFLSF. For the convenience of description, Figure 5 mainly uses the vertical federation client, the vertical federation server and the VFLSF as an example of the execution subject of the method. It should be noted that Figure 5 is a schematic flow chart of an embodiment of the method of the present application, showing the detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples. The embodiment of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of the various operations in Figure 5. In addition, the various steps in Figure 5 can be executed in a different order from that presented in Figure 5, and it is possible that not all operations in Figure 5 need to be executed. Among them:

[0378] S501: The vertical federation client and the vertical federation server send registration request messages to the VFLSF respectively. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the registration request messages from the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server.

[0379] S502: The VFLSF sends a registration response message to the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server respectively. Correspondingly, the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server respectively receive the registration response message from the VFLSF.

[0380] S503: The first vertical federation (master) client sends a vertical federation server discovery request message to the VFLSF. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the vertical federation server discovery request message from the first vertical federation (master) client.

[0381] S504: The VFLSF sends a vertical federation server discovery response message to the first vertical federation (master) client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation (master) client receives the vertical federation server discovery response message from the VFLSF.

[0382] Here, the description of steps S501 to S504 can refer to the description of steps S401 to S404 in FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

[0383] S505: The first vertical federation (master) client sends a vertical federation client discovery request message to the VFLSF. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the vertical federation client discovery request message from the first vertical federation (master) client.

[0384] It should be noted that when a vertical federation client does not distinguish between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the first vertical federation client sends a vertical federation client discovery request message to the VFLSF. When a vertical federation client distinguishes between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the first vertical federation master client sends a vertical federation client discovery request message to the VFLSF. For ease of description, the following description generally describes the first vertical federation (master) client sending a vertical federation client discovery request message to the VFLSF.

[0385] It should be understood that one of the differences between FIG. 5 and FIG. 4 is that the first vertical federation (master) client of the present application can directly send a vertical federation client discovery request message to the VFLSF.

[0386] In some feasible implementations, the vertical federation client discovery request message may include the above-mentioned specific model type information, so the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request the vertical federation client that supports the specific model type information. In other feasible implementations, the vertical federation client discovery request message may also not include the above-mentioned specific model type information, so the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request the vertical federation client. It should be understood that when the vertical federation client discovery request message does not include specific model type information, the first vertical federation (master) client will subsequently need to interact with each vertical federation client fed back by the VFLSF to determine which vertical federation client / clients are the vertical federation clients that support the specific model type information, similar to the operation when the vertical federation server discovery request message does not include specific model type information in S403 and S404 in Figure 4, which will not be elaborated here. For ease of understanding, the following mainly uses the example of the vertical federation client discovery request message that can include specific model type information as an example for schematic explanation.

[0387] It should be understood that, if the vertical federation client does not distinguish between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports a specific model type information. If the vertical federation client distinguishes between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports a specific model type information.

[0388] It should be understood that the vertical federation client discovery request message may indicate which network element is being requested (discovered) in the following two implementations:

[0389] The first method: by carrying information about the network element capability type of the requested network element (i.e., vertical federation client / vertical federation slave client) in the vertical federation client discovery request message, it can be indicated what type of network element the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request (discover). For example, the vertical federation client discovery request message includes a field (for example, the field can be described as VFL capability type), which is used to carry the network element capability type of the network element requested by the vertical federation client discovery request message, for example, VFL capability type = VFL client / slave VFL client, indicating a request for a vertical federation client / vertical federation slave client.

[0390] The second type: If the name of the vertical federation client discovery request message itself can indicate that it is a request message for requesting a vertical federation client / vertical federation slave client, then the vertical federation client discovery request message may not carry information about the network element capability type of the requested network element. For example, the first vertical federation (master) client sends a request message to the VFLSF through the Nvflsf_VFLClientDiscovery_Request or Nvflsf_VFLSlaveClientDiscovery_Request service operation, and the VFLSF can learn through this service operation that the first vertical federation (master) client requests (discovers) the vertical federation client / vertical federation slave client. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of the present application are mainly illustrated using the first solution as an example.

[0391] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federation client discovery request message may also include the identifier of the vertical federation learning group, or information such as requirements / selections for the requesting vertical federation client. For example, the requirements for the requesting vertical federation client may include one or more of the following: the time period during which the vertical federation client is expected to support vertical federation learning, data sample information that the vertical federation client is expected to support, data feature information that the vertical federation client is expected to support, training modes that the vertical federation client is expected to support, or sample space overlap, etc.

[0392] S506: The VFLSF sends a vertical federation client discovery response message to the first vertical federation (master) client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation (master) client receives the vertical federation client discovery response message from the VFLSF.

[0393] In some feasible implementations, the vertical federation client discovery response message includes at least one vertical federation (slave) client that supports specific model type information. It should be understood that, in the case where the vertical federation client does not distinguish between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client discovery response message is sent by the VFLSF to the first vertical federation client, and the vertical federation client discovery response message includes at least one vertical federation client that supports specific model type information. Generally speaking, the at least one vertical federation client is included in the (N-1) vertical federation clients. In the case where the vertical federation client distinguishes between the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client discovery response message is sent by the VFLSF to the first vertical federation master client, and the vertical federation client discovery response message includes at least one vertical federation slave client that supports specific model type information. Generally speaking, the at least one vertical federation slave client is included in the N vertical federation slave clients, where the N vertical federation slave clients are the (N-1) vertical federation slave clients and the first vertical federation slave client. For the convenience of description, the following description generally describes that the VFLSF sends a vertical federation client discovery response message to the first vertical federation (master) client, and the vertical federation client discovery response message includes at least one vertical federation (slave).

[0394] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federation client discovery response message may also include data sample information and / or data feature information supported by each vertical federation (slave) client in the at least one vertical federation (slave) client, etc. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0395] Optionally, in some feasible implementations, step S503 and step S505 in the embodiment of the present application may also be the same message, such as a vertical federation server and a vertical federation client discovery request message. Correspondingly, step S504 and step S506 may also be the same message, such as a vertical federation server and a vertical federation client discovery response message. That is, the vertical federation server and the vertical federation client discovery request message may be used to request the vertical federation server and the vertical federation client at the same time. Similarly, in some feasible implementations, the vertical federation server and the vertical federation client discovery request message may include the above-mentioned specific model type information, so the vertical federation server and the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request the vertical federation server and the vertical federation client that support the specific model type information. In other feasible implementations, the vertical federation server and the vertical federation client discovery request message may also not include the above-mentioned specific model type information, so the vertical federation server and the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request the vertical federation server and the vertical federation client, which will not be repeated here.

[0396] S507: The first vertical federation (master) client sends a vertical federation learning preparation request message to the at least one vertical federation (slave) client. Accordingly, the at least one vertical federation (slave) client receives the vertical federation learning preparation request message from the first vertical federation (master) client.

[0397] S508. At least one vertical federation (slave) client determines whether to agree to join the vertical federated learning.

[0398] S509: At least one vertical federation (slave) client sends a vertical federation learning preparation response message to the first vertical federation (master) client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation (master) client receives the vertical federation learning preparation response message from at least one vertical federation (slave) client.

[0399] S5010. The first vertical federation (master) client determines the vertical federation (slave) client that will eventually participate in vertical federation learning.

[0400] Here, the description of steps S507 to S5010 can refer to the description of steps S408 to S4011 in FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

[0401] S5011: The first vertical federation (master) client sends a model training request message for vertical federation learning to the first vertical federation server. Accordingly, the first vertical federation server receives the model training request message for vertical federation learning from the first vertical federation (master) client.

