Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application are a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a host base station being able to receive a first network slice identifier sent by a relay node managed by the host base station, wherein the first network slice identifier is an identifier of a network slice requested by a terminal device that accesses the relay node, and a radio resource control (RRC) connection of the terminal device terminates at the relay node; and determining a first core network device that provides a service for the terminal device, wherein the first core network device supports a first network slice, and the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier. By means of the method, when a network slice is introduced into NR L3 relay technology, the host base station can determine, on the basis of the first network slice identifier, the first core network device that provides a service for the terminal device.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application with application number 202311549041.1 filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on November 17, 2023, and priority to the Chinese patent application with the invention name “A Communication Method and Device”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0003] Long-term evolution (LTE) R10 introduced relay technology. In LTE R10, a relay node (RN) can be understood as consisting of a terminal device and a base station. An air interface connection exists between the terminal device portion of the RN (called the RN-mobile terminal (MT)) and the donor eNB (DeNB). This air interface is called the Un interface (the Uu interface is used for regular terminal devices accessing the eNB). The base station portion of the RN (called the RN-eNB) and the DeNB have X2 and S1 interfaces. Control plane and user plane data on the X2 and S1 interfaces are transmitted via data radio bearers (DRBs) on the Un interface between the RN-MT and the DeNB. LTE relay is a Layer 3 (L3) relay, with the RN having complete base station functionality. With the advancement of communications technology, it has been proposed to extend LTE's L3 relay technology to new radio (NR), implementing NR L3 relay technology.

[0004] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has introduced network slicing in next-generation wireless communication network architectures, such as fifth-generation (5G) mobile communications. When NR Layer 3 relay technology is introduced into network slicing, the host base station's inability to determine the core network device that provides the corresponding network slice service to the terminal device based on the network slice service requested by the terminal device is a technical issue that needs to be addressed.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] An embodiment of the present application discloses a communication method and apparatus. When NR L3 relay technology is introduced into network slicing, the host base station can determine the first core network device providing services for the terminal device based on the first network slice identifier, thereby improving the accuracy of the host base station in selecting the core network device of the terminal device and the success rate of the network slice request of the terminal device.

[0007] The present application is introduced below from different aspects. It should be understood that the implementation methods and beneficial effects of the following different aspects can be referenced to each other.

[0008] In a first aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which can be executed by a host base station or a module (for example, a chip) in the host base station. The method may include: receiving a first network slice identifier sent by a relay node managed by the host base station; the first network slice identifier is an identifier of a network slice requested by a terminal device accessing the relay node; the radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device is terminated at the relay node; determining a first core network device that provides services to the terminal device, the first core network device supports a first network slice, and the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier.

[0009] This application can receive a first network slice identifier sent by a relay node managed by the host base station through the host base station; and then, determine the first core network device providing services to the terminal device based on the first network slice identifier. Through this method, the problem that the host base station in the NR L3 Relay architecture cannot select the core network device of the terminal device based on the network slice service requested by the terminal device can be solved, and the accuracy of the host base station in selecting the core network device of the terminal device and the success rate of the network slice request of the terminal device can be improved.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the first network slice identifier is transmitted via a data radio bearer DRB or a signaling radio bearer (SRB) between the relay node and the host base station.

[0011] In the embodiment of the present application, the air interface configuration has been completed between the relay node and the host base station, that is, there is a DRB / SRB as the backhaul link of the NG interface or the Xn interface. Then, the first network slice identifier can be transmitted between the relay node and the host base station via a radio bearer DRB or a signaling radio bearer SRB.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the first core network device provides services for the relay node.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present application, the first core network device can provide services for the relay node and the terminal device, which is conducive to the host base station to more conveniently and quickly obtain the rate associated with the relay node and the first network slice, thereby improving the efficiency of the host base station access control.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a first rate corresponding to the relay node sent by the first core network device; the first rate is determined based on the rate associated with the first network slice of one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node; the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include a terminal device; based on the first rate, rate control is performed on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present application, the first core network device provides services for the relay node and the terminal device. The first core network device can determine the rate at which the relay node is associated with the first network slice (i.e., the first rate corresponding to the above-mentioned relay node) based on the rate at which one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node are associated with the first network slice, and then, based on the first rate, perform rate control on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice. In this method, the host base station can implement uplink and downlink rate control of the relay node based on the rate at which the terminal device is associated with the first network slice, and can also ensure that the strategy formulated by the operator for the network slice service is met.

[0016] In combination with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the first rate is determined based on the rate associated with the first network slice by the terminal device, or is determined based on the sum of the rates associated with the first network slice by multiple terminal devices accessing the relay node.

[0017] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the first rate is determined based on subscription information of the relay node.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the second core network device provides services for the relay node, and the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices.

[0019] In the embodiment of the present application, the core network devices providing services for the relay node and the terminal device can be different core network devices, which can improve the flexibility in selecting the core network device determined to serve the terminal.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending an identifier of the second core network device to the first core network device; the identifier of the second core network device is used by the first core network device to send the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice to the second core network device.

[0021] In an embodiment of the present application, the core network devices that provide services for the relay node and the terminal device are different core network devices (i.e., the first core network device provides services for the terminal device, and the second core network device provides services for the relay node). The second core network device obtains the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice by: the first core network device actively sends the identifier of the second core network device sent from the host base station to the second core network device after the first core network device receives it. Furthermore, the second core network device can determine the rate associated with the relay node and the first network slice based on the rate associated with the above-mentioned terminal device and the rate associated with the first network slice of other terminal devices accessing the relay node, and send the rate associated with the relay node and the first network slice to the host base station so that the host base station can control the rate of data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice.

[0022] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving a first request sent by a relay node, the first request being a non-access stratum (NAS) request initiated by the relay node and associated with the first network slice; when transparently transmitting the first request to the second core network device, sending an identifier of the first core network device to the second core network device, the identifier of the first core network device is used by the second core network device to obtain the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice from the first core network device.

[0023] In an embodiment of the present application, the core network devices that provide services for the relay node and the terminal device are different core network devices (i.e., the first core network device provides services for the terminal device, and the second core network device provides services for the relay node). The second core network device obtains the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice by: the second core network device receives the identifier of the first core network device sent by the host base station, and obtains the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice from the second core network device based on the identifier of the first core network device. Furthermore, the second core network device can determine the rate associated with the relay node and the first network slice based on the rate associated with the above-mentioned terminal device and the rate associated with the first network slice of other terminal devices accessing the relay node, and send the rate associated with the relay node and the first network slice to the host base station, so that the host base station can control the rate of data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice.

[0024] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a second rate corresponding to the relay node sent by the second core network device; the second rate is determined based on the rate at which one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node are associated with the first network slice; the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include a terminal device; based on the second rate, rate control is performed on data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice.

[0025] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the second rate is determined based on subscription information of the relay node.

[0026] In an embodiment of the present application, the core network devices that provide services for the relay node and the terminal device are different core network devices (i.e., the first core network device provides services for the terminal device, and the second core network device provides services for the relay node). The host base station can obtain the rate associated with the relay node and the first network slice from the second core network device (i.e., the second rate corresponding to the above relay node), and then, based on the second rate, perform rate control on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice. In this method, the host base station can implement uplink and downlink rate control of the relay node based on the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice, and can also ensure that the strategy formulated by the operator for the network slice service is met.

[0027] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a third rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice sent by the first core network device; and based on the third rate, performing rate control on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice.

[0028] In an embodiment of the present application, regardless of whether the core network device providing services for the relay node and the terminal device is the same, the donor base station can control the rate of data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice based on the received rate associated with one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node and the first network slice. In this method, the donor base station can control the uplink and downlink rates of the relay node based on the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice, and can also ensure that the policy formulated by the operator for the network slice service is met.

[0029] In the second aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which can be executed by a relay node managed by a host base station or a module (for example, a chip) in the relay node. The method may include: receiving a first network slice identifier, which is an identifier of a network slice requested by an accessed terminal device; the radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device is terminated at the relay node; sending the first network slice identifier to the host base station; the first network slice identifier is used by the host base station to determine the first core network device that provides services to the terminal device, the first core network device supports the first network slice, and the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier.

[0030] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first network slice identifier is transmitted via a data radio bearer DRB or a signaling radio bearer SRB between the relay node and the host base station.

[0031] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a first request to the host base station, where the first request is a non-access stratum NAS request initiated by the relay node and associated with the first network slice.

[0032] In a third aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which can be executed by a first core network device or a module (for example, a chip) in the first core network device, and the method may include: receiving a second request, which is a registration request associated with a first network slice identifier initiated by a terminal device accessing a relay node managed by a host base station; the second request includes a first network slice identifier, which is an identifier of the network slice requested by the terminal device; sending a network slice rate, which is used by the host base station to control the rate of data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice; wherein the first core network device supports the first network slice, which is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier; the first network slice identifier is sent by the relay node to the host base station; the radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device terminates at the relay node; the first network slice identifier is used by the host base station to determine the first core network device that provides services to the terminal device.

[0033] In combination with the third aspect, in one possible implementation, the second core network device provides services for the relay node, and the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices; the method also includes: receiving an identifier of the second core network device sent by the host base station, and the identifier of the second core network device is used by the first core network device to send the network slice rate to the second core network device.

[0034] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation, the second core network device provides services for the relay node, and the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices; the method also includes: receiving a third request sent by the second core network device, the third request being used to request the network slice rate.

[0035] In combination with the third aspect, in one possible embodiment, the network slice rate is determined based on the rate associated with the first network slice by one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node, and the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device; or, the network slice rate is determined based on the contract information of the relay node.

[0036] In a fourth aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which can be executed by a second core network device or a module (for example, a chip) in the second core network device, and the method may include: determining the network slice rate corresponding to the relay node; the network slice rate is used by the host base station to perform rate control on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice; sending the network slice rate to the host base station; wherein the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier sent by the relay node to the host base station; the first network slice identifier is the identifier of the network slice requested by the terminal device accessing the relay node; the radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device terminates at the relay node; the first network slice identifier is used by the host base station to determine the first core network device that provides services to the terminal device, the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices, and the first core network device supports the first network slice.