[0402] It should be noted that when a vertical federation client does not distinguish between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the first vertical federation master client sends a model training request message for vertical federation learning to the first vertical federation server. When a vertical federation client distinguishes between a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the first vertical federation master client sends a model training request message for vertical federation learning to the first vertical federation server. For ease of description, the following description generally describes the first vertical federation (master) client sending a model training request message for vertical federation learning to the first vertical federation server.

[0403] Here, the first vertical federation server may be one of the one or more vertical federation servers supporting specific model type information fed back by the VFLSF in S504 , and the specific selection method is not limited.

[0404] The model training request message of the vertical federated learning includes information of all vertical federated (slave) clients that ultimately participate in the vertical federated learning.

[0405] It should be noted that the embodiment corresponding to FIG5 above mainly introduces the vertical federation learning process in which the first vertical federation master client initiates the vertical federation learning, but the first vertical federation master client is responsible for coordination (i.e., responsible for the discovery and selection of vertical federation slave clients, etc.).

[0406] In the case of not distinguishing between master / slave clients, if the first network element is the first vertical federation client, then the first request message sent by the first vertical federation client to the network storage function network element to request the vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery request message in step S503 of Figure 5 when master / slave clients are not distinguished; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation client is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery response message in step S504 of Figure 5 when master / slave clients are not distinguished.

[0407] In the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients, if the first network element is the first vertical federation master client, then the first request message sent by the first vertical federation master client to the network storage function network element to request the vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery request message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S503 of Figure 5; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation master client is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery response message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S504 of Figure 5.

[0408] In the case of not distinguishing between master / slave clients, if the first network element is the first vertical federation client, then the first request message sent by the first vertical federation client to the network storage function network element to request the vertical federation client is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery request message in step S505 of Figure 5 when master / slave clients are not distinguished; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation client is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery response message in step S506 of Figure 5 when master / slave clients are not distinguished.

[0409] In the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients, if the first network element is the first vertical federation master client, then the first request message sent by the first vertical federation master client to the network storage function network element to request the vertical federation slave client is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery request message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S505 of Figure 5; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation master client is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery response message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S506 of Figure 5.

[0410] Without distinguishing between master / slave clients, the first vertical federation client sends a fourth request message to at least one vertical federation client, which is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation request message in step S507 of Figure 5 without distinguishing between master / slave clients; the fourth response message fed back by at least one vertical federation client to the first vertical federation client is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation response message in step S509 of Figure 5 without distinguishing between master / slave clients.

[0411] In the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients, the first vertical federation master client sends a fourth request message to at least one vertical federation slave client, which is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation request message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S507 of Figure 5; the fourth response message fed back by at least one vertical federation slave client to the first vertical federation master client is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation response message in the case of distinguishing between master / slave clients in step S509 of Figure 5.

[0412] In the case where master / slave clients are not distinguished, the first vertical federation client sends a fifth request message to the first vertical federation server, which is equivalent to the model training request message for vertical federated learning in step S5011 of FIG. 5 , in the case where master / slave clients are not distinguished. In the case where master / slave clients are distinguished, the first vertical federation master client sends a fifth request message to the first vertical federation server, which is equivalent to the model training request message for vertical federated learning in step S5011 of FIG. 5 , in the case where master / slave clients are distinguished.

[0413] In this embodiment of the present application, the vertical federation client and vertical federation server register their vertical federated learning capability information with the VFLSF. This allows the first vertical federation server and other vertical federation (slave) clients that meet the requirements to be discovered through the VFLSF when the first vertical federation (master) client initiates vertical federation learning. This embodiment provides a method for registering and discovering vertical federation participants, enabling the initiator to discover suitable participants that can participate in the vertical federation learning service, laying the foundation for subsequent vertical federation learning model training.

[0414] Please refer to Figure 6, which is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6, the communication method includes the following steps S601 to S6014. The execution subject of the method shown in Figure 6 can be a vertical federation slave client, a vertical federation master client, a vertical federation server and a VFLSF, or the execution subject of the method shown in Figure 6 can also be a vertical federation slave client, a vertical federation master client, a vertical federation server and a chip in the VFLSF. For the convenience of description, Figure 6 mainly uses the vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation master client, the vertical federation server and the VFLSF as an example of the execution subject of the method. It should be noted that Figure 6 is a schematic flow chart of an embodiment of the method of the present application, showing the detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples. The embodiment of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of the various operations in Figure 6. In addition, the various steps in Figure 6 can be executed in a different order from that presented in Figure 6, and it is possible that not all operations in Figure 6 need to be executed. Among them:

[0415] S601: The vertical federation client and the vertical federation server send registration request messages to the VFLSF respectively. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the registration request messages from the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server.

[0416] Here, the vertical federation client includes (N-1) vertical federation slave clients, M vertical federation master clients, and a first vertical federation slave client, where N is an integer greater than 1 and M is an integer greater than 0. Here, the M vertical federation master clients include the first vertical federation master client.

[0417] For the description of the registration request message of the vertical federation client, please refer to the description of the registration request message when distinguishing the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client in step S401 in FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

[0418] For the description of the registration request message of the server, please refer to the description of the registration request message of the vertical federation server in step S401 in Figure 4, which will not be repeated here.

[0419] S602: The VFLSF sends a registration response message to the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server respectively. Correspondingly, the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server respectively receive the registration response message from the VFLSF.

[0420] Here, the registration response message is used to indicate whether the registration is successful.

[0421] S603: The first vertical federation slave client sends a vertical federation server discovery request message to the VFLSF. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the vertical federation server discovery request message from the first vertical federation slave client.

[0422] For example, when an operator wants to train an AI model (such as a personalized recommendation model for a telecommunications package) and the model needs to use private data from a third-party AF, the operator can configure the first vertical federation to trigger the vertical federation learning process from the client.

[0423] S604: The VFLSF sends a vertical federation server discovery response message to the first vertical federation slave client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation slave client receives the vertical federation server discovery response message from the VFLSF.

[0424] Here, for the understanding of step S603 and step S604, please refer to the description of step S403 and step S404 in the aforementioned Figure 4. The only difference is that the initiator of the vertical federation server discovery request message is different. In Figure 6, the vertical federation learning process is initiated by the first vertical federation slave client (or sending a vertical federation server discovery request message), and in Figure 4, the vertical federation learning process is initiated by the first vertical federation (master) client (or sending a vertical federation server discovery request message).

[0425] S605: The first vertical federation slave client sends a vertical federation client selection request message to the first vertical federation server. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation server receives the vertical federation client selection request message from the first vertical federation slave client.

[0426] It should be understood that the first vertical federation client can select a vertical federation server from one or more vertical federation servers that support specific model type information fed back by the VFLSF (for example, taking the first vertical federation server as an example for schematic illustration), and send a vertical federation client selection request message to the selected first vertical federation server.

[0427] In some feasible implementations, the vertical federation client selection request message may include the above-mentioned specific model type information, so the vertical federation client selection request message is used to request the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client that support the specific model type information. In other feasible implementations, when a vertical federation server only supports one type of model type information, the vertical federation client selection request message may also not include the specific model type information, so the vertical federation client selection request message is used to request (discover) the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client. It should be understood that when the vertical federation client selection request message does not include the specific model type information, the first vertical federation server will subsequently need to interact with the various vertical federation master clients and vertical federation slave clients fed back by the VFLSF to determine which / which vertical federation master clients are the vertical federation master clients that support the specific model type information and which / which vertical federation slave clients are the vertical federation slave clients that support the specific model type information, similar to the operations when the vertical federation server discovery request message does not include the specific model type information in S403 and S404 above, and will not be repeated here. For ease of understanding, the following mainly uses the example of the vertical federation client selection request message including the specific model type information as an example for schematic explanation.