[0037] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, determining the network slice rate corresponding to the relay node includes: receiving the network slice rate sent by the first core network device, the network slice rate is determined based on the rate associated with the first network slice of one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node, and the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device; or, the network slice rate is determined based on the contract information of the relay node.

[0038] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a first request sent by a relay node; the first request is a non-access stratum NAS request initiated by the relay node and associated with the first network slice; and in response to the first request, sending the network slice rate to the host base station.

[0039] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving an identifier of the first core network device sent by the host base station; sending a third request to the first core network device, the third request being used to request the network slice rate.

[0040] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a network device or a chip / circuit therein. The communication device is configured to perform the method of any aspect or any possible implementation of any aspect. The communication device includes a unit having a function of performing the method of any aspect or any possible implementation of any aspect.

[0041] In the fifth aspect, the communication device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit. For a detailed description of the transceiver unit and the processing unit, reference may be made to the device embodiments shown below. The beneficial effects of the fourth to fifth aspects may be referenced to the relevant descriptions of the first to fourth aspects, and are not repeated here.

[0042] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may include a processor and an interface circuit, and the processor is connected to the interface circuit. Wherein, the interface circuit is used to interact (or transmit and receive or input and output) information or data, and the processor is used to run program instructions so that the communication device performs the method described in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects. Wherein, the interface circuit may be a communication interface or a transceiver. The transceiver may be a radio frequency module in a communication device, or a combination of a radio frequency module and an antenna, or an input and output interface of a chip or circuit.

[0043] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a readable storage medium having program instructions stored thereon, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method described in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects.

[0044] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a program product comprising program instructions, which, when executed, enables the method described in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects to be executed.

[0045] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a device, which can be implemented in the form of a chip or in the form of a device, and the device includes a processor. The processor is used to read and execute a program stored in a memory to execute one or more of any of the above aspects, or an information interaction method provided by one or more of any possible implementation methods of any aspect. Optionally, the device also includes a memory, which is connected to the processor via a circuit. Further optionally, the device also includes a communication interface, and the processor is connected to the communication interface. The communication interface is used to receive information to be processed, and the processor obtains the information from the communication interface, processes the information, and outputs the processing results through the communication interface. The communication interface can be an input and output interface.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the processor and memory may be physically independent units, or the memory may be integrated with the processor.

[0047] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a host base station, a relay node, and a first core network device and / or a second core network device; the host base station is used to execute the method described in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, the relay node is used to execute the method described in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, the first core network device is used to execute the method described in the above-mentioned third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, and the second core network device is used to execute the method described in the above-mentioned fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0048] The technical effects achieved in the above-mentioned aspects can be referred to each other or to the beneficial effects in the method embodiments shown below, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an LTE Relay architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG4 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG5 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG7 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG8 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0058] In the description of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish different objects, and do not limit the quantity and execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit them to be different. For example, the first information and the second information, the first PDC type and the second PDC type, etc. are only used to distinguish different information, and do not limit their order. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally also includes steps or units that are not listed, or optionally also includes other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0059] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means "or", for example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this article is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, "at least one (item)", "the following one (item) or more (items)" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items (items). For example, at least one item (item) of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a, b, and c. Among them, a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0060] In the description of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete way.

[0061] It should be understood that in the description of this application, the terms "when," "if," and "if" all refer to the device performing a corresponding action under certain objective circumstances. They do not limit the time, do not require the device to perform a judgment action during implementation, and do not imply any other limitations. Specifically, "the device performing a corresponding action under certain objective circumstances" includes: the device performing the corresponding action under certain objective circumstances can perform the corresponding action only if the objective circumstances are met; or the device performing the corresponding action can perform the corresponding action only if the objective circumstances and other circumstances are met.

[0062] The term "simultaneously" in this application may be understood as at the same time point, within a period of time, or within the same cycle, and may be understood in conjunction with the context.

[0063] Elements used in the singular herein are intended to mean "one or more" rather than "one and only one" unless specifically stated otherwise.

[0064] Additionally, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein.

[0065] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, "A corresponds to B," "A corresponds to B," "A corresponds to B," or similar expressions indicate that B is associated with A and B can be determined based on A. Determining B based on A does not mean determining B based solely on A; B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0066] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, a brief introduction to the relevant technologies and terms of the present application is first given.

[0067] 1. LTE Relay

[0068] (1) LTE Relay Architecture

[0069] LTE R10 introduced relay technology. The LTE relay architecture is shown in Figure 1. A relay node (RN) can be understood as consisting of a UE + an eNB. The UE portion of the RN (called the RN-MT) has an air interface connection with the donor eNB (DeNB). This air interface is called the Un interface (a standard UE access to the eNB is called the Uu interface). The eNB portion of the RN (called the RN-eNB) has an X2 interface and an S1 interface with the DeNB. Both control and user plane data on these X2 and S1 interfaces are transmitted via DRBs on the Un interface between the RN-MT and the DeNB. In the example above, all control and user plane data on the RN is encapsulated within the user plane data of the RN-MT and sent to the DeNB. At this point, the RN-MT's mission is complete. The DeNB maintains a bearer mapping (described later) and remaps the RN-MT's DRBs to the UE's GTP-U tunnel (for the user plane) or the RN-eNB's S1AP tunnel (for the control plane). LTE Relay is a layer 3 relay (L3 relay) because there is a complete eNB on the RN with a complete protocol stack.

[0070] (2) Control plane protocol stack architecture and user plane protocol stack architecture

[0071] Based on the control plane protocol stack architecture, it can be concluded that for L3 Relay, the UE's RRC message is terminated at the Relay. For the UE, the DeNB is regarded as the mobility management entity (MME).

[0072] Based on the user plane protocol stack architecture, we can conclude that for L3 Relay, data forwarding is based on packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol data units (PDUs). The Uu interface establishes a per-UE per-bearer DRB. On the Un interface, a per-UE per-bearer GTP tunnel is carried on a per-RN per-bearer DRB, supporting the aggregation of services with the same quality of service (QoS) across different UEs. The S1 interface establishes a per-UE per-bearer GTP tunnel. For the UE, there is no distinction between RNs and ordinary eNBs; if a UE accesses an RN, it is considered to have access to the network. For the core network, the eNB on the RN cannot be seen. When the RN accesses the network through the DeNB, the DeNB will send a configuration update message to the MME. From the core network's perspective, it only knows that some new cells have been added under the DeNB, and does not know the RN information under the DeNB. For the interface-level S1 message on the RN, the RN interacts directly with the DeNB, and the DeNB plays the role of MME for the RN; for the S1 message related to the UE on the RN, the core network interacts with the DeNB (the core network can only see the DeNB but not the RN), and then the DeNB forwards the S1 message related to the UE to the RN.

[0073] (3) DeNB's S1 / X2 proxy function

[0074] The RN selects a DeNB cell from the list of allowed DeNB cells (obtained from the Operation, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM)) and accesses it in relay mode. The RN OAM configures the RN cell's E-UTRAN cell global identifier (ECGI). The RN then establishes an S1 / X2 connection with the DeNB for the backhaul link. E-UTRAN stands for the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN). As previously explained, the RN's S1 / X2 connection relies on the RN-MT's DRBs for transmission between the RN and the DeNB. In LTE, the DeNB initiates the establishment of RN-MT DRBs. When the RN joins the network, one or more default DRBs are established between the RN-MT and the DeNB. Subsequently, the DeNB can trigger the creation of additional RN-MT DRBs based on the QoS requirements of the UE being served. RN joining the network under a DeNB appears to the outside world as having additional cells under the DeNB.

[0075] 2. Network Slicing

[0076] With the development of mobile communications technology, a variety of new services and application scenarios are constantly emerging. These services have very different requirements for network functions, connectivity performance, and security. If a single network is used to carry these services, it will be difficult to simultaneously meet the requirements of high bandwidth, low latency, and high reliability. In addition, building a new network for each service will incur huge costs. This requires 5G to be flexible and scalable while being able to meet diverse business needs. To this end, 5G provides users with customized network services through end-to-end network slicing. By flexibly allocating network resources and on-demand networking, 5G virtualizes multiple, distinct, and isolated logical subnets on the same physical infrastructure to provide targeted services to users.

[0077] (1) Single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI)

[0078] Different logical subnets are identified and distinguished by S-NSSAI. Each S-NSSAI may include the following:

[0079] 1. Slice / service type (SST), which refers to the specific characteristics and service types of the network slice;

[0080] 2. Slice Differentiator (SD), as a supplement to SST, can further distinguish multiple network slice instances that meet the same SST and is optional.

[0081] For NSSAI, there are the following categories:

[0082] 1. Subscribed NSSAI: Subscribed NSSAI, which belongs to the user's subscription data;

[0083] 2.Default NSSAI: Default NSSAI. Depending on the operator's policy, one or more of the user's subscribed NSSAIs may be set as the default NSSAI. If the UE does not carry the Allowed NSSAI in the registration request message, the network will use the default NSSAI to provide services to the UE. If the default NSSAI exists,

[0084] 3. Requested NSSAI: Requested NSSAI, that is, the Allowed NSSAI or Configured NSSAI carried by the UE in the Registration Request message;

[0085] 4. Allowed NSSAI: Allowed NSSAI indicates which S-NSSAI(s) in the NSSAI requested by the UE are allowed by the network. The network will send this information to the UE in the "Allowed NSSAI" information element of the Registration Accept message.

[0086] 5. Rejected NSSAI: Rejected NSSAI indicates which S-NSSAI(s) in the NSSAI requested by the UE are rejected by the network. The network will send this information to the UE in the "Rejected NSSAI" information element of the registration acceptance message.

[0087] 6. Configured NSSAI: The configured NSSAI is the NSSAI that the network configures for the UE to use. After receiving this configuration parameter, the UE knows which S-NSSAI(s) are available in the network. The network will provide the UE with the "Configured NSSAI" information element of the registration accept message.

[0088] The list of network slices supported by the base station (i.e., slice list) is pre-configured by OAM at the TA granularity. That is, all cells within a specific TA support the same network slices. This list can then be reported to the core network when establishing the NG interface with the core network. If the base station also supports CU / DU separation, the DU needs to first send the slice list supported per TA to the CU, which then reports it to the core network.

[0089] (2) Introduction to PDU session management associated with a specific network slice

[0090] When a UE that has subscribed to a network slicing service initially accesses the network, it can carry the Requested NSSAI in the RRC Setup Complete message to initiate a registration request for a specific network slice. The base station can select the core network (specifically, the AMF) to provide services for the UE based on the Requested NSSAI, and then transparently transmit the registration request (the base station does not parse it) to the core network side. The core network will then combine the UE's subscription information in the UDM, namely the Subscribed NSSAI, to determine whether the network side (including the RAN side and the core network side) can provide services for the network slice service. If the core network confirms that the current network can support the service corresponding to the Requested NSSAI, it will return the Allowed NSSAI and the UE's registration area RA range (indicated by the Tracking Area Identity (TAI) list) to the UE through a Registration Accept message; if the core network confirms that the current network cannot support some or all of the S-NSSAI(s) in the Requested NSSAI, it will return the Allowed NSSAI and / or Rejected NSSAI and the UE's Registration Area (RA) range to the UE through a Registration Accept message. When the UE moves within the RA range, it cannot re-initiate a registration request for a Rejected NSSAI.

[0091] The UE can initiate a PDU session establishment request to the core network based on the Allowed NSSAI (also through the base station transparently transmitting NAS messages). After the core network determines that it can support the PDU session, it sends a PDU session resource establishment request to the base station. That is, one PDU session is associated with one S-NSSAI. After the base station determines that resources can be allocated for the current PDU session, it creates at least one corresponding DRB on the air interface.

[0092] (3) Network slice access layer group (network slice AS group, NSAG)

[0093] RAN can make UE aware of the cell reselection priority and specific random access parameters for the network slice through broadcasting. The above information is contained in SIB16 and SIB1 respectively. Considering that broadcasting based on network slice granularity may bring relatively large overhead to SIB and pose security risks, the concept of NSAG is proposed, which is to group one or more network slices. Specifically, one or more S-NSSAI(s) can be mapped to a specific NSAG ID. The mapping relationship between NSAG ID and S-NSSAI(s) is unique in a specific area. The characteristics of this mapping relationship are as follows:

[0094] 1. Bidirectional mapping, including the mapping value of the NSAG ID value and the related S-NSSAI;

[0095] 2. OAM configures the gNB, which sends it to the core network via the NG interface, and the core network then provides it to the UE via NAS messages.

[0096] 3. The granularity of regional validity is TA (tracking area). When the core network sends the NSAG mapping relationship to the UE through the NAS message, it can also carry the TAI corresponding to the mapping relationship.

[0097] 4. Allow network slices not to be associated with any NSAG;

[0098] 5. A network slice can be associated with NSAGs of different purposes, that is, different purposes can have their own independent mapping relationship between NSAG and network slice. For example, network slice #1 can be associated with NSAG #1 for cell reselection and NSAG #2 for random access at the same time. However, for the same purpose, a network slice is not allowed to be associated with multiple NSAGs. For example, when used for cell reselection, network slice #1 can only be associated with NSAG #1 at most. Similarly, when used for random access, network slice #1 can only be associated with NSAG #2 at most.

[0099] 6. You can configure the corresponding NSAG priority for each NSAG.

[0100] (4) UE-Slice-maximum bit rate (MBR)

[0101] The UE subscription information may include the UE-Slice-MBR. When the gNB receives the UE-Slice-MBR associated with the Allowed NSSAI from the AMF, it may perform aggregate rate limiting based on this value for one or more activated user plane PDU sessions associated with the same network slice for the same UE:

[0102] 1. Whenever a guaranteed bit rate (GBR) QoS flow establishment or modification request is received, the NG-RAN admission control shall ensure that the sum of the GFBR values ​​of the admitted GBR QoS flows does not exceed the UE-Slice-MBR; if the QoS flow cannot be admitted, the NG-RAN shall reject the QoS flow establishment / modification

[0103] 2. The NG-RAN shall ensure that the aggregate bit rate of all GBR and non-GBR QoS flows belonging to these PDU Sessions does not exceed the UE-Slice-MBR, while always guaranteeing the guaranteed flow bitrate (GFBR) for each GBR QoS flow of these PDU Sessions.

[0104] In this application, the air interface configuration has been completed between the Relay and the Donor in the NR L3 relay technology, that is, there is a DRB / SRB as the backhaul link of the NG interface or the Xn interface. In other words, the adaptation problem of the new network element NR Relay based on the LTE Relay architecture has been solved, including the access of the mobile terminal part of the relay node (Relay-MT), and considering how to establish the NG and Xn interfaces based on the PDU session (PDU Session) of the Relay-MT, that is, the proxy function of the NG interface and the Xn interface. Because in LTE Relay, DeNB is allowed to trigger the establishment of DRB of RN-MT, while in NR, the establishment of DRB is triggered by the PDU session of UE. Only when the UE wants to initiate a service, the base station will establish the DRB corresponding to the QoS, and the base station does not support the triggering of the establishment of DRB. Among them, the content of the air interface resource configuration between Relay and Donor may include:

[0105] (1) Relay-MT initiates a request to AMF to establish a PDU session, in which the network slice identifier (S-NSSAI) and / or request type (Request Type) carried indicates that this is a PDU session related to NGAP and / or XnAP, or in other words, this PDU session is established to transmit NGAP and / or XnAP.

[0106] (2) The AMF serving the Relay-MT sends a PDU session resource setup request message to the Donor, requesting to establish resources for the PDU session service of the MT. The S-NSSAI carried in the message is related to NGAP and / or XnAP, and optionally, it may also carry an indication information separately to indicate that the type of this PDU session is related to NGAP and / or XnAP.

[0107] (3) The Donor-gNB sends an RRC message (e.g., RRCReconfiguration) to the Relay-MT to instruct the establishment of a DRB or SRB. If the Donor-gNB supports CU / DU separation, the Donor-CU will further instruct the Donor-DU to establish a DRB or SRB. For a DRB, its associated S-NSSAI is NGAP and / or XnAP related, and optionally, it may also carry a separate indication information indicating that the type of this DRB is NGAP and / or XnAP related. For SRB, it is not necessary to carry a network slice identifier. Optionally, it may carry an indication information indicating that the type of this SRB is NGAP and / or XnAP related.

[0108] (4) The Relay-MT is allowed to directly request the Donor-gNB to establish a DRB / SRB, and the Donor-gNB then directly configures the DRB / SRB for the Relay-MT. Alternatively, the Donor-gNB can directly configure the DRB / SRB for the Relay-MT without the Relay-MT's request, or the Donor-gNB can directly use the initial DRB / SRB when the Relay-MT accesses the network and establishes an RRC connection to transmit the NG / Xn message.

[0109] The architecture of the NR L3 relay technology described above is based on the design of LTE, where the UE RRC terminates at the Relay-gNB, and the Donor-gNB cannot obtain the UE's RRC messages (such as the RRCSetupComplete message). Since network slicing is a mandatory feature in NR, and the RAN side needs to select a supported AMF to serve the UE based on the UE's Requested NSSAI, the Donor-gNB in ​​the NR L3 Relay architecture cannot select an appropriate AMF to serve the UE based on the Requested NSSAI included in the UE's RRC message. This will result in the core network failing to support the network slicing service requested by the UE, thereby reducing the success rate of the UE's request for network slicing services.

[0110] In view of this, the present application can receive the first network slice identifier sent by the relay node managed by the host base station through the host base station; the first network slice identifier is the identifier of the network slice requested by the terminal device accessing the relay node; determine the first core network device that provides services to the terminal device, the first core network device supports the first network slice, and the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier. Through this method, the problem that the host base station cannot select the core network device of the terminal device in the NR L3 Relay architecture can be solved, and the accuracy of the host base station in selecting the core network device of the terminal device and the success rate of the network slice request of the terminal device can be improved.

[0111] Furthermore, the host base station can control the uplink and downlink rates of the relay node based on the network slice rate of the terminal device associated with the first network slice, and can also ensure that the strategies formulated by the operator for network slicing services are met.

[0112] Based on the above, in order to better understand the communication method and related devices proposed in this application, the network architecture applied in the embodiment of this application is described below.

[0113] FIG2 shows the architecture of a possible communication system applicable to the communication method provided in this application, which may include a network management system, a core network element, a relay node, a donor base station, a first base station, and a terminal device, etc. Among them:

[0114] The network manager can be responsible for the management and maintenance of relay nodes. For example, the network manager can be an OAM network element or server, etc.; the Relay OAM is an OAM server responsible for the management and maintenance of relay nodes.

[0115] Relay nodes can be used to provide access and wireless backhaul services for terminal devices. Relay nodes can provide both terminal device and base station functions. Relay nodes can also be understood as including a Relay-MT (module) and a Relay-Base Station (gNB) (module). The Relay-MT can be expressed as a Relay-MT, and the Relay-Base Station can be expressed as a Relay-gNB.

[0116] The host base station can serve as a host node for the relay node. Optionally, the host base station can be a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, a radio network controller (RNC), a NodeB (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (e.g., a home evolved NodeB, or home NodeB, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU) or a remote radio unit (RRU), or a wireless fidelity (Wifi) access point (AP), or a baseband pool (BBU pool) and RRU in a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a base station of a future communication system (e.g., 6G), etc., without limitation herein. Optionally, the host base station may also include a module or unit that performs some of the functions of the base station. For example, the host base station may include a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), that is, the host base station may include a host-CU and a host-DU. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific equipment form adopted by the host base station. Among them, in the O-RAN system, CU can also be referred to as O-CU, and DU can also be referred to as O-DU.

[0117] The first base station can be the same base station as the donor base station, or it can be a different base station from the donor base station. The identifier of the first base station can include a gNB ID and / or an IP address. The description of the first base station can refer to the donor base station and is not further described here.

[0118] The core network network elements may include mobility management network elements and user plane function (UPF) network elements, among which the mobility management network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, and the identifier of the mobility management network element may include an AMF ID and / or an IP address. The AMF is responsible for access and mobility management functions, including user registration, reachability, mobility management, access authentication and authorization, etc. The UPF is responsible for the user plane functions of the core network, including providing user message forwarding, processing, connection with DN, session anchor point, quality of service (QoS) policy execution and other user plane functions. It should be understood that the above-mentioned core network network elements may be network elements that include AMF or UPF network element functions in various communication systems, such as network elements that include AMF or UPF network element functions in 5G systems or NR and future communication systems (such as 6G systems), etc., and are not limited here.