[0428] It should be understood that the vertical federation client selection request message may indicate which network element is being requested (discovered) in the following two implementations:

[0429] The first method: the vertical federation client selection request message can be used to indicate which network element the vertical federation client selection request message is used to request (discover) by carrying information about the network element capability type of the requested network element (i.e., the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client). For example, the vertical federation client selection request message includes a field (e.g., the field can be described as VFL client selection Flag), which is used to carry the network element capability type of the network element requested by the vertical federation client selection request message (i.e., the second indication information). For example, VFL client selection Flag = master VFL client and slave VFL client indicates a request for the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client. For another example, VFL client selection Flag = VFL client indicates a request for the vertical federation client. For another example, the vertical federation client selection request message includes two fields (e.g., the two fields are described as master VFL client selection Flag and slave VFL client selection Flag, respectively). When master VFL client selection Flag = 1, it indicates a request for the vertical federation master client. When slave VFL client selection Flag = 1, it indicates a request for the vertical federation slave client.

[0430] The second type: If the name of the vertical federation client selection request message itself can indicate that it is a request message for requesting a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, then the vertical federation client selection request message may not carry information about the network element capability type of the requested network element. For example, the first vertical federation slave client sends a vertical federation client selection request message to the first vertical federation server through the Nvflserver_VFLClientSelection_Request service operation. The first vertical federation server can learn through this service operation that the first vertical federation slave client wants to request (discover) the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of the present application are mainly illustrated using the first solution as an example.

[0431] Optionally, the vertical federation client selection request message in this application may also indicate the network element capability type of the first vertical federation slave client, that is, indicate the network element capability type of the initiator of the vertical federation client selection request message, or indicate the network element capability type of the initiator of vertical federated learning. The following mainly introduces two implementation schemes of how to indicate the network element capability type of the initiator of vertical federated learning:

[0432] The first method: by carrying information about the network element capability type of the first vertical federation slave client in the vertical federation client selection request message, it can be indicated that the initiator of the vertical federation learning is the vertical federation slave client. For example, the vertical federation client selection request message includes a field (for example, the field can be described as VFL client indicator), which is used to carry information about the initiator of the vertical federation learning (i.e., the first indication information), for example, VFL client indicator = slave VFL client, indicating that the initiator of the vertical federation learning is the vertical federation slave client.

[0433] The second type: If the name of the vertical federation client selection request message itself can indicate who the initiator of the vertical federation learning is, then the vertical federation client selection request message may not carry the information of the initiator of the vertical federation learning. For example, the first vertical federation slave client sends a vertical federation client selection request message to the first vertical federation server through the Nvflserver_VFLClientSelection_Request service operation, and it is defined that the requester of the Nvflserver_VFLClientSelection_Request service operation can only be the vertical federation slave client, then the first vertical federation server can know through this service operation that the initiator of the vertical federation learning is the vertical federation slave client. For ease of understanding, the embodiment of the present application mainly takes the first solution as an example for schematic explanation.

[0434] It should be noted that, (1) when the VFL client selection Flag can only indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation client (i.e., VFL client selection Flag = VFL client), but cannot specifically indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, the vertical federation client selection request message usually needs to carry a VFL client indicator to indicate the initiator of the vertical federation learning (i.e., VFL client indicator = slave VFL client), thereby avoiding the situation where the first vertical federation server cannot know what type of network element should be discovered subsequently. That is to say, the first vertical federation server can combine VFL client selection Flag = VFL client and VFL client indicator = slave VFL client to determine that the network element capability type that should be requested to be discovered in the subsequent step S406 is a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client. (2) When the VFL client selection Flag can specifically indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client (i.e., VFL client selection Flag = master VFL client and slave VFL client), or when the VFL client selection Flag includes the master VFL client selection Flag and the slave VFL client selection Flag, the vertical federation client selection request message may carry the VFL client indicator or may not carry the VFL client indicator. This is because the first vertical federation server can directly determine that the network element capability type to be requested to be discovered in the subsequent step S406 is a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client based on VFL client selection Flag = master VFL client and slave VFL client (or based on master VFL client selection Flag = 1, and slave VFL client selection Flag = 1).

[0435] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federation client selection request message may also include the identifier of the vertical federation learning group, requirements / selection information for the requesting vertical federation master client, and requirements / selection information for the requesting vertical federation slave client. For example, the requirements for the requesting vertical federation master / slave client may include one or more of the following: the time period during which the vertical federation master / slave client is expected to support vertical federation learning, data sample information expected to be supported by the vertical federation master / slave client, data feature information expected to be supported by the vertical federation master / slave client, training modes expected to be supported by the vertical federation master / slave client, or sample space overlap, etc.

[0436] S606: The first vertical federation server sends a vertical federation client discovery request message to the VFLSF. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the vertical federation client discovery request message from the first vertical federation server.

[0437] In some feasible implementations, the vertical federation client discovery request message may include the above-mentioned specific model type information, and the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request vertical federation master clients and vertical federation slave clients that support the specific model type information.

[0438] It should be understood that the vertical federation client discovery request message may indicate which network element is being requested (discovered) in the following two implementations:

[0439] The first method: by carrying information (i.e., the fifth indication information) of the network element capability type of the requested network element (i.e., the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client) in the vertical federation client discovery request message, it can be indicated what kind of network element the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request (discover). For example, the vertical federation client discovery request message includes a field (e.g., the field can be described as VFL capability type), which is used to carry the network element capability type of the network element requested by the vertical federation client discovery request message, such as VFL capability type = master VFL client and slave VFL client, indicating that the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client are requested.

[0440] The second type: If the name of the vertical federation client discovery request message itself can indicate that it is a request message for requesting the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client, then the vertical federation client discovery request message may not carry information about the network element capability type of the requested network element. For example, the first vertical federation server sends a request message to the VFLSF through the Nvflsf_VFLClientDiscovery_Request service operation, and the VFLSF can learn through this service operation that the first vertical federation server requests (discovers) the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of the present application are mainly illustrated by taking the first solution as an example.

[0441] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federation client discovery request message may also include the identifier of the vertical federation learning group, requirements / selection information for the requesting vertical federation master client, and requirements / selection information for the requesting vertical federation slave client. For example, the requirements for the requesting vertical federation master / slave client may include one or more of the following: the time period during which the vertical federation master / slave client is expected to support vertical federation learning, data sample information that the vertical federation master / slave client is expected to support, data feature information that the vertical federation master / slave client is expected to support, or training modes that the vertical federation master / slave client is expected to support.

[0442] It should be noted that if the vertical federation client selection request message of step S605 does not include requirements for the requested vertical federation master / slave client, then the first vertical federation server can determine the requirements for the requested vertical federation master / slave client by itself. If the vertical federation client selection request message of step S605 includes requirements for the requested vertical federation master / slave client, then the requirements for the requested vertical federation master / slave client included in the vertical federation client discovery request message can be the requirements for the requested vertical federation master / slave client included in the vertical federation client selection request message in step S605. Optionally, the requirements for the requested vertical federation master / slave client included in the vertical federation client selection request message in step S605 can also be adjusted (for example, added / deleted / modified), and the adjusted requirements for the requested vertical federation master / slave client can be used as the requirements for the requested vertical federation master / slave client carried in the vertical federation client discovery request message in step S606. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0443] S607: The VFLSF sends a vertical federation client discovery response message to the first vertical federation server. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation server receives the vertical federation client discovery response message from the VFLSF.

[0444] In some feasible implementations, the vertical federation client discovery response message includes at least one vertical federation master client and at least one vertical federation slave client that support specific model type information. Generally speaking, the at least one vertical federation master client is included in M ​​vertical federation master clients, and the at least one vertical federation slave client is included in (N-1) vertical federation slave clients.

[0445] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federation client discovery response message may also include data sample information and / or data feature information supported by each vertical federation master client in the at least one vertical federation master client, as well as data sample information and / or data feature information supported by each vertical federation slave client in the at least one vertical federation slave client, etc. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0446] S608. The first vertical federation server determines the vertical federation master client that ultimately participates in the vertical federation learning.

[0447] It should be understood that, for at least one vertical federation master client obtained, the first vertical federation server can select one vertical federation master client from the at least one vertical federation master client as the vertical federation master client that ultimately participates in vertical federation learning. Exemplarily, the first vertical federation server can send a vertical federation learning preparation request message to at least one vertical federation master client respectively, and receive a vertical federation learning preparation response message fed back from the at least one vertical federation master client (not shown in FIG6 ), and then select one vertical federation master client from the vertical federation master clients that agree to join the vertical federation learning as the vertical federation master client that ultimately participates in vertical federation learning based on the response fed back by the at least one vertical federation master client. For the convenience of description, the embodiment of the present application is schematically illustrated by taking the selected vertical federation master client as the first vertical federation master client as an example.

[0448] S609: The first vertical federation server sends a vertical federation learning preparation request message to the at least one vertical federation slave client. Correspondingly, the at least one vertical federation slave client receives the vertical federation learning preparation request message from the first vertical federation server.

[0449] S6010. At least one vertical federation slave client determines whether to agree to join vertical federated learning.

[0450] S6011: At least one vertical federation slave client sends a vertical federation learning preparation response message to the first vertical federation server. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation server receives the vertical federation learning preparation response message from the at least one vertical federation slave client.

[0451] S6012. The first vertical federation server determines the vertical federation slave client that ultimately participates in vertical federation learning.

[0452] Here, for understanding of steps S609 to S6012, reference may be made to the relevant description of steps S408 to S4011 in FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

[0453] S6013: The first vertical federation server sends a vertical federation client selection response message to the first vertical federation slave client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation slave client receives the vertical federation client selection response message from the first vertical federation server.

[0454] Generally speaking, the vertical federation client selection response message includes information of the first vertical federation master client that ultimately participates in the vertical federation learning determined in the aforementioned step S608.

[0455] S6014: The first vertical federation server sends a model training request message for vertical federation learning to the first vertical federation master client. Accordingly, the first vertical federation master client receives the model training request message for vertical federation learning from the first vertical federation server.

[0456] Generally speaking, the model training request message of the vertical federated learning includes the information of the vertical federated slave client that ultimately participates in the vertical federated learning determined in the aforementioned step S6012.

[0457] It should be noted that the embodiment corresponding to FIG6 mainly introduces the vertical federated learning process in which the first vertical federated slave client initiates vertical federated learning and the first vertical federated server is responsible for coordination, in which:

[0458] If the first network element is the first vertical federation slave client, then the first request message sent by the first vertical federation slave client to the network storage function network element to request the vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery request message in step S603 of Figure 6; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation slave client is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery response message in step S604 of Figure 6 when distinguishing between master / slave clients.

[0459] In the case that the first network element is the first vertical federation server, the first request message sent by the first vertical federation server to the network storage function network element for requesting the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery request message in step S606 of Figure 6; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery response message in step S607 of Figure 6.

[0460] In the case that the fourth network element is the first vertical federation server, the second request message sent by the first vertical federation slave client to the first vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation client selection request message in step S605 of Figure 6; the second response message fed back by the first vertical federation server to the first vertical federation slave client is equivalent to the vertical federation client selection response message in step S6013 of Figure 6.

[0461] The first vertical federation server sends a fourth request message to at least one vertical federation slave client, which is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation request message in step S609 of Figure 6; the fourth response message fed back by at least one vertical federation slave client to the first vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation response message in step S6011 of Figure 6.

[0462] The seventh request message sent by the first vertical federation server to the first vertical federation master client is equivalent to the model training request message of the vertical federation learning in step S6014 of FIG. 6 .

[0463] In this embodiment of the present application, the vertical federation client and vertical federation server register vertical federated learning capability information with the VFLSF. This allows the first vertical federation server to be discovered through the VFLSF when the first vertical federation slave client initiates vertical federation learning. Furthermore, the first vertical federation server can discover vertical federation master clients and other vertical federation slave clients that meet the requirements. This embodiment provides a method for registering and discovering vertical federation participants, enabling the initiator to discover suitable participants that can participate in vertical federated learning services, laying the foundation for subsequent vertical federation learning model training.

[0464] Please refer to Figure 7, which is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7, the communication method includes the following steps S701 to S7014. The execution subject of the method shown in Figure 7 can be a vertical federation client, a vertical federation server and a VFLSF, or the execution subject of the method shown in Figure 7 can also be a vertical federation client, a vertical federation server and a chip in the VFLSF. For the convenience of description, Figure 7 mainly uses the vertical federation client, the vertical federation server and the VFLSF as an example of the execution subject of the method. It should be noted that Figure 7 is a schematic flow chart of an embodiment of the method of the present application, showing the detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples. The embodiment of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of the various operations in Figure 7. In addition, the various steps in Figure 7 can be executed in a different order from that presented in Figure 7, and it is possible that not all operations in Figure 7 need to be executed. Among them:

[0465] S701: The vertical federation client and the vertical federation server send registration request messages to the VFLSF respectively. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the registration request messages from the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server.

[0466] Here, the vertical federation client includes (N-1) vertical federation slave clients, M vertical federation master clients, and a first vertical federation slave client, where N is an integer greater than 1 and M is an integer greater than 0. Here, the M vertical federation master clients include the first vertical federation master client.

[0467] For the description of the registration request message of the vertical federation client, please refer to the description of the registration request message when distinguishing the vertical federation master client and the vertical federation slave client in step S401 in FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

[0468] For the description of the registration request message of the server, please refer to the description of the registration request message of the vertical federation server in step S401 in Figure 4, which will not be repeated here.

[0469] S702: The VFLSF sends a registration response message to the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server respectively. Correspondingly, the vertical federation client and the vertical federation server respectively receive the registration response message from the VFLSF.

[0470] Here, the registration response message is used to indicate whether the registration is successful.

[0471] S703: The first vertical federation slave client sends a vertical federation client discovery request message to the VFLSF. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the vertical federation client discovery request message from the first vertical federation slave client.

[0472] Generally speaking, when the first vertical federated slave client determines that a specific model needs to be trained through vertical federated learning, the first vertical federated slave client can send a vertical federated client discovery request message to the VFLSF (i.e., the initiator of vertical federated learning is the first vertical federated slave client). For example, if the first vertical federated slave client determines that a personalized recommendation model for telecom packages needs to be trained through vertical federated learning, then the specific model is the personalized recommendation model for telecom packages. Therefore, the first vertical federated slave client can send a vertical federated client discovery request message to the VFLSF.