[0119] Terminal equipment, also known as user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal (MT), provides voice and / or data connectivity to users. For example, terminal equipment can include handheld devices and vehicle-mounted devices with wireless connectivity. Currently, terminal devices may be: cellular phones, smart phones, wireless data cards, personal digital assistants (PDAs), computers, mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, handheld computers, wireless modems, laptop computers, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, extended reality (XR) devices, mixed reality (MR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, or wireless terminals in smart homes, etc. The terminal device may also be a device-to-device (D2D) terminal device, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication terminal device, an intelligent vehicle, a telematics box (TBOX), a machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC) terminal device, or an Internet of Things (IoT) terminal device. For example, the terminal device may be a vehicle, ship, or aircraft, or a terminal-type roadside unit, or a communication module or chip built into a vehicle or roadside unit. For example, the terminal device may be an onboard module.The various terminal devices described above, if located on a vehicle, such as placed inside or installed inside a vehicle, can be considered as vehicle-mounted terminal devices, which are also referred to as on-board units (OBUs). Terminal devices can also be smart devices such as amusement equipment, smart appliances, or drones. In this application, a terminal device can also be a functional module, chip, or chip system. Optionally, the functional module, chip, or chip system can be set within the terminal device.

[0120] Exemplarily, a first interface and / or a second interface needs to be established between the relay node and the host base station. For example, in Figure 2, the first interface can be shown as an NG interface, and the second interface can be shown as an Xn interface. Optionally, if it is assumed that the AMF can perceive the relay node, the relay node can also directly establish a logical first interface with the AMF, and the information between the AMF and the relay node can be forwarded through the host base station. Similarly, if it is assumed that the first base station can perceive the relay node, the relay node can also establish a logical second interface with the first base station, and the information between the first base station and the relay node can be forwarded through the host base station.

[0121] The terminal device and the relay node can communicate through the Uu interface, and the relay node and the host base station can carry the UE's control plane / user plane data through DRB / SRB. The host base station and the first base station can communicate through the Xn interface, and the host base stations and the core network elements can communicate through the NG interface. The core network network elements and the network management can communicate through the Internet Protocol (IP) protocol.

[0122] It should be understood that the architecture of the communication system shown in FIG2 is not limited to including only the devices shown in the figure, but may also include other devices not shown in the figure, which are not listed here in detail.

[0123] In addition, the distribution form shown in FIG2 is only exemplary and not limiting.

[0124] In combination with the above-mentioned network architecture, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is described below.

[0125] Please refer to Figure 3, which is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The functions performed by the terminal device in this embodiment can also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device, and the functions performed by the network device in this application can also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the network device.

[0126] As shown in FIG3 , the communication method may include the following steps:

[0127] S301: The relay node managed by the host base station sends a first network slice identifier to the host base station; the first network slice identifier is the identifier of the network slice requested by the terminal device accessing the relay node; the radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device terminates at the relay node.

[0128] Correspondingly, the host base station receives the first network slice identifier sent from the relay node.

[0129] Exemplarily, the first network slice identifier may be Requested NSSAI.

[0130] Exemplarily, the first network slice identifier is transmitted via a data radio bearer DRB or a signaling radio bearer SRB between the relay node and the host base station.

[0131] S302: The host base station determines a first core network device that provides services to the terminal device. The first core network device supports a first network slice. The first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier.

[0132] Among them, the first network slice identifier can correspond to one or more network slices.

[0133] In some embodiments, the first core network device provides services for the relay node. Exemplarily, the donor base station may determine the core network device providing services for the relay node as the first core network device when the core network device providing services for the relay node supports the first network slice, that is, determine that the core network device providing services for the relay node provides services for the terminal device.

[0134] In some other embodiments of the present application, the second core network device provides services for the relay node, and the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices.

[0135] S303: The donor base station performs rate control on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice.

[0136] It should be understood that step S303 is an optional step, which is indicated by a dotted box in FIG3 .

[0137] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned first core network device provides services for the relay node, that is, the core network device providing services for the relay node and the core network device providing services for the terminal device are the same core network device (that is, both are first core network devices).

[0138] In one possible implementation, after the host base station determines the core network device providing services for the relay node as the above-mentioned first core network device, the host base station can receive the rate associated with the relay node and the first network slice sent by the first core network device (which can be called the first rate corresponding to the relay node); the first rate is determined based on the rate associated with the first network slice of one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node; the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device; based on the first rate, the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice is rate controlled.

[0139] Exemplarily, the first rate is determined based on a rate associated with the first network slice by the terminal device, or is determined based on the sum of rates associated with the first network slice by multiple terminal devices accessing the relay node.

[0140] For example, the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice can be referred to as the SMBR information of the UE for Allowed NSSAI (referred to as the SMBR information of the UE or UE Slice-MBR) below; the first rate corresponding to the relay node can be referred to as the SMBR information of the Relay-MT.

[0141] In another possible implementation, when the core network device providing services for the relay node and the core network device providing services for the terminal device are both first core network devices, the first rate may be determined based on the contract information of the relay node.

[0142] In another possible implementation, after the host base station determines the core network device providing services to the relay node as the above-mentioned first core network device, the relay node can trigger the first core network device to send the first rate to the host base station through the registration process. Then, the host base station can control the rate of data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice based on the first rate.

[0143] In some other embodiments of the present application, the second core network device provides services for the relay node, and the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices. Furthermore, the second core network device can obtain the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice through the following two possible implementations.

[0144] In one possible implementation, after determining the first core network device, the donor base station sends an identifier of the second core network device to the first core network device; the identifier of the second core network device is used by the first core network device to send the rate associated with the first network slice to the second core network device. In other words, the second core network device may obtain the rate associated with the first network slice by proactively sending the identifier of the second core network device to the second core network device after the first core network device receives it from the donor base station.

[0145] In another possible implementation, the donor base station may receive a first request sent by a relay node, where the first request is a non-access stratum (NAS) request initiated by the relay node and associated with the first network slice. When the donor base station transparently transmits the first request to the second core network device, the donor base station sends an identifier of the first core network device to the second core network device, where the identifier of the first core network device is used by the second core network device to obtain the rate associated with the first network slice of the terminal device from the first core network device. In other words, the second core network device may obtain the rate associated with the first network slice of the terminal device by: the second core network device receives the identifier of the first core network device sent by the donor base station, and obtains the rate associated with the first network slice of the terminal device from the second core network device based on the identifier of the first core network device.

[0146] Exemplarily, the first request may be a registration request message of the relay node. It should be understood that the first request may be a registration request in a NAS message or other messages, as long as the message includes an uplink NAS request message of the first network slice, for example, the first request may also be a PDU session establishment request message.

[0147] Furthermore, after the second core network device obtains the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice through the above two possible implementations, it can determine the rate associated with the relay node and the first network slice based on the rate associated with the above terminal device and the first network slice and / or the rate associated with the first network slice of other terminal devices accessing the relay node, or based on the contract information of the relay node (which can be called the second rate corresponding to the relay node), and send the rate associated with the relay node and the first network slice to the host base station, so that the host base station can control the rate of data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice. In this method, the host base station can control the uplink and downlink rates of the relay node based on the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice, and can also ensure that the strategy formulated by the operator for the network slice service is met.

[0148] Optionally, regardless of whether the first core network device provides services for the relay node, the donor base station can receive the third rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice sent by the first core network device; based on the third rate, rate control is performed on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice. Exemplarily, the donor base station can receive the rate (including the above-mentioned third rate) associated with the first network slice of one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node sent by the first core network device, save the received rate; further, based on the saved rate, determine the rate associated with the relay node and the first network slice; further, based on the determined rate, rate control is performed on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice.

[0149] Optionally, regardless of whether the first core network device provides services for the relay node, the first core network device may receive a second request, where the second request is a registration request associated with the first network slice identifier initiated by a terminal device accessing the relay node managed by the host base station. Furthermore, the first core network device may determine the network slice rate based on the rate at which one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node are associated with the first network slice, wherein the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device that initiates the above-mentioned registration request. The network slice rate is used by the host base station to control the rate of data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice, and the network slice rate is determined based on the first network slice.

[0150] The method embodiment shown in Figure 3 above includes many possible implementation schemes. Some of the implementation schemes are illustrated below in combination with Figures 4 to 5. It should be noted that the relevant concepts, operations or logical relationships not explained in Figures 4 to 5 can refer to the corresponding descriptions in the embodiment shown in Figure 3.

[0151] FIG4 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0152] In this embodiment of the present application, the communication method provided by the present application is introduced in detail by taking the first core network device serving the terminal device and the relay node at the same time as an example. In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device is a UE, the relay node Relay includes Relay-gNB and Relay-MT, the host base station is Donor-gNB, and the first core network device is AMF.

[0153] In the embodiment of the present application, the functions performed by the UE may also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the UE. The functions performed by the base station in the present application may also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the base station. For example, the functions performed by the Donor-gNB may also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the Donor-gNB.

[0154] In this embodiment of the present application, the Relay has completed the air interface configuration with the Donor-gNB, that is, there is a DRB / SRB as the backhaul link of the NG interface or the Xn interface.

[0155] As shown in FIG4 , the communication method may include some or all of the following steps:

[0156] S401: Donor-gNB and AMF exchange the list of network slices supported by each other through the NG interface.

[0157] For example, the Donor-gNB and AMF can exchange the list of network slices supported by each other through the NG Setup / NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message. It should be understood that there is no obvious sequence between this step and the subsequent steps, as long as the exchange occurs before the AMF determines the Allowed NSSAI.

[0158] S402: The UE initiates a registration request message associated with the Requested NSSAI and sends an RRC message to the Relay-gNB. The RRC message carries the Requested NSSAI and a NAS message, and the NAS message includes the registration request message.