[0473] In some feasible implementations, the vertical federation client discovery request message may include the specific model type information, and thus the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request (discover) a vertical federation master client that supports the specific model type information. It should be understood that the specific model type information here refers to information about a model that needs to be trained through vertical federated learning, such as a personalized recommendation model for telecom packages.

[0474] In some other feasible implementations, the vertical federation client discovery request message may not include specific model type information, so the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request (discover) the vertical federation master client.

[0475] It should be understood that the vertical federation client discovery request message may indicate which network element is being requested (discovered) in the following two implementations:

[0476] The first method: by carrying information about the network element capability type (i.e., the vertical federation master client) supported by the requested network element in the vertical federation client discovery request message, it can be indicated what type of network element the vertical federation client discovery request message is used to request (discover). For example, the vertical federation client discovery request message includes a field (e.g., the field can be described as VFL capability type), which is used to carry the network element capability type of the network element requested by the vertical federation client discovery request message, such as VFL capability type = master VFL client, indicating that the vertical federation master client is requested.

[0477] The second type: If the name of the vertical federation client discovery request message itself can indicate that it is a request message for requesting a vertical federation master client, then the vertical federation client discovery request message may not carry information about the network element capability type (i.e., vertical federation master client) supported by the requested network element. For example, the first vertical federation slave client sends a request message to the VFLSF through the Nvflsf_VFLMasterClientDiscovery_Request service operation, and the VFLSF can learn through this service operation that the first vertical federation slave client wants to request (discover) the vertical federation master client. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of the present application are mainly illustrated by taking the first solution as an example.

[0478] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federation client discovery request message may also include the identifier of the vertical federation learning group, the time period in which the vertical federation client is expected to support vertical federation learning, the data sample information that the vertical federation client is expected to support, the sample space overlap that is expected to be supported, the data feature information that the vertical federation client is expected to support, or the training mode that the vertical federation client is expected to support, etc. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0479] S704: The VFLSF sends a vertical federation client discovery response message to the first vertical federation slave client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation slave client receives the vertical federation client discovery response message from the VFLSF.

[0480] In some feasible implementations, when the vertical federation client discovery request message includes specific model type information, the VFLSF can determine (or discover) one or more vertical federation master clients that support the specific model type information based on the received vertical federation client discovery request message, and send information about the one or more vertical federation master clients that it has discovered and that support the specific model type information to the first vertical federation slave client. Here, the information about the one or more vertical federation master clients that support the specific model type information determined can be carried in the vertical federation client discovery response message. Generally speaking, the information about the vertical federation master client can be an identifier (ID) of the vertical federation master client, or the information about the vertical federation master client can also be an internet protocol (IP) address of the vertical federation master client. Specifically, when the information about the vertical federation master client fed back is the ID of the vertical federation master client, the first vertical federation slave client can generate its corresponding IP address based on the ID of the vertical federation master client.

[0481] For example, assuming that the specific model type information is a personalized recommendation model for a telecommunications package, if the vertical federation client discovery request message includes the specific model type information, i.e., the personalized recommendation model for a telecommunications package, then the vertical federation client discovery response message fed back by the VFLSF may include information on vertical federation master clients 1, 2, and 3 that support the personalized recommendation model for the telecommunications package.

[0482] In other feasible implementations, when the vertical federation client discovery request message does not include specific model type information, the vertical federation client discovery response message fed back by the VFLSF may include not only the vertical federation master client that supports the specific model type information, but also the information of the vertical federation master client that supports other model type information. Therefore, the first vertical federation slave client needs to further interact with the multiple vertical federation master clients included in the vertical federation client discovery response message to determine which vertical federation master client(s) supports the specific model type information.

[0483] For example, assuming the specific model type information is a personalized recommendation model for telecom packages, if the vertical federation client discovery request message does not include this specific model type information, then the vertical federation client discovery response message fed back by the VFLSF may include information about vertical federation master clients 1, 2, and 3 that support the personalized recommendation model for telecom packages, as well as information about vertical federation master clients 4, 5, and 6 that support the service experience analysis model. Therefore, the first vertical federation slave client also needs to interact with vertical federation master clients 1, 2, and 3 that support the personalized recommendation model for telecom packages, as well as vertical federation master clients 4, 5, and 6 that support the service experience analysis model, to determine which vertical federation master client(s) are the vertical federation master clients that support the personalized recommendation model for telecom packages.

[0484] For ease of understanding, the following text uses the example of a vertical federation client discovery request message including specific model type information and a vertical federation client discovery response message including information of one or more vertical federation master clients supporting the specific model type information as an example for schematic explanation.

[0485] S705: The first vertical federation slave client sends a vertical federation client selection request message to the first vertical federation master client. Accordingly, the first vertical federation master client receives the vertical federation client selection request message from the first vertical federation slave client.

[0486] It should be understood that the first vertical federation slave client can select a vertical federation master client from one or more vertical federation master clients that support specific model type information fed back by the VFLSF (for example, taking the first vertical federation master client as an example for schematic illustration), and send a vertical federation client selection request message to the IP address corresponding to the selected first vertical federation master client.

[0487] In some feasible implementations, the vertical federation client selection request message may include the above-mentioned specific model type information, so the vertical federation client selection request message is used to request the vertical federation slave client that supports the specific model type information. In other feasible implementations, when a vertical federation master client only supports one type of model type information, the vertical federation client selection request message may also not include the specific model type information, so the vertical federation client selection request message is used to request (discover) the vertical federation slave client. It should be understood that when the vertical federation client selection request message does not include the specific model type information, the first vertical federation master client will subsequently need to interact with each vertical federation slave client fed back by the VFLSF to determine which / which vertical federation slave clients are the vertical federation slave clients that support the specific model type information, similar to the operations in S703 and S704 above when the vertical federation client discovery request message does not include the specific model type information, which will not be elaborated here. For ease of understanding, the following mainly uses the example of the vertical federation client selection request message including the specific model type information as an example for schematic explanation.

[0488] It should be understood that the vertical federation client selection request message may indicate which network element is being requested (discovered) in the following two implementations:

[0489] The first one: by carrying information about the network element capability type of the requested network element (i.e., the vertical federation slave client) in the vertical federation client selection request message (i.e., the fourth indication information), it can be indicated what kind of network element the vertical federation client selection request message is used to request (discover). For example, the vertical federation client selection request message includes a field (for example, the field can be described as VFL client selection Flag), which is used to carry the network element capability type of the network element requested by the vertical federation client selection request message, for example, VFL client selection Flag = slave VFL client, indicating a request for a vertical federation slave client. For another example, slave VFL client selection Flag = 1, indicating a request for a vertical federation slave client.

[0490] The second type: If the name of the vertical federation client selection request message itself can indicate that it is a request message for requesting a vertical federation slave client, then the vertical federation client selection request message may not carry information about the network element capability type of the requested network element. For example, the first vertical federation slave client sends a vertical federation slave client selection request message to the first vertical federation master client through the Nvflserver_VFLSlaveClientSelection_Request service operation. The first vertical federation master client can learn through this service operation that the first vertical federation slave client wants to request (discover) other vertical federation slave clients. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of the present application are mainly illustrated by taking the first solution as an example.

[0491] Optionally, the vertical federation client selection request message may further indicate information of requesting a vertical federation server, for example, server selection Flag=1, indicating requesting a vertical federation server, which is not limited in this application.

[0492] Optionally, the vertical federation client selection request message in this application may also indicate the network element capability type of the first vertical federation slave client, that is, indicate the network element capability type of the initiator of the vertical federation client selection request message, or indicate the network element capability type of the initiator of vertical federated learning. The following mainly introduces two implementation schemes of how to indicate the network element capability type of the initiator of vertical federated learning:

[0493] The first type: The information of the network element capability type of the first vertical federated slave client can be carried in the vertical federated client selection request message to indicate that the initiator of the vertical federated learning is the vertical federated slave client. For example, the vertical federated client selection request message includes a field (for example, the field can be described as a VFL client indicator), which is used to carry the information of the initiator of the vertical federated learning, for example, VFL client indicator = slave VFL client, indicating that the initiator of the vertical federated learning is the vertical federated slave client. For another example, the field can also be a slave VFL client indicator. When the slave VFL client indicator = 1, it indicates that the initiator of the vertical federated learning is the vertical federated slave client.

[0494] The second type: If the name of the vertical federation client selection request message itself can indicate who the initiator of the vertical federation learning is, then the vertical federation client selection request message may not carry the information of the initiator of the vertical federation learning. For example, the first vertical federation slave client sends a vertical federation client selection request message to the first vertical federation master client through the Nvflserver_VFLClientSelection_Request service operation, and it is defined that the requester of the Nvflserver_VFLClientSelection_Request service operation can only be a vertical federation slave client, then the first vertical federation master client can know through this service operation that the initiator of the vertical federation learning is the vertical federation slave client. For ease of understanding, the embodiment of the present application mainly takes the first solution as an example for schematic explanation.

[0495] It should be noted that, since there is usually only one vertical federation master client that ultimately participates in vertical federation learning (i.e., the first vertical federation master client in this application), for the first vertical federation master client in step S705, the vertical federation client selection request message it receives is usually initiated by the vertical federation slave client. Therefore, even if the vertical federation client selection request message does not include the VFL client indicator (or slave VFL client indicator), the first vertical federation master client can also know that the initiator of the vertical federation learning is the vertical federation slave client. In other words, the vertical federation client selection request message in the embodiment corresponding to Figure 7 may carry the VFL client indicator (or slave VFL client indicator) or may not carry the VFL client indicator (or slave VFL client indicator).

[0496] Optionally, in addition to the information described above, the vertical federation client selection request message may also include an identifier of the vertical federation learning group, or requirements / selection information for the requesting vertical federation slave client. For example, the requirements for the requesting vertical federation slave client may include one or more of the following: the time period during which the vertical federation slave client is expected to support vertical federation learning, data sample information expected to be supported by the vertical federation slave client, data feature information expected to be supported by the vertical federation slave client, training modes expected to be supported by the vertical federation slave client, or information such as sample space overlap.

[0497] S706: The first vertical federation master client sends a vertical federation server discovery request message to the VFLSF. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the vertical federation server discovery request message from the first vertical federation master client.

[0498] S707: The VFLSF sends a vertical federation server discovery response message to the first vertical federation master client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation master client receives the vertical federation server discovery response message from the VFLSF.

[0499] Here, the description of steps S501 to S504 can refer to the description of steps S401 to S404 in FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

[0500] S708: The first vertical federation master client sends a vertical federation client discovery request message to the VFLSF. Correspondingly, the VFLSF receives the vertical federation client discovery request message from the first vertical federation master client.

[0501] S709: The VFLSF sends a vertical federation client discovery response message to the first vertical federation master client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation master client receives the vertical federation client discovery response message from the VFLSF.

[0502] S7010: The first vertical federation master client sends a vertical federation learning preparation request message to the at least one vertical federation slave client. Correspondingly, the at least one vertical federation slave client receives the vertical federation learning preparation request message from the first vertical federation master client.

[0503] S7011. At least one vertical federation determines from the client whether to agree to join the vertical federated learning.

[0504] S7012: At least one vertical federation slave client sends a vertical federation learning preparation response message to the first vertical federation master client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation master client receives the vertical federation learning preparation response message from the at least one vertical federation slave client.

[0505] S7013. The first vertical federation master client determines the vertical federation slave client that will eventually participate in vertical federation learning.

[0506] Here, for understanding of steps S706 to S7013, reference may be made to the description of distinguishing between master and slave clients in steps S503 to S5010 of FIG. 5 , which will not be repeated here.

[0507] S7014: The first vertical federation master client sends a vertical federation client selection response message to the first vertical federation slave client. Correspondingly, the first vertical federation slave client receives the vertical federation client selection response message from the first vertical federation master client.

[0508] Generally speaking, the vertical federation client selection response message is used to indicate whether the vertical federation slave client's selection was successful. Optionally, the vertical federation client selection response message may also indicate whether the vertical federation server's selection was successful. S7015: The first vertical federation master client sends a model training request message for vertical federation learning to the first vertical federation server. In response, the first vertical federation server receives the model training request message for vertical federation learning from the first vertical federation master client.

[0509] Here, the model training request message includes information about the vertical federated slave clients that ultimately participate in the vertical federated learning.

[0510] It should be noted that the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 7 above mainly describes the vertical federation learning process in which the first vertical federation slave client initiates vertical federation learning and the first vertical federation master client is responsible for coordination (i.e., responsible for the discovery and selection of the vertical federation server and other vertical federation slave clients). In particular:

[0511] If the first network element is the first vertical federation master client, then the first request message sent by the first vertical federation master client to the network storage function network element to request the vertical federation server is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery request message in step S706 of Figure 7; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation master client is equivalent to the vertical federation server discovery response message in step S707 of Figure 7.

[0512] If the first network element is the first vertical federation master client, then the first request message sent by the first vertical federation master client to the network storage function network element to request the vertical federation slave client is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery request message in step S708 of Figure 7; the first response message fed back by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation master client is equivalent to the vertical federation client discovery response message in step S709 of Figure 7.

[0513] The first vertical federation master client sends a fourth request message to at least one vertical federation slave client, which is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation request message in step S7010 of Figure 7; the fourth response message fed back by at least one vertical federation slave client to the first vertical federation master client is equivalent to the vertical federation learning preparation response message in step S7012 of Figure 7.

[0514] The first vertical federation master client sends a fifth request message to the first vertical federation server, which is equivalent to the model training request message of the vertical federation learning in step S7015 of Figure 7.

[0515] The sixth request message sent by the first vertical federation slave client to the first vertical federation master client is equivalent to the vertical federation client selection request message in step S705 of Figure 7; the sixth response message sent by the first vertical federation master client to the first vertical federation slave client is equivalent to the vertical federation client selection response message in step S7014 of Figure 7.

[0516] In this embodiment of the present application, the vertical federation client and vertical federation server register their vertical federated learning capability information with the VFLSF. This allows the first vertical federation master client to be discovered by the VFLSF when the first vertical federation slave client initiates vertical federation learning. The first vertical federation master client can then discover the first vertical federation server and other vertical federation slave clients. This embodiment provides a method for registering and discovering vertical federation participants, enabling the initiator to discover suitable participants for vertical federation learning services, laying the foundation for subsequent vertical federation learning model training.

[0517] The communication device provided in this application will be described in detail below with reference to FIG8 and FIG9.

[0518] It is understood that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or in a manner driven by computer software depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0519] Figures 8 and 9 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided by the embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the network storage function network element, or the first vertical federation client, or the first vertical federation server in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above-mentioned method embodiments. Alternatively, these communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the network storage function network element, or the first vertical federation master client, or the first vertical federation slave client, or the first vertical federation server in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above-mentioned method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, these communication devices can also be modules (such as chips) applied to communication devices.