[0159] In some embodiments, the UE initiates a NAS message to the core network with a registration request associated with the Requested NSSAI, and sends the NAS message to the Relay-gNB in ​​an RRC message from the UE. The RRC message also includes the Requested NSSAI.

[0160] Exemplarily, the RRC message may be RRCSetupComplete, ie, MSG5.

[0161] S403: After receiving the RRC message from the UE, the Relay-gNB carries the NAS message in the NGAP message and transparently transmits it to the Donor-gNB via the DRB / SRB between the Relay-MT and the Donor-gNB.

[0162] The Relay-gNB does not parse NAS messages carried in RRC messages, such as Registration Request messages.

[0163] Exemplarily, the NGAP message may be an Initial UE Message.

[0164] For example, for the two different backhaul link modes of DRB / SRB, the content carried on the backhaul link can be as follows:

[0165] Based on DBR backhaul: The bearer content may include an NGAP message carrying a UE registration request and a MSG5 carrying a Requested NSSAI. Optionally, other information elements in MSG5 may be empty. The S-NSSAI associated with the DRB may be the Requested NSSAI of the UE, or a network slice identifier dedicated to Relay-MT / backhaul / relay, which is used by the AMF to send some Relay-specific network parameters. Optionally, when the Requested NSSAI includes multiple S-NSSAIs, the DRB may represent its associated network slice through an NSAG ID, which may be the NSAG identifier corresponding to the NSAG whose associated network slice list in the NSAG supported by the Relay-gNB / Donor-gNB has the largest intersection with the UE's Requested NSSAI.

[0166] SRB-based backhaul: The bearer content may include the NGAP message carrying the UE registration request and the Requested NSSAI. When the Requested NSSAI includes multiple S-NSSAIs, it may optionally be represented by an NSAG ID. For details, please refer to the relevant description in DRB backhaul.

[0167] S404: The Donor-gNB selects an AMF that can support the Requested NSSAI to serve the UE based on the Requested NSSAI received from the Relay-MT.

[0168] Optionally, if the serving AMF of the Relay-MT can support the Requested NSSAI, the Donor-gNB can preferentially select the AMF as the serving AMF of the UE (i.e., the first core network device mentioned above).

[0169] S405: The Donor-gNB continues to transparently transmit the UE's Registration Request message to the selected AMF serving the UE via the NGAP message.

[0170] Exemplarily, the NGAP message may be an Initial UE Message message.

[0171] For example, the Donor-gNB may use the Initial UE Message message, which, in addition to the registration request message, may also carry Additional ULI (UE location information) to indicate the location of the Relay-MT (such as the TAI information of the TA and the serving cell identification information of the parent node).

[0172] Furthermore, AMF then has two possible interactions: S406 and S407. These two interaction modes can be independent of each other or coexist, and are not an either-or relationship.

[0173] S406: The Relay-gNB performs per UE per slice rate control based on the UE's SMBR.

[0174] Illustratively, step S406 may include the following steps S4061 to S4063.

[0175] S4061: The AMF sends the UE's Allowed NSSAI and its associated SMBR information to the Donor-gNB. This NGAP message carries the NAS message of the registration acceptance, which is transparently transmitted to the UE through the Donor-gNB and Relay-gNB.

[0176] In some embodiments, the AMF may determine the UE's Allowed NSSAI based on the Requested NSSAI in the Registration Request message, the list of network slices supported by the Relay-gNB, the list of network slices supported by the AMF, and the UE's subscription information for network slices. The Requested NSSAI may include one or more network slices.

[0177] Optionally, if the UE's subscription information for the network slice also includes the UE's SMBR information, the AMF can also determine the SMBR information associated with the Allowed NSSAI and send it to the Donor-gNB together with the Allowed NSSAI.

[0178] For example, the AMF may send the UE's Allowed NSSAI and its associated SMBR information to the Donor-gNB through the Initial UE Context Setup message. At the same time, the NGAP message also carries the NAS message of registration acceptance, which is transparently transmitted to the UE through the Donor-gNB and Relay-gNB.

[0179] S4062: The Donor-gNB sends a UE-related NGAP message to the Relay-MT via DRB / SRB backhaul.

[0180] For example, the NGAP message contains the same content as the Initial UE Context Setup in S4061, which includes the UE's Allowed NSSAI and its associated SMBR information.

[0181] S4063: The Relay-gNB performs rate control on the UE's activated PDU session.

[0182] Optionally, if the Relay-gNB supports SMBR, the uplink and downlink rate control can be performed per UE per slice for the PDU session that has been activated for the UE based on the SMBR information associated with the Allowed NSSSAI in the NGAP message relayed by the Donor-gNB.

[0183] S407: The Donor-gNB performs per Relay-MT per Slice rate control for the Relay-MT.

[0184] Illustratively, step S407 may include the following steps S4071 to S4072.

[0185] S4071: The specific implementation of the Donor-gNB obtaining the SMBR information for the Relay-MT can be: the AMF instructs the Donor-gNB (see S4071-1 for details) or the Donor-gNB implements it itself (see S4071-2 for details).

[0186] S4071-1: The AMF serves the UE and the Relay-MT. The AMF indicates the SMBR information of the Allowed NSSAI for the Relay-MT and associated UE to the Donor-gNB.

[0187] In some embodiments, the UE's serving AMF determines that it is also the serving AMF of the Relay-MT, and based on the Additional ULI of S405, it can also be determined that the UE is accessed from the Relay-MT. In this case, the SMBR information for the Relay-MT and the Allowed NSSAI associated with the UE is sent to the Donor-gNB.

[0188] For example, if the UE's Allowed NSSAI includes the first network slice (hereinafter referred to as Slice#1 for convenience of description), and the SMBR value of Slice#1 for the UE is SMBR#1, then the AMF can instruct the Donor-gNB through the UE context modification request (Context Modification Request) message associated with the Relay-MT that the SMBR value associated with Slice#1 of the Relay-MT is SMBR#2. Optionally, the SMBR#2 is greater than or equal to SMBR#1. Further optionally, the SMBR#2 may also be greater than or equal to the sum of the SMBRs of different UEs associated with the same Allowed NSSAI (e.g., Slice#1) aggregated.

[0189] It should be noted that in some other embodiments of the present application, SMBR#2 may also come from the subscription information of the Relay-MT. For example, the Donor-gNB may obtain the subscription information of the Relay-MT from the serving AMF of the Relay-MT, including the SMBR information of the Allowed NSSAI for the UE.

[0190] S4071-2: The Donor-gNB saves the UE's Allowed NSSAI and its associated SMBR received from the AMF for rate control for the Relay-MT.

[0191] In some embodiments, when the Donor-gNB determines that the UE is accessed through the Relay-MT, it may save the UE's Allowed NSSAI and its associated SMBR received from the AMF for rate control for the Relay-MT.

[0192] For example, if the UE's Allowed NSSAI includes Slice#1, and the SMBR value of Slice#1 for the UE is SMBR#1, the Donor-gNB will save SMBR#1.

[0193] S4072: The Donor-gNB implements per Relay-MT per slice rate control for the Relay-MT.

[0194] Optionally, if the Donor-gNB supports SMBR, per-MT per-slice rate control can be implemented for the Relay-MT.

[0195] For example, after executing the above S4071-1, the Donor-gNB can control the speed of the Relay-MT according to the maximum value of the SMBRs for the Relay-MT associated with Slice#1 received multiple times; or control the speed of the Relay-MT according to the latest SMBR received for the Relay-MT; or control the speed of the Relay-MT according to the sum of the SMBRs for the Relay-MT associated with Slice#1 received multiple times.

[0196] For example, after executing the above S4071-2, the Donor-gNB can control the speed of the Relay-MT according to the maximum value of the received SMBR associated with Slice#1 for the UE; or control the speed of the Relay-MT according to the latest received SMBR for the UE; or control the speed of the Relay-MT according to the sum of the SMBRs received for the UE multiple times.

[0197] In the above embodiment, the AMF / Donor-gNB may optionally send the SMBR information of the Relay-MT to the Relay-MT, so that the AMF / Donor-gNB / Relay-MT can perform access control on the UE based on the SMBR of the Relay-MT. For example, assuming that the SMBR value of Slice#1 associated with the Relay-MT is 10, UE#1 and UE#2 have accessed and requested services from the Relay-MT for Slice#1, and the SMBRs for UE#1 and UE#2 are 4 and 5 respectively. When UE#3 accesses the Relay-MT, the SMBR indicated by the AMF for UE#3 is 3. Since 4+5+3>10, the AMF / Donor-gNB / Relay-MT should reject the Slice#1 service requested by UE#3.

[0198] In the above embodiment, optionally, when S403 and S4062 transmit the control plane / user plane data of the UE uplink / downlink through DRB / SRB, the Relay-MT / Donor-gNB can aggregate the data of multiple UEs associated with the same S-NSSAI together for transmission to reduce redundant signaling overhead.

[0199] In other embodiments of the present application, after executing the above step S404 to select the AMF as the serving AMF of the UE, the rate control of the Relay-MT can be achieved through the second method in the corresponding embodiment of Figure 5 below.

[0200] This embodiment of the present application carries the UE's Requested NSSAI on the backhaul link between the Relay-MT and the Donor-gNB, enabling the Donor-gNB to select an appropriate AMF as the UE's serving AMF based on the UE's Requested NSSAI. This improves the accuracy of the Donor-gNB's selection of the UE's serving AMF, thereby increasing the UE's network slicing request success rate. Furthermore, the Donor-gNB can control the uplink and downlink rates of the Relay-MT based on the UE's SMBR information for the Allowed NSSAI or the Relay-MT's own subscribed SMBR information, ensuring that the operator's policies for network slicing services are met.

[0201] Please refer to Figure 5, which is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0202] The embodiment of the present application takes the different core network devices served by the terminal device and the relay node as an example to introduce the communication method provided by the present application in detail. In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device is UE, the relay node Relay includes Relay-gNB and Relay-MT, the host base station is Donor-gNB, the first core network device is AMF serving UE, and the second core network device is AMF serving Relay-MT.

[0203] In the embodiment of the present application, the functions performed by the UE may also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the UE. The functions performed by the base station in the present application may also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the base station. For example, the functions performed by the Donor-gNB may also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the Donor-gNB.