[0520] As shown in Figure 8, the communication device 800 includes a processing unit 810 and a transceiver unit 820. The communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the network element in the method embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 7 above.

[0521] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the network storage function network element in the method embodiments shown in FIG4 to FIG7:

[0522] The transceiver unit 820 is used to receive a first request message from a first network element, where the first request message is used to request a second network element, and the first request message includes the network element capability type supported by the second network element, and also includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group to which the second network element belongs, and model type information supported by the second network element; the network element capability type supported by the second network element is one of a vertical federated server or a vertical federated client, or the network element capability type supported by the second network element is one of a vertical federated server, a vertical federated master client or a vertical federated slave client; the model type information is used to identify the business type applicable to the model supported by the second network element and / or the algorithm type corresponding to the model;

[0523] The transceiver unit 820 is configured to send a first response message to the first network element, where the first response message includes one or more second network elements, and the one or more second network elements support the network element capability type.

[0524] Exemplarily, the processing unit 810 is configured to process received information.

[0525] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the first vertical federation client in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 7 :

[0526] The transceiver unit 820 is configured to send a second request message to the fourth network element, where the second request message includes model type information, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information;

[0527] The transceiver unit 820 is configured to receive a second response message from the fourth network element, where the second response message includes one or more vertical federation clients that support the model type information;

[0528] Among them, the fourth network element is the first vertical federation server or the network storage function network element.

[0529] Exemplarily, the processing unit 810 is configured to process received information.

[0530] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the first vertical federation server in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 7 :

[0531] The transceiver unit 820 is configured to send a first request message to the network storage function network element, where the first request message includes model type information, and the first request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information;

[0532] The transceiver unit 820 is configured to receive a first response message from the network storage function network element, where the first response message includes at least one vertical federation client that supports the model type information.

[0533] For more detailed descriptions of the processing unit 810 and the transceiver unit 820 , reference may be made to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 7 .

[0534] As shown in Figure 9, communication device 900 includes a processor 910 and an interface circuit 920. Processor 910 and interface circuit 920 are coupled to each other. It is understood that interface circuit 920 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. For example, communication device 900 may also include a memory 930 for storing instructions executed by processor 910, input data required by processor 910 to execute instructions, or data generated after processor 910 executes instructions.

[0535] When the communication device 900 is used to implement the methods shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 7 , the processor 910 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 810 , and the interface circuit 920 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 820 .

[0536] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a network storage function network element, the network storage function network element chip implements the functions of the network storage function network element in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The network storage function network element chip receives information sent to the network storage function network element by the first vertical federation client or the first vertical federation server through other modules in the network storage function network element (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna); or the network storage function network element chip sends information to other modules in the network storage function network element (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the network storage function network element to the first vertical federation client or the first vertical federation server.

[0537] When the communication device is a module applied to a first vertical federation client, the first vertical federation client module implements the functions of the first vertical federation client in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The first vertical federation client module receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first vertical federation client, where the information is sent to the first vertical federation client by a network storage function network element or a first vertical federation server; or the first vertical federation client module sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first vertical federation client, where the information is sent to the network storage function network element or the first vertical federation server by the first vertical federation client.

[0538] When the communication device is a module applied to the first vertical federation server, the first vertical federation server module implements the functions of the first vertical federation server in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The first vertical federation server module receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first vertical federation server, where the information is sent to the first vertical federation server by the network storage function or the first vertical federation client; or the first vertical federation server module sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first vertical federation server, where the information is sent to the network storage function or the first vertical federation client by the first vertical federation server.

[0539] The present application also provides a communication device, which includes a processor. When the communication device is a network storage function network element, the processor is used to implement the actions performed by the network storage function network element in the above-mentioned method shown in Figures 4 to 7. When the communication device is a first vertical federation client, the processor is used to implement the actions performed by the first vertical federation client in the above-mentioned method shown in Figures 4 to 7. When the communication device is a first vertical federation server, the processor is used to implement the actions performed by the first vertical federation server in the above-mentioned method shown in Figures 4 to 7.

[0540] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0541] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a network storage function network element, or a first vertical federation client, or a first vertical federation server. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a network storage function network element, or a first vertical federation client, or a first vertical federation server.

[0542] 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.

[0543] 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.

[0544] It is understood that the various numbers used in the embodiments of this application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily imply a specific order of execution; the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applicable to network storage function network elements, including: Receive a first request message from a first network element, where the first request message is used to request a second network element, and the first request message includes a network element capability type supported by the second network element, and also includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group to which the second network element belongs, and model type information supported by the second network element; the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation server and / or a vertical federation client, or the network element capability type supported by the second network element is one of a vertical federation server, a vertical federation master client, or a vertical federation slave client; the model type information is used to identify the business type applicable to the model supported by the second network element and / or the algorithm type corresponding to the model; A first response message is sent to the first network element, where the first response message includes one or more second network elements, and the one or more second network elements support the network element capability type.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first request message also includes selection information of the second network element; wherein: In a case where the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation client, a vertical federation master client, or a vertical federation slave client, the selection information of the second network element includes one or more of the following: a time period during which the second network element supports vertical federation learning, data sample information supported by the second network element, data feature information supported by the second network element, or a training mode supported by the second network element; In the case where the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation server, the selection information of the second network element includes one or more of the following: the time period in which the second network element supports vertical federation learning, or the training mode supported by the second network element.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: In the case where the first network element is a first vertical federation server, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation client, or the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation slave client, or the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation master client; or, In the case where the first network element is a first vertical federation master client, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation slave client; or, In the case where the first network element is a first vertical federation slave client, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation master client; or, In the case where the first network element is a first vertical federation client, a first vertical federation master client, or a first vertical federation slave client, the network element capability type supported by the second network element is a vertical federation server.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: receiving a registration request message from a third network element, the registration request message including a network element capability type supported by the third network element, and also including one or more of the following information: an identifier of a vertical federated learning group to which the third network element belongs, and model type information supported by the third network element; A registration response message is sent to the third network element, where the registration response message is used to indicate a registration result of the third network element.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that In a case where the network element capability type supported by the third network element is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client, the registration request message includes model type information supported by the third network element.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: In the case where the network element capability type supported by the third network element is a vertical federation client, a vertical federation master client, or a vertical federation slave client, the registration request message further includes one or more of the following information: a time period in which the third network element supports vertical federation learning, data sample information supported by the third network element, data feature information supported by the third network element, or a training mode supported by the third network element; In the case where the network element capability type supported by the third network element is a vertical federation server, the registration request message further includes one or more of the following information: the time period in which the third network element supports vertical federation learning, or the training mode supported by the third network element.

7. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that: The third network element includes the first network element.

8. A communication method, characterized in that: The first vertical federation client to support vertical federated learning, including: Sending a second request message to a fourth network element, where the second request message includes model type information, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information; receiving a second response message from the fourth network element, the second response message including one or more vertical federation clients supporting the model type information; Among them, the fourth network element is the first vertical federation server or a network storage function network element.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that Before sending the second request message to the fourth network element, the method further includes: Sending a third request message to the network storage function network element, wherein the third request message includes the model type information, and the third request message is used to request a vertical federation server that supports the model type information; A third response message is received from the network storage function network element, wherein the third response message includes one or more vertical federation service ends.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: In the case where the fourth network element is the first vertical federation server, the second request message is further used to indicate that the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The second request message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

12. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: In the case where the fourth network element is a network storage function network element, the method further includes: Sending a fourth request message to the one or more vertical federation clients, where the fourth request message is used to request the vertical federation client to join vertical federation learning; A fourth response message is received from the one or more vertical federation clients, where the fourth response message is used to indicate whether the vertical federation client agrees to join the vertical federation learning.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: A fifth request message is sent to the first vertical federation server, wherein the fifth request message includes a vertical federation client that agrees to join the vertical federation learning.

14. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that The second request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information, and includes: The second request message is used to request support for the vertical federation slave client of the model type information; or, The second request message is used to request the vertical federation master client that supports the model type information; or, The second request message is used to request a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client that support the model type information.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The fourth network element is a network storage function network element, the first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation master client, the second request message is used to request a vertical federation master client that supports the model type information, the second response message includes one or more vertical federation master clients, and the first vertical federation master client is included in the one or more vertical federation master clients; the method further includes: A sixth request message is received from the first vertical federation slave client, the sixth request message including the model type information, the sixth request message being used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: A sixth response message is sent to the first vertical federation slave client, where the sixth response message indicates whether the vertical federation slave client request is successful.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The fourth network element is a network storage function network element, the first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation slave client, the second request message is used to request a vertical federation master client that supports the model type information, the second response message includes one or more vertical federation master clients, and the first vertical federation master client is included in the one or more vertical federation master clients; The method further comprises: A sixth request message is sent to the first vertical federation master client, where the sixth request message includes the model type information, and the sixth request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The method further comprises: A sixth response message is received from the first vertical federation master client, where the sixth response message indicates whether the vertical federation slave client request is successful.

19. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 18, characterized in that: The second request message further includes one or more of the following information: second indication information, an identifier of a vertical federated learning group, or selection information of a vertical federated client for the request; Among them, the second indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type of the request is a vertical federation client, and the selection information for the requested vertical federation client includes one or more of the following: the time period supporting vertical federation learning, supported data sample information, supported data feature information, or supported training mode.

20. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The third request message also includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federated learning group, or a network element capability type requested by the third request message.

21. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The fourth request message includes one or more of the following information: The third indication information includes the time requirements for vertical federated learning, the data sample requirements for vertical federated learning, the data feature requirements for vertical federated learning, or the information of the vertical federated master client; The third indication information is used to instruct the vertical federation client to join the vertical federation learning.

22. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that: The sixth request message further includes one or more of the following information: Fourth indication information, a network element capability type of the first vertical federation slave client that initiates the sixth request message, or selection information of the vertical federation slave client for the request; The fourth indication information is used to request vertical federation from the client.

23. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that: The first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation master client, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information; the method further includes: A seventh request message is received from the first vertical federation server, wherein the seventh request message includes one or more vertical federation slave clients that support the model type information.

24. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 23, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Sending a registration request message to the network storage function network element, the registration request message including the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client, and also including one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federation learning group to which the first vertical federation client belongs, and model type information supported by the first vertical federation client; A registration response message is received from the network storage function network element, where the registration response message is used to indicate a registration result of the first vertical federation client.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that In a case where the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client, the registration request message includes model type information supported by the first vertical federation client.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that The registration request message also includes one or more of the following information: the time period during which the first vertical federated client supports vertical federated learning, data sample information supported by the first vertical federated client, data feature information supported by the first vertical federated client, or a training mode supported by the first vertical federated client.

27. A communication method, characterized in that: The first vertical federation server used to support vertical federated learning includes: Sending a first request message to a network storage function network element, wherein the first request message includes model type information, and the first request message is used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information; A first response message is received from the network storage function network element, wherein the first response message includes at least one vertical federation client supporting the model type information.

28. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a second request message from the first vertical federation client, the second request message including model type information, the second request message being used to request a vertical federation client that supports the model type information; The sending a first request message to the network storage function network element includes: Send a first request message to the network storage function network element according to the second request message.

29. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The method further comprises: A second response message is sent to the first vertical federation client, where the second response message includes one or more vertical federation clients that support the model type information.

30. The method according to claim 29, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending a fourth request message to the at least one vertical federation client, wherein the fourth request message is used to request the vertical federation client to join the vertical federation learning; receiving a fourth response message from the at least one vertical federation client, the fourth response message being used to indicate whether the vertical federation client agrees to join the vertical federation learning; The sending a second response message to the first vertical federation client includes: A second response message is sent to the first vertical federation client according to the fourth response message.

31. The method according to any one of claims 28 to 30, characterized in that: The first vertical federation client is a first vertical federation master client, and the second request message is used to request a vertical federation slave client that supports the model type information; the method further includes: A seventh request message is sent to the first vertical federation master client, where the seventh request message includes one or more vertical federation slave clients that support the model type information.

32. The method according to any one of claims 28 to 31, characterized in that: The second request message is further used to indicate that the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

33. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The second request message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client or a vertical federation slave client.

34. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 29 or 33, characterized in that: The second request message further includes one or more of the following information: second indication information, an identifier of a vertical federated learning group, or selection information of a vertical federated client for the request; Among them, the second indication information is used to indicate that the network element capability type of the request is a vertical federation client, and the selection information for the requested vertical federation client includes one or more of the following: the time period supporting vertical federation learning, supported data sample information, supported data feature information, or supported training mode.

35. The method according to claim 34, characterized in that In the case that the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation master client, the second indication information included in the second request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation slave client, and the fifth indication information included in the first request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation slave client.

36. The method according to claim 35, characterized in that The first request message further includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of a vertical federated learning group, or selection information of the vertical federated slave client for the request.

37. The method according to claim 34, characterized in that In the case that the network element capability type of the first vertical federation client is a vertical federation slave client, the second indication information included in the second request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client, and the fifth indication information included in the first request message is used to indicate that the requested network element capability type is a vertical federation master client and a vertical federation slave client.

38. The method according to claim 37, characterized in that The first request message further includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of a vertical federated learning group, selection information of a vertical federated master client for the request, or selection information of a vertical federated slave client for the request.

39. The method according to any one of claims 27 to 38, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending a registration request message to the network storage function network element, the registration request message including the network element capability type supported by the first vertical federation server, and also including one or more of the following information: an identifier of the vertical federation learning group to which the first vertical federation server belongs, and model type information supported by the first vertical federation server; A registration response message is received from the network storage function network element, where the registration response message is used to indicate a registration result of the first vertical federation server.

40. The method according to claim 39, characterized in that The registration request message further includes one or more of the following information: a time period during which the first vertical federation server supports vertical federation learning, or a training mode supported by the first vertical federation server.

41. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 40, characterized in that The model type information is an analysis identifier.

42. A communication device, comprising a unit or module for executing the method as described in any one of claims 1-7, 41, or comprising a unit or module for executing the method as described in any one of claims 8-26, 41, or comprising a unit or module for executing the method as described in any one of claims 27-41.

43. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising a processor, wherein the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-7, 41, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 8-26, 41, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 27-41.

44. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, it implements the method as described in any one of claims 1-7, 41, or implements the method as described in any one of claims 8-26, 41, or implements the method as described in any one of claims 27-41.

45. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises a computer program code, which, when executed on a computer, implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 and 41, or implements the method according to any one of claims 8 to 26 and 41, or implements the method according to any one of claims 27 to 41.

46. ​​A communication system, characterized in that: It includes a network storage function network element for implementing the method described in any one of claims 1-7 and 41, a first vertical federation client for implementing the method described in any one of claims 8-26 and 41, and a first vertical federation server for implementing the method described in any one of claims 27-41.

Images