[0204] In this embodiment of the application, the relay has completed the air interface configuration with the donor-gNB, that is, there is a DRB / SRB as the backhaul link of the NG interface or Xn interface. As shown in Figure 5, the communication method may include some or all of the following steps:

[0205] S501: The Donor-gNB and the AMF serving the UE exchange the list of network slices supported by each other through the NG interface, and the Donor-gNB and the AMF serving the Relay-MT exchange the list of network slices supported by each other through the NG interface.

[0206] For the specific implementation of step S501, please refer to the above step S401. Compared with step S401, step S501 adds NG interaction between the Donor-gNB and the serving AMF of the Relay-MT (i.e., the AMF serving the Relay-MT).

[0207] S502: The UE initiates a registration request message associated with the Requested NSSAI and sends an RRC message to the Relay-gNB. The RRC message carries the Requested NSSAI and a NAS message, and the NAS message includes the registration request message.

[0208] The specific implementation of step S502 can refer to the above step S402 and will not be repeated here.

[0209] After receiving the RRC message from the UE, the Relay-MT may have the following two modes:

[0210] Method 1: The Relay-MT only processes the UE's registration request. For details, see steps S503 to S507.

[0211] S503: After receiving the RRC message from the UE, the Relay-gNB carries the NAS message in the NGAP message and transparently transmits it to the Donor-gNB via the DRB / SRB between the Relay-MT and the Donor-gNB.

[0212] The specific implementation of step S503 can refer to the above step S403 and will not be repeated here.

[0213] S504: The Donor-gNB selects an AMF that can support the Requested NSSAI to serve the UE based on the Requested NSSAI received from the Relay-MT.

[0214] In this embodiment of the present application, the AMF (i.e., the first core network device) determined by the Donor-gNB to serve the UE is different from the AMF (i.e., the second core network device) serving the Relay-MT.

[0215] It is understandable that in the embodiment of the present application, there is no need to prefer the AMF of the Relay-MT as the serving AMF of the UE.

[0216] S505: The Donor-gNB continues to transparently transmit the UE's registration request message to the selected AMF serving the UE (i.e., the AMF serving the UE) through the NGAP message.

[0217] The specific implementation of step S505 can be found in the above step S405; step S505 is added compared to step S405: the Donor-gNB also needs to indicate the serving AMF identifier of the Relay-MT to the serving AMF of the UE through the NGAP message. For example, the identifier can be a globally unique AMF ID (globally unique AMF identifier, GUAMI).

[0218] Furthermore, AMF subsequently has two possible interactions: S506 and S507. These two interaction modes can be independent of each other or coexist, and are not an either-or relationship.

[0219] S506: The Relay-gNB performs per UE per slice rate control based on the UE's SMBR.

[0220] For example, step S506 may refer to the above steps S4061 to S4063, which will not be described in detail here.

[0221] S507: The Donor-gNB performs per-Relay-MT per-Slice rate control for the Relay-MT.

[0222] Illustratively, step S507 may include the following steps S5071 to S5072.

[0223] S5071: The AMF serving the UE sends the SMBR information of the first network slice associated with the UE (referred to as Slice#1 for the convenience of description) to the AMF serving the Relay-MT.

[0224] S5072: The specific implementation of the Donor-gNB obtaining the SMBR information for the Relay-MT can be S5072-1 or S5072-2.

[0225] S5072-1: The AMF serving the Relay-MT indicates the SMBR information of the Allowed NSSAI for the Relay-MT and associated UE to the Donor-gNB.

[0226] For example, if the UE's Allowed NSSAI includes Slice#1, and the SMBR value of Slice#1 for the UE is SMBR#1, the AMF serving the Relay-MT may instruct the Donor-gNB through the UE Context Modification Request message associated with the Relay-MT that the SMBR value associated with Slice#1 of the Relay-MT is SMBR#2. Optionally, SMBR#2 is greater than or equal to SMBR#1. Further, optionally, SMBR#2 may be greater than or equal to the sum of the SMBRs of different UEs associated with the same Allowed NSSAI (e.g., Slice#1).

[0227] In some other embodiments of the present application, SMBR#2 may also be derived from the subscription information of the Relay-MT. For example, the Donor-gNB may obtain the subscription information of the Relay-MT from the Relay-MT's serving AMF, including the SMBR information for the UE's Allowed NSSAI.

[0228] S5072-2: The Donor-gNB saves the UE's Allowed NSSAI and its associated SMBR received from the AMF serving the UE for rate control for the Relay-MT.

[0229] In some embodiments, the Donor-gNB may save the UE's Allowed NSSAI and its associated SMBR received from the AMF serving the UE when determining that the UE is accessed through the Relay-MT, for rate control for the Relay-MT.

[0230] For example, if the UE's Allowed NSSAI includes Slice#1, and the SMBR value of Slice#1 for the UE is SMBR#1, the Donor-gNB will save SMBR#1.

[0231] The Donor-gNB can control the Relay-MT speed according to the maximum value of the SMBRs received for the UE associated with Slice#1; or according to the latest SMBR received for the UE; or according to the sum of the SMBRs received for the UE multiple times.

[0232] S5073: Donor-gNB can implement per Relay-MT per slice rate control for Relay-MT.

[0233] Optionally, if the Donor-gNB supports SMBR, per-MT per-slice rate control can be implemented for the Relay-MT.

[0234] Method 2: The Relay-MT uses the UE's Requested NSSAI as the Relay-MT's Requested / Allowed NSSAI and initiates a NAS request to the Relay-MT. For details, see steps S603 to S607.

[0235] S603: After receiving the RRC message from the UE, the Relay-gNB carries the NAS message in the NGAP message and transparently transmits it to the Donor-gNB via the DRB / SRB between the Relay-MT and the Donor-gNB. The DRB / SRB backhaul also carries the NAS request for the Relay-MT.

[0236] For example, the NAS request may be a registration request for the Relay-MT, where the Requested NSSAI carried in the registration request is the same as the Requested NSSAI of the UE. Alternatively, the NAS request may be a PDU session establishment request for the Relay-MT, where the network slice associated with the PDU session (i.e., the Allowed NSSAI of the Relay-MT) is the Requested NSSAI of the UE. When the Requested NSSAI of the UE includes multiple S-NSSAIs, multiple PDU sessions may be requested to be established. The Relay-gNB does not parse NAS messages carried in RRC messages, such as registration request messages.

[0237] For example, in step S603 , except for the NAS request initiated by the Relay-MT, other contents can be found in the above step S403 and will not be described again here.

[0238] S604: The Donor-gNB selects an AMF that can support the Requested NSSAI to serve the UE based on the Requested NSSAI received from the Relay-MT.

[0239] In this embodiment of the present application, the AMF determined by the Donor-gNB to serve the UE is different from the AMF serving the Relay-MT.

[0240] It is understandable that in the embodiment of the present application, there is no need to prefer the AMF of the Relay-MT as the serving AMF of the UE.

[0241] S605: The Donor-gNB continues to transparently transmit the UE's registration request message to the selected AMF serving the UE (i.e., the AMF serving the UE) through the NGAP message.

[0242] For example, step S605 may refer to the above-mentioned step S405 and will not be described in detail here.

[0243] S606: The Donor-gNB transparently transmits the NAS request for the Relay-MT to the AMF serving the Relay-MT through the NGAP message for the Relay-MT.

[0244] It should be understood that there is no obvious order in which step S606 and step S605 transparently transmit the UE's registration request to the UE's serving AMF. In addition to sending the identifier of the serving AMF of the Relay-MT to the AMF serving the UE in method one so that the AMF serving the UE can proactively send the SMBR information associated with the UE's first network slice to the serving AMF of the Relay-MT based on the identifier of the serving AMF of the Relay-MT, the Donor-gNB can also indicate the identifier of the UE's serving AMF to the serving AMF of the Relay-MT through the NGAP message. For example, when transparently transmitting the NAS request to the serving AMF of the Relay-MT, the Donor-gNB can send the identifier of the AMF serving the UE to the serving AMF of the Relay-MT. The identifier of the AMF serving the UE is used by the second core network device to obtain the SMBR information associated with the UE's first network slice from the AMF serving the UE. Furthermore, the AMF subsequently has the following two possible interactions, S607 and S608. These two interaction modes can be independent of each other or can coexist, and are not an either-or relationship.

[0245] S607: The Relay-gNB performs per UE per slice rate control based on the UE's SMBR.

[0246] Illustratively, step S607 may refer to the above steps S4061 to S4063, which will not be repeated here.

[0247] S608: The Donor-gNB performs per Relay-MT per Slice rate control for the Relay-MT.

[0248] Exemplarily, step S608 may include the following steps S6081 to S6083.

[0249] S6081: The AMF serving the Relay-MT obtains the SMBR information associated with the UE's Slice#1 from the AMF serving the UE.

[0250] In the first implementation, the AMF serving the UE receives the identifier of the serving AMF of the Relay-MT sent by the host base station. The AMF serving the UE can actively send the SMBR information associated with the first network slice of the UE to the serving AMF of the Relay-MT based on the identifier of the serving AMF of the Relay-MT.

[0251] In the second implementation, the AMF serving the UE receives the third request sent by the serving AMF of the Relay-MT, where the third request is used to request the SMBR information associated with the first network slice of the UE. Then, the AMF serving the UE sends the SMBR information associated with the first network slice of the UE to the serving AMF of the Relay-MT.

[0252] It should be noted that the above two implementations are possible implementation methods for obtaining the SMBR information associated with the first network slice of the UE in the embodiments of the present application. In other embodiments of the present application, the SMBR information associated with the first network slice of the UE may also come from the subscription information of the MT. For example, the Donor-gNB can obtain the subscription information of the Relay-MT from the serving AMF of the Relay-MT, including the SMBR information of the Allowed NSSAI for the UE.

[0253] S6082: The specific implementation of the Donor-gNB obtaining the SMBR information for the Relay-MT can be S6082-1 ​​or S6082-2.

[0254] S6082-1: The AMF serving the Relay-MT indicates the SMBR information of the Allowed NSSAI for the Relay-MT and associated UE to the Donor-gNB.

[0255] For example, step S607 may refer to the above-mentioned step S5072-1, which will not be repeated here.

[0256] S6082-2: The Donor-gNB saves the UE's Allowed NSSAI and its associated SMBR received from the AMF serving the UE for rate control for the Relay-MT.

[0257] For example, step S607 may refer to the above-mentioned step S5072-2, which will not be repeated here.

[0258] S6083: Donor-gNB implements per Relay-MT per slice rate control for Relay-MT.

[0259] For example, step S607 may refer to the above-mentioned step S5073 and will not be described in detail here.

[0260] In the above embodiment, when the control plane / user plane data of the UE uplink / downlink is transmitted through the DRB in steps S503, S506 and S603, the Relay-MT / Donor-gNB can aggregate the data of multiple UEs associated with the same S-NSSAI for transmission to reduce redundant signaling overhead.

[0261] In the above embodiment, the AMF / Donor-gNB serving the Relay-MT may optionally also send the SMBR information of the Relay-MT to the Relay-MT, so that the AMF / Donor-gNB / Relay-MT serving the Relay-MT can perform access control on the UE based on the SMBR of the Relay-MT. For example, assuming that the SMBR value of Slice#1 associated with the Relay-MT is 10, UE#1 and UE#2 have accessed and requested services for Slice#1 from the Relay-MT, and the SMBRs for UE#1 and UE#2 are 4 and 5, respectively. When UE#3 accesses the Relay-MT, the SMBR for UE#3 indicated by the AMF for MT is 3. Since 4+5+3>10, the AMF for MT / Donor-gNB / Relay-MT should reject the Slice#1 service requested by UE#3.

[0262] In the embodiment of the present application, when the serving AMF of the UE and the serving AMF of the Relay-MT are not the same, the Donor-gNB can control the uplink and downlink rates of the Relay-MT according to the SMBR information of the UE for the Allowed NSSAI or the contracted SMBR information of the Relay-MT itself, thereby ensuring that the strategy formulated by the operator for the network slicing service is met.

[0263] The above content elaborates on the method provided by the present application. In order to facilitate the implementation of the above scheme of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides corresponding devices or equipment.

[0264] The present application divides the network equipment (such as the host base station, the relay node, the first core network device and the second core network device) into functional modules according to the above-mentioned method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The communication device of the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 6 to 8.

[0265] 6 , which is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG6 , the communication device may include a transceiver unit 10 and a processing unit 20 .

[0266] In some embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the donor base station shown above or a chip or circuit provided in the donor base station. That is, the communication device may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the donor base station in the above method embodiments.

[0267] In one design, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive a first network slice identifier sent by a relay node managed by a host base station; the first network slice identifier is an identifier of a network slice requested by a terminal device accessing the relay node; the radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device terminates at the relay node; the processing unit 20 is used to: determine a first core network device providing services to the terminal device, the first core network device supports a first network slice, and the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier.

[0268] In a possible implementation, the first network slice identifier is transmitted via a data radio bearer DRB or a signaling radio bearer SRB between the relay node and the host base station.

[0269] In a possible implementation, the first core network device provides services for the relay node.

[0270] In one possible embodiment, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive a first rate corresponding to the relay node sent by the first core network device; the first rate is determined based on the rate associated with the first network slice of one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node; the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device; the processing unit 20 is used to: perform rate control on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice based on the first rate.

[0271] In one possible embodiment, the first rate is determined based on the rate associated with the first network slice by the terminal device, or is determined based on the sum of the rates associated with the first network slice by multiple terminal devices accessing the relay node.

[0272] In a possible implementation, the first rate is determined based on subscription information of the relay node.

[0273] In a possible implementation, the second core network device provides services for the relay node, and the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices.

[0274] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: send the identifier of the second core network device to the first core network device; the identifier of the second core network device is used by the first core network device to send the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice to the second core network device.

[0275] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive a first request sent by a relay node, where the first request is a non-access stratum NAS request initiated by the relay node and associated with the first network slice; the transceiver unit 10 is used to: when transparently transmitting the first request to the second core network device, send the identifier of the first core network device to the second core network device, where the identifier of the first core network device is used by the second core network device to obtain the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice from the first core network device.

[0276] In one possible embodiment, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive a second rate corresponding to the relay node sent by the second core network device; the second rate is determined based on the rate associated with the first network slice of one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node; the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device; the processing unit 20 is used to: perform rate control on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice based on the second rate.

[0277] In a possible implementation, the second rate is determined based on subscription information of the relay node.

[0278] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive a third rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice sent by the first core network device; the processing unit 20 is used to: perform rate control on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice based on the third rate.

[0279] In the embodiment of the present application, the description of the first network slice identifier, the first rate, etc. can be referred to the introduction in the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5 above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0280] It is understood that the specific description of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20 shown in the embodiment of the present application is only an example. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20, reference can be made to the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5 above, and will not be described in detail here. In addition, the technical effects of the embodiment of the present application refer to the technical effects of the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5 above, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0281] Reusing Figure 6, in some other embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the relay node shown above or a chip or circuit provided in the relay node. That is, the communication device may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the relay node in the above method embodiments.

[0282] In one design, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive a first network slice identifier, where the first network slice identifier is an identifier of a network slice requested by an accessed terminal device; the radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device terminates at a relay node; the transceiver unit 10 is used to: send the first network slice identifier to a host base station; the first network slice identifier is used by the host base station to determine a first core network device providing services to the terminal device, the first core network device supports the first network slice, and the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier.

[0283] In a possible implementation, the first network slice identifier is transmitted via a data radio bearer DRB or a signaling radio bearer SRB between the relay node and the host base station.

[0284] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 10 is used to send a first request to the host base station, where the first request is a non-access stratum NAS request initiated by the relay node and associated with the first network slice.

[0285] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a first request.

[0286] It is understood that the specific description of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20 shown in the embodiment of the present application is only an example. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20, reference can be made to the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5 above, and will not be described in detail here. In addition, the technical effects of the embodiment of the present application refer to the technical effects of the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5 above, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0287] Reusing Figure 6, in some other embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the first core network device shown above, or a chip or circuit provided in the first core network device. That is, the communication device may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the first core network device in the above method embodiment.

[0288] In one design, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive a second request, which is a registration request associated with a first network slice identifier initiated by a terminal device accessing a relay node managed by a host base station; the second request includes a first network slice identifier, which is an identifier of the network slice requested by the terminal device; the transceiver unit 10 is used to: send a network slice rate, which is used by the host base station to perform rate control on data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice; wherein the first core network device supports the first network slice, and the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier; the first network slice identifier is sent by the relay node to the host base station; the radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device terminates at the relay node; the first network slice identifier is used by the host base station to determine the first core network device that provides services to the terminal device.

[0289] In one possible implementation, the second core network device provides services for the relay node, and the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices; the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive the identifier of the second core network device sent by the host base station, and the identifier of the second core network device is used by the first core network device to send the network slice rate to the second core network device.

[0290] In one possible implementation, the second core network device provides services for the relay node, and the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices; the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive a third request sent by the second core network device, and the third request is used to request to obtain the network slice rate.

[0291] In one possible embodiment, the network slice rate is determined based on the rate associated with the first network slice by one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node, and the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device; or, the network slice rate is determined based on the subscription information of the relay node.

[0292] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 20 is configured to: parse the second request.

[0293] It is understood that the specific description of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20 shown in the embodiment of the present application is only an example. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20, reference can be made to the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5 above, and will not be described in detail here. In addition, the technical effects of the embodiment of the present application refer to the technical effects of the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5 above, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0294] Reusing Figure 6, in some other embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the second core network device shown above, or a chip or circuit provided in the second core network device. That is, the communication device may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the second core network device in the above method embodiment.

[0295] In one design, the processing unit 20 is used to: determine the network slice rate corresponding to the relay node; the network slice rate is used by the host base station to perform rate control on the data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice; the transceiver unit 10 is used to: send the network slice rate to the host base station; wherein the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier sent by the relay node to the host base station; the first network slice identifier is the identifier of the network slice requested by the terminal device accessing the relay node; the radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device terminates at the relay node; the first network slice identifier is used by the host base station to determine the first core network device that provides services to the terminal device, the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices, and the first core network device supports the first network slice.

[0296] In one possible embodiment, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive a network slice rate sent by the first core network device, where the network slice rate is determined based on a rate associated with the first network slice by one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node, and the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device; or, the network slice rate is determined based on the contract information of the relay node.

[0297] In one possible embodiment, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive a first request sent by a relay node; the first request is a non-access stratum NAS request initiated by the relay node and associated with a first network slice; and in response to the first request, send a network slice rate to the host base station.

[0298] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive an identifier of the first core network device sent by the host base station; the transceiver unit 10 is used to: send a third request to the first core network device, and the third request is used to request to obtain the network slice rate.

[0299] It is understood that the specific description of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20 shown in the embodiment of the present application is only an example. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20, reference can be made to the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5 above, and will not be described in detail here. In addition, the technical effects of the embodiment of the present application refer to the technical effects of the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5 above, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0300] The above describes the network devices (such as the host base station, the relay node, the first core network device and the second core network device) of the embodiment of the present application. The following describes the possible product forms of the network devices (such as the host base station, the relay node, the first core network device and the second core network device). It should be understood that any product of any form that has the functions of the network device described in Figure 6 above falls within the scope of protection of the embodiment of the present application. It should also be understood that the following introduction is only an example and does not limit the product form of the communication device of the embodiment of the present application to this.

[0301] In one possible implementation, the communication device shown in FIG6 may further include a processing unit, which may be one or more processors. The transceiver unit 10 may be integrated into a single device, such as a transceiver, or the transceiver unit 10 may include a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, where the transmitting unit may be a transmitter and the receiving unit may be a receiver. In the embodiments of the present application, the processor and transceiver may be coupled, etc., and the connection method between the processor and transceiver is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. During the execution of the above-mentioned method, the process of sending information in the above-mentioned method can be understood as the process of the processor outputting the above-mentioned information. When outputting the above-mentioned information, the processor outputs the above-mentioned information to the transceiver for transmission by the transceiver. After being output by the processor, the above-mentioned information may require further processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, the process of receiving information in the above-mentioned method can be understood as the process of the processor receiving the above-mentioned information. When the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the above-mentioned information and inputs it into the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the above-mentioned information, the above-mentioned information may require further processing before being input into the processor.

[0302] Referring to Figure 7, Figure 7 is another structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7, the communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application can be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment, and reference can be made to the description in the above method embodiment. The communication device can be a network device, or a chip therein. Exemplarily, the communication device includes one or more processors 1001 and a transceiver 1002. The communication device may further include a memory 1003. In one implementation, the communication device also includes an input and output device (not shown in Figure 7).

[0303] Processor 1001 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. Memory 1003 is primarily used to store software programs and data. Transceiver 1002 may include control circuitry and an antenna. The control circuitry is primarily used to convert baseband signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The antenna is primarily used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input / output devices, such as a touch screen, display, and keyboard, are primarily used to receive user input and output data to the user.

[0304] When the communication device is powered on, the processor 1001 can read the software program in the memory 1003, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor 1001 performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1001. The processor 1001 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0305] In another implementation, the RF circuit and antenna may be provided independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna may be remotely arranged independent of the communication device.

[0306] The processor 1001 , the transceiver 1002 , and the memory 1003 may be connected via a communication bus.

[0307] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods or functions performed by the host base station in the embodiment shown in Figure 3 above, the processor 1001 can be used to execute step S302 in Figure 3; the transceiver 1002 can be used to execute step S301 in Figure 3, and / or other processes for the technology described herein.

[0308] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods or functions performed by the relay node managed by the host base station in the embodiment shown in Figure 3 above, the transceiver 1002 can be used to execute step S301 in Figure 3, and / or other processes for the technology described herein.

[0309] In any of the above implementations, the processor 1001 may include a transceiver for implementing receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0310] In any of the above implementations, the processor 1001 may store instructions, which may be computer programs. The computer programs, when executed on the processor 1001, may cause the communication device to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. The computer programs may be embedded in the processor 1001, in which case the processor 1001 may be implemented by hardware.

[0311] In one implementation, the communication device may include a circuit that can implement the functions of sending, receiving, or communicating in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processor and transceiver described in this application can be implemented in an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), a mixed signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver can also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (nMetal-oxide-semiconductor, NMOS), P-channel metal oxide semiconductor (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (bipolar junction transistor, BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

[0312] It is understood that the communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application may also have more components than those in Figure 7, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. The method performed by the processor and transceiver shown above is only an example. For the specific steps performed by the processor and transceiver, please refer to the description of the method embodiment above.

[0313] In another possible implementation, in the communication device shown in FIG7 , the processing unit 20 may be one or more logic circuits, and the transceiver unit 10 may be an input / output interface, also referred to as a communication interface, an interface circuit, an interface, etc. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 10 may be a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, the transmitting unit may be an output interface, the receiving unit may be an input interface, and the transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be integrated into one unit, such as an input / output interface.

[0314] Referring to Figure 8, Figure 8 is another structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, the communication device shown in Figure 8 includes a logic circuit 901 and an interface 902. That is, the above-mentioned processing unit 20 can be implemented using a logic circuit 901, and the transceiver unit 10 can be implemented using an interface 902. Among them, the logic circuit 901 can be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit or a system on chip (SoC) chip, etc., and the interface 902 can be a communication interface, an input and output interface, a pin, etc. Exemplarily, Figure 8 is shown as an example of a chip as the above-mentioned communication device, and the chip includes a logic circuit 901 and an interface 902.

[0315] In the embodiment of the present application, the logic circuit and the interface may also be coupled to each other. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific connection method between the logic circuit and the interface.

[0316] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods or functions performed by the host base station in the method embodiment shown in Figure 3 above, the logic circuit 901 is used to determine the first core network device providing services to the terminal device; the interface 902 is used to receive the first network slice identifier.

[0317] In the embodiment of the present application, the description of the first indication information and the second indication information, etc., can be referred to the description of the method embodiment shown in FIG3 above, and will not be described in detail here. It is understood that the specific description of the logic circuit 901 and the interface 902 can also refer to the description of the processing unit and the transceiver unit shown in FIG6, and will not be repeated here.

[0318] It can be understood that the communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of hardware, or can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of software, etc., and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0319] For the specific implementation of each embodiment shown in FIG8 , reference may also be made to the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0320] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes a network device (such as a host base station, a relay node, a first core network device and a second core network device), and the network device can be used to execute the method in any of the aforementioned method embodiments (Figures 3 to 5).

[0321] In addition, the present application also provides a computer program, which is used to implement the operations and / or processing performed by the network device in the method provided by the present application.

[0322] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having computer code stored therein. When the computer code is executed on a computer, the computer executes the operations and / or processing performed by the network device in the method provided by the present application.

[0323] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes computer code or computer program. When the computer code or computer program runs on a computer, the operations and / or processing performed by the network device in the method provided by the present application are executed.

[0324] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, or can be electrical, mechanical or other forms of connection.

[0325] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the technical effects of the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0326] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0327] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a readable storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned readable storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk, and other media that can store program code.

[0328] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a donor base station, the method includes: Receive a first network slice identifier sent by a relay node managed by the host base station; the first network slice identifier is an identifier of a network slice requested by a terminal device accessing the relay node; a radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device is terminated at the relay node; Determine a first core network device that provides services for the terminal device, the first core network device supports a first network slice, and the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first network slice identifier is transmitted via a data radio bearer DRB or a signaling radio bearer SRB between the relay node and the host base station.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The first core network device provides services for the relay node.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a first rate corresponding to the relay node sent by the first core network device; the first rate is determined based on a rate associated with one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node and the first network slice; the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device; Based on the first rate, rate control is performed on data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The first rate is determined based on the rate associated with the first network slice by the terminal device; or, the first rate is determined based on the sum of rates associated with multiple terminal devices accessing the relay node and the first network slice; or, the first rate is determined based on the subscription information of the relay node.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The second core network device provides services for the relay node, and the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending an identifier of a second core network device to the first core network device; the identifier of the second core network device is used by the first core network device to send the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice to the second core network device.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receiving a first request sent by the relay node, where the first request is a non-access stratum NAS request initiated by the relay node and associated with the first network slice; When transparently transmitting the first request to the second core network device, the identifier of the first core network device is sent to the second core network device, and the identifier of the first core network device is used by the second core network device to obtain the rate associated with the terminal device and the first network slice from the first core network device.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a second rate corresponding to the relay node sent by the second core network device; the second rate is determined based on a rate associated with the first network slice by one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node or subscription information of the relay node; the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device; Based on the second rate, rate control is performed on data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice.

10. The method according to claim 3 or 6, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Receiving a third rate associated with the first network slice and sent by the first core network device; Based on the third rate, rate control is performed on data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: A relay node applied to a donor base station management, the method comprising: Receive a first network slice identifier, where the first network slice identifier is an identifier of a network slice requested by an accessed terminal device; a radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device is terminated at the relay node; The first network slice identifier is sent to the host base station; the first network slice identifier is used by the host base station to determine the first core network device providing service to the terminal device, the first core network device supports the first network slice, and the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The first network slice identifier is transmitted via a data radio bearer DRB or a signaling radio bearer SRB between the relay node and the host base station.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: A first request is sent to the host base station, where the first request is a non-access layer NAS request initiated by the relay node and associated with the first network slice.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a first core network device, the method includes: Receive a second request, where the second request is a registration request associated with a first network slice identifier initiated by a terminal device accessing a relay node managed by a host base station; the second request includes the first network slice identifier, where the first network slice identifier is an identifier of a network slice requested by the terminal device; Sending a network slice rate, where the network slice rate is used by the donor base station to control the rate of data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice; Among them, the first core network device supports the first network slice, and the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier; the first network slice identifier is sent by the relay node to the host base station; the wireless resource control RRC connection of the terminal device is terminated at the relay node; the first network slice identifier is used by the host base station to determine the first core network device that provides services for the terminal device.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that A second core network device provides services for the relay node, and the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices; The method further comprises: Receive the identifier of the second core network device sent by the host base station, and the identifier of the second core network device is used by the first core network device to send the network slice rate to the second core network device.

16. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The second core network device provides services for the relay node, and the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices; The method further comprises: Receive a third request sent by the second core network device, where the third request is used to request to obtain the network slice rate.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, characterized in that: The network slice rate is determined based on a rate associated with the first network slice by one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node, wherein the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device; Alternatively, the network slicing rate is determined based on the subscription information of the relay node.

18. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a second core network device, the second core network device providing services for a relay node managed by a donor base station, the method comprising: Determine a network slice rate corresponding to the relay node; the network slice rate is used by the donor base station to control the rate of data transmission associated with the relay node and the first network slice; Sending the network slice rate to the donor base station; Among them, the first network slice is at least one network slice corresponding to the first network slice identifier sent by the relay node to the host base station; the first network slice identifier is the identifier of the network slice requested by the terminal device accessing the relay node; the radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device is terminated at the relay node; the first network slice identifier is used by the host base station to determine the first core network device providing services for the terminal device, the first core network device and the second core network device are different core network devices, and the first core network device supports the first network slice.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The determining the network slice rate corresponding to the relay node includes: receiving the network slice rate sent by the first core network device, where the network slice rate is determined based on a rate associated with the first network slice by one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node, where the one or more terminal devices accessing the relay node include the terminal device; Alternatively, the network slicing rate is determined based on the subscription information of the relay node.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receiving a first request sent by the relay node; the first request is a non-access layer NAS request initiated by the relay node and associated with the first network slice; In response to the first request, the network slice rate is sent to the host base station.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein: The method further comprises: Receiving an identifier of the first core network device sent by the donor base station; A third request is sent to the first core network device, where the third request is used to request the network slice rate.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising modules or units for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 21 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

24. A readable storage medium, characterized in that: Used to store a program, the program is executed by one or more processors, so that a device including the one or more processors performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21.

25. A communication system, characterized in that: include: A host base station for executing the method described in any one of claims 1 to 10, a relay node for executing the method described in any one of claims 11 to 13, and a first core network device for executing the method described in any one of claims 14 to 17 and / or a second core network device for executing the method described in claims 18 to 21.

